Quotessence
Home / Topics / Ordinary Quotes

Ordinary Quotes

Browse 3099 quotes about Ordinary.

Related topics

PeopleOrdinary PeopleExtraordinaryMenIfsWorldThinkingWayOrdinary LifeKnowsOrdinary ManPersonsHumansWantOrdinary ThingsArtMindLittlesWellsLooksMeanTryingKindFeelsMomentsShouldMaySeemsGivingNeedsOrdinary PersonDoeMadeCommonDifferentIdeasWritingEverydayFirstsLanguageChildrenUseCitizensExtraordinary ThingsHas BeensSelfSimpleBelieveSometimesFactsLifeMightRealSaidStoriesTurnsHappensLife IsCharacterEnoughOrdinary CitizensTwoBookLightMatterHeartRealityBigsCoursesGovernmentHuman BeingsLawSpecialWholeWould BeFeelingsHelpingShowsStatesYearsDoneGivenMiracleObjectsFoundHomeArtistSoulFormLongReasonValuesCountryDifferencesEventsHandsImportantNaturalProblemSituationmore

Ordinary Quotes

“[My poems] of course, it's symbolic, in the way that things in a poem can be - that is, pointing to something beyond its mere ordinary meaning, while also retaining all the qualities of that ordinary meaning. In other words, it's a bear, but it's also suggesting something else, just by virtue of the attention to it. But it's not "symbolic" in that way we are taught to think about things in poems.”

ThinkingWayCoursesAttentionQualityVirtueTaughtBearsOrdinaryMerePointingSymbolicSuggestingRetaining
Author:Matthew Zapruder
Create image

“The truth is that History, with its imposing capital H, is simply the amalgamation of many quotidian lives lived in very ordinary ways. History is always personal. If you read Holocaust survivor or American slavery survivor narratives, you realize all too well that these great Historical moments were personal to someone at some time.”

IfsWayWellsMomentsRealizingTruth IsOrdinarySlaveryHistoricalNarrativeSurvivorHolocaustImposingAmerican SlaveryHolocaust SurvivorAmalgamationGreat Historical
Author:Chris Abani
Create image

“If you encounter a human shadow burned permanently into the concrete in Hiroshima, you realize that this is the trace of a very ordinary person now elevated into the emblematic. Time, shame, complicity, or discomfort are the only things that make us pretend History is impersonal or far removed from the power and consequences of our every lived moment.”

IfsHumansPersonsMomentsRealizingOrdinaryShadowConsequenceShameEncountersConcreteBurnedDiscomfortHiroshimaComplicityOrdinary Person
Author:Chris Abani
Create image

“I think that those of us who are ordinary disappear easily into the backdrop of life and we take things for granted. We often wake up in our lives and wonder how we got there. But the characters I create, the people I am drawn to, are quite extraordinary (and not always in wholesome ways), and they offer us the chance to understand who we really are and how we became who we are.”

PeopleThinkingWayCharacterChanceWonderOur LivesOffersOrdinaryWake UpExtraordinaryDisappearGrantedWho We AreBackdropTaking Things For Granted
Author:Chris Abani
Create image

“You look at the absolute scorn that gets poured on a fallen celebrity, whether it's Tom Cruise or Lindsay Lohan or Marlon Brando, or Elvis when he got fat. They're not allowed the dignity of ordinary failure. And I think that plays into people's notions about Los Angeles, too. It's not allowed to be a regular city with problems.”

PeopleThinkingLooksPlayProblemCitiesOrdinaryDignityAbsolutesNotionFatsFallenLos AngelesTomsScornCruiseBrando
Author:Matthew Specktor
Create image

“[ The Finest Hours] reminded me a lot of a film I did called Unstoppable in that you have a driving thriller aspect of the film and it's not all that complicated of a story and there's a simple elegance to it. I liked that. It is also driven by a really strong romance and ordinary men doing extraordinary things. I love that.”

