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Mere Quotes

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Mere Quotes

“Art is mind and heart and touch as much and more than it is mere instrument, technique - without which however it cannot exist at all.”

MindHeartArtArt IsInstrumentsMereTechniqueHeart And Mind
Book:The Bernard Berenson Treasury: A Selection from the Works, Unpublished Writings, Letters, Diaries, and Journals of the Most Celebrated Humanist and Art Historian of Our Times, 1887-1958
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“A layman will no doubt find it hard to understand how pathological disorders of the body and mind can be eliminated by 'mere' words. He will feel that he is being asked to believe in magic. And he will not be so very wrong, for the words which we use in our everyday speech are nothing other than watered-down magic. But we shall have to follow a roundabout path in order to explain how science sets about restoring to words a part at least of their former magical power.”

FeelsMindBelieveHardUseBodyOrderPathDoubtMagicSpeechMereEverydayFormerNo DoubtDisorderMind And BodyPsychoanalysisRestoringLayman
Book:The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud: A case of hysteria, Three essays on sexuality, and other works
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“That the mere matter of a poem, for instance--its subject, its given incidents or situation; that the mere matter of a picture--the actual circumstances of an event, the actual topography of a landscape--should be nothing without the form, the spirit of the handling, that this form, this mode of handling, should become an end in itself, should penetrate every part of the matter;Mthis is what all art constantly strives after, and achieves in different degrees.”

ShouldArtDifferentEndsMatterFormSpiritPoetryGivenSituationAchieveSubjectsEventsPoetCircumstancesDegreesUnityMereStriveInstanceLandscapeStrifePenetrateIncidentsTopography
Author:Walter Pater
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“What distinguished man from animals was the human capacity for symbolic thought, the capacity which was inseparable from the development of language in which words were not mere signals, but signifiers of something other than themselves. Yet the first symbols were animals. What distinguished men from animals was born of their relationship with them.”

MenFirstsHumansLanguageBornAnimalDevelopmentCapacityMereSymbolsHumankindSignalsDistinguishedSymbolicInseparableHuman Capacity
Book:About Looking
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“Women of a selected class, by the use of slaves and servants have become inactive, the mere recipients of values, no longer creators but "feeding on unearned wealth." This hurts their nature and debases the social fabric. If a woman does no labor in her home which could properly make her self-supporting outside that home she is in duty bound to do something outside her home to justify her claim to support.”

IfsDoeSelfUseHomeValuesSocialHurtWealthClassSupportDutyLaborClaimsSlaveMereBoundsCreatorServantJustifyFabricFeedingSelected
Book:Woman's Share in Social Culture
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“The mere fact of leaving ultimate social control in the hands of the people has not guaranteed that men will be able to conduct their lives as free men. Those societies where men know they are free are often democracies, but sometimes they have strong chiefs and kings.they have, however, one common characteristic: they are all alike in making certain freedoms common to all citizens, and inalienable.”

PeopleKnowsMenSometimesFactsHandsAbleCertainStrongSocialFreedomCommonDemocracyKingsCitizensUltimateMereLeavingChiefsCharacteristicsMonarchyFree ManSocial Control
Book:An Anthropologist at Work
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“The Nature of Familiar Letters, written, as it were, to the Moment, while the Heart is agitated by Hopes and Fears, on Events undecided, must plead an Excuse for the Bulk of a Collection of this Kind. Mere Facts and Characters might be comprised in a much smaller Compass: But, would they be equally interesting?”

HeartKindMomentsCharacterFactsMightInterestingWrittenEventsLettersMereExcuseFamiliarCollectionsCompassHopes And FearsUndecided
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Richardson (Illustrated)
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“I shall venture to affirm, that there never was a popular religion, which represented the state of departed souls in such a light,as would render it eligible for human kind, that there should be such a state. These fine models of religion are the mere product of philosophy. For as death lies between the eye and the prospect of futurity, that event is so shocking to nature, that it must throw a gloom on all the regions which lie beyond it; and suggest to the generality of mankind the idea of Cerberus and Furies; devils, and torrents of fire and brimstone.”

