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Indifference Quotes

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Indifference Quotes

“...morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”

FeelsHumansSufferingEvilHuman BeingsLimitsConcernResponsibleGuiltyIndifferenceFree Society
Book:No Religion Is an Island: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Interreligious Dialogue
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“There was an air of indifference about them, a calm produced by the gratification of every passion; and through their manners were suave, one could sense beneath them that special brutality which comes from the habit of breaking down half-hearted resistances that keep one fit and tickle one’s vanity—the handling of blooded horses, the pursuit of loose women.”

PassionHalfAirSpecialHabitFitHorseCalmPursuitResistanceVanityMannersIndifferenceBreaking DownGratificationHeartedBrutalityHalf HeartedSuaveLoose Women
Book:Madame Bovary: Patterns of Provincial Life
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“A man is born into this world with only a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul; the rest is ugliness and evil, a shell. The spark must be guarded like a treasure, it must be nurtured, it must be fanned into flame. It must learn to seek out other sparks, it must dominate the shell. Anything can be a shell, Reuven. Anything. Indifference, laziness, brutality, and genius. Yes, even a great mind can be a shell and choke the spark.”

MenWorldMindSoulEvilBornThis WorldGeniusGoodnessTinyTreasureFlamesIndifferenceSparksLazinessShellsUglinessBrutalityChokeGuardedGreat Minds
Author:Chaim Potok
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“But it is the knowledge of how contingent my unease is, how dependent on a baby that wails beneath my window one day and does not wail the next, that brings the worst shame to me, the greatest indifference to annihilation. I know somewhat too much; and from this knowledge, once one has been infected, there seems to be no recovering. I ought never to have taken my lantern to see what was going on in the hut by the granary. On the other hand, there was no way, once I had picked up the lantern, for me to put it down again. The knot loops in upon itself; I cannot find the end.”

KnowsWayDoeHas BeensEndsHandsSeemsNextTakenToo MuchWorstBabyOughtOne DayWindowShameIndifferenceDependentKnotsAnnihilationLoopsRecoveringHutsLanterns
Book:Waiting for the Barbarians: A Novel
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“THERE IS NO mystery to happiness. Unhappy men are alike. Some wound they suffered long ago, some wish denied, some blow to pride, some kindling spark of love put out by scorn--or worse, indifference--cleaves to them, or they to it, and so they live each day within a shroud of yesterdays. The happy man does not look back. He doesn't look ahead. He lives in the present.”

MenLooksLongDoeWishMysteryPrideBlowWoundsYesterdayUnhappyIndifferenceEach DaySparksDeniedLong AgoScornLive In The PresentHappy ManShroudsLive Each DayKindling
Book:The Interpretation of Murder
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“Nearly all bookish people are snobs, and especially the more enlightened among them. They are apt to assume that if a writer has immense circulation, if he is enjoyed by plain persons, and if he can fill several theatres at once, he cannont possibly be worth reading and merits only indifference and disdain.”

PeopleIfsPersonsReadingAssumingTheatreEnjoyedIndifferenceMeritEnlightenedImmenseDisdainCirculationSnobWorth Reading
Book:Arnold Bennett: the Evening standard years:
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“The technique of a great seducer requires a facility and an indifference in passing from one object of affection to another which I could never have; however that may be, my loves have left me more often than I have left them, for I have never been able to understand how one could have enough of any beloved. The desire to count up exactly the riches which each new love brings us, and to see it change, and perhaps watch it grow old, accords ill with multiplicity of conquests.”

MayEnoughAbleDesireLeftGrowsWatchesObjectsIllAffectionRichesTechniquePassingPassingsBelovedIndifferenceConquestFacilityAccordMultiplicity
Author:Marguerite Yourcenar
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“Why do we wrap things? Usually to protect them. The more fragile they are, the more important the wrapping. Your dream is prey to many perils. It may shatter under the blows of criticism, evaporate with competition's heat, sink to the bottomless depths of others' indifference. Tend to your dream. Protect it as you would a fallen nestling. Until the day when it—and you—will fly.”

