Backgrounds Quotes - Page 34

• It's true that there's no such thing as free will. We can't help what we are or what we do. It's not our fault. Nobody's to blame for anything. It's all in your background ... and your glands. If you're good, that's no achievement of yours - you were lucky in your glands. If you're rotten, nobody should punish you - you were unlucky, that's all.

  Ayn Rand

  Achievement, Lucky, Rotten

  Ayn Rand (2011). “Ayn Rand Novel Collection”, p.551, Penguin

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• Gradually, ... the aspect of science as knowledge is being thrust into the background by the aspect of science as the power of manipulating nature. It is because science gives us the power of manipulating nature that it has more social importance than art. Science as the pursuit of truth is the equal, but not the superior, of art. Science as a technique, though it may have little intrinsic value, has a practical importance to which art cannot aspire.

  Bertrand Russell

  Art, Knowledge, Science

  Bertrand Russell (2017). “The Scientific Outlook”, p.16, Routledge

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• I don't believe anybody has a right to own any kind of a firearm. I believe in order to obtain a permit to own a firearm, that person should undergo an exhaustive criminal background check. In addition, an applicant should give up his right to privacy and submit his medical records for review to see if the person has ever had a problem with alcohol, drugs or mental illness... The Constitution doesn't count!

  John Silber

  Giving Up, Believe, Gun

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• America rejects bigotry. We reject every act of hatred against people of Arab background or Muslim faith America values and welcomes peaceful people of all faiths - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and many others. Every faith is practiced and protected here, because we are one country. Every immigrant can be fully and equally American because we're one country. Race and color should not divide us, because America is one country.

  George W. Bush

  Christian, Country, Inspiration

  Address on Compassionate Conservatism, delivered 30 April 2002, San Jose, California

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• My background may be common, but I have specialized in elegance.

  Cyril Ritchard

  Class, May, Common

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• It is never too late, no matter how old you get because anytime or any point in your life you can always have a chance to make a difference. You can always make a change for the better no matter what background you derived from. You can always do your best and be all that you can be because you will always be uniquely you. It is why it is always wise to listen to your eternal heart, your eternal instincts, and what it had always strove for and/or to do because really anybody can make a difference not only in their own lives but in the lives of others. It is never too late to shine; never.

  George Eliot

  Inspirational, Softball, Wise

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• Although contemporary advertising is relatively young, it already has a considerable tradition. Each new ad is encountered against a background of thousands of earlier ads.

  Guy Cook

  Advertising, Tradition, Young

  Guy Cook (2001). “The Discourse of Advertising”, p.6, Psychology Press

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• If the question were, "What ought to be the next objective in science?" my answer would be the teaching of science to the young, so that when the whole population grew up there would be a far more general background of common sense, based on a knowledge of the real meaning of the scientific method of discovering truth.

  Elihu Thomson

  Real, Teaching, Knowledge

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• But the context of religion is a great background for doing science. In the words of Psalm 19, 'The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork'. Thus scientific research is a worshipful act, in that it reveals more of the wonders of God's creation.

  Arthur Leonard Schawlow

  Heaven, Atheism, God's Creation

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• It is suicidal for other runners to copy my hill sessions without adequate background.

  Pekka Vasala

  Running, Suicidal, Adequate

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• Just keep in mind the feeling 'I am', merge in it, till your mind and feeling become one. By repeated attempts you will stumble on the right balance of attention and affection and your mind will be firmly established in the thought-feeling 'I am'. Whatever you think, say, or do, this sense of immutable and affectionate being remains as the ever-present background of the mind.

  Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

  Spiritual, Wisdom, Thinking

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• The Second Amendment's language and historical and philosophical background demonstrated that it was designed to guarantee individuals the possession of certain kinds of arms for three purposes: (1) crime prevention or what we would today describe as self-defense; (2) national defense; and (3) preservation of individual liberty.

  Don Kates

  Philosophical, Gun, Self

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• Why do we place such a disproportionate emphasis on sporting achievement? Why doesn't success in other fields receive similar attention... Maybe it's because in a country that prides itself on being egalitarian, sport is intellectually and socio-economically an equal playing field. In fact, the more humble your background, the better, the underdog-turned champion is a narrative that resonates powerfully. We're far less interested in the stories of our best doctors, writers, lawyers, engineers, teachers or social workers. Their triumphs do not capture our collective imaginations.

