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Individuals Quotes

Browse 100 quotes about Individuals.

Individuals Quotes

“When Americans think of freedom, we usually imagine a contest between a lone individual and a powerful government. We tend to conclude that the individual should be empowered and the government kept at bay. This is all well and good. But one element of freedom is the choice of associates, and one defense of freedom is the activity of groups to sustain their members. This is why we should engage in activities that are of interest to us, our friends, our families. These need not be expressly political: Václav Havel, the Czech dissident thinker, gave the example of brewing good beer. Insofar as we take pride in these activities, and come to know others who do so as well, we are creating civil society. Sharing in an undertaking teaches us that we can trust people beyond a narrow circle of friends and families, and helps us to recognize authorities from whom we can learn. The capacity for trust and learning can make life seem less chaotic and mysterious, and democratic politics more plausible and attractive.”

GovernmentCommunityFreedomLearningDemocracyGroupsTrustCivil SocietyIndividualsGroup Activities
Book:On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
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“Most of the time, we see only what we want to see, or what others tell us to see, instead of really investigate to see what is really there. We embrace illusions only because we are presented with the illusion that they are embraced by the majority. When in truth, they only become popular because they are pounded at us by the media with such an intensity and high level of repetition that its mere force disguises lies and truths. And like obedient schoolchildren, we do not question their validity and swallow everything up like medicine. Why? Because since the earliest days of our youth, we have been conditioned to accept that the direction of the herd, and authority anywhere — is always right.”

PeopleThinkingWarPhilosophyTruthLyingCulturePoliticsFictionSocietyMankindMediaYouthMoralityAuthorityTrainingIllusionLiesMajorityCorruptionDeceptionProgrammingFree WillWrongSheepRightPopularityThinkPop CultureConditioningMisleadCorruptRight And WrongDeceptiveIllusionsMass MediaFollowMassesIndividualsPopularHerd MentalityMass CultureFollow Your Own PathFree ThinkersQuestion EverythingSociety And CultureHerdDecieveAuthority QuotesDirty PoliticsBad LeadershipMajority ViewFabricationsFraud And ConspiracyMisguideQuestion AuthoritySocial ProblemIndividuals Quotes
Book:Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
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“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests.”

PhilosophyTruthJusticeFreedomSocietyTheoryLiberalismIndividualsSocial Institutions
Book:A Theory of Justice
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“Yet again, if the fixed nature of matter prevents it from being always, and in all its dispositions, equally agreeable even to a single soul, much less is it possible for the matter of the universe at any moment to be distributed so that it is equally convenient and pleasurable to each member of a society. If a man traveling in one direction is having a journey down hill, a man going in the opposite direction must be going up hill. If even a pebble lies where I want it to lie, it cannot, except by a coincidence, be where you want it to lie. And this is very far from being an evil: on the contrary, it furnishes occasion for all those acts of courtesy, respect, and unselfishness by which love and good humor and modesty express themselves. But it certainly leaves the way open to a great evil, that of competition and hostility.”

LoveRealityPleasureCompetitionCourtesyHostilityConvenienceIndividuals
Book:The Problem of Pain
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“Of all individuals, the hated, the shunned, and the peculiar are arguably most themselves. They wear no masks whatsoever in order to be accepted and liked; they do seem most guarded, but only by their own hands: as compared to the populace, they are naked.”

RealPsychologySocietyLonelinessHonestyAcceptanceStrangeSolitudeUniqueNakedVulnerableHatedOddFakeIsolationMaskShyBe YourselfPeculiarIntrovertWeirdLonerOutcastOriginalHermitsAlienIndividualsNudeFrontPopulaceShunned
Book:Healology
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“They are taught everywhere, from advertisements to schools and from media to relationships, that they must always follow their instincts, that if they are not "self-confident," they will not be loved by anyone, or that they must change things "to make the world a better place" and "contribute to the common good," which leads them to have a primal, worldly view and an empty, shallow sense of individuality.”

