Birds Of Prey Quotes

• We must not make a scarecrow of the law, Setting it up to fear the birds of prey, And let it keep one shape till custom make it Their perch, and not their terror.

  William Shakespeare

  Law, Bird, Shapes

  'Measure for Measure' (1604) act 2, sc. 1, l. 1

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• Of all types of birds, birds of prey have always fascinated people.

  Jim Knight

  People, Bird, Prey

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• There is nothing very odd about lambs disliking birds of prey, but this is no reason for holding it against large birds of prey that they carry off lambs. And when the lambs whisper among themselves, "These birds of prey are evil, and does this not give us a right to say that whatever is the opposite of a bird of prey must be good," there is nothing intrinsically wrong with such an argument-though the birds of prey will look somewhat quizzically and say, We have nothing against these good lambs; in fact, we love them; nothing tastes better than a tender lamb.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Trust, Opposites, Evil

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• Do let him read the papers. But not while you accusingly tiptoe around the room, or perch much like a silent bird of prey on the edge of your most uncomfortable chair. (He will read them anyway, and he should read them, so let him choose his own good time.) Don't make a big exit. Just go. But kiss him quickly, before you go, otherwise he might think you are angry; he is used to suspecting he is doing something wrong.

  Marlene Dietrich

  Husband, Kissing, Thinking

  Marlene Dietrich (2012). “Marlene Dietrich's ABC: Wit, Wisdom, & Recipes”, p.79, Open Road Media

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• As he weeps to wicked birds of prey, who pick up on his bread crumb sins, and there are no sins inside the Gates of Eden.

  Bob Dylan

  Sadness, Eden, Bird

  Song: Gates of Eden, Album: Bringing It All Back Home, 1965

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• Take hope from the heart of man, and you make him a beast of prey.

  Ouida

  Hope, Heart, Men

  Ouida (1889). “A village commune. Idalia. Silver chimes and golden fetters. "Deadly dash"”

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• For critics, as they are birds of prey, have ever a natural inclination to carrion.

  Alexander Pope

  Bird, Natural, Prey

  Alexander Pope (1778). “The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq: In Four Volumes Complete. With His Last Corrections, Additions, and Improvements. Carefully Collated and Compared with Former Editions: Together with Notes from the Various Critics and Commentators”, p.290

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• And wisdom is a butterfly
  And not a gloomy bird of prey.

  William Butler Yeats

  Wisdom, Butterfly, Optimism

  William Butler Yeats (2000). “The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats”, p.116, Wordsworth Editions

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• Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey.

  Pat Buchanan

  Party, Two, Wings

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• Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run

  Andrew Marvell

  Running, Carpe Diem, Sun

  "To His Coy Mistress" l. 41 (1681)

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• Why should I disguise what you know so well, but what the crowd never dream of? We companies are all birds of prey; mere birds of prey. The only question is, whether in serving our own turn, we can serve yours too; whether in double-lining our own nest, we can put a single living into yours.

  Charles Dickens

  Dream, Animal, Bird

  Charles Dickens (1867). “The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit”, p.277

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• Let us roll all our strength, and all Our sweetness, up into one ball: And tear our pleasures with rough strife, Through the iron gates of life. Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

  Andrew Marvell

  Running, Iron, Tears

  "To His Coy Mistress" l. 41 (1681)

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• Mozart's mental grip never loosens; he never abandons himself to any one sense; even at his most ecstatic moments his mind is vigorous, alert, and on the wing. He dives unerringly on to his finest ideas like a bird of prey, and once an idea is seized he soars off again with an undiminished power.

  Walter J. Turner

  Ideas, Wings, Bird

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• Now let us sport us while we may; And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour, Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

  Andrew Marvell

  Sports, Time, Bird

  c.1650-1652 'To His Coy Mistress' (published 1681).

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• Staring at her face, she began to fancy her outer layer had begun to melt away while she wasn't paying attention, and something -- some new skeleton -- was emerging from beneath the softness of her accustomed self. With a deep, visceral ache, she wished her true form might prove to be a sleek and shining one, like a stiletto blade slicing free of an ungainly sheath. Like a bird of prey losing its hatchling fluff to hunt in cold, magnificent skies. That she might become something glittering, something startling, something dangerous.

  Laini Taylor

  Skeletons, Self, Sky

  Laini Taylor (2009). “Lips Touch: Three Times”, p.40, Scholastic Inc.

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• Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, while we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

  Andrew Marvell

  Sports, Running, Morning

  c.1650-1652 'To His Coy Mistress' (published 1681).

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• More like some small, fierce bird of prey, something with a sharp bite. An owl perhaps, that speaks only when the rest of the world sleeps. Jenny will do well enough.

  Juliet Marillier

  Sleep, Bird, Owl

  Juliet Marillier (2008). “Daughter of the Forest: A Sevenwaters Novel 1”, p.133, Pan Australia

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• How describe the delicate thing that happens when a brilliant insect alights on a flower? Words, with their weight, fall upon the picture like birds of prey.

  Jules Renard

  Flower, Fall, Delicate Things

  Jules Renard (2008). “The Journal of Jules Renard”, p.62, Tin House Books

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• Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal of his candles on a rejoicing night, let her look to him and keep him out of harm's way; or the world will be apt to say, she has a mind to be a widow before her time. She ought, in such cases, to exert the authority of the curtain lecture; and if she finds him of a rebellious disposition, to tame him, as they do birds of prey, by dinning him in the ears all night long.

  Joseph Addison

  Husband, Night, Men

  Joseph Addison, Thomas Tickell (1811). “The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison: With the Exception of His Numbers of the Spectator”, p.48

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• It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it.

  Herman Melville

  Blow, Wind, Bird

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• With my sister perched on my arm, I walked to the elevator. A business man with a rolling suitcase was waiting by the doors. His eyes widened as he saw me. I must’ve looked pretty strange—a tall black kid in dirty, ragged Egyptian clothes, with a weird box tucked under one arm and a bird of prey perched on the other. “How’s it going?” I said. “I’ll take the stairs.” He hurried off.

  Rick Riordan

  Dirty, Kids, Eye

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• My jaw dropped open. Holy crows...There's a couple of eagles mixed in there, Luke commented.And a few hawks, Aiden added.I rolled my eyes. Okay. Holy birds of prey! Is that better?Much, Aiden murmured.

  J. Lynn

  Couple, Eye, Eagles

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