MayImportantDreamProtectCriticismCompetitionDepthBlowIndifferenceFallenYour DreamsHeatFragilePreyPerilWrapsWrapping
Author:Jerry Spinelli
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“For a detective or street police, the only real satisfaction is the work itself; when a cop spends more and more time getting aggravated with the details, he's finished. The attitude of co-workers, the indifference of superiors, the poor quality of the equipment - all of it pales if you still love the job; all of it matters if you don't.”

IfsStillsRealMatterJobsPoorAttitudeQualityStreetsPoliceWorkersSatisfactionDetailsFinishedSuperiorsIndifferenceMore TimeCopPaleEquipmentDetectivesCo WorkerAggravatedPoor Quality
Book:Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets
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“The tragedy of love is not death or separation. How long do you think it would have been before one or other of them ceased to care? Oh, it is dreadfully bitter to look at a woman whom you have loved with all your heart and soul, so that you felt you could not bear to let her out of your sight, and realize that you would not mind if you never saw her again. The tragedy of love is indifference.”

IfsThinkingMindLooksHeartLongHas BeensSoulCareFeltRealizingLove IsSawsBearsSightTragedySeparationBitterIndifferenceHeart And Soul
Book:The Trembling of a Leaf: Stories of the South Sea Islands
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“He almost said to himself that he did not like her, before their conversation ended; he tried so hard to compensate himself for the mortified feeling, that while he looked upon her with an admiration he could not repress, she looked at him with proud indifference, taking him, he thought, for what, in his irritation, he told himself - was a great fellow, with not a grace or a refinement about him.”

SaidHardFeelingsGraceProudConversationFellowsIndifferenceAdmirationRefinementLike HerIrritation
Author:Elizabeth Gaskell
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“Yes. The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference. That is why few people find God. They go to church and talk about him and that sort of thing. They may even go out and evangelize and try to win converts. But in their hearts, if they are honest with themselves, they are indifferent to him because they cannot see him. God is too abstract for people. God is a word without meaning. If Jesus came back today, nothing he said would make any sense to those who wait for him. They would be the first ones to kill him again.”

PeopleIfsTryingFirstsHeartMaySaidWould BeTodayHateJesusWinningWaitingChurchLove IsHonestOppositesIndifferenceAbstractIndifferentThose Who WaitWait For Him
Book:Black Blood
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“Patriotism, red hot, is compatible with the existence of a neglect of national interests, a dishonesty, a cold indifference to the suffering of millions. Patriotism is largely pride, and very largely combativeness. Patriotism generally has a chip on its shoulder.”

SufferingInterestExistenceMillionsPrideColdRedHotShouldersIndifferenceNeglectChipsDishonestyCompatibleNational InterestsRed Hot
Book:Collected Works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Short Stories, Novels, Poems and Essays: The Yellow Wallpaper, What Diantha Did, Women and Economics, The Crux, Moving the Mountain, Herland and other works from the prominent American feminist, sociologist and novelist
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“If two angels were to receive at the same moment a commission from God, one to go down and rule earth’s grandest empire, the other to go and sweep the streets of its meanest village, it would be a matter of entire indifference to each which service fell to his lot, the post of ruler or the post of scavenger; for the joy of the angels lies only in obedience to God’s will, and with equal joy they would lift a Lazarus in his rags to Abraham’s bosom, or be a chariot of fire to carry an Elijah home.”

IfsTwoMatterMomentsHomeWould BeEarthJoyLyingFireStreetsEqualAngelDown AndGods WillPostsLiftsObedienceIndifferenceEmpiresVillageRulersBosomsAbrahamRagsElijahChariotsObedience To GodLazarusChariots Of Fire
Author:John Newton
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“Cry your grief to God. Howl to the heavens. Tear your shirt. Your hair. Your flesh. Gouge out your eyes. Carve out your heart. And what will you get from Him? Only silence. Indifference. But merely stand looking at the playbills, sighing because your name is not on them, and the devil himself appears at your elbow full of sympathy and suggestions. And that's why I did it....Because God loves us, but the devil takes an interest.”

