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Motive Quotes

Browse 1214 quotes about Motive.

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Motive Quotes

“Psychopaths view any social exchange as a ‘feeding opportunity,’ a contest or a test of wills in which there can be only one winner. Their motives are to manipulate and take, ruthlessly and without remorse.”

OpportunitySocialViewsPsychologyTestsWinnerMotiveManipulationInteractionContestsFeedingRemorseManipulateInteractingPsychoPsychopathSocial InteractionInteracting With OthersManipulator
Book:Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
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“The very desire to seek spiritual enlightenment is in fact nothing but the grasping tendency of the ego itself, and thus the very search for enlightenment prevents it. The 'perfect practice' is therefore not to search for enlightenment but to inquire into the motive for seeking itself. You obviously seek in order to avoid the present, and yet the present alone holds the answer: to seek forever is to miss the point forever. You always already are enlightened Spirit, and therefore to seek Spirit is simply to deny Spirit.”

FactsSpiritualSpiritDesireOrderGrowthAnswersPerfectPracticeForeverMissingEgoMindfulnessEnlightenmentSeekingDenyTendenciesMotiveEnlightenedGraspingSpiritual EnlightenmentPerfect Practice
Author:Ken Wilber
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“Mankind are divided into sects, and individuals think very differently on religious subjects, from the purest motives; and that gracious common Parent, who loves all his children alike, beholds with approbation every one who worships him in sincerity.”

ThinkingChildrenIndividualParentReligiousCommonSubjectsMankindWorshipMotiveDividedSincerityGraciousSects
Book:Improvements in Education, as it Respects the Industrious Classes of the Community: Containing Among Other Important Particulars, an Account of the Institution for the Education of One Thousand Poor Children, Borough Road, Southwark; and of the New System of Education on which it is Conducted
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“Motive is also important in our quest for knowledge and in the questioning that accompanies it. In commenting on our duty to educate for eternity, Eugene England writes: Teaching or learning - with the Spirit of God simply means (though it is not simple) that we are doing so with an eye single to eternal, not worldly, values, with an eye single to lasting development of the mind and spirit and to useful service to others, especially to aid in their lasting development of mind and spirit.”

WritingMindMeanImportantEyeSpiritValuesSimpleKnowledgeLearningTeachingDutyDevelopmentEternalEternityEnglandAidsMotiveLastingEducateQuestsQuestioningWorldlyAccompanyService To OthersSpirit Of God
Author:Dallin H. Oaks
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“It is a juvenile notion that a society needs a lofty purpose and a shining vision to achieve much. Both in the market place and on the battlefield men who set their hearts on toys have often displayed unequal initiative and drive. And one must be ignorant of the creative process to look for a close correspondence between motive and achievement in the world of thought and imagination.”

MenWorldNeedsLooksHeartPurposeProcessImaginationVisionCreativeAchieveAchievementShiningNotionIgnorantMotiveToysCreative ProcessInitiativeBattlefieldsLoftyCorrespondenceJuvenile
Author:Eric Hoffer
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“A patriot is he whose public conduct is regulated by one single motive, the love of his country; who, as an agent in parliament, has, for himself, neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment, but refers every thing to the common interest”

CountryInterestCommonKindnessAgentsMotivePatriotismResentmentPatriotParliamentCommon Interests
Book:The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With An Essay on His Life and Genius
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“Take a good long look at human beings in their actual practices and motives; bring the utmost psychological and bio-economic factors to bear on making sense of their illusions and delusions. What then would the truth have to be, such that such human beings are FIT TO KNOW IT at all, even provisionally or tentatively?”

KnowsHumansLooksLongTruthHuman BeingsPracticeEconomicBearsFitIllusionPsychologicalFactorsMake SenseMotiveDelusionFitnessBiosGood Long
Author:Kenny Smith
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“In later years, it was common, and I was guilty in this respect, to question the motives of those who joined the new British armies at the outbreak of the Great War, but it must, in their honour and fairness to their memories, be said that they were motivated by the highest purpose, and died in their tens of thousands in Flanders and Gallipoli, believing that they were giving their lives in the cause of human liberty everywhere, including Ireland.”

