Demand Quotes - Page 28

• You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.

  Annie Dillard

  Stars, Dark, Perspective

  Annie Dillard (2016). “Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters”, p.32, Canongate Books

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• The impossible is the least that one can demand.

  James A. Baldwin

  Impossible

  "Letter from a Region in My Mind". www.newyorker.com. November 17, 1962.

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• Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology toward the organic, the gentle, the elegant and beautiful.

  E. F. Schumacher

  Beautiful, Technology, Gentle

  E.F. Schumacher (1975). “Small is Beautiful”

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• I take it, sir, that you do not approve of our new society." "Approval, sir, in my opinion, demands the attainment of perfection. And in that sense, you rather overrate the charms of your society. I'faith, for one thing, it does seem monstrous ill-dressed for any society, even a new one.

  Baroness Orczy

  Perfection, Doe, Approval

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• He returns years later, has no demands. He wants only one, most precious thing: To see, purely and simply, without name, Without expectations, fears, or hopes, At the edge where there is no I or not-I.

  Czeslaw Milosz

  Names, Years, Expectations

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• Sometimes the briefest moments capture us, force us to take them in, and demand that we live the rest of our lives in reference to them.

  Lucy Grealy

  Sometimes, Moments, Force

  Lucy Grealy (1994). “Autobiography of a Face”, p.89, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Success always demands a greater effort.

  Winston Churchill

  Determination, Effort, Greater

  Winston Churchill (1949). “The Second World War: Their finest hour”

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• What pleases the public is lively and vivid delineation which makes no demands on the intellect; but passionate and absolutist youth can only be enthralled by a problem.

  Thomas Mann

  Passionate, Vivid, Youth

  Thomas Mann (2010). “Death in Venice: And Seven Other Stories”, p.12, Vintage

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• You will find as you grow older that the first thing needful to make the world a tolerable place to live in is to recognize the inevitable selfishness of humanity. You demand unselfishness from others, which is a preposterous claim that they should sacrifice their desires to yours. Why should they? When you are reconciled to the fact that each is for himself in the world you will ask less from your fellows. They will not disappoint you, and you will look upon them more charitably. Men seek but one thing in life -- their pleasure.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Sacrifice, Men, Things In Life

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• Perhaps the reason we are unable to love is that we yearn to be loved, that is, we demand something - love - from our partner instead of delivering ourselves up to him demand-free and asking for nothing but his company.

  Milan Kundera

  Love, Asking, Unbearable

  "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". Book by Milan Kundera, 1984.

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• The republican principle demands that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they intrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion or to every transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men, who flatter their prejudices to betray their interests.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Art, Passion, Men

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2016). “The Federalist Papers and the Constitution of the United States: The Principles of the American Government”, p.383, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.

  Wendell Berry

  Law, Justice, Competition

  Wendell Berry (2003). “The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry”, p.212, Counterpoint

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• The spirit of the age is: Ask not what your country can do for you, demand it.

  Mark Steyn

  Country, Age, Spirit

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• Whatever art offered the men and women of previous eras, what it offers our own, it seems to me, is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit. The town I grew up in had many vacant lots; when I go back now, the vacant lots are gone. They were a luxury, just as tigers and rhinoceri, in the crowded world that is making, are luxuries. Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.

  John Updike

  Art, Exercise, Men

  "A Few Words In Defense Of The Amateur Reader" by John Updike, www.nytimes.com. February 19, 1984.

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• To demand that a person pee in a cup whenever you wish him to, without a documented reason to suspect that he has been using an illegal drug, is intolerable in our republic. You are saying to him, "I wonder if you are not behaving in a way that I approve of. Convince me that you indeed are. Outrageous. Intolerable.

  Alexander Shulgin

  Drug, Wish, Republic

  Alexander Shulgin, Ann Shulgin (1995). “Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story”

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• Presently it appears that people are mainly concerned with being well rested. Those capable of uninterrupted sleep are much admired. Unconsciousness is in great demand. This is the day of the milligram. The rigors of learning how to do long division have been a traditional part of childhood, just like learning to smoke. In fact, as far as I am concerned, the two go hand in hand. Any child who cannot do long division by himself does not deserve to smoke.

  Fran Lebowitz

  Children, Sleep, Hands

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• As each wave of technology is released. It must be accompanied by a demand for new skills, new language. Consumers must constantly update their ways of thinking, always questioning their understanding of the world. Going back to old ways, old technology is forbidden. There in no past, no present, only an endless future of inadequacy

  Richard Kadrey

  Past, Technology, Thinking

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• I admit that I myself am far from having a complete command of every topic I touch on, but my knowledge of my subject is always greater than the interest or the understanding of my auditors. You see, there is one very good thing about mankind; the mediocre masses make very few demands of the mediocrities of a higher order, submitting stupidly and cheerfully to their guidance

  Alfred de Vigny

  Stupid, Order, Understanding

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• I didn't know shorthand either. This meant I couldn't get a good job after college. My mother kept telling me nobody wanted a plain English major. But an English major who knew shorthand would be something else again. Everybody would want her. She would be in demand among all the up-and-coming young men and she would transcribe letter after thrilling letter. The trouble was, I hated the idea of serving men in any way. I wanted to dictate my own thrilling letters.

  Sylvia Plath

  Mother, Jobs, College

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• It is always useful to think badly about people one has exploited or plans to exploit... No one likes to think of him or herself as a bad person. To treat badly another person whom we consider a reasonable human being creates a tension between act and attitude that demands resolution. We cannot erase what we have done, and to alter our future behavior may not be in our interest. To change our attitude is easier.

  James W. Loewen

  Attitude, Thinking, People

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• Love may, indeed, love the beloved when her beauty is lost: but not because it is lost. Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but Love cannot cease to will their removal. Love is more sensitive than hatred itself to every blemish in the beloved… Of all powers he forgives most, but he condones least: he is pleased with little, but demands all.

  C. S. Lewis

  Lost Love, Love Is, Hatred

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• Justice demands integrity. It’s to have a moral universe — not only know what is right or wrong but to put things in perspective, weigh things. Justice is different from violence and retribution; it requires complex accounting.

  Bell Hooks

  Integrity, Justice, Perspective

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• A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.

  Paulo Coelho

  Life, Happiness, Inspiring

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• I choose gentleness... Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

  Max Lucado

  Prayer, Voice, Self Control

  Max Lucado (2015). “Let the Journey Begin: Finding God's Best for Your Life”, p.73, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• Conversing with children is a fine art.... An art form that demands large amounts of both honesty and misdirection. Or maybe discretion is a better word.

  Miriam Toews

  Art, Children, Honesty

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