HeartEyeNamesHeavenInterestGriefSilenceCryTearsHairDevilFleshGod LoveIndifferenceShirtsSuggestionsElbowsHowlGod Loves Us
Book:Revolution
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“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

IfsSidesJusticeSituationInjusticeChosenIndifferenceProtestBullyingMiceBullyTheologianDeath PenaltyDisobedienceOppressorsBulliedCivil DisobediencePeace And JusticeNeutralityPeace JusticeClergymenEquality And JusticeBeing BulliedNonviolent ResistanceAppreciate What You HaveJustice And MercyJustice And InjusticeBullying InspirationalInjustice And OppressionCyber BullyingInjustice In The WorldPonder This
Author:Desmond Tutu
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“Dominion does not mean domination. We hold dominion over animals only because of our powerful and ubiquitous intellect. Not because we are morally superior. Not because we have a "right" to exploit those who cannot defend themselves. Let us use our brain to move toward compassion and away from cruelty, to feel empathy rather than cold indifference, to feel animals' pain in our hearts.”

FeelsHeartMeanDoeUsePainMovingAnimalPowerfulBrainCompassionColdEmpathyIntellectSuperiorsCrueltyIndifferenceDominationExploitsDominion
Book:Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation
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“Part of life is a quest to find that one essential person who will understand our story. But we choose wrongly so often. Over the ensuing years that person we thought understood us best ends up regarding us with pity, indifference, or active dislike. Those who truly care can be divided into two categories: those who understand us, and those who forgive our worst sins. Rarely do we find someone capable of both.”

YearsPersonsTwoEndsStoriesCareLife IsSinWorstEssentialsCapableUnderstoodForgivingActivePityIndifferenceCategoriesDividedDislikeQuestsParts Of Life
Book:Glass Soup
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“Just — just to be clear,” he said. “You want to leave Tonks at her parents’ house and come away with us?” “She’ll be perfectly safe there, they’ll look after her,” said Lupin. He spoke with a finality bordering on indifference. “Harry, I’m sure James would have wanted me to stick with you.” “Well,” said Harry slowly, “I’m not. I’m pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren’t sticking with your own kid, actually.”

KnowsWantWellsLooksSaidKidsWantedFatherHouseParentClearSafeSticksIndifferenceSpokesFinalityWell SaidRemus LupinTonks
Author:J. K. Rowling
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“I cannot remember my past, my nose, or the colour of my eyes, or what my general opinion of myself is. Only in moments of emergency, at a crossing, at a kerb, the wish to preserve my body springs out and seizes me and stops me , here, before this omnibus. We insist, it seems, on living. Then again, indifference descends.”

MomentsBodySeemsEyePastRememberWishOpinionSpringPreservesNosesIndifferenceColourEmergenciesCrossingsMy Past
Book:The Waves
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“A display of indifference to all the actions and passions of mankind was not supposed to be such a distinguished quality at that time, I think, as I have observed it to be considered since. I have known it very fashionable indeed. I have seen it displayed with such success, that I have encountered some fine ladies and gentlemen who might as well have been born caterpillars.”

ThinkingWellsHas BeensMightActionPassionBornQualityKnownMankindFineSupposed To BeIndifferenceGentlemanDisplayDistinguishedFashionableCaterpillarsLadies And GentlemenFine Lady
Book:The Personal History of David Copperfield
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“It’s all about control. Control is illusory. No matter what university you go to, no matter what degree you hold, if your goal is to become master of your own destiny, you have more to learn. Parkinson’s is a perfect metaphor for lack of control. Every unwanted movement in my hand or arm, every twitch that I cannot anticipate or arrest, is a reminder that even in the domain of my own being, I am not calling the shots. I tried to exert control by drinking myself to a place of indifference, which just exacerbated the sense of miserable hopelessness.”

IfsMatterHandsGoalMy OwnPerfectDestinyMovementMastersArmsCallingDegreesShotsNo Matter WhatDrinkingUniversityMetaphorMiserableIndifferenceHopelessnessDomainRemindersAnticipateUnwantedIllusoryParkinsonParkinson'sLack Of ControlCalling The Shots
Author:Michael J. Fox
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