MenStoriesFilmRomanceStrongHoursSimpleOrdinaryAspectExtraordinaryComplicatedDrivenDrivingFinestEleganceThrillersThings I LoveOrdinary ManExtraordinary ThingsUnstoppableFinest Hour
Author:Chris Pine
Create image

“For example, John Law's Mississippi Company venture printed shares, and the money had gone up in smoke when it had been inscribed objects. The inscription made it magic and changed its meaning. That's how objects become charmed in The Arabian Nights, and they are often originally ordinary objects. The carpet is an ordinary, paltry object. The lamp is a rusty old lamp, and the bottles jinns are imprisoned within are old bottles. They are changed by the magic and the jinn's presence, and the jinn's presence is often embodied in the seal or inscription.”

MadeLawNightCompanyGoneMagicShareExampleObjectsChangedOrdinaryMade ItSmokeBottlesVentureLampsCarpetPrintedSealsMississippiCharmedInscriptionsArabianJinnArabian Nights
Author:Marina Warner
Create image

“If you want a good handbag and glasses, it's hard to get something without the brand name on it because it's so important to have the charmed inscription. The only way you do it... This handbag was the only one in the shop without a charmed inscription. It's just an ordinary bag. I went into the department store in Sloane Square, because I needed a new bag, because my old one lost its handles. Then I found this one, and I said "Why is it so cheap?" and the seller said, "Because it doesn't have a name!"”

IfsWayWantSaidImportantHardFoundNamesLostNeededOrdinaryGlassesStoresHandleBrandsDepartmentShopsBagsSquaresSellersCharmedInscriptionsHandbagsDepartment StoresBrand Names
Author:Marina Warner
Create image

“The thing is, Guantánamo is also a naval base, and they're under the delusion - especially the people on the naval side who are not dealing with the prison - that they can just pretend this is an ordinary Caribbean naval base. For them, it's: "Why are you making such a big deal out of the most notorious prison in the world?" It's like if people living near Buchenwald said they wanted to talk about the other lovely things in the region besides the camp.”

PeopleIfsWorldSaidBigsWantedSidesDealsOrdinaryPrisonLovelyDelusionRegionsCampsBig DealCaribbeanNavalNotoriousLovely ThingsBuchenwald
Author:Molly Crabapple
Create image

“I had a fantasy as a child that I might be a writer someday. I always thought that meant you went to New York or Paris. But after that intense summer, I never thought that I wanted to live any place but Chicago. It also made me see what the stakes were in the civil rights movement. And it made me see what real hatred was like and the forms that it took. But it also made me understand how powerless ordinary people feel in their lives.”

PeopleFeelsChildrenMadeRealMightWantedFormFantasyRightsNew YorkMovementSummerOrdinaryHatredIntenseCivil RightsParisSomedayChicagoStakesPowerlessOrdinary PeopleCivil Rights Movement
Author:Sara Paretsky
Create image

“Rupert Murdoch gave up his Australian citizenship in order to buy television stations in the United States, which is symptomatic of the way Murdoch operates. Everything is for sale, including his birthright. The Mirror is not read by soccer hooligans. It's read by ordinary people of this country. That comment is simply patronizing. But to be criticized by the Moonies and Murdoch in one breath is really just a fine moment for me.”

PeopleWayCountryStatesMomentsOrderUnitedUnited StatesTelevisionFineOrdinaryBreathsMirrorsIncludingSoccerStationsCommentCitizenshipOrdinary PeopleAustralianGave UpBirthrightPatronizing
Author:John Pilger
Create image

“We have reached a stage where governments and political processes have been hijacked by the corporate world. Corporations can within five hours influence the vote in the U.S. Congress. They can influence the entire voting patterns of the Indian Parliament. Ordinary people who put governments in power might want to go in a different direction. I call this the phenomenon of the inverted state, where the state is no longer accountable to the people. The state only serves the interests of corporations.”