GivingYearsBelieveHumansSaidWarPurposeCausesMemoriesCommonLibertyHistoryHighestArmyDiedIncludingBritishGuiltyMotiveHonourMotivatedIrelandFairnessGreat WarOutbreaksFlandersBritish ArmyGallipoli
Author:Sean Lemass
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“If we understand the mechanisms and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”

IfsThinkingMindPersonsSocialProcessNumbersKnowingGroupsMassPatternsPropagandaMotiveDaily LifeManipulationEthicalSpheresMechanismWireMind ControlSmall Numbers
Author:Edward Bernays
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“We are not wise enough, pure enough, or strong enough to aim and sustain such a single motive over a lifetime. That way lies fanaticism or failure. But if the single motive is the master motivation of God's calling, the answer is yes. In any and all situations, both today and tomorrow's tomorrow, God's call to us is the unchanging and ultimate whence, what, why, and whither of our lives. Calling is a 'yes' to God that carries a 'no' to the chaos of modern demands. Calling is the key to tracing the story line of our lives and unriddling the meaning of our existence in a chaotic world.”

IfsWorldWayEnoughStoriesTodayLyingMotivationStrongLinesAnswersExistenceSituationWiseOur LivesModernMastersKeysTomorrowCallingPureDemandUltimateAimLifetimeChaosMotiveCarrieStrong EnoughFanaticismChaoticUnchangingTracingToday And Tomorrow
Book:The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life
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“One desire has been the ruling passion of my life. One high motive has acted like a spur upon my mind and soul. and sooner than that I should seek escape from the sacred necessity that is laid upon me, let the breath of life fail me. It is this: That in spite of all worldly opposition, God's holy ordinances shall be established again in the home, in the school and in the State for the good of the people; to carve as it were into the conscience of the nation the ordinances of the Lord, to which Bible and Creation bear witness, until the nation pays homage again to God”

PeopleShouldMindHas BeensSoulStatesHomeSchoolDesirePassionNationsPayChristianityLordFailingCreationBearsHolyConscienceBreathsSacredWitnessMotiveSpiteOppositionWorldlyRulingSpursHomageOrdinancesRuling Passion
Author:Abraham Kuyper
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“Eisner mentioned he was uncomfortable calling Kirby someone with heavy artistic intent. I paraphrase, but Eisner felt Jack was mostly concerned with hitting his page count, telling good stories, and keeping his family fed. Not pursuing some aesthetic ideal - to seek that motive in Kirby's work was, he suggested, misguided. I happened to be holding the original artwork to the Devil Dinosaur #4 double-splash, which I turned around and showed Eisner - who took a moment, and said something uncharacteristic: “Okay, I might be wrong.”

SaidMomentsStoriesMightFeltHappenedCallingPagesDevilConcernedIdealsOkayOriginalsHeavyArtisticUncomfortableMotiveFedsAestheticHittingGood StoryDinosaursArtworkMisguidedParaphrase
Author:Glen David Gold
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“Many pray for the power of God. More every year. Those prayers sound powerful, sincere, godly, and without ulterior motive. Hidden under such prayer and fervor, however, are ambition, a craving for fame, the desire to be considered a spiritual giant. The person who prays such a prayer may not even know it, but dark motives and desires are in his heartin your heart.”

KnowsYearsHeartMayPersonsSpiritualDesireSoundDarkPrayerPowerfulPrayingFameAmbitionMotiveGiantsSincereGodlyCravingPower Of GodFervorUlterior Motive
Book:The Gene Edwards Collection: A Tale of Three Kings / The Prisoner in the Third Cell / The Divine Romance
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“For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years. If this performance is devoid of all egoism, if its guiding motive is unparalleled generosity, if it is absolutely certain that there is no thought of recompense and that, in addition, it has left its visible mark upon the earth, then there can be no mistake.”