IndividualIndividualityUnconsciousIndividualismUnconsciousnessSuperficialityIndividualsRobotEarthlyBounded
Author:Sov8840
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“So you want to be famous? You want to inspire large groups of people? You want to be recognized and appreciated by thousands or even millions? Stop trying to do it by speaking to the masses. Do it by speaking to individuals. If what you have is truly amazing and unique and worth sharing, individuals will share it. It is always about the individual, no matter how big you get. Remember that.”

FamePopularityMassesIndividualsBeing PopularBecoming Famous
Book:Single Dad Laughing: The Best of Year One
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“Your special spiritual gifts and talents are your calling.”

Inspirational QuotesHopeLeadershipWorkHealingMusicWise WordsCallingDespairChristian LifeFaith QuotesLeadersYouMissionarySpiritual LifeSpiritual WisdomMissionUniquenessChristian QuotesGiftsPeople QuotesTalentsYour LifeEducational QuotesHealthy HabitsUplifting QuotesCalling PeopleTeam SpiritArtistic ExpressionTalent QuotesArtists LifeIndividualsPeople SkillsDaily Inspirational QuotesStudent PotentialSpiritual Quotes FaithLearner QuotesGift Of GodMediation Quotes
Book:Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind
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“When the lights go off in a movie theatre, everyone becomes this one entity: the audience watching the film. And most films aim to get the same emotions out of people. The same reactions. To laugh or be scared or cry or be inspired. The audience goes in as individuals and comes out as people who’ve all experienced the same thing, are all feeling the same way.”

PeopleFeelingsEmotionsReactionsMoviesIndividualsFilms
Book:This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story
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“There is history the way Tolstoy imagined it, as a great, slow-moving weather system in which even tsars and generals are just leaves before the storm. And there is history the way Hollywood imagines it, as a single story line in which the right move by the tsar or the wrong move by the general changes everything. Most of us, deep down, are probably Hollywood people. We like to invent “what if” scenarios--what if x had never happened, what if y had happened instead?--because we like to believe that individual decisions make a difference: that, if not for x, or if only there had been y, history might have plunged forever down a completely different path. Since we are agents, we have an interest in the efficacy of agency.”

HistoryFateAgentsDecisionsPredestinationIndividualsTolstoy
Author:Louis Menand
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“I have always lived in a world in which I'm just a spot in history. My life is not the important point. I'm just part of the continuum, and that continuum, to me, is a marvelous thing. The history of life, and the history of the planet, should go on and on and on and on. I cannot conceive of anything in the universe that has more meaning than that." [Sheri S. Tepper: Speaking to the Universe, Locus Magazine, September 1998]”

WorldHumanityUniverseHistorySocietyMankindContinuityContinuumIndividuals
Author:Sheri S. Tepper
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“I've also read hundreds of memoirs and spoken with thousands of people about their own singular lives, and I'm here to tell you that each particular life is far more astounding and unpredictable than any of the generalizations scholars and social scientists make about groups of people. If you want to understand humanity, you have to focus on the thoughts and emotions of individuals, not just data about groups.”

LifeStoriesHumanityGroupsLivesMemoirsIndividualsGeneralizations
Book:How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
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“Take lightly what you hear about individuals. We need not distort trust for our paltry little political agendas. We tend to trust soulless, carried information more than we trust soulful human beings; but really most people aren't so bad once you sit down and have an honest, one-on-one conversation with them, once, with an open heart, you listen to their explanations as to why they act the way they act, or say what they say, or do what they do.”

PeopleLoveHumansHeartSoulFeelingsTruthSuccessFaithHumanityPoliticsBeliefFearPeaceUnderstandingFriendshipEmotionCompassionTechnologyPsychologyGraceRelationshipMediaHonestyInformationAcceptanceTrustCommunicationConversationJudgmentNewsEmpathyRacismForgivenessMercyPrejudiceProsperityGenuineAuthenticityFearlessPropagandaAgendasBigotryGossipBullyingFeelingSympathySincerityFearfulBiasMisunderstandingRidiculeMisunderstoodDiscernmentOpen MindPsychiatristFearlessnessDistortionSlanderOpen HeartPersonalUnderstanding OthersSoulfulTrustworthinessLibelIndividualsSoullessCyber BullyingExplanationsEmotionlessPrejudgmentTrustfulHear Say
Book:Healology
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“No two persons can learn something and experience it in the same way.”

