“One of the things that's very important, when you're an activist and an organizer like me, is to understand that when things happen of that nature, some people become immobilized and other people begin to find solutions. And Detroit is the kind of city where we begin to find solutions.” PeopleKindImportantHappensCitiesSolutionsThings HappenLike MeActivistDetroitOrganizer Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“I think that education today is a form of child abuse. The natural tendency of children is to solve problems, but we try to indoctrinate them with facts, which they are supposed to feed back, and then we fail them. And that's child abuse. And you should never raise children that way. You should cultivate and encourage their natural tendencies to create solutions to the problems around them.” ThinkingWayShouldTryingChildrenFactsProblemTodayFormNaturalFailingSolutionsAbuseRaisesSolveTendenciesChild AbuseEducation Today Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“In every crisis, people do not respond like a school of fish. Some people become immobilized. Some people become very angry, some commit suicide, and other people begin to find solutions. And visionary organizers look at those people, recognize them and encourage them, and they become leaders of the future.” PeopleLooksSchoolLeaderSolutionsCrisisAngrySuicideFishesCommitVisionariesOrganizerSchools Of Fish Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“We have to think in a very different sense than the way we think now. We think in terms of quick fixes, that solutions will come out of a few protest demonstrations, and calling upon the government to do something. And we can keep trying to do that, and it won't work.” ThinkingWayTryingDifferentGovernmentTermCallingSolutionsProtestDemonstrationKeep TryingQuick Fixes Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“Some have suggested that ideally there must be some international body that would treat areas like the Arctic as a global commerce, a bit like the way we treat the sea. It doesn't belong to any particular country, but to all of us, but I'm not sure some of the powerful are ready for that sort of solution.” WayCountryBodyBitsPowerfulSeaParticularReadySolutionsAreasTreatsInternationalNot SureCommerceArctic Author:Kofi Annan
“The success of any development project is based on encouraging people to shoulder their own responsibilities and become aware of their own capacities, their rights too, rather than providing them with ready-made solutions.” PeopleMadeResponsibilityRightsReadyDevelopmentProjectsSolutionsCapacityShouldersProviding Author:Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan
“Hard power makes sense under some circumstances. But there's not a universal solution to global problems. A major country like the United States has to have a broadly-conceived program for effective international action, influence and cooperation with others.” CountryHardStatesProblemActionUnitedUnited StatesInfluenceCircumstancesMajorsSolutionsProgramUniversalInternationalMake SenseCooperation Author:Zbigniew Brzezinski
“I think we live in slavery to fear. Most people don't have an answer to the death question and really don't even have a philosophy. That is a puzzle to me. I think even if I was not a Christian, I would want to at least have a personal solution to the death question. Otherwise, death is just a frightening thing.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantPhilosophyChristianAnswersSolutionsSlaveryFrighteningPuzzles Author:Max Lucado
“What we should be focusing on - and finding solutions for - is ensuring that every American has health care in this country, no matter what level, no matter what age. No one should die because they can't afford health insurance. No one should go bankrupt because they can't afford it.” ShouldCountryMatterCareAgeDiesLevelsFindingsSolutionsNo Matter WhatHealth Care Author:Catherine Cortez Masto
“Often much of my work is very optimistic, or solution-based. I have always believed that art is a tool for transformation, and something that should give people some kind of agency.” PeopleGivingShouldKindArtSolutionsArt IsToolsTransformationOptimisticAgencyAlways Believe Author:Pedro Reyes
“As I get more confident as a filmmaker, I don't need to prepare so much in advance. I can trust that I and my team can come up with a solution.” NeedsI CanTeamSolutionsCome UpFilmmaker Author:David Mackenzie
“Few knew in 2000 that George W. Bush was going to end up with neoconservatives all over the place. Once 9/11 happened, I think it's fair to say that some neocons have had an enormous influence. The whole solution to every problem was to go after Iraq. This had been a neoconservative mantra for ten years. Bush certainly sees himself as having been given an endorsement. He was asked why Donald Rumsfeld,Condoleezza Rice, and Paul Wolfowitz have been promoted, these people who led us into the debacle in Iraq. Bush said there was accountability-it was the election. So there we are.” PeopleThinkingProblemInfluenceSolutionsElectionRice Author:Seymour Hersh
“Perhaps I should say that in general there are three solutions to such a situation. I mean not only in Holland, but everywhere where there are minority groups: in America, in Vietnam with the Chinese. Everywhere there is the same problem. But there are fundamentally three, actually only two possible solutions. A possible solution is that the despised minority is able to establish its own state somewhere else. The other solution is a higher or lesser degree of assimilation. And the third possibility, which is not a solution at all, is the permanence of the tension and conflict over time.” MeanProblemSituationPossibilityConflictSolutionsChineseTensionAssimilationPermanence Author:Norbert Elias
