Backfire Quotes

• I used to write things out beforehand. But sometimes it backfires

  Todd Barry

  Writing, Sometimes, Used

  80 Copy quote

• It is very difficult to know exactly what good should come out of a particular situation. To attempt to manipulate circumstances so your idea of good can come about, is to let the ego play God-and that, as you know, can and does backfire.

  Neem Karoli Baba

  Play, Ideas, Ego

  169 Copy quote

• Protecting underperformers always backfires.

  Jack Welch

  Team, Team Building, Building

  24 Copy quote

• Sometimes you try to help people, and it backfires on you, and then they try to take advantage of you.

  Bill Cosby

  People, Trying, Helping

  "Bill Cosby Gave National Enquirer Interview To Keep Other Sexual Assault Allegation Quiet" by Stephanie Marcus, www.huffingtonpost.com. November 27, 2014.

  22 Copy quote

  Show source

• Our intentions attract the elements and forces, the events, the situation, the circumstances and the relationships necessary to fulfill the intended outcome. We don't need to become involved in the details-in fact, trying too hard may backfire. Let the non-local intelligence synchronize the actions of the universe to fulfill your intentions for you.

  Deepak Chopra

  Law Of Attraction, Trying, Events

  Deepak Chopra (2007). “The Essential Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: The Essence of Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence”, p.111, Harmony

  40 Copy quote

  Show source

• Once you feel like you're being dictated by other people's expectations, it usually backfires.

  Rob Zombie

  People, Expectations, Like You

  Interview with Scott Tobias, www.avclub.com. August 2, 2005.

  55 Copy quote

  Show source

• I think that there is a problem with rewards and consequences because in the long run, they rarely work in the ways we hope. In fact, they are likely to backfire.

  Marshall B. Rosenberg

  Running, Communication, Thinking

  14 Copy quote

• Sometimes, I genuinely enjoy having conversations with journalists; enjoying the few moments of intimacy with a stranger is fascinating to me. But once in a while that backfires and you're suddenly reading something that has a bent on it that you didn't feel was in the least bit a part of the conversation that you thought you were having. Then you get overly protective and say very little and then you come out of the hole again.

  Gillian Anderson

  Reading, Littles, Sometimes

  The Observer Interview, October 01, 2000.

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• Sometimes I stress too much and don't have fun. If you're trying to be perfect, sometimes it backfires on you.

  Chad Pennington

  Fun, Stress, Perfect

  10 Copy quote

• You know that saying 'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'? That's so true of positive psychology. Our latest research tells us that the pursuit of happiness is a delicate art. Certain approaches to seeking happiness are now known to backfire, whereas others are effective.

  Barbara Fredrickson

  Art, Pursuit Of Happiness, Psychology

  "Barbara Fredrickson Talks About…". Interview with Seph Fontane Pennock, positivepsychologynews.com. January 20, 2015.

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• I thought I could make a sarcastic joke about it. But it's based on my own struggle with how much to give, how much it's really helping or not, and how foolish or not I feel. Giving sometimes backfires.

  Nicole Holofcener

  Sarcastic, Struggle, Giving

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• When you're winning games, everyone thinks everything the manager says and does is fantastic. Then it goes the other way, and those earlier criticisms of players can backfire.

  Gary Lineker

  Winning, Player, Thinking

  13 Copy quote

• Economists and workplace consultants regard it as almost unquestioned dogma that people are motivated by rewards, so they don't feel the need to test this. It has the status more of religious truth than scientific hypothesis. The facts are absolutely clear. There is no question that in virtually all circumstances in which people are doing things in order to get rewards, extrinsic tangible rewards undermine intrinsic motivation.The bonus myth: How paying for results can backfire The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

  Albert Einstein

  Religious, Motivation, Knowledge

  11 Copy quote

• The war does not end when you come home. It lives on in memories of your fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who gave their lives. It endures in the wound that is slow to heal, the disability that isn't going away, the dream that wakes you at night, or the stiffening in your spine when a car backfires down the street.

  Barack Obama

  Dream, Memories, War

  Responsibly Ending the War in Iraq, delivered 27 February 2009, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• It takes a long time to write a book. I'm not going to spend that much time trying to deliver a message. The reason I do it is because I want to understand something myself. It's not a delivery device, it's an inquiry device. Didactic fiction to my mind never works. It backfires.

  Ruth Ozeki

  Book, Writing, Long

  10 Copy quote

• Extrinsic reading rewards may not be necessary and may backfire.

  Stephen D. Krashen

  Reading, May, Rewards

  8 Copy quote

• Beyond all the other reasons not to do it, free speech assaults always backfire: they transform bigots into martyrs.

  Glenn Greenwald

  Speech, Reason, Assault

  5 Copy quote

• For the record, kid, Summoning a demon to kidnap her, not the best way to meet a woman. It usually backfires on you.

  Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Kids, Records, Way

  Sherrilyn Kenyon (2010). “Dream Warrior”, p.116, Macmillan

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Jane was my wicked stepmother: she was generous, affectionate and resourceful; she salvaged my schooling and I owe her an unknowable debt for that. One flaw: sometimes, early on, she would tell me things designed to make me think less of my mother, and I would wave her away, saying, Jane, this just backfires and makes me think less of you.

  Martin Amis

  Mother, Thinking, Wicked

  "When darkness met light" by Martin Amis, www.theguardian.com. May 11, 2000.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I got a lot of grief from my teammates about that. It might backfire on my mom. Hopefully, my brother will have another chance somewhere down the road.

  Scott Niedermayer

  Mom, Brother, Grief

  7 Copy quote

• How about this John Kerry controversy? So he's out there in California, tells some kind of joke and it backfires. He's saying he botched the joke. ... This guy can lose elections he's not even in.

  David Letterman

  California, Guy, Election

  7 Copy quote

• Giving anyone anything takes courage, since so many presents backfire. A gift conspicuously at odds with your tastes serves only to betray that the benefactor has no earthly clue who you are.

  Lionel Shriver

  Odds, Giving, Taste

  12 Copy quote

• My publishers are wonderful because they have let me write what I wanted to. They're wise enough to know that, with any author who's not simply writing formulas - who's trying to create something new - pressuring them to do something for market purposes almost always backfires. I can't imagine working under those circumstances, actually.

  Elizabeth Kostova

  Wise, Writing, Trying

  4 Copy quote

• Observing and understanding the social media phenomenon is one thing-leveraging this trend for advertising purposes is quite another. While most companies recognize the value of social media advertising opportunities, not many have figured out how to execute these kinds of campaigns and the unique risks they entail because of the potential that a viral marketing effort can backfire and actually harm a brand.

  Stephen Jin-Woo Kim

  Business, Unique, Opportunity

  4 Copy quote

• It's sort of the mixed blessing of being on television for so long in one thing; sometimes that backfires, in that you're not able to continue on.

  Katey Sagal

  Blessing, Long, Television

  Interview with Noel Murray, www.avclub.com. September 15, 2010.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source