Defining Quotes - Page 15

• Claude Shannon, the founder of information theory, invented a way to measure 'the amount of information' in a message without defining the word 'information' itself, nor even addressing the question of the meaning of the message.

  Hans Christian von Baeyer

  Information, Way, Messages

  Hans Christian Von Baeyer (2004). “Information: The New Language of Science”, p.28, Harvard University Press

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• What exactly is mathematics? Many have tried but nobody has really succeeded in defining mathematics; it is always something else.

  Stanislaw Ulam

  Exactly Is, Mathematics

  "Adventures of a Mathematician". Book by Stanislaw Ulam, 3rd edition. Chapter 15: "Random Reflections on Mathematics and Science", p. 273-274, 1991.

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• The concept of justice I take to be defined, then, by the role of its principles in assigning rights and duties and in defining the appropriate division of social advantages. A conception of justice is an interpretation of this role.

  John Rawls

  Rights, Justice, Principles

  John Rawls (2009). “A Theory of Justice”, p.9, Harvard University Press

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• When people say "How do you write a book, how does it all happen?" I say, you line things up, and you line them up as actually as you possibly can, but sooner or later the book has got momentum and it's moving along under that momentum. It's like a sculpture, if you're working with the grain of the wood, the wood will start defining what shape it's going to become.

  Terry Pratchett

  Moving, Book, Writing

  Source: www.theguardian.com

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• Tommy Hearns seemed like an indestructible machine, so to beat him, I think that was my defining moment, the pinnacle.

  Sugar Ray Leonard

  Thinking, Machines, Defining Moments

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• We are an industry that has historically been at the forefront of defining new media environments in ways that benefit consumers and move our entire business model forward. We must ensure that while we are moving quickly, we are also moving smartly.

  Jim Stengel

  Business, Moving, Media

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• Losing ... really does say something about who you are. Among other things it measures are: do you blame others, or do you own the loss? Do you analyze your failure, or just complain about bad luck? If you're willing to examine failure, and to look not just at your outward physical performance, but your internal workings, too, losing can be valuable. How you behave in those moments can perhaps be more self-defining than winning could ever be. Sometimes losing shows you for who you really are.

  Lance Armstrong

  Loss, Winning, Self

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• Big Idea - Your days are your life in miniature. As you live your hours, so you create your years. As you live your days, so you craft your life. What you do today is actually creating your future. The words you speak, the thoughts you think, the food you eat and the actions you take are defining your destiny - shaping who you are becoming and what your life will stand for. Small choices lead to giant consequences over time. There's no such thing as an unimportant day.

  Robin Sharma

  Destiny, Thinking, Years

  Robin Sharma (2016). “The Robin Sharma Pack”, p.241, Jaico Publishing House

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• The border between music and noise is always culturally defined—which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus.... By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be

  Jean-Jacques Nattiez

  Doe, Borders, Noise

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• Rarely do schools acknowledge the power of peer culture in defining standards, and rarely do they take advantage of this power as an engine for quality. When students themselves are in charge of projects that they care about, peer pressure can become a powerful force for high standards.

  Sandy Berger

  Powerful, School, Quality

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• Grads need to remember that it's [showcases] just a jumping off point for their career, not the defining moment.

  Rachel Hoffman

  Jumping, Careers, Needs

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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• When you start defining yourself, you put yourself in boxes and I don't want to be trapped in anything because I will always evolve - I will always change. It's like water. I take on many shapes. Everyone should be that way and not define themselves. I am everything.

  Karrine Steffans

  Water, Shapes, Want

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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• While I am sure there are a number of women who secretly wonder whether they are lesbian, most simply have, somewhere, a fantasy about having sex, in a non-defining, non-exclusive way, with other women.

  Nigella Lawson

  Sex, Numbers, Way

  "Sapphism Is More Than Designer-Dykery". www.theguardian.com. December 31, 2000.

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• Marriage is also a social statement, preeminently describing and defining a person's relationship and place in society. Marital status, along with what we do for a living, is often one of the first pieces of information we give to others about ourselves. It's so important, in fact, that most married people wear a symbol of their marriage on their hand.