IfsYearsHumansCharacterAbleEarthCertainLeftMistakeQualityPerformancesMarkFortuneGenerosityMotiveVisibleExceptionalGood FortuneEgoismRecompense
Book:The Man Who Planted Trees
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“If we don't have a clear sense of our identity and purpose, we are much more vulnerable to Lucifer. He of course knows this and accordingly attempts to blur our vision. He lies. He shades and obliterates truth. He makes evil look good and good look unenlightened and unsophisticated. Make no mistake about it: Lucifer will do anything to derail, disappoint, dishearten, discourage, and deceive us—and particularly those who have made and are seeking to keep sacred covenants. His motives are entirely self-centered, selfish, destructive, and evil.”

IfsKnowsLooksMadeSelfLyingPurposeCoursesEvilMistakeVisionClearIdentitySacredSeekingSelfishVulnerableMotiveDestructiveShadeDeceivingLooking GoodSelf CenteredDiscouragingCovenantDisappointBlurLuciferEvil Look
Book:No Doubt about it
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“The truth of the matter is, Satan and God may want the exact same event to take place - but for different reasons. Satan's motive in Jesus' crucifixion was rebellion; God's motive was love and mercy. Satan was a secondary cause behind the Crucifixion, but it was God who ultimately wanted it, willed it, and allowed Satan to carry it out. And the same holds true for disease.”

WantMayDifferentMatterReasonWantedJesusCausesBehindsEventsDiseaseMercySatanMotiveRebellionCrucifixion
Book:A Step Further
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“A strengthened national spirit can provide the motive power to rise our people from the depths and... pour new life and vigor in the national system. The reinvigoration of the national spirit must take place in the grass roots, in every city, town and barrio in the Philippines, and it must start among our own people... To be a worthy citizen of the world one must first prove himself to be a good Filipino.”

PeopleWorldFirstsSpiritCitiesCitizensProveRootsTownsDepthWorthyGrassMotiveNew LifeVigorPhilippinesFilipino
Author:Carlos P. Romulo
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“In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded me for having an excess of feeling, saying that I was too sensitive - as if one could be in danger from feeling too much instead of too little. But my outsize emotions were well represented in books. [] there simmered all the feelings no one ever admits to.”

PeopleIfsHumansWellsLittlesBookFeelingsLyingDesireSecretEmotionToo MuchDangerRangeSensitiveMotiveExcessDiscoveringScolded
Book:The Forest for the Trees: An editor's advice to writers
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“Greed plays a role in causing unnecessary surgery, although I don't think the economic motive alone is enough to explain it. There's no doubt that if you eliminated all unnecessary surgery, most surgeons would go out of business. They'd have to look for honest work, because the surgeon gets paid when he performs surgery on you, not when you're treated some other way. In pre-paid group practices where surgeons are paid a steady salary not tied to how many operations they perform, hysterectomies and tonsillectomies occur only about one-third as often as in fee-for-service situations.”

IfsThinkingWayLooksEnoughPlaySituationRolesPracticeDoubtGroupsEconomicHonestThirdsPaidGreedTreatedOperationsMotiveNo DoubtSteadyTiedUnnecessarySurgerySalarySurgeonsFeesHonest WorkHysterectomy
Author:Robert S. Mendelsohn
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“All human life is sunk deep in untruth; the individual cannot pull it out of this well without growing profoundly annoyed with his entire past, without finding his present motives (like honor) senseless, and without opposing scorn and disdain to the passions that urge one on to the future and to the happiness in it.”

HumansWellsPastLife IsPassionIndividualGrowingHonorFindingsHuman LifeMotiveUrgesScornAnnoyedOpposingDisdainUntruth
Book:Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
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“Discipline, it has been suggested, is the means of human spiritual evolution. What provides the motive, the energy for discipline? This force I believe to be love. I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.”

BelieveHumansMeanHas BeensSelfSpiritualPurposeEnergyForceI BelieveGrowthEvolutionDisciplineMotiveSpiritual GrowthHuman SpiritNurturingSpiritual EvolutionDefine Love
Book:The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth
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