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Impossible Quotes

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Impossible Quotes

“The notion that a society could be regulated entirely by market forces is a utopian fantasy: an impossible dream generated by imagining what the world would be like if everyone's behavior was utterly consistent with some abstract moral ideal-in this case, economic theories that assume all human action is based on calculating, systematic, (but scrupulously law-abiding), greed.”

IfsWorldHumansDreamWould BeActionLawForceMoralCasesFantasyImpossibleEconomicTheoryBehaviorIdealsAssumingNotionGreedLibertarianAbstractConsistentAbidingSystematicUtopianCalculatingHuman ActionsEconomic TheoryImpossible Dream
Author:David Graeber
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“As I toiled up the Mount of Olives, in the very footsteps of Christ, panting with the heat and the difficult ascent, I found it utterly impossible to conceive that the Deity, in human form, had walked there before me.”

HumansFormFoundDifficultChristImpossibleHeatDeitiesFootstepsOlivesAscentHuman Form
Book:The Lands of the Saracen: Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain
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“The question should not be 'What would Jesus do?' but rather, more dangerously, 'What would Jesus have me do?' The onus is not on Jesus but on us, for Jesus did not come to ask semidivine human beings to do impossible things. He came to ask human beings to live up to their full humanity; he wants us to live in the full implication of our human gifts, and that is far more demanding.”

WantShouldHumansHumanityAsksJesusHuman BeingsImpossibleWant UImplicationsImpossible Things
Author:Peter J. Gomes
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“The way to solve the conflict between human values and technology needs is not to run away from technology. That's impossible. The way to resolve the conflict is to break down the barriers of dualistic thought that prevent a real understanding of what technology is--not an exploitation of nature, but a fusion of nature and the human spirit into a new kind of creation that transcends both.”

WayNeedsHumansKindRealRunningSpiritValuesUnderstandingBreakTechnologyImpossibleCreationConflictSolveBarriersResolveRunning AwayExploitationBreaking DownHuman SpiritFusionHuman Values
Author:Robert M. Pirsig
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“The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were now transposed to the sphere of work, while tasks lacking in any financial reward were drained of all significance and left to the haphazard attentions of decadent dilettantes. It now seemed as impossible that one could be happy and unproductive as it had once seemed unlikely that one could work and be human.”

HumansLeftAttentionImpossibleCenturyTasksRewardsFinancialPhilosopherSatisfactionGreekSignificanceFormulasThinkerSpheresLeisureLackingUnlikelyBourgeoisDrainedGreek PhilosopherUnproductiveHaphazardDilettantes
Author:Alain de Botton
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“I will venture to assert, that a just translation of any ancient poet in rhyme is impossible. No human ingenuity can be equal to the task of closing every couplet with sounds homotonous, expressing at the same time the full sense, and only the full sense of his original.”

HumansSoundImpossiblePoetEqualTasksOriginalsAncientVentureRhymeTranslationsClosingIngenuityCouplets
Book:The Works of William Cowper: His Life, Letters, and Poems. Now First Completed by the Introduction of Cowper's Private Correspondence
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“Nothing is more human than for man to desire naturally things impossible to his nature. It is, indeed, the property of a nature which is not closed up in matter like the nature of physical things, but which is intellectual or infinitized by the spirit. It is the property of a metaphysical nature. Such desires reach for the infinite, because the intellect thirsts for being and being is infinite.”

MenHumansMatterSpiritDesireImpossibleIntellectualInfinitePropertyIntellectThirstMetaphysicalPhysical Things
Book:Approaches to God
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“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
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“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
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“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."”

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Author:Arnold Schwarzenegger
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“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
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“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
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“Physiologically adult humans are not meant to spend an additional 10 years in a school system; their brains map that onto "I have been assigned low tribal status". And so, of course, they plot rebellion - accuse the existing tribal overlords of corruption plot, perhaps to split off their own little tribe in the savanna, not realizing that this is impossible in the Modern World.”

WorldYearsHumansLittlesHas BeensSchoolCoursesRealizingBrainImpossibleModernLowsAdultsCorruptionPlotMapsRebellionSplitsTribesModern WorldSchool SystemSavanna
Author:Eliezer Yudkowsky
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“Despite the hundreds of attempts, police terror and the concentration camps have proved to be more or less impossible subjects for the artist; since what happened in them was beyond the imagination, it was therefore also beyond art and all those human values on which art is traditionally based.”

HumansArtArtistValuesImaginationImpossibleHappenedSubjectsArt IsPoliceTerrorDespiteConcentrationCampsHuman ValuesConcentration Camp
Book:The Savage God: A Study of Suicide
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“All the controversialists who have become conscious of the real issue are already saying of our ideal exactly what used to be said of the Socialists' ideal. They are saying that private property is too ideal not to be impossible. They are saying that private enterprise is too good to be true. They are saying that the idea of ordinary men owning ordinary possessions is against the laws of political economy and requires an alteration in human nature.”

