Characteristics Quotes - Page 9

• The lawyers' contribution to the civilizing of humanity is evidenced in the capacity of lawyers to argue furiously in the courtroom, then sit down as friends over a drink or dinner. This habit is often interpreted by the layman as a mark of their ultimate corruption. In my opinion, it is their greatest moral achievement: It is a characteristic of humane tolerance that is most desperately needed at the present time.

  John Silber

  Law, Achievement, Tolerance

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• When the church really takes on the humble characteristics of Christ, that's going to lead to revival.

  Francis Chan

  Humble, Church, Christ

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• Thus we have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male (such as the beard) disagreeable to nearly all the females—and there is more in that than you might suppose.

  C. S. Lewis

  Males, Female, Might

  C. S. LEWIS (1961). “The Screwtape Letters & Screwtape Proposes a Toast”

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• Cinema’s characteristic forte is its ability to capture and communicate the intimacies of the human mind.

  Satyajit Ray

  Communication, Mind, Cinema

  Satyajit Ray (2007). “Satyajit Ray: Interviews”

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• Does it not appear to you versatility is the true and rare characteristic of that rare thing called genius-versatility and playfulness? In my mind they are both essential.

  Mary Russell Mitford

  Play, Mind, Essentials

  Mary Russell Mitford (1870). “The Life of Mary Russell Mitford ; Related in an Selection from Her Letters to Her Friends. Ed. by A.G. Estrange”, p.238

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• I wonder if it's possible for people to fall in love with a person one characteristic at a time, or if you fall for the entire person at once.

  Colleen Hoover

  Falling In Love, People, Wonder

  Abbi Glines, Colleen Hoover, Jamie McGuire (2013). “The Atria Indie Lovers Collection: Twisted Perfection, Losing Hope, and Red Hill”, p.331, Simon and Schuster

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• A state too expensive in itself, or by virtue of its dependencies, ultimately falls into decay; its free government is transformed into a tyranny; it disregards the principles which it should preserve, and finally degenerates into despotism. The distinguishing characteristic of small republics is stability: the character of large republics is mutability.

  Simon Bolivar

  Fall, Character, Government

  Simon Bolivar's letter from Jamaica, Summer 1815.

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• Let's not pretend that mental phenomena can be mapped on to the characteristics of billiard balls.

  Gregory Bateson

  Balls

  Gregory Bateson, Mary Catherine Bateson (1987). “Angels fear: towards an epistemology of the sacred”, MacMillan Publishing Company

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• One of the most constant characteristics of beliefs is their intolerance. The stronger the belief, the greater its intolerance. Men dominated by a certitude cannot tolerate those who do not accept it.

  Gustave Le Bon

  Men, Atheism, Stronger

  Gustave Le Bon, Alice Widener (1979). “Gustave Le Bon, the man and his works: a presentation with introduction, first translations into English, and edited extracts”, Liberty Fund

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• The most essential characteristic of scientific technique is that it proceeds from experiment, not from tradition. The experimental habit of mind is a difficult one for most people to maintain; indeed, the science of one generation has already become the tradition of the next

  Bertrand Russell

  People, Mind, Next

  Bertrand Russell (2001). “The Scientific Outlook”, p.115, Psychology Press

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• Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.

  Alan Greenspan

  Successful, Stuff, Way

  "Alan Greenspan vs. Naomi Klein on the Iraq War, Bush’s Tax Cuts, Economic Populism, Crony Capitalism and More". "Democracy Now!" with Amy Goodman, www.democracynow.org. September 24, 2007.

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• It seems to me now that mathematics is capable of an artistic excellence as great as that of any music, perhaps greater; not because the pleasure it gives (although very pure) is comparable, either in intensity or in the number of people who feel it, to that of music, but because it gives in absolute perfection that combination, characteristic of great art, of godlike freedom, with the sense of inevitable destiny; because, in fact, it constructs an ideal world where everything is perfect and yet true.