“Tayyip Erdogan wants to go beyond George W. Bush by making critical journalism and critics in the academy illegal. What will be the difference between him and a military government? Very little. I read his remarks on the effectiveness of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Well, yes. But then the AKP would have to ban all other political parties, close down all critical newspapers, burn the books critical of the regime and gas the Kurds to death...the final solution of the Kurdish 'problem.' Somehow I don't think he is about to do that.” ThinkingBookPoliticalPartyMilitarySolutionsCriticsJournalismGasPolitical Parties Author:Tariq Ali
“We also need to look at precedent before making these decisions. Instead of listening to Muammar Qaddafi's rhetoric, we should look at how he's behaved. The fact is he's been making concessions recently. He gave up his nuclear weapons. He allowed hundreds of Americans to evacuate Tripoli. Did he crack down on his people who revolted? Yes, but that's not so unusual. For me, it's always a failure of diplomacy. Our willingness to immediately turn to a military solution is disturbing.” PeopleDecisionMilitaryListeningSolutionsWillingnessUnusualNuclear WeaponsRhetoricDiplomacyGave Up Author:Michael Hastings
“The great thing about fiction is that I don't have to settle on an answer to any troubling question, or even a solution. I hope that my stories serve as explorations and help show readers how and why real-life women don't always make the "correct" decisions in the face of economic and sexual troubles. We all screw up, but the women I write about don't have back-up plans or money in the back or resources to fix what they have broken.” WritingHelpingDecisionTroubleEconomicBrokenSolutionsGreat ThingsSettlingExploration Author:Bonnie Jo Campbell
“The more we try to fix the security situation, the more we will drive these people, particularly the Pashtun, into implacable opposition. And whether the military solution is more bombing from Predators or from F-16s or more special forces on the ground, you know, attacking villages and inadvertently killing lots of civilians, it doesn't matter. As long as security comes first, the mission will fail because these people are sick and tired of a government that's oppressing them and a foreigner who's killing them.” PeopleTryingLongSituationFailingSpecialSecurityMilitarySolutionsSickTiredKillingPredator Author:Pierre Sprey
“My open mindedness is a product of where I came from. When you work in labor relations for a long part of your career you have to embrace the idea that an exchange of ideas can produce creative solutions.” LongCreativeSolutionsLaborRelationEmbraceOpen MindOpen MindedOpen Mindedness Author:Rob Manfred
“Twilight of the Elites main thesis has been borne out far past what I could ever have imagined. The major idea was that these series of elite failures created this crisis of authority which was fertilizing distrust in the pillars and institutions of American society. In the absence of that authority there's this vacuum which is easily filled by authoritarian solutions, and I think that's exactly what happened.” ThinkingPastAuthoritySolutionsCrisisAbsenceTwilightDistrustThesis Author:Chris Hayes
“Let's all recognize that, in a world full of disgusting dictators, Bashar Assad maybe ranks at the top. This is a guy, in order to hang on to power, has allowed 400,000 people in his own country to be killed and millions to be displaced. Our goal, long term, has got to work with countries around the world. We cannot do it unilaterally. We've got to work with countries around the world for a political solution to get rid of this guy and to finally bring peace and stability to this country, which has been so decimated.” PeopleWorldLongCountryPoliticalGuyGoalTermSolutionsLong TermStabilityDisgustingDictator Author:Jake Tapper
“If you don't agree with the direction something is going in, at least at work, you should always try it first, unless it's dangerous or damaging. But if you have an opinion about the direction your work should be taking, say it. Then back it up with proof and other solutions.” TryingOpinionDangerousSolutionsAgree Author:Anna Gunn
“Any good job is a good job. This whole concept of a dead-end job? It's not true. I've heard it my whole life. Jobs lead to dignity. If you're good at the first, then you can get the second. Jobs lead to household formation. Jobs are a better solution for society.” SolutionsDignityWhole LifeGood Job Author:Jamie Dimon
“Men, age 25 to 55, the labor-force participation rate is down 10%. That's unbelievable. There are 35,000 dying of opioids every year. Seventy percent of kids age 17 to 24 can't get into the US military because of health or education. Obesity, diabetes, reading and writing. Is that the society we wanted? No. We should be working on these things, acknowledge the flaws we have, and come up with solutions. Not Democrat. Not Republican. Not knee-jerk.” MenWritingKidsAgeReadingDyingMilitaryRepublicanSolutionsDemocratRateAcknowledgeFlawsParticipationUnbelievableObesityDiabetesReading And Writing Author:Jamie Dimon
“Nietzsche saw that ultimately the problem of nihilism is the problem of what to do with time: Why keep investing in the future when there is no longer any transcendental guarantor, a positive end of time as ultimate reconciliation or redemption, ensuring a pay-off for this investment? Nietzsche's solution - his attempted overcoming of nihilism - consists in affirming the senselessness of becoming as such - all becoming, without reservation or discrimination.” ProblemSolutionsUltimateOvercomingInvestmentDiscriminationRedemptionEnd TimesReconciliationNihilismTranscendentalAffirming Author:Ray Brassier
