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Inscrutable Quotes

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Inscrutable Quotes

“Princes rule the people, and their own passions rule Princes; but Providence can over-rule the whole, and draw the instruments of his inscrutable purposes from the vices, no less than the virtues of Kings.”

PeopleWholePurposePassionVirtueKingsDrawsInstrumentsVicesProvidenceInscrutable
Book:Lord Chesterfield's advice to his son on men and manners. To which are added, selections from Colton's 'Lacon'.
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“The ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be counteracted by the utmost efforts of human power or wisdom, resignation, and as far as the strength of our reason and religion can carry us, a cheerful acquiescence to the Divine Will, is what we are to aim.”

WayHumansReasonEyeHumanityJusticeEffortDivineAimProvidenceShallowCheerfulResignationInscrutableAcquiescenceHuman PowerDivine Will
Book:The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, 1745-1799: prepared under the direction of the United States George Washington bicentennial commission and published by authority of Congress
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“The determinations of Providence are always wise, often inscrutable; and, though its decrees appear to bear hard upon us at times, is nevertheless meant for gracious purposes.”

HardPurposeWiseBearsDeterminationProvidenceNeverthelessGraciousDecreeInscrutable
Book:Correspondence and miscellaneous papers relating to the American revolution. June, 1775, to July, 1776 (v. 3); July, 1776, to July, 1777 (v. 4); July, 1777, to July, 1778 (v. 5); July, 1778, to March, 1780 (v. 6); March, 1780, to April, 1781 (v. 7); April, 1781, to December, 1783 (v. 8)
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“Colour, as the strange and magnificent expression of the inscrutable spectrum of Eternity, is beautiful and important to me as a painter; I use it to enrich the canvas and to probe more deeply into the object. Colour also decided, to a certain extent, my spiritual outlook, but it is subordinated to life, and above all, to the treatment of form. Too much emphasis on colour at the expense of form and space would make a double manifestation of itself on the canvas, and this would verge on craft work.”

ImportantUseBeautifulSpiritualFormCertainSpaceToo MuchObjectsStrangeExpressionDecidedEternityPainterCraftsManifestationColourTreatmentExpensesMagnificentCanvasEmphasisOutlookSpectrumVergeInscrutable
Author:Max Beckmann
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“Jesus will turn your sorrow into joy. One can only imagine the shock and bewilderment the Apostles felt when the Lord told them he must go away. Though they could not understand it at the time, his departure was for their benefit. The same is true of the unexpected setbacks and tragedies we experience in this life...When I consider the times when I have been confounded by events that seemed so contrary to what I thought God wanted for me, I should be mindful that they were permitted by the Lord's inscrutable providence for my own good, as difficult as that might be to fathom.”

ShouldHas BeensMightWantedJoyTurnsJesusFeltDifficultMy OwnLordImagineEventsSorrowBenefitsTragedyContraryThis LifeShockUnexpectedGoing AwayProvidenceApostlesSetbackDepartureFathomBewildermentInscrutable
Author:Patrick Madrid
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“A total reverse of fortune, coming unawares upon a man who 'stood in high degree,' happy and apparently secure,-such was the tragic fact to the mediaeval mind. It appealed strongly to common human sympathy and pity; it startled also another feeling, that of fear. It frightened men and awed them. It made them feel that man is blind and helpless, the plaything of an inscrutable power, called by the name of Fortune or some other name,-a power which appears to smile on him for a little, and then on a sudden strikes him down in his pride.”

MenFeelsMindHumansLittlesMadeFactsFeelingsNamesCommonPrideDegreesBlindFortuneStrikesPitySecureTragicFrightenedReverseHelplessInscrutable
Author:A. C. Bradley
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“There was something I needed to say. “Sorry. About before.” Fang shot a sideways glance at me, his eyes dark and inscrutable, as always. He looked back out at the water. I didn’t expect any more acknowledgment than that. Fang never- “You almost gave me a heart attack,” he said quietly. “When I saw you, and all that blood . . .” He threw a small rock as hard as he could down the beach. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t do it again,” he said. I swallowed hard. “I won’t.” Something changed right then, but I didn’t know what.”

KnowsHeartSaidHardEyeWaterDarkSawsBloodRocksChangedNeededShotsSorryBeachHis EyesI'm SorryGlancesFangsHeart AttackSidewaysAcknowledgmentInscrutableSaying Sorry
Author:James Patterson
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“I didn’t look to the shore much after this first long and memorable glimpse. I looked up at Heaven and her court of mythical creatures fixed forever in the all powerful and inscrutable stars. Ink black was the night beyond them, and they so like jewels that old poetry came back to me, the sound even of hymns sung only by men.”

