Describing Quotes - Page 13

• Gentleness is an active trait, describing the manner in which we should treat others. Meekness is a passive trait, describing the proper Christian response when others mistreat us.

  Jerry Bridges

  Christian, Should, Treats

  Jerry Bridges (2016). “The Practice of Godliness”, p.181, NavPress

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• You know, I'm really not that competent at describing things musically.

  Paul Thomas Anderson

  Knows, Competent

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• Hence when a person is in great pain, the cause of which he cannot remove, he sets his teeth firmly together, or bites some substance between them with great vehemence, as another mode of violent exertion to produce a temporary relief. Thus we have the proverb where no help can be has in pain, 'to grin and abide;' and the tortures of hell are said to be attended with 'gnashing of teeth.'Describing a suggestion of the origin of the grin in the present form of a proverb, 'to grin and bear it.'

  Erasmus Darwin

  Pain, Together, Vehemence

  Erasmus Darwin (1818). “Zoonomia”, p.330

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• Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.

  Dana Carvey

  Stars, Impossible, Sometimes

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• A friend told me of visiting the Dalai Lama in India and asking him for a succinct definition of compassion. She prefaced her question by describing how heart-stricken she'd felt when, earlier that day, she'd seen a man in the street beating a mangy stray dog with a stick. "Compassion," the Dalai Lama told her, "is when you feel as sorry for the man as you do for the dog."

  Marc Ian Barasch

  Dog, Sorry, Heart

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• Reading Gypsy Boy, I felt invited into a secret society. I've always found Gypsies mysterious and even slightly dangerous, and Mikey Walsh does an excellent job describing the cloistered lifestyle and fascinating traditions of the Romani people. Moreover, Mikey's personal story of being a misfit among misfits is both compelling and universal. I cheered for him every step of the way.

  Julia Scheeres

  Jobs, Reading, Boys

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• I'm really bad at describing my books. Journalists like to have things like "It's The Terminator Meets the Seven Dwarfs." And I can't do that with my books. If I could, I probably wouldn't write them.

  Charles de Lint

  Book, Writing, Seven

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• I love Kimberly Peirce. Incredibly intense is a good way of describing her. