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Propensity Quotes

Browse 170 quotes about Propensity.

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Propensity Quotes

“As nature has uncovered from under this hard shell the seed for which she most tenderly cares - the propensity and vocation to free thinking - this gradually works back upon the character of the people, who thereby gradually become capable of managing freedom; finally, it affects the principles of government, which finds it to its advantage to treat men, who are now more than machines, in accordance with their dignity.”

CharacterGovernmentNatureFreedomPrinciplesAdvantageDignityMachinesVocationPropensityFreethoughtFree Thinking
Book:An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?
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“Is happiness a sort of blissful state of mind or just a kind of surreal propensity? It may be hard to recognize its very nature, if we remain guilelessly confined in a state of woeful unawareness or in a no-man’s-land of emotions. In their dogged and obstinate quest for the zenith of happiness, many forget to take pleasure in the small things of everyday and, thus, become disgruntled and depressed instead, which leads them to a mire of gloom. ("C’est quand le bonheur “)”

HardHappinessForgetEmotionsEverydayState Of MindSmall ThingsSurrealConfinedGloomDepressedPropensityObstinateRecognizeUnawarenessRemainDisgruntledBlissfulLe BonheurMireDoggedTake Pleasure In LifeWoefulGuilelessNp Man S LandThe Very Nature
Author:Erik Pevernagie
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“The danger of wokeism lies in its propensity to label dissent as heresy, leading to the cancellation of individuals for expressing opinions deemed 'unacceptable.' In a society that values free speech, the act of canceling someone for their viewpoint, even when expressed through comedy, is a troubling trend. Comedy has historically served as a powerful tool for social commentary and dissent, and stifling it under the guise of political correctness erodes the foundations of a vibrant, free-thinking culture. True progress is achieved through dialogue, not through the suppression of voices, even those cloaked in humor.”

ComedySocietyDangerDissentHeresyPropensityCancellationUnacceptableWokeismFreespeech
Author:James William Steven Parker
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“He loved the sea for deep-seated reasons: the hardworking artist's need for repose, the desire to take shelter from the demanding diversity of phenomena in the bosom of boundless simplicity, a propensity—proscribed and diametrically opposed to his mission in life and for that very reason seductive—a propensity for the unarticulated, the immoderate, the eternal, for nothingness. To repose in perfection is the desire of all those who strive for excellence, and is not nothingness a form of perfection?”

ArtDeathWorkSeaEternalPerfectionExcellenceSimplicityMissionShelterExistentialNothingnessReposePropensityThanatosOceanicBosomProscribed
Book:Death in Venice
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“I never ever, ever say anything against my husband to anyone except my husband. Everyone gets in fights, and I think the natural propensity for women is, 'Oh I want to talk to someone.' But the minute you take what bothers you outside the bond between you and your husband, you let someone else into the relationship and that causes a wedge.”

ThinkingWantFightingCausesNaturalMinutesHusbandBotherMy HusbandSay AnythingYour HusbandPropensityWedges
Author:Jen Lancaster
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“We live between two worlds; we soar in the atmosphere; we creep upon the soil; we have the aspirations of creators and the propensities of quadrupeds. There can be but one explanation of this fact. We are passing from the animal into a higher form, and the drama of this planet is in its second act.”

WorldTwoFactsFormAnimalAtheismPlanetsEvolutionHigherDramaCreatorPositive AtheismPassingPassingsAtmosphereExplanationAspirationSoilSoarCreepsPropensityTwo Worlds
Book:The Martyrdom of Man
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“In a world where God does not exist, any reasonable person must see that the propensity toward selfishness should be the most venerated of all human traits. From this it stands to reason that any man, knowing the total expanse of his existence to be finite, who does not devote every moment of his life to acts of pure selfishness, must be seen as nothing more than a fool.”

MenWorldLifeShouldHumansPersonsDoeReasonMomentsExistenceKnowingFoolPureSelfishnessReasonableTraitsFinitePropensityExpanse
Author:Derek R. Audette
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“The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we ascribe the success of a movement to its faith, doctrine, propaganda, leadership, ruthlessness and so on, we are but referring to instruments of unification and to means used to inculcate a readiness for self-sacrifice. It is perhaps impossible to understand the nature of a mass movement unless it is recognized that their chief preoccupation is to foster, perfect and perpetuate a facility for united action and self-sacrifice.”

MeanSelfActionUsedPerfectUnitedImpossibleSacrificeSocietyMovementMassInstrumentsDoctrineChiefsPropagandaFollowersStemFacilityReadinessSelf SacrificeVigorReferringPreoccupationPropensityUnificationRuthlessness
Book:THE TRUE BELIEVER
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“Such is the effect of the grace of God in the heart of a pilgrim; while on one hand he sees the propensity of his evil nature to every sin which has been committed by others, and is humbled; he also confesses, that, by no power of his own, is he preserved, but ever gives the glory to the God of all grace, by whose power alone he is kept from falling.”

GivingHeartHas BeensHandsFallEvilSinGraceEffectsGloryCommittedConfessionGrace Of GodPilgrimPropensity
Book:The Select Works of John Bunyan: Containing the Pilgrim's Progress ... with a Life of the Author
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“Some philosophers have been of opinion that our immortal part acquires during this life certain habits of action or of sentiment, which become forever indissoluble, continuing after death in a future state of existence ... I would apply this ingenious idea to the generation, or production of the embryon, or new animal, which partakes so much of the form and propensities of the parent.”

Has BeensIdeasStatesActionFormScienceCertainParentAnimalExistenceOpinionForeverGenerationsEvolutionHabitPhilosopherProductionsThis LifeAcquireImmortalSentimentsContinuingAfter DeathIngeniousPropensity
Author:Erasmus Darwin
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“Possessed, as are all the fair daughters of Eve, of an hereditary propensity, transmitted to them undiminished through succeeding generations, to be 'soonmoved withtheslightesttouch of blame'; very little precept and practice will confirm them in the habit, and instruct them all the maxims, of self-justification.”

LittlesSelfPracticeGenerationsHabitSucceedDaughterFairsBlamePossessedJustificationMaximsPropensityHereditarySelf Justification
Author:Maria Edgeworth
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“I think a good deal may be said to extenuate the fault of bad Poets. What we call a Genius, is hard to be distinguish'd by a man himself, from a strong inclination: and if his genius be ever so great, he can not at first discover it any other way, than by giving way to that prevalent propensity which renders him the more liable to be mistaken.”

IfsThinkingMenWayGivingFirstsMaySaidHardStrongDealsPoetGeniusFaultsMistakenCan NotInclinationLiablePropensityGiving Way
Book:Poems: Pastoral poetry, and An essay on criticism
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“Man's chief difference from the brutes lies in the exuberant excess of his subjective propensities his preeminence over them simply and solely in the number and in the fantastic and unnecessary character of his wants, physical, moral, aesthetic, and intellectual. Had his whole life not been a quest for the superfluous, he would never have established himself as inexpugnably as he has done in the necessary.”

MenWantDoneWholeCharacterLyingDifferencesNumbersMoralIntellectualWhole LifeChiefsFantasticExcessAestheticQuestsUnnecessarySubjectiveBrutesSuperfluousPropensity
Book:Essays in Popular Philosophy: Top Essays
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“Conservatism, though a necessary element in any stable society, is not a social program; in its paternalistic, nationalistic and power adoring tendencies it is often closer to socialism than true liberalism; and with its traditionalistic, anti-intellectual, and often mystical propensities it will never, except in short periods of disillusionment, appeal to the young and all those others who believe that some changes are desirable if this world is to become a better place.”

IfsWorldBelieveYoungSocialThis WorldPeriodsElementsIntellectualProgramSocialismTendenciesAppealsLiberalismStableMysticalBetter PlaceDesirableConservatismDisillusionmentPropensityNationalisticSocial Programs
Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
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“If there was the same propensity in mankind for investigating the motives, as there is for censuring the conduct, of public characters, it would be found that the censure so freely bestowed is oftentimes unmerited and uncharitable.”

IfsCharacterWould BeFoundMankindMotivePropensityCensureInvestigating
Book:The Writings of George Washington: pt. IV. Letters official and private, from the beginning of his presidency to the end of his life: (v. 10) May, 1789-November, 1794. (v. 11) November, 1794-December, 1799
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“St. Augustine teaches us that there is in each man a Serpent, an Eve, and an Adam. Our senses and natural propensities are the Serpent; the excitable desire is the Eve; and reason is the Adam. Our nature tempts us perpetually; criminal desire is often excited; but sin is not completed till reason consents.”

MenReasonDesireNaturalSinTeachExcitedCriminalsSensesTemptationAdamConsentSerpentPropensityAugustine
Book:Thoughts of Blaise Pascal
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“Nothing but the cross of Christ can so startle the spiritual nature from its torpor, as to make it an effectual counterpoise to the debasing and sensual tendencies of the race. Favored by temperament and education, individuals may measurably escape; but if the race is to triumph in the conflict between the flesh and the spirit, between the lower propensities and the higher nature, they must, as Constantine is said to have done, see the cross, and on it the motto, "In hoc signo vinces." By this sign we conquer.”

IfsMaySaidDoneSpiritualSpiritIndividualChristRaceHigherConflictCrossesFleshTendenciesSensualConquerTriumphMottoTemperamentPropensitySpiritual NatureConstantine
Book:BACCALAUREATE SERMONS, AND OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES
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“My research suggests that men and women may speak different languages that they assume are the same, using similar words to encode disparate experiences of self and social relationships. Because these languages share an overlapping moral vocabulary, they contain a propensity for systematic mistranslation.”

MenMayDifferentSelfSpeakLanguageSocialMoralShareResearchMen And WomenAssumingVocabularySystematicPropensityDifferent LanguagesOverlappingSocial Relationships
Book:In a Different Voice
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“It is in the middle classes of society that all the finest feeling, and the most amiable propensities of our nature do principally nourish and abound. For the good opinion of our fellow-men is the strongest though not the purest motive to virtue. The privations of poverty render us too cold and callous, and the privileges of property too arrogant and confidential, to feel; the first places us beneath the influence of opinion--the second, above it.”

MenFeelsFirstsFeelingsOpinionClassPovertyVirtueSocietyInfluenceMiddleColdFellowsPropertyPrivilegeMotiveMiddle ClassStrongestArrogantFinestFellow ManPropensityAmiableCallousConfidentialClasses Of Society
Author:Charles Caleb Colton
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“Giving free advice is a sad waste of effort. In the first place, no man will act upon it unless he is already inclined to do so. Secondly, when a man lays his case before you, the idea that he is asking your advice is a polite fabrication. He merely is suggesting that he is doing so, while as a fact his real object is to acquaint you with his personal activity. He wants to talk to somebody, being a natural gossip or gadder, and he plays upon your propensity for "giving advice" in order to get an audience.”

MenWantGivingFirstsIdeasRealPlayFactsOrderNaturalEffortCasesAudienceAdviceObjectsActivityWasteAskingLaysGossipPoliteSuggestingPropensityGiving AdviceFabricationFree AdviceWaste Of Effort
Author:William H. McMaster
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“There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of pleasure and the love of action. If the former is refined by art and learning, improved by the charms of social intercourse, and corrected by a just regard to economy, to health, and to reputation, it is productive of the greatest part of the happiness of private life.”

IfsMayArtTwoActionSocialNaturalPleasureHistoryEconomyRegardReputationFormerCharmProductiveVirtuousDispositionPrivate LifeIntercourseRefinedRoman EmpirePropensity
Book:History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire V1: the History Focus
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“When I became prime minister last September, I promised the Japanese people that I would not tolerate the politics of indecision. A propensity to delay difficult and weighty decisions has been hurting our country. It is detrimental to our economy, society and future, and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

PeopleHas BeensCountryLastsDifficultHurtDecisionEconomyOur CountryMinistersPrimeTolerateSeptemberDelayPrime MinisterIndecisionPropensityDetrimentalBeen Hurt
Author:Yoshihiko Noda
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