  Bertrand Russell

  Art, Destiny, Numbers

  Bertrand Russell (2014). “The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell”, p.162, Routledge

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• I think the thing about the Internet is that it has so many characteristics that can be easily construed to be similar or almost identical to print that it can be misleading.

  Khoi Vinh

  Thinking, Internet, Print

  Interview with Austin Allen, bigthink.com. March 3, 2010.

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• And guys will say looks matter, but they'll also say things like "Well, she should be smart and kind." And you know those are... so the typical responses and if you give them just a few options, like five or six, then they will rate them on the very characteristics that they said were really important to them.

  Sheena Iyengar

  Smart, Giving, Guy

  Big Think Interview, bigthink.com.

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• It is a singular characteristic of love that we cannot hide it where it exists, or pretend it where it does not exist.

  Madeleine de Souvre, marquise de Sable

  Love, Doe, Existence

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• It has been stated that a characteristic mark of a combination is surprise; surprise for the defender, not for the assailant, since otherwise the combination will probably be unsound.

  Eugene Znosko-Borovsky

  Chess, Surprise, Combination

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• Inexperienced players have a fear of this piece, which seems to them enigmatic, mysterious, and astonishing in its power. We must admit that it has remarkable characteristics which compel respect and occasionally surprise the most wary players.

  Eugene Znosko-Borovsky

  Player, Knights, Chess

  Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (2013). “The Art of Chess Combination”, p.44, Courier Corporation

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• The dreadful cocksureness that is characteristic of scientists in bulk is not only quite foreign to the spirit of true science, it is not even justified by a superficial view.

  Anthony Standen

  Science, Views, Spirit

  Anthony Standen (1950). “Science is a sacred cow”

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• The reports from the scientific world are that, there is very sadly an escalating impact of HIV and Aids in South Africa. And it’s from what I have read assuming distinct characteristics which were atypical of how this phenomenon had developed in the States and therefore this meant that we look at what it is that results in all of this, specific to our country.

  Thabo Mbeki

  Country, Impact, Hiv

  Interview with Lionel Barber and Alec Russell, www.ft.com. April 3, 2007.

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• We see people of kindness, compassion, and possibly even faith being told, "Because of a characteristic with which you were born, you are evil and bad." Anything that even implies such a stance is profoundly toxic.

  Andrew Solomon

  Kindness, Compassion, People

  Source: andrewsolomon.com

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• One of the defining characteristics or difference between today's illegal immigration and the immigration of old is the immigrants of the late 1800s through the early 1920s came here desiring to become Americans. They wanted to become part of what was a unique and distinct American culture. They were all coming from tyranny of one kind or another.

  Rush Limbaugh

  Unique, Differences, Immigration

  Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

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• There are many names to Allah plus one you don't know. And each name is an attribute that flexes his characteristics: the Benevolent, the Merciful, the All-Knower... And to me, my names be flexin' personalities of myself: Prince Rakeem, Bobby Digital, Bobby Steels, the RZA, the Rzarector... These are personalities of myself.

  RZA

  Names, Personality, Steel

  Source: www.hiphopcore.net

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• Our courts provide a neutral forum for the adjudication of disputes under the law, not based on economic or political power, on race, on sex or any other personal characteristics.

  Jon Kyl

  Sex, Race, Law

  Jon Kyl's opening statements at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, www.washingtonpost.com. January 9, 2006.

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• I think everyone is a case-by-case basis. Whatever the circumstances are that come with any individual, they exist and you have to make a determination as to what your comfort level is with that person and the characteristics that they bring.

  Bill Belichick

  Determination, Thinking, Comfort

  Source: www.bostonglobe.com

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• [ John F.Kennedy's friend] Chuck Spalding at the wedding said Jack was two guys: the groom and somebody else observing from a distance. ... It must have been maddening to be married to a guy like that, but you could at the same time argue that characteristic kept the world from being blown up.

  Chris Matthews

  Distance, Two, Guy

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