  Evan Wolfson

  Hands, People, Giving

  Evan Wolfson (2007). “Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry”, p.4, Simon and Schuster

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• While liberals appeared to be safely in power, feminists could perhaps afford the luxury of defining Larry Flynt or Roman Polanski as Enemy Number One. Now that we have to cope with Jerry Falwell and Jesse Helms, a rethinking of priorities seems in order.

  Ellen Willis

  Order, Luxury, Numbers

  "No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays". Book by Ellen Willis, "Lust Horizons: Is the Woman's Movement Pro-Sex?" (1981), 1992.

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• Now, to take that which has caused us to create the world, and include it within the world we have created, is clearly impossible. This is why Quality cannot be defined. If we do define it, we are defining something less than Quality itself.

  Robert M. Pirsig

  Quality, World, Impossible

  "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Book by Robert M. Pirsig, 1974.

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• Speaker John Boehner complained that Barack Obama ordered the U.S. military into combat in Libya without clearly defining the mission to the American people and Congress. See, apparently, you're only allowed to do that when invading Iraq.

  Jay Leno

  Military, Iraq, People

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• Lack of opportunity breeds dreams of escape. But professionals and managers who have invested in their careers do not leave the work force as frequently as discouraged workers in lower status occupations. Instead, they keep working, but they escape emotionally by defining achievement in professional, not company, terms. ... Thus, the potential for being stuck as career uncertainty grows takes its toll in weakening attachment to any particular employer.

  Rosabeth Moss Kanter

  Dream, Opportunity, Attachment

  Rosabeth Moss Kanter (2008). “Men and Women of the Corporation: New Edition”, p.328, Hachette UK

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• Defining child care primarily as women's sphere reinforces the devaluing of women and prevents their equal access to power.

  Mary Frances Berry

  Children, Care, Spheres

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• Now that we are recognizing more fully the value of the individual, now that management is defining more exactly the function of each, many are coming to regard the leader as the man who can energize his group, who knows how to encourage initiative, how to draw from all what each has to give.

  Mary Parker Follett

  Leadership, Men, Giving

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• Art is the signature of a generation; artists have a way of defining the times.

  Barbra Streisand

  Art, Signatures, Generations

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• Suggestion is generally better than Definition. There is a seeming dogmatism about Definition that is often repellent, while Suggestion, on the contrary, disarms suspicion and summons to co-operation and experiment. Definition provokes discussion. Suggestion provokes to love and good works. Defining is limiting. Suggestion is enlarging. Defining calls a halt; Suggestion calls for an advance. Defining involves the peril of contentment: "I am here, I rest." "Thus far," says Definition, and draws a map. "Westward," cries Suggestion, and builds a boat.

  Maltbie Davenport Babcock

  Contentment, Definitions, Suggestions

  Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1901). “Thoughts for Every-day Living from the Spoken and Written Words of Maltbie Davenport Babcock”

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• The sane understand that human beings are incapable of sustaining conspiracies on a grand scale, because some of our most defining qualities as a species are inattention to detail, a tendency to panic, and an inability to keep our mouths shut.

  Dean Koontz

  Quality, Inability, Details

  Dean Koontz (2007). “Fear Nothing: A Novel”, p.169, Bantam

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• I always keep moments that were defining for me in my past and challenged me in my past - from getting evicted out of my apartment when I was 14 years old, to being cut from the CFL [Canadian Football League] and only having 7 bucks in my pocket, to bouts with depression - I keep moments like that very close to me because it continues to be great motivators for me. It helps keep me grounded, and it's a good reminder of how things work, and I never want to go back to that.

  Dwayne Johnson

  Football, Cutting, Past

  Source: www.muscleandfitness.com

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• Football can stand parity better than any of the other sports, I think. Baseball, basketball and hockey need a defining team, in essence to frame the season. Football? Not so much.

  Michael Wilbon

  Basketball, Sports, Baseball

  "The Chat House with Michael Wilbon". Live Chat, www.washingtonpost.com. October 4, 2010.

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