MenFirstsLooksLongNightHeavenStarsSoundBlackPowerfulForeverCreaturesCourtFixedMemorableShoreGlimpseJewelsInkHymnsInscrutableMythical Creatures
Author:Anne Rice
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“For this is the truth about our soul, he thought, who fish-like inhabits deep seas and plies among obscurities threading her way between the boles of giant weeds, over sun-flickered spaces and on and on into gloom, cold, deep, inscrutable; suddenly she shoots to the surface and sports on the wind-wrinkled waves; that is, has a positive need to brush, scrape, kindle herself, gossiping.”

WayNeedsSoulSportsSpaceSunSeaWindColdWaveFishesSurfaceGiantsWeedBrushesObscurityGloomKindlesInscrutableDeep SeaPlies
Book:Mrs Dalloway
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“to become aware of the ineffable is to part company with words...the tangent to the curve of human experience lies beyond the limits of language. the world of things we perceive is but a veil. It’s flutter is music, its ornament science, but what it conceals is inscrutable. It’s silence remains unbroken; no words can carry it away. Sometimes we wish the world could cry and tell us about that which made it pregnant with fear--filling grandeur. Sometimes we wish our own heart would speak of that which made it heavy with wonder.”

WorldHumansHeartMadeSometimesLyingSpeakLanguageWishSilenceCompanyWonderCryLimitsRemainsHeavyMade ItPerceivePregnantCurvesVeilsHuman ExperienceFillingGrandeurOrnamentsUnbrokenIneffableInscrutable
Author:Abraham Joshua Heschel
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“Tell me something, Raphael?" He was already turning, heading to the door. "What is it you'd like to know, Guild Hunter?" She hid her smile at his slip. "What do I call you? Husband? Mate? Boyfriend?" Stopping with his hand on the doorknob, he shot her an inscrutable look. "You can call me 'Master'.”

KnowsLooksHandsDoorsMastersHusbandShotsCall MeMatesSlipsStoppingHuntersHeadingsHer SmileRaphaelInscrutableGuilds
Book:Archangel's Kiss
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“King Duncan looked up and swept his gaze slowly around the room. Cassandra, he saw, was defiant as ever. Arald's face was set and determined. Halt and Crowley's faces were inscrutable in the shadows of their cowls. The two younger men were both a little wide-eyed- obviously uncomfortable at the emotions that had been bared in the room. There was still a hint of admiration in Will's eyes, however, as he continued to stare at the Baron. Rodney was nodding in agreement with Arald's statements, while Gilan made a show of studying his nails.”

MenLittlesMadeStillsTwoShowsEyeFacesRoomsEmotionStudySawsKingsShadowDeterminedWideStatementsStaringUncomfortableAgreementAdmirationNailsHintsHaltNoddingInscrutableDuncan
Author:John Flanagan
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“So inscrutable is the arrangement of causes and consequences in this world, that a two-penny duty on tea, unjustly imposed in a sequestered part of it, changes the condition of all its inhabitants.”

WorldTwoCausesConditionsThis WorldDutyConsequenceTeaArrangementsPenniesInscrutable
Book:Memoirs, correspondence and private papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. by T.J. Randolph
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“He gave me an inscrutable look that said maybe he would and maybe he wouldn't. Mister was a cat, and cats generally considered it the obligation of the universe to provide shelter, sustenance, and amusement as required. I think Mister considered it beneath his dignity to plan for the future.”

ThinkingLooksSaidUniversePlansDignityCatObligationShelterAmusementSustenanceInscrutable
Book:Turn Coat: A Novel of the Dresden Files
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“Do you like my working persona?" Saiman asked softly. "An aesthetically pleasing combination of intelligence and elegance, wouldn't you say?" Aren't we pleased with ourselves. "Are you Chinese, Japanese, half-white? I can't tell, your features are neither here nor there." "I'm inscrutable, mysterious and intellectual." He forgot conceited. "Did you have any trouble getting that ego through the door?" Saiman didn't even blink. "Not in the least.”

I CanWhiteHalfTroubleDoorsEgoIntellectualMysteriousChineseCombinationFeaturesElegancePersonaBlinkConceitedInscrutable
Book:Magic Bleeds
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“The name that no human research can discover-- But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name.”

KnowsMindHumansReasonNamesMeditationResearchCatProfoundContemplationEngagedIneffableInscrutable
Author:T. S. Eliot
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“Every day is like a kid's drawing, offered to you with a strange mix of ceremoniousness and offhand disregard, yours for the keeping. Some of the days are rich and complicated, others inscrutable, others little more than a stray gray mark on a ragged page. Some you manage to hang on to, though your reasons for doing so are often hard to fathom. But most of them you just ball up and throw away.”

LittlesHardReasonKidsRichStrangePagesBallsMarkComplicatedDrawingManageGrayDisregardFathomRaggedInscrutable
Author:Michael Chabon
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