  Mia Freedman

  Sports, Country, Teacher

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• Such displays of the Australian spirit engender pride, regardless of background, religion and political persuasion. They are unifying... This spirit of leadership should be reflected in our national symbols and one appropriate way to do that is by finally making the changes needed to make Australia a republic... A country's history does not change because it takes a step forward, but its possibilities for the future do.

  Larissa Behrendt

  Leadership, Country, Pride

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• When you describe the miserable and unfortunate, and want to make the reader feel pity, try to be somewhat colder - that seems to give a kind of background to another's grief, against which it stands out more clearly. Whereas in your story the characters cry and you sigh. Yes, be more cold. ... The more objective you are, the stronger will be the impression you make.

  Anton Chekhov

  Kindness, Grief, Character

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• A social entrepreneur is somebody who knows how to make an idea reality, and one of the great ideas of our time is pluralism. Can people from different backgrounds live together in mutual peace and loyalty? And what we need is a generation of young social entrepreneurs who know how to make that great idea reality in an historical moment where religious extremists are, frankly, making their idea reality.

  Eboo Patel

  Loyalty, Religious, Reality

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• Girls, you know it's all just a game to them, relationships. Just go around stomping on everyone.... I mean, look at this poor guy in the background with his collar up. You know he's just gonna get ruined by women.

  Robert Pattinson

  Funny, Girl, Mean

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• I don't think there is a single sentence in this whole book [East of Eden] that does not either develop character, carry on the story or provide necessary background.

  John Steinbeck

  Book, Writing, Character

  John Steinbeck (1990). “Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters”, p.133, Penguin

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• When I sit down to write, which is the essential moment in my life, I am completely alone. Whenever I write a book, I accumulate a lot of documentation. That background material is the most intimate part of my private life. It's a little embarrassing - like being seen in your underwear It's like the way magicians never tell others how they make a dove come out of a hat.

  Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  Book, Writing, Underwear

  FaceBook post by Gabriel García Márquez from Apr 02, 2013

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• Chess never has been and never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged in to the detriment of other and more serious avocations - should not absorb or engross the thoughts of those who worship at its shrine, but should be kept in the background, and restrained within its proper province. As a mere game, a relaxation from the severe pursuits of life, it is deserving of high commendation.

  Paul Morphy

  Games, Relaxation, Serious

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• It's nothing but a matter of seeing, thinking, and interest. That's what makes a good photograph. And then rejecting anything that would be bad for the picture. The wrong light, the wrong background, time and so on. Just don't do it, not matter how beautiful the subject is.

  Andreas Feininger

  Beautiful, Photography, Thinking

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• The life of nature we must meet halfway; it is shy, withdrawn, and blends itself with a vast neutral background. We must be initiated; it is an order the secrets of which are well guarded.

  John Burroughs

  Nature, Order, Secret

  John Burroughs, Charlotte Zoë Walker (2001). “The Art of Seeing Things: Essays”, p.15, Syracuse University Press

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• We should build respect and understanding between the diverse cultures of the world. We should help construct communities where people of different backgrounds can live together as neighbors. Freedom is something for which we must fight, not by limiting it but by strengthening it.

  Alexandra Byrne

  Fighting, People, Community

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• The book, as it stands, seems to me to be one of the most frightful muddles I have ever read, with scarcely a sound proposition in it beginning with page 45 [Hayek provided historical background up to page 45; after that came his theoretical model], and yet it remains a book of some interest, which is likely to leave its mark on the mind of the reader. It is an extraordinary example of how, starting with a mistake, a remorseless logician can end up in bedlam.

  John Maynard Keynes

  Mistake, Book, Historical

  John Maynard Keynes, Royal Economic Society (Great Britain) (1971). “The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes: The general theory and after: pt. 1, Preparation”

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• Home-making today should have a background of scientific training because only in this way can real efficiency be achieved. The average girl wants to be able to keep her house with the least possible strain, and in order to do this she must have good training. This can best be achieved by taking a good course in home economics.

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Girl, Real, Home

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