ShouldHumansKindIdeasSoulStatesPhilosophyLightEyeDeathLyingReligionFireMankindEventsProductsFineModelsDevilMereRegionsAfterlifeVentureShockingFuryGloomDepartedGeneralitiesCerberusDeparted Soul
Book:Dialogues and Natural History of Religion
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“Justice is a moral virtue, merely because it has that tendency to the good of mankind, and indeed is nothing but an artificial invention to that purpose. The same may be said of allegiance, of the laws of nations, of modesty, and of good manners. All these are mere human contrivances for the interest of society.”

HumansMaySaidLawPurposeNationsInterestJusticeMoralVirtueSocietyMankindMereInventionTendenciesMannersGood ManArtificialModestyAllegianceGood MannersMoral Virtues
Book:A Treatise of Human Nature
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“Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.”

Has BeensRealityFoundPoliticsJusticeHistoryDemocracyRightsGenerationsPolicyEqualEthicsConstitutionElectionHistoricalMereHuman RightsContraryDiscriminationIdeologyVotingCyclesTexasEqual RightsViolationDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceRight To VotePartisanshipRacial DiscriminationArtifactsVoting Rights ActRedistricting
Author:Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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“But nothing is better than a truth which appears not to have the semblance of truth. There is always something incomprehensible about the great heroic deeds performed by humanity because they rise so far beyond the mediocre measure of mere mortals; but it is always only because of the incredible feats that human beings have accomplished that humanity recovers its faith in itself.”

HumansTruthHumanityHuman BeingsMereIncrediblesDeedsMortalsAccomplishedHeroicMediocreFeatsSemblanceMere MortalsHeroic Deeds
Author:Stefan Zweig
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“Ancient worship . . . does truth. All one has to do is to study the ancient liturgies to see that liturgies clearly do truth by their order and in their substance. This is why so many young people today are now adding ancient elements to their worship. . . . This recovery of ancient practices is not the mere restoration of ritual but a deep, profound, and passionate engagement with truth—truth that forms and shapes the spiritual life into a Christlikeness that issues forth in the call to a godly and holy life and into a deep commitment to justice and to the needs of the poor.”

PeopleNeedsDoeTodaySpiritualFormYoungOrderJusticePoorPracticeStudyIssuesHolyShapesElementsWorshipCommitmentMereProfoundAncientPassionateRecoverySubstanceRitualEngagementSpiritual LifeGodlyRestorationLiturgyHoly LifeChristlikeness
Author:Robert E. Webber
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“Plato--who may have understood better what forms the mind of man than do some of our contemporaries who want their children exposed only to "real" people and everyday events--knew what intellectual experience made for true humanity. He suggested that the future citizens of his ideal republic begin their literary education with the telling of myths, rather than with mere facts or so-called rational teachings.”

PeopleMenWantMindMayChildrenMadeRealFactsFormHumanityEducationTeachingEventsCitizensIntellectualUnderstoodIdealsMereEverydayMythRationalRepublicExposedPlato
Book:The uses of enchantment: the meaning and importance of fairy tales
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“... religion (ought to be if it isn't) a great deal more than mere gratification of the instinct for worship linked with the straight-teaching of irreproachable credos. Religion must be life made true; and life is action, growth, development--begun now and ending never.”

IfsLifeMadeActionLife IsReligionGrowthDealsTeachingDevelopmentOughtWorshipMereInstinctLinkedGratificationCredo
Book:The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper: Including A Voice from the South and Other Important Essays, Papers, and Letters
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“Human beings are distinguished by a capacity for experience as well as by their behavior, and homosexuality is as much a matter ofemotion as of genital manipulation.... As we each examine our own sense of identity we realize how much more complex is the question of homosexuality than a mere Kinsey-like computation of orgasms.”

HumansWellsMatterRealizingHuman BeingsIdentityBehaviorCapacityMereComplexesManipulationHomosexualityDistinguishedComputationKinsey
Book:Homosexual; oppression and liberation
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“I have always been, am, and propose to remain a mere scholar. All that I have ever proposed to myself is to say, this and this I have learned; thus and thus have I learned it; go thou and learn better; but do not thrust on my shoulders the responsibility for your own laziness if you elect to take, on my authority, conclusions the value of which you ought to have tested for yourself.”