WritingMindCharacterLife LessonsValuesChoicesGrowthDifferencesVisionCreativePathSeeingJourneyInfluenceBooksPerspectivePersonalityMoralityLessonsPerceptionPersonal GrowthWordsIntelligenceCaringPersonal DevelopmentUniquenessActionsFamily LifeVisionariesUpbringingExperiencesPersonal ExperiencesBelief SystemsFamily ValuesSeeing The WorldReactionIndividualsJourneysUncaringBackgroundInternalizingTwo PeopleSpiritual ExperiencesDigestingPersonalizingPersonalizing ExperiencesStages Of Evolution
Author:Shannon L. Alder
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“When you can find your own axis, you can revolve around it, for when you revolve your life on someone outside of you, you lose your own alignment. Just as the earth revolves around its own axis daily and through this eternal gentle revolving it also revolves around the sun, if you don’t find your own axis and you don’t gently revolve, you cannot be for anyone. Then, once you have centered on your axis and someone else who has also centered on theirs is brought into your world, the two of you can come together and there is a collision of axes and you shift from your center. This is the sensation of ‘falling in love’.”

LoveWomenMarriageRelationshipSelf LoveDignityIndependenceAttractionManIndividualsCodependenceAxis
Book:Don't Think Of a Blue Ball
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“The loss of freedom represents a profound threat to individuals and societies alike. It undermines fundamental human rights, stifles creativity and innovation, and erodes the foundations of democratic governance. When individuals are deprived of the ability to express themselves, make choices freely, or participate fully in civic life, the fabric of society weakens. Moreover, restrictions on freedom can lead to increased inequality, social unrest, and a diminished quality of life for all. Preserving and defending freedom is therefore not merely a matter of personal preference but a vital safeguard against tyranny and oppression, ensuring a future where dignity, justice, and progress prevail.”

IndividualFreedomCreativityRightsSocietyExpressionInnovationThreatHuman RightsIndividuals
Author:James William Steven Parker
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“It turns out that indecision is a path itself; but figuratively, a vertical path - up or down - meaning it isn't always a fruitless path. One is forgotten, but the other is glorified. To be what they call 'middle-of-the-road' in most cases just means you have a hard time figuring out who between options is dumber. So quite often those who refused to decide were, after all, the bold individuals, the influential ones, the creative ones, those who snatched their own authority.”

PoliticsLeftDecisionCreativityMiddleRepublicanAuthorityIndependentIndependenceDemocraticConservativeRightRefusalInfluentialIndecisionIndependent ThoughtLiberalIndividualsMiddle Of The Road
Book:Killosophy
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“The world population is nearing seven billion. John Travolta and Farrah Fawcett didn’t procreate and produce all seven thousand million of us. Audrey Hepburn and Burt Lancaster didn’t personally populate the world. Almost every child that was ever born is the byproduct of two everyday people who found each other attractive enough to go jump in the sack together. Almost every child that was ever born came about because two everyday people thought the other was attractive enough to warrant a second glance. If you want proof that attraction belongs to the individual, go sit on a bench at the mall and look at all the different couples walking by. You will believe that there literally is someone for everyone.”

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Book:Single Dad Laughing: The Best of Year One
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“If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg. Why? Because each of us is an egg, a unique soul enclosed in a fragile egg. Each of us is confronting a high wall. The high wall is the system which forces us to do the things we would not ordinarily see fit to do as individuals . . . We are all human beings, individuals, fragile eggs. We have no hope against the wall: it's too high, too dark, too cold. To fight the wall, we must join our souls together for warmth, strength. We must not let the system control us -- create who we are. It is we who created the system. (Jerusalem Prize acceptance speech, JERUSALEM POST, Feb. 15, 2009)”

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Author:Haruki Murakami
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