“Resistance to improvement contradicts the noblest instincts of the race. It begets its opposite. The fanaticism of reform is only the raging of the accumulated waters caused by the obstructions which an ultra conservatism has thrown across the stream of progress; and revolution itself is but the sudden overwhelming and sweeping away of impediments that should have been seasonably removed.” ShouldHas BeensWaterRaceProgressRevolutionShould HaveOppositesInstinctRageImprovementResistanceReformStreamsThrownOverwhelmingConservatismFanaticismShould Have BeenBegetsSweepingImpedimentsObstructionUltras Author:Horace Mann
“Every advance in social progress removes us more and more from the guidance of instinct, obliging us to depend upon reason for the assurance that our habits are really agreeable to the laws of health.” ReasonLawSocialProgressDependsHabitInstinctGuidanceRemoveAssuranceSocial Progress Author:Emily Blackwell
“We make very little progress when we strive to conquer baser instincts in a good mood. However, vast strides are possible when we are miserable and work with ourselves to replace our misery with joy and understanding.” LittlesJoyUnderstandingGrowthProgressMiseryInstinctStriveMoodMiserableConquerStrideGood Mood Author:Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
“There is a strong conservative instinct in the average man or woman, born of the hereditary fear of life, that prompts them to cling to old standards, or, if too intelligent to look inhospitably upon progress, to move very slowly. Both types are the brakes and wheelhorses necessary to a stable civilization, but history, even current history in the newspapers, would be dull reading if there were no adventurous spirits willing to do battle for new ideas.” IfsMenLooksIdeasWould BeMovingSpiritReadingStrongBornProgressWillingTypeCivilizationBattleStandardsIntelligentInstinctAverageConservativeCurrentsNewspapersResistanceDullStableNew IdeasStatus QuoAdventurousPromptsAverage ManBrakeHereditaryFears Of LifeAdventurous Spirit Author:Gertrude Atherton
“What promotes math progress even more than new ideas are new technical tools and habits of thought that encapsulate existing ideas, so that insights of one generation become the instincts of the next.” IdeasScienceNextProgressGenerationsHabitToolsMathematicsInstinctInsightMathNew Ideas Author:Jim Propp
“When there is pain, the animal instinct is 'fight or flight' (i.e., to either strike back or run away) - reflect instead. When you can calm yourself down, thinking about the dilemma that is causing you pain will bring you to a higher level and enlighten you, leading to progress.” ThinkingLifeRunningPainFightingGrowthAnimalLevelsProgressHigherPersonal GrowthInstinctInvestingCalmStrikesFlightRunning AwayEnlighteningDilemmaHigher LevelStrike BackAnimal Instinct Author:Ray Dalio
“I've never been trained as an actress, so it's all instinct. I just let myself go into this kind of a free fall. Sometimes I feel scared, or out of my element - like everyone else knows what they're doing but me. I don't know . . . Maybe I function well with fear or I like to be faced with a challenge . . . I think I'm just a work in progress.” ThinkingKindSometimesFallChallengesProgressInstinctScaredWork In Progress Author:January Jones