Quotessence
Home / Topics / Impossible Quotes

Impossible Quotes

Browse 5414 quotes about Impossible.

Related topics

IfsPeopleThinkingMenWorldKnowsWayBelieveTryingWantSeemsShouldWould BeDifficultMindHumansMayFeelsMadeDreamGivingHas BeensNeedsLooksFirstsHardWritingDoneMeanPersonsKindIdeasFactsLongDoeLittlesTwoNothing Is ImpossibleSometimesRealYearsHeartMatterImpossible ThingsReasonWellsStatesProblemStillsArtInspirationalSaidEasyWholeHappensImpossibilityMomentsEnoughImagineEndsSelfWarLawCertainMightBookFoundPossibilityCountryChildrenTasksTodayBodyCoursesEyeFormAchieveDesireLifeCan DoBeliefRealityHandsPlayGovernmentShowsSoulUseCharacterChristianFeelingsI CanImportantLoveSituationFacesPoliticalHelpingOrderMovingmore

Impossible Quotes

“Our initial sensory data are always "first derivatives," statements about differences which exist among external objects or statements about changes which occur either in them or in our relationship to them. Objects and circumstances which remain absolutely constant relative to the observer, unchanged either by his own movement or by external events, are in general difficult and perhaps always impossible to perceive. What we perceive easily is difference and change and difference is a relationship.”

FirstsDifficultDifferencesImpossibleEventsMovementObjectsCircumstancesConstantStatementsDataPerceiveRelativeOur RelationshipObserversInitialsSensoryDerivatives
Book:Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry
Create image

“We have two distinct types of political organization to take into account; and clearly, too, when their origins are considered, it is impossible to make out that the one is a mere perversion of the other. Therefore when we include both types under a general term like government, we get into logical difficulties; difficulties of which most writers on the subject have been more or less vaguely aware, but which, until within the last half-century, none of them has tried to resolve.”

Has BeensTwoGovernmentLastsPoliticalTermHalfImpossibleSubjectsCenturyTypeOrganizationAccountsDifficultyMereLogicalResolvePerversionMake Out
Author:Albert J. Nock
Create image

“If we assiduously cultivate our powers of exaggeration, perhaps we, too, shall obtain the Paradise of Liars. And there Raphael shall paint for us scores and scores of his manifestly impossible pictures... and Shakespeare will lie to us of fabulous islands far past 'the still-vex'd Bermoothes,' and bring us fresh tales from the coast of Bohemia. For no one will speak the truth there, and we shall all be perfectly happy.”

IfsStillsPastLyingSpeakImpossiblePaintTalesIslandsParadiseScoreLiarsCoastFabulousExaggerationSpeak The TruthRaphaelVexBohemia
Author:James Branch Cabell
Create image

“When, about fifteen years ago, I walked into Arshile's studio for the first time, the atmosphere was so beautiful that I got a little dizzy and when I came to, I was bright enough to take the hint immediately. If the bookkeepers think it necessary to make sure of where things and people came from, well then, I came from 36 Union Square. I am glad that it is about impossible to get away from his powerful influence.”

PeopleIfsThinkingYearsFirstsWellsLittlesEnoughBeautifulPowerfulImpossibleInfluenceFirst TimeYears AgoUnionsStudiosGladAtmosphereGet AwaySquaresFifteenHintsFifteen YearsDizzyBookkeepers
Author:Willem de Kooning
Create image

“It must appear impossible, that theism could, from reasoning, have been the primary religion of human race, and have afterwards, by its corruption, given birth to polytheism and to all the various superstitions of the heathen world. Reason, when obvious, prevents these corruptions: When abstruse, it keeps the principles entirely from the knowledge of the vulgar, who are alone liable to corrupt any principle or opinion.”

WorldHumansHas BeensReasonGivenRaceOpinionPrinciplesImpossibleBirthObviousVariousCorruptionPrimariesHuman RaceReasoningSuperstitionsVulgarLiableTheismHeathenPolytheism
Book:The Natural History of Religion: Revision of Great Book
Create image

“Indeed, it is impossible to be neutral. In a world already moving in certain directions, where wealth and power are already distributed in certain ways, neutrality means accepting the way things are now. It is a world of clashing interests – war against peace, nationalism against internationalism, equality against greed, and democracy against elitism – and it seems to me both impossible and undesirable to be neutral in those conflicts.”

WorldWayMeanWarSeemsMovingCertainInterestWealthAcceptingDemocracyImpossibleConflictGreedNationalismNeutralityMoving InElitismUndesirableInternationalism
Book:Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice
Create image

“Every man feels that perception gives him an invincible belief of the existence of that which he perceives; and that this belief is not the effect of reasoning, but the immediate consequence of perception. When philosophers have wearied themselves and their readers with their speculations upon this subject, they can neither strengthen this belief, nor weaken it; nor can they shew how it is produced. It puts the philosopher and the peasant upon a level; and neither of them can give any other reason for believing his senses, than that he finds it impossible for him to do otherwise.”