PeopleWorldWantHas BeensDifferentStatesGovernmentMightPoliticalProcessInterestHoursFiveInfluenceStageOrdinaryVoteCongressPatternsIndianCorporateCorporationsVotingPhenomenonParliamentOrdinary PeopleDifferent DirectionsCorporate WorldInverted
Author:Vandana Shiva
Create image

“We could have saved Wall Street without putting our future in jeopardy. I predicted that there would be all-around consequences - in the long run as well as in the short run. People are now saying we can't afford health care reform because we spent all the money on the banks. So, in effect, we're saying that it's better that we give rich bankers a couple of trillion than giving ordinary Americans access to health care.”

PeopleGivingWellsLongWould BeCareRunningRichStreetsEffectsWallCoupleOrdinaryConsequenceAccessSavedReformHealth CareOur FutureLong RunsBankersJeopardyHealth Care Reform
Author:Joseph Stiglitz
Create image

“I do not like to encourage personalized politics, so we would not like it to be thought that just because certain political personalities were attacked, this means the situation is very grave. The true gravity of the situation comes from the fact that ordinary members of the NLD are repressed all the time. We don't want a completely paralyzed political organization, while a select few leaders are protected by international attention.”

WantMeanFactsPoliticalCertainAttentionSituationLeaderPersonalityMembersOrdinaryOrganizationInternationalGravesGravityProtectedSelectRepressedParalyzedPersonalized
Author:Aung San Suu Kyi
Create image

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”

InspirationalLittlesHardMotivationalMotivationDifferencesWorkBusinessPositiveInspirational LifeHard WorkBasketballOrdinaryExtraordinaryWinnerChampionExtrasMotivatedGreat WorkBest WorkFootballerWork DoneMotivational BusinessFamous InspirationalMotivational SuccessHardworkHardworkingBowlingBest EffortInspirational SuccessMotivational WorkWorking LifeWork To Be DoneTough ThingsHard Work SuccessBusiness PersonInspired To WorkStudent MotivationEffort And Hard WorkUplifting In Hard TimesHard Work MotivationalInspirational Hard WorkLife And InspirationalMotivation And Hard WorkTop 100Student MotivationalSucceeding In BusinessExtraordinary LifeExtra EffortExtra TimeMotivational LifeInspiring StudentsWorking For A LivingMotivate StudentsWorking All The TimeDallas CowboyUnknown MotivationalExtra WorkInspire StudentsOrdinary And ExtraordinaryOrdinary ExtraordinaryStudy And WorkCollege Motivational
Author:Jimmy Johnson
Create image

“The debut show, “Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary,” is supposed to be about how artists reuse humble or unusual materials. There’s good work here, but much of what’s on view is actually more about obsession and repetition: a couch made out of 3,500 quarters, a necklace composed of 100 handgun triggers. The building, too, seems caught between wanting to be an object of decorative delectation and making an architectural statement.”

ArtMadeShowsSeemsArtistViewsDesignObjectsBuildingMaterialsOrdinaryCaughtHumbleStatementsObsessionSupposed To BeMuseumsUnusualQuartersGood WorkRepetitionTriggersCouchesDebutNecklacesHandgunsReuse
Author:Jerry Saltz
Create image

“So when we come across somebody who does understand this and makes an effort to try and explain it to us, some people freak out and turn that person into either an object of worship or, some people freak out and want to kill that person. I think it's because they know what's true but they don't want to know, they don't want to face up to what that actually means. So they're going to kill the messenger and hope that by doing so they'll destroy the message so they can go back to living their ordinary life again.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWantTryingMeanPersonsDoeFacesTurnsEffortObjectsWorshipMessagesOrdinaryFreakMessengersOrdinary Life
Author:Brad Warner
Create image

“In ordinary life, the phenomenology of embodied emotions is an excellent example for dynamic changes between transparency and opacity: You can "directly perceive" that your wife is cheating you, or you can become aware of the possibility that maybe it is you who has a problem, that your "immediate" emotional representation of social reality might actually be a misrepresentation.”