“There are also people that still choose to support racist rhetoric because they feel white dominance in America is slipping through their fingers. To them, "diversity" is a codeword for white genocide. They claim that their "homelands" are being overrun by minorities and are desperate for solutions that ensure their "white survival." This fear, of course, is irrational and solely based on a loss of white power and control.” PeopleLossSupportDiversitySurvivalSolutionsDesperateRacistGenocideRhetoricIrrational Author:Christian Picciolini
“When I personally feel like I belong to the world, it is because I am with people I love in places I love. So I decided that would be my solution. I set All the World in a place I love - the central coast region of Southern California - and populated it with people and things that I love. I stopped worrying that I wasn't representing every place, every person, every possible experience. And I hoped that through this personal expression of mine, others would find their own personal meanings as well.” PeopleWorldWorrySolutionsSouthern Author:Marla Frazee
“If, for some reason, I cannot bear to work on something that needs to get done, I'm not going to force that. I'll just take a mental vacation. I think the best solution sometimes to working out a problem is to walk squarely away from it.” ThinkingSometimesReasonDoneProblemSolutionsWork OutVacation Author:David Small
“Being champion for me is gratification. The realisation that I am the best. Overall, I like being a leader, setting a good example. I like being part of the solution and not the problem. I hope people think that I'm representing #1 properly. I just got to keep improving because the only person who will beat me is myself.” PeopleThinkingProblemLeaderSolutionsChampionGratificationRealisation Author:Kane Waselenchuk
“I've been a proud mentor to many women seeking public office, because I believe we need more women at all levels of government. Women have an equal stake in our future and should have an equal voice in our politics. These are challenging times, but I believe getting more women to run for office is a big part of the solution.” BelieveRunningI BelieveChallengesProudEqualOfficeSolutionsOur FutureMentor Author:Kamala Harris
“To me, leadership is about first defining purpose. Why does a company exist and what problem does it solve for customers? How is it different than everyone else, and what difference do they plan to make in the world? Companies (and people) should be measured based on the impact they make in the world. If the purpose and solution are solid, the money will follow.” PeopleWorldDifferentProblemPurposeSolutions Author:Josh Linkner
“In the business world, there are systems and processes for just about everything else. Yet creativity and innovation, arguably THE most important aspects of progress, are often left to happen by chance. The system provides a scaffolding for creative support and exploration, yet is open enough to avoid curbing creativity or outputting cookie-cutter solutions.” WorldImportantEnoughChanceCreativitySupportCreativeProgressSolutionsInnovationExplorationScaffolding Author:Josh Linkner
“I urge people not to think in terms of "solutions," but in terms of intelligent responses to the quandaries and predicaments that we face. And there are intelligent responses that we can bring forth. But when I hear the word "solution," I always suspect that there's a hidden agenda there. And the hidden agenda is: "Please, can you please tell us how we can keep on living exactly the way we're living now, without having to really change our behavior very much?" And that's sort of what's going on in this country. And it's not going to work.” PeopleThinkingCountryTermBehaviorSolutionsIntelligentResponseGoing To Work Author:James Howard Kunstler
“Europe has grown through crises. Each crisis also presents opportunities, and Europe has emerged stronger from each one. That is the way history unfolds. Europe is sometimes slow, and it reacts sluggishly, but it is capable of finding solutions.” SometimesOpportunityCapableSolutionsStrongerCrisis Author:Wolfgang Schauble
“I don't want to make studio films if I am constantly fighting to assert some kind of leadership within the process. I'm not hired to be a really nice person who comes up with solutions to problems now and then. I'm hired to be the director.” KindProblemFilmFightingNiceSolutionsNow And ThenReally NiceNice Person Author:Karyn Kusama
“I think the Barack Obama position and the majority position of American Jews and a lot of Americans is a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Settlements get in the way of that. If they're not stopped soon, there is no prospect for that type of solution.” ThinkingSolutionsJewBarackPalestineSettlement Author:David Brooks
“Bibi Netanyahu, froze the settlements and offered to go toward a two-state solution. The Palestinians didn't take him up on it. Historically, we have had a series of these offers. And the settlements themselves are not the keystone here. It seems to me myopic and bizarre that at the last moment, the Barack Obama administration would surrender the whole balanced array of policies that are obstacles to peace and focus on the one that is most detrimental to Israel.” MomentsFocusPolicySolutionsObstaclesSurrenderBarackPalestinianBizarreSettlement Author:David Brooks
“With the loss of the American dollar as its own currency and its devaluation, I think that people will not even be able to afford bread and milk. They're facing a real crisis in America and I think the solution is Islam.” PeopleThinkingRealLossSolutionsCrisisIslamCurrency Author:Anjem Choudary