MenGivingFeelsBelieveReasonBeliefLevelsExistenceImpossibleSubjectsEffectsReaderPerceptionConsequencePhilosopherEvery ManSensesPerceiveReasoningSpeculationPeasantsInvincible
Book:The Works of Thomas Reid, D. D.: Now Fully Collected, with Selections from His Unpublished Letters
Create image

“What all this posturing and fake glamor results in is a vast detachment and cynicism on the part of the artists. Since it's impossible to have respect for an audience that'll take just about anything you care to dish out, and the impassive demeanor is so central to the role, a general numbnose is all that can be expected.”

CareArtistResultsRolesAudienceImpossibleExpectedFakeCynicismDishesDetachmentDemeanor
Book:Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock'N'Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock 'N'Roll
Create image

“In conscious life, we achieve some sense of ourselves as reasonably unified, coherent selves, and without this action would be impossible. But all this is merely at the 'imaginary' level of the ego, which is no more than the tip of the iceberg of the human subject known to psychoanalysis. The ego is function or effect of a subject which is always dispersed, never identical with itself, strung out along the chains of the discourses which constitute it.”

HumansSelfWould BeActionLevelsKnownImpossibleAchieveSubjectsEffectsEgoConsciousFunctionChainsImaginaryDiscourseIdenticalPsychoanalysisUnifiedIcebergTip Of The Iceberg
Book:Literary Theory: An Introduction
Create image

“The soul contains few secrets and longings which cannot be sensibly discussed, analyzed, and polled. Solitude, the very condition which sustained the individual against and beyond his society, has become technically impossible. Logical and linguistic analysis demonstrate that the old metaphysical problems are illusory problems; the quest for the "meaning" of things can be reformulated as the quest for the meaning of words, and the established universe of discourse and behavior can provide perfectly adequate criteria for the answer.”

SoulProblemUniverseIndividualAnswersSecretImpossibleConditionsSolitudeBehaviorLongingAnalysisLogicalQuestsDiscourseMetaphysicalAdequateCriteriaIllusoryMeanings Of Words
Book:One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society
Create image

“In the judgment of design engineers, the ordinary means of communicating with a computer are entirely inadequate. [...] Graphical communication in some form or other is of vital importance in engineering as that subject is now conducted; we must either provide the capability in our computer systems, or take on the impossible task of training up a future race of engineers conditioned to think in a different way.”

ThinkingWayMeanDifferentFormRaceImpossibleSubjectsDesignCommunicationJudgmentComputerTrainingOrdinaryTasksImportanceCommunicateDifferent WaysCapabilityEngineeringEngineersInadequateComputer Systems
Author:Maurice Wilkes
Create image

“You act like a normal human being and you treat them [actors around] like a buddy because you're all working together. It's no different than being Governor. You put a team together and say, "Guys, we all want to shine here. We all want to show that this administration is going to do things that other administrations have thought was impossible. Let's kick some ass together."”

WantHumansDifferentShowsTogetherGuyActorsHuman BeingsImpossibleTeamNormalTreatsShiningAssAdministrationKicksWorking TogetherGovernorsBuddy
Author:Arnold Schwarzenegger
Create image

“The only ‘realistic’ prospect is to ground a new political universality by opting for the impossible, fully assuming the place of the exception, with no taboos, no a priori norms (‘human rights,’ ‘democracy’), respect for which would prevent us from ‘resignifying’ terror, the ruthless exercise of power, the spirit of sacrifice … if this radical choice is decried by some bleeding-heart liberals as Linksfaschismus, so be it!”

IfsHumansHeartPoliticalSpiritChoicesDemocracyRightsImpossibleSacrificeExerciseAssumingHuman RightsTerrorRadicalExceptionRealisticNormRuthlessTabooBleedingUniversalityBleeding Heart
Author:Slavoj Žižek
Create image

“Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.”

GoalTeachTeacherImpossibleTeachingToolsTasksMiracleAppreciationAccomplishExpectedTortureSetting GoalsInadequateGreat TeacherGood TeacherBest TeacherUnattainableTeaching ChildrenTeaching And EducationTeachers And TeachingTeaching EducationInspirational TeacherGreat TeachingBeing A TeacherGood TeachingTeacher AppreciationThanking TeachersThank You TeacherTeacher MotivationalTeacher Appreciation DayNew Teachers
Author:Haim Ginott
Create image

“How do you know what's really organic? Today, there's all these impurities in the water and the air. The water for the fruits and vegetables has junk in it. If you get enough vitamins and minerals out of normal food and whole grains, and you get enough proteins and exercise (that's the key) then nature builds up a tolerance to all of these things. It's survival of the fittest. You can't have everything perfect, that's impossible, but the fit survive.”

IfsKnowsEnoughWholeTodayWaterPerfectImpossibleAirKeysFitExerciseNormalSurvivalFruitToleranceDo You KnowVegetablesGrainJunkProteinVitaminsMineralsSurvival Of The FittestImpurityFruits And VegetablesWhole GrainsVitamins And Minerals
Author:Jack LaLanne
Create image

“Oh, it was awful, and I vowed to myself I would never, ever push myself to the edge that much again. It was really frightening. Because absolutely everything seemed to be impossible to deal with, just little things became major - noise, if someone had a radio on, or even the sound of traffic, or being in someone's company for longer than 10 minutes - I started to find it all too much.”