MenHumansSaidIdeasRealLawPoliticalUsedPoliticsEconomyIssuesImpossibleHuman NatureOrdinaryConsciousIdealsPropertyPossessionUsed To BeBeing TrueLiberalismEnterprisePrivate PropertyOrdinary ManAlterationsPolitical EconomyPrivate EnterpriseToo Good To Be True
Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton
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“Reverence, human of the Earth, is the fundamental element of all existence, so it is therefore also the fundamental element of love itself, which is built on this all-embracing reverence. And since this is so in truth, it is also an impossible thing that love, once awakened and built up in truthfulness, can ever weaken again and become cold, or could transform into hate or be annihilated.”

HumansEarthHateExistenceImpossibleColdElementsBuiltFundamentalsReverenceAwakenedTruthfulnessImpossible Things
Author:Billy Meier
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“I learn several great truths; as that it is impossible to see into the ways of futurity, that punishment always attends the villain, that love is the fond soother of the human breast.”

WayHumansLove IsImpossibleExperiencePunishmentBreastsVillain
Book:The Works of Oliver Goldsmith: Enquiry into the present state of polite learning. The citizen of the world
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“Grant that the idea of God is the most splendid single act of the creative human imagination, and that all his multiple faces and attributes correspond to some need and satisfy some deep desire in mankind; still, for the Inquirers, it is impossible not to conclude that this mystical concept has been harnessed rudely to machinery of the most mundane sort, and has been made to serve the ends of an organization which, ruling under divine guidance, has ruled very little better, and in some respects, worse, than certain rather mediocre but frankly manmade systems of government.”

NeedsHumansLittlesHas BeensMadeStillsIdeasEndsGovernmentFacesDesireCertainImaginationCreativeImpossibleMankindDivineConceptsOrganizationGuidanceGrantsAttributesMultipleMysticalMediocreRulingMachinerySplendidMundaneHuman ImaginationSystems Of GovernmentDivine GuidanceDeep DesireInquirers
Book:Katherine Anne Porter: Collected Stories & Other Writings
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“While it is possible for intelligence to increase the range of benevolent impulse, and thus prompt a human being to consider the needs and rights of other than those to whom he is bound by organic and physical relationship, there are definite limits in the capacity of ordinary mortals which makes it impossible for them to grant to others what they claim for themselves.”

NeedsHumansHuman BeingsRightsImpossibleLimitsOrdinaryCapacityClaimsIncreaseBoundsMortalsImpulseRangeGrantsDefiniteBenevolentPrompts
Book:Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263)
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“The world of counterterrorism is like that old jigsaw puzzle in the back of the closet: Its many missing pieces and extra parts jumbled in from other puzzles make it almost impossible to assemble. But in Ghost, Fred Burton manages to join together enough pieces to give us a discerning look at that world. This is a story, told in human terms, that will help make sense of the great puzzle of our times.”

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Author:Eric L. Haney
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“TEF is predicated on logic, a simple wager that every human faces: If a reasoning human being loves and values life, they will want to live as long as possible-the desire to be immortal. Nevertheless, it's impossible to know if they're going to be immortal once they die. To do nothing doesn't help the odds of attaining immortality-since it seems evident that everyone will die someday and possibly cease to exist. To try to do something scientifically constructive towards ensuring immortality beforehand is the most logical conclusion.”

IfsKnowsWantTryingHumansLongHelpingSeemsFacesDesireValuesDiesHuman BeingsSimpleImpossibleLogicCeaseConclusionImmortalityReasoningSomedayImmortalLogicalOddsNeverthelessEvidentConstructiveHuman FacesWagers
Author:Zoltan Istvan
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“Being in relationship is not living in a fantasyland and don`t think that everything's going to be perfect all the time. You will go through phases where you're just not getting along. You're not communicating well. That's going to happen, and it's going to feel impossible to you sometimes. It might not even make sense to you sometimes. Arguments are normal. You have to be patient and sit through that and remember that this is a part of human communication and interaction. You're going to have these conflicts with anyone. It's not necessarily just that person.”

ThinkingFeelsHumansWellsPersonsSometimesMightHappensRememberPerfectImpossibleCommunicationConflictNormalArgumentPatientCommunicateMake SenseInteractionPhasesBe PatientGetting Along
Author:Megan Fox
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“In the constitution of Spain as proposed by the late Cortes, there was a principle entirely new to me:... that no person born after that day should ever acquire the rights of citizenship until he could read and write. It is impossible sufficiently to estimate the wisdom of this provision. Of all those which have been thought of for securing fidelity in the administration of the government, constant reliance to the principles of the constitution, and progressive amendments with the progressive advances of the human mind or changes in human affairs, it is the most effectual.”

ShouldWritingMindHumansPersonsHas BeensGovernmentBornPrinciplesRightsImpossibleLateConstitutionConstantAffairAdministrationAcquireProgressiveHuman MindAmendmentsCitizenshipSpainRelianceProvisionFidelity
Author:Thomas Jefferson
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“It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of human reason, may entirely renounce all belief and opinion, it is impossible for him to persevere in this total scepticism, or make it appear in his conduct for a few hours.”

MenHumansMayReasonSeemsCertainBeliefHoursOpinionImpossibleHumourHe ManReflectionIntenseContradictionImperfectionSkepticismPersevereRenounceScepticismHuman Reason
Book:An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
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