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Ordinary Quotes

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Ordinary Quotes

“What is called “apathy” is, I believe, a feeling of helplessness on the part of the ordinary citizen, a feeling of impotence in the face of enormous power. It’s not that people are apathetic; they do care about what is going on, but don’t know what to do about it, so they do nothing, and appear to be indifferent.”

PeopleKnowsBelieveFeelingsCareFacesI BelieveCitizensOrdinaryEnormousApathyIndifferentHelplessnessImpotenceApatheticOrdinary Citizens
Author:Howard Zinn
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“Although the semicircle of the Moon is placed above the circle of the Sun and would appear to be superior, nevertheless we know that the Sun is ruler and King. We see that the Moon in her shape and her proximity rivals the Sun with her grandeur, which is apparent to ordinary men, yet the face, or a semi-sphere of the Moon, always reflects the light of the Sun.”

KnowsMenLightFacesSunKingsShapesMoonOrdinaryCirclesSuperiorsSpheresRulersNeverthelessRivalsGrandeurOrdinary ManProximity
Book:The Hieroglyphic Monad
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“The culture of the United States has flooded the world. It's the inevitable result of a powerful culture, art. We've got an instinctive touch when it comes to the popular mind because we've had no aristocracy. It is a democratic country. And we know without knowing it, without bothering to understand it, how to reach ordinary people, sometimes with the most vulgar, worthless junk on the face of the earth, but we know how to do it [laughter].”

PeopleKnowsWorldMindArtCountrySometimesStatesEarthFacesCultureUnitedResultsPowerfulUnited StatesKnow HowKnowingLaughterOrdinaryDemocraticInevitableBotherWorthlessVulgarOrdinary PeopleJunkAristocracyDemocratic Country
Author:Arthur Miller
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“Expectations are usually predicated on the idea that the everyday things that happen to ordinary people shouldn't happen to you. People hold the idea of being ordinary in absolute contempt, so when they face an illness, poverty, or any kind of catastrophe, they say, 'I can't believe this happened to me.' And who did you think it was going to happen to - the woman across the street?”

PeopleThinkingBelieveKindI CanIdeasHappensFacesPovertyHappenedStreetsOrdinaryExpectationsAbsolutesEverydayIllnessContemptCatastropheOrdinary PeopleOrdinarinessEveryday Things
Author:Caroline Myss
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“True fighters dare face the sorrows of humanity, and look unflinchingly at bloodshed. What sorrow and joy are theirs! But the Creator's common device for ordinary people is to let the passage of time wash away old traces leaving only pale-red bloodstains and a vague pain; and he lets men live on ignobly and amid these, to keep this quasi-human world going.”

PeopleMenWorldHumansLooksPainFacesJoyHumanityCommonSorrowOrdinaryRedLet MeLeavingDareCreatorFighterDevicesPassagesPaleExistentialVagueOrdinary PeopleBloodshedPassage Of Time
Author:Lu Xun
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“Our rate of progress is such that an individual human being, of ordinary length of life, will be called on to face novel situations which find no parallel in his past. The fixed person, for the fixed duties, who, in older societies was such a godsend, in the future will be a public danger.”

HumansPersonsPastFacesIndividualHuman BeingsSituationNovelProgressDangerDutyOrdinaryRateFixedLengthParallelsLength Of Life
Book:Science and the Modern World
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“What I can't completely understand is most other people's fascination with what the famous among us do with their lips and the rest of their bodies. Why do ordinary people become the target of this curiosity simply by virtue of the fact that other people recognize their names and faces but know nothing else about them? Why do we care what they think, what they wear, what they eat?”

PeopleThinkingKnowsI CanFactsBodyCareFacesNamesVirtueOrdinaryCuriosityLipsTargetOrdinary PeopleFascination
Author:Alan Alda
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“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
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“Expectations are usually predicated on the idea that the everyday things that happen to ordinary people shouldn't happen to you. People hold the idea of being ordinary in absolute contempt, so when they face an illness, poverty, or any kind of catastrophe, they say, "I can't believe this happened to me." And who did you think it was going to happen to - the woman across the street? It makes them think, "I must be on the wrong path." But what if something you thought was bad was the best thing that ever happened to you? What if that was part of your path?”

PeopleIfsThinkingBelieveKindI CanIdeasHappensFacesPovertyPathHappenedStreetsOrdinaryExpectationsAbsolutesEverydayIllnessBest ThingsWhat IfContemptCatastropheOrdinary PeopleWrong PathEveryday Things
Author:Caroline Myss
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“Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be 'some one,' like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide his genius or use it to play tricks with, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar. Ah, yes, we must need pity the Opera ghost.”

WorldNeedsHeartHas BeensEndsPlayUseFacesPoorMankindGeniusOrdinaryUglyTricksGhostUnhappyPityCurseEmpiresOperaDistinguishedCellars
Book:THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Mystery & Horror Series): Gothic Classic Based on True Events at the Paris Opera
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“[However], the sufferer from depression has no option, and therefore finds himself, like a walking casualty of war, thrust into the most intolerable social and family situations. There he must ... present a face approximating the one associated with ordinary events and companionship. He must try to utter small talk and be responsive to questions, and knowingly nod, and frown and, God help him, even smile.”

TryingWarHelpingFacesSocialSituationEventsWalkingOrdinaryCompanionshipThrustCasualtiesGod HelpSufferersSmall Talk
Author:William Styron
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“He gazed amusedly down the table at Tessa. “You’re the shape-changer, aren’t you?” he said. “Magnus Bane told me about you. No mark on you at all, they say.” Tessa swallowed and looked him straight in the eye. They were discordantly human eyes, ordinary in his extraordinary face. “No. No mark.” He grinned around his fork. “I do suppose they’ve looked everywhere?” “I’m sure Will’s tried,” said Jessamine in a bored tone.”

HumansSaidEyeFacesShapesOrdinaryMarkTablesExtraordinaryBoredToneForksMagnus BaneBaneHuman Eyes
Author:Cassandra Clare
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