ProblemRealityMightSocialEmotionWifeExamplePossibilityEmotionalOrdinaryExcellentPerceiveCheatingRepresentationTransparencyOrdinary LifePhenomenologyMisrepresentation
Author:Thomas Metzinger
Create image

“Both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake are inexhaustible. They are celebrations of the ordinary, compelling reactions to philosophical elitism about "the good life". I hope to examine both of them further, doing more justice to Joycean comedy than I did in my "invitation" to the Wake, and trying to understand how the extraordinary stylistic innovations, particularly the proliferation of narrative forms, enable Joyce to "see life foully" from a vast number of sides.”

TryingFormSidesJusticeNumbersComedyOrdinaryInnovationPhilosophicalExtraordinaryReactionsNarrativeGood LifeCelebrationCompellingInvitationsProliferationElitismJoyceUlyssesFinnegans Wake
Author:Philip Kitcher
Create image

“I argue, based on metaphysical and physical considerations, that we should think of the fundamental parts of the world as a mix of intrinsic natures, rather like a paint-pot filled with a rainbow of colors, loosely mixed to give a richly varied, spatiotemporally inseparable, spread of qualities, and that this mixture is what gives rise to ordinary reality.”

ThinkingWorldGivingShouldRealityQualityColorOrdinaryFundamentalsFilledPaintSpreadArguingConsiderationPotRainbowMetaphysicalMixturesInseparable
Author:L.A. Paul
Create image

“We are having wool pulled over our eyes if we let ourselves be convinced that scientists, taken as a group, are anything special in the way of brains. They are very ordinary professional men, and all they know is their own trade, just like all other professional men. There are some geniuses among them, just as there are mental giants in any other field of endeavor.”

IfsKnowsMenWayEyeScienceBrainTakenGroupsSpecialFieldsGeniusOrdinaryScientistTradeConvincedDeceptionGiantsEndeavorWool
Author:Anthony Standen
Create image

“At that elusive moment when we transcend our ordinary performance and feel in harmony with something else-whether it's a glorious sunset, inspiring music or another human being-our studies have shown that what we are really coming in sync with is ourselves. Not only do we feel more relaxed and at peace, but this entrained state increases our ability to perform well and offers numerous health benefits.”

FeelsHumansWellsStatesMomentsHuman BeingsAbilityMusicStudyOffersBenefitsOrdinaryPerformancesIncreaseHarmonyGloriousSunsetRelaxedElusiveSyncHealth Benefits
Author:Doc Childre
Create image

“The communications revolution has given millions of people both a wider and more detailed understanding of the world. Because of technology, ordinary citizens enjoy access to information that formerly was available only to elites and nation-states. One consequence of this change is that citizens have become acutely conscious of environmental destruction, entrenched poverty, health catastrophes, human rights abuses, failing education systems, and escalating violence. Another consequence is that people possess powerful communication tools to coordinate efforts to attack those problems.”

PeopleWorldHumansStatesProblemGivenNationsEnjoyUnderstandingPowerfulEffortEducationPovertyMillionsTechnologyRightsViolenceFailingInformationCommunicationRevolutionCitizensHealthyOrdinaryConsciousConsequenceToolsDestructionAbuseEnvironmentalHuman RightsAvailableAccessElitesCatastropheEducation SystemCoordinatesOrdinary CitizensAccess To InformationEscalatingEnvironmental Destruction
Author:David Bornstein
Create image

“When greedy people are given gold, they are bitter that they haven't gotten jewels; when they are made barons they are resentful that they haven't been made lords. Though powerful and rich, their attitude is that of beggars. For those who know how to be content, simple fare is more delicious than rich delicacies, a cloth coat is warmer than fox fur, and an ordinary citizen does not defer to a king or a lord.”

PeopleKnowsDoeMadeGivenSimplePowerfulAttitudeLordKnow HowRichHavensKingsCitizensOrdinaryGoldBitterTaoismFoxesCoatsGreedyDeliciousJewelsBeggarFurDelicacyResentfulOrdinary CitizensGreedy People
Author:Zicheng Hong
Create image