IfsValuesEducationResponsibilityLearningOughtAuthorityMereShouldersConclusionScholarLazinessI Have LearnedTestedProposeThrust
Author:Thomas Huxley
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“It is the task of the scenarist to invent little pieces of business that are so characteristic and give so deep an insight into his creatures, that their personalities clearly and organically unfold before the eyes of the audience so that the latter feel that the actions of these people are contingent upon their characters, that there exists some kind of a logical fate, and that nothing is left to mere accident or coincidence.”

PeopleGivingFeelsKindLittlesCharacterEyeActionLeftAudiencePiecesFatePersonalityCreaturesTasksMereInsightAccidentsCharacteristicsLatterLogicalCoincidence
Author:Ernst Lubitsch
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“The mere existence of an additional child or children in the family could signify Less. Less time alone with parents. Less attention for hurts and disappointments. Less approval for accomplishments. . . . No wonder children struggle so fiercely to be first or best. No wonder they mobilize all their energy to have more or most. Or better still, all.”

FirstsChildrenStillsEnergyParentHurtExistenceAttentionWonderStruggleMereDisappointmentAccomplishmentApprovalSiblingMe AloneRivalryAlone TimeSibling Rivalry
Author:Adele Faber
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“We think of religion as the symbolic expression of our highest moral ideals; we think of magic as a crude aggregate of superstitions. Religious belief seems to become mere superstitious credulity if we admit any relationship with magic. On the other hand our anthropological and ethnographical material makes it extremely difficult to separate the two fields.”

IfsThinkingTwoHandsSeemsReligionBeliefDifficultReligiousMoralMagicFieldsExpressionMaterialsHighestIdealsMereSuperstitionsSymbolicCrudeReligious BeliefSuperstitiousCredulity
Book:An essay on man: an introduction to a philosophy of human culture
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“When a doctor arrives to attend some patient of the working class, he ought not to feel his pulse the moment he enters, as is nearly always done without regard to the circumstances of the man who lies sick; he should not remain standing while he considers what he ought to do, as though the fate of a human being were a mere trifle; rather let him condescend to sit down for awhile.”

MenFeelsShouldHumansDoneMomentsLyingHuman BeingsClassFateHe ManOughtCircumstancesStandingDoctorsSickRegardMerePatientOccupationWorking ClassPulseTrifles
Book:Diseases of Workers
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“It may be a mere patriotic bias, though I do not think so, but it seems to me that the English aristocracy is not only the type, but is the crown and flower of all actual aristocracies; it has all the oligarchical virtues as well as all the defects. It is casual, it is kind, it is courageous in obvious matters; but it has one great merit that overlaps even these. The great and very obvious merit of the English aristocracy is that nobody could possibly take it seriously.”

ThinkingWellsKindMayMatterSeemsVirtueFlowerTypeMereObviousMeritCourageousPatrioticCrownsBiasDefectsCasualAristocracy
Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton
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“Catholicism is not ritualism; it may in the future be fighting some sort of superstitious and idolatrous exaggeration of ritual. Catholicism is not asceticism; it has again and again in the past repressed fanatical and cruel exaggerations of asceticism. Catholicism is not mere mysticism; it is even now defending human reason against the mere mysticism of the Pragmatists.”

HumansMayReasonPastFightingMereMysticismCatholicismRitualAgain And AgainExaggerationSuperstitiousRepressedAsceticismHuman ReasonPragmatists
Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton
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“Bowing down in blind credulity, as is my custom, before mere authority and the tradition of the elders, superstitiously swallowing a story I could not test at the time by experiment or private judgment, I am firmly of the opinion that I was born on the 29th of May, 1874, on Campden Hill, Kensington; and baptised according to the formularies of the Church of England in the little church of St. George opposite the large Waterworks Tower that dominated that ridge.”

MayLittlesBookStoriesBornChurchOpinionAuthorityJudgmentTraditionTestsOppositesEnglandBlindMereExperimentsHillsCustomsTowersEldersCredulitySwallowingRidgesChurch Of EnglandBowing Down
Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton
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