IfsLittlesSoundDealsCompanyToo MuchImpossibleMinutesMajorsEdgesRadioNoiseAwfulLittle ThingsFrighteningTraffic
Author:Elaine Paige
Create image

“Contemporary philosophers have exercised themselves with the problem of our knowledge of other minds. Enmeshed in the dogma of the ghost in the machine, they have found it impossible to discover any logically satisfactory evidence warranting one person in believing that there exist minds other than his own. I can witness what your body does, but I cannot witness what your mind does, and my pretensions to infer from what your body does to what your mind does all collapse, since the premises for such inferences are either inadequate or unknowable.”

MindBelievePersonsDoeI CanProblemBodyFoundImpossibleEvidenceMachinesPhilosopherYour BodyGhostContemporaryWitnessCollapseDogmaPremisesInadequatePretensionInference
Book:The Concept of Mind
Create image

“On one occasion, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jeremy Irons and myself were due to appear at the Sarajevo film festival and were turned off a UN plane on orders from Geneva. We had to get local journalists to transport the films in for us. I tell you this only to demonstrate that festivals can be a lifeline. But, after all the difficulties I'd had in getting there, in 1996 I found myself being flown in on a four-seater RAF plane as an official guest, endorsed by the British Embassy. Ironically, the film I was to present was Mission: Impossible.”

FilmOrderFoundFourImpossibleDifficultyMissionsBritishDuesLocalsOccasionsJournalistPlanesOfficialsIronGuestsFestivalsTransportGenevaTurned OffEmbassyFilm FestivalsLifelinesDaniel Day LewisMission ImpossibleRaf
Author:Vanessa Redgrave
Create image

“Possibly worst of all, from the standpoint of the dedicated enemies of freedom, the Internet is a world that libertarians - having been marginalized for three decades by the establishment media - have made their own, almost without effort. It's an alternative reality (unlike 'meat-space' we live in) in which - exactly like intelligence, bravery, or virtue - the human capacity for violence is not additive, and in which it's impossible to initiate force against anybody.”

WorldHumansMadeRealityThreeForceSpaceEffortEnemyVirtueViolenceImpossibleWorstMediaInternetCapacityBraveryLibertarianDecadesAlternativesMeatDedicatedEstablishmentStandpointInitiateMarginalizedHuman CapacityAdditives
Author:L. Neil Smith
Create image

“English stupidity is an organism so primitive that it is apparently impossible to kill off. It reminds me of Physarum Polycephalum, the gigantic slime mould recently bred by scientists at Bonn. Bright yellow and about two millimetres thick, this monocellular creature--neither plant nor animal--grew to a size of 10 square yards before the scientists took fright and froze it. It can smell its favourite food, and move towards it at a speed of up to two centimetres an hour. This favourite food is porridge.”

TwoMovingHoursAnimalImpossibleGrewCreaturesScientistPlantSizeSmellStupiditySpeedSquaresYellowThickFavouritePrimitiveOrganismsYardsFrightMouldSlimePorridge
Author:Neal Ascherson
Create image

“What would happen if history could be rewritten as casually as erasing a blackboard? Our past would be like the shifting sands at the seashore, constantly blown this way or that by the slightest breeze. History would be constantly changing every time someone spun the dial of a time machine and blundered his or her way into the past. History, as we know it, would be impossible. It would cease to exist.”

IfsKnowsWayHappensWould BePastImpossibleMachinesCeaseSandOur PastBreezeShiftingSpunTime MachineSeashoreBlackboardShifting Sand
Book:Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension
Create image

“[T]he individual in whom the will for the light is strong and clear finds his heart inextricably bound up with the struggle of the forces of light in his native place and time. Much as he may long for the opportunity of fuller self- expression in a happier world, he knows that for him self-expression is impossible save in the world in which his mind is rooted. The individual in whom the will for the light is weak soon persuades himself that his opportunity lies elsewhere.”

KnowsWorldMindHeartMayLongSelfLightLyingOpportunityIndividualStrongForceStruggleClearImpossibleExpressionWeakBoundsNativeElsewhereRootedSelf ExpressionPlace And TimeNative Place
Book:Darkness and the light
Create image

“Nothing can be surprising any more or impossible or miraculous, now that Zeus, father of the Olympians has made night out of noonday, hiding the bright sunlight, and... fear has come upon mankind. After this, men can believe anything, expect anything. Don't any of you be surprised in future if land beasts change places with dolphins and go to live in their salty pastures, and get to like the sounding waves of the sea more than the land, while the dolphins prefer the mountains.”

IfsMenBelieveMadeNightFatherImpossibleSeaLandMankindMountainWaveBeastHidingSurprisingSunlightMiraculousDolphinsZeusPasturesOlympianSalty
Author:Archilochus
Create image