“Islamic laws this is something Americans should look into, maybe not in the near future, but I think people are definitely looking for alternatives to a capitalist democracy. The democracy that we find in the Western world is just not providing them solutions.” PeopleThinkingWorldDemocracySolutionsWesternIslamicCapitalist Author:Anjem Choudary
“To see your country being destroyed from afar - it's very hard to only watch and do nothing. My writing is the only way to address my feelings about this disaster and to at least try to find a solution as a writer. I know I have limits. But I have to do my best as a writer.” WritingTryingCountryFeelingsSolutionsDisaster Author:Osama Alomar
“We need to be honest with the American people about the problems and the challenges ahead and the solutions that are needed to fix them. And I would argue it's the president who has been missing in action on this front. He knows we have a debt crisis coming. All independent experts show us this. And so he hasn't even given us a budget yet. I mean, the law required that he was supposed to submit a budget the first Monday in February.” PeopleMeanProblemActionPresidentChallengesHonestMissingSolutionsIndependentCrisisArguingBeing HonestSubmitMondayFebruary Author:Paul Ryan
“The climate change is real today, but also the solutions that we have available to us that are cost-effective and beneficial to everyone are at our disposal now.” RealTodaySolutionsClimate Change Author:Gina McCarthy
“I've taught the Bible all my life and I believe in the rights of Jews to have a place in the Holy Land, and so I have a natural affinity for that right. I believe that the right of Israel to have a place in the Holy Land can be honored by the two state solution, to abbreviate a long premise, and I think the only way to have peace is by following the basic road I've been following for the last 30 years, to try to bring peace to Israel through negotiation.” ThinkingTryingBelieveLongI BelieveNaturalHolySolutionsJewHonoredNegotiation Author:Reza Aslan
“The war in Iraq, specifically America's role of leadership in this war, is a painful invitation to ask ourselves what, if anything, we've learned from previous wars. I am revolted by the brutal killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people during any war. And I'm saddened by the apparent inability of human beings to find less violent solutions to conflict and terrorism.” PeopleWarConflictSolutionsKillingPainfulTerrorismViolentInnocentWhat IfBrutalInvitationsSaddened Author:Wayne Dyer
“Our whole goal is really to create a culture of accountability. Because for a very long time, ending sexual assault has been on the backs of survivors. And it's really up to everyone to be part of the solution. It's really about not creating a culture of awareness. It's something I often tell parents of kids who are going off to college: It's about asking those hard questions when your kids are applying to school and encouraging them to ask about their rights, to ask about their resources.” LongKidsSchoolCultureParentGoalAwarenessCollegeSolutionsAccountabilitySurvivor Author:Andrea Pino
“You see a wave of populism in the world. There is something wrong. This maybe because of technology. The ability of people to reach their own news sources now, and create different views, is really unbelievable. There is a desire for change. There is a millennial generation that doesn't like what they're seeing, but doesn't quite know what the solution is.” PeopleWorldDifferentDesireAbilityTechnologySolutionsWaveUnbelievable Author:Ken Moelis
“The Democrats would want to keep the taxes. And Republicans want to do away with taxes that are driving up the costs of premiums. So, I think it would be hard to see a scenario where Democrats would be willing to come to the table in good faith and actually work with us on a solution that meets those requirements.” ThinkingRepublicanTaxesSolutionsDemocratDrivingGood Faith Author:John Thune
“No matter who uses chemical weapons against people and organisations, the international community must formulate a common policy and find a solution that would make the use of such weapons impossible for anyone.” PeopleCommunityCommonImpossiblePolicySolutions Author:Vladimir Putin
“The cause of misery, death, and all personal and collective problems is rooted in the mind, the false, copy mind. The real, divine mind is transcendental, the witness, without thinking. Divine mind is without thoughts, all knowing, and eternally blissful. Trying to solve problems by thinking about them never produces a permanent solution because this false mind creates all problems; whereas, divine mind and our inner guidance bring forth solutions for our greatest good and the greatest good for all.” ThinkingTryingMindRealProblemDivineSolutionsMiseryWitnessGuidanceTranscendental Author:Terry Cole-Whittaker
“Stephen Colbert's recent comment is apropos: When the Republican legislature of North Carolina responded to a scientific study predicting a threatening rise in sea level by barring state and local agencies from developing regulations or planning documents to address the problem, Colbert responded: "This is a brilliant solution. If your science gives you a result that you don't like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved."” GivingProblemStudyRepublicanSolutionsBrilliantPlanningCommentThreatening Author:Noam Chomsky
“George W. Bush was great on the belief that America was the solution to the world's problems, not the problem, and was a great defender, believer.” ProblemBeliefSolutionsBeliever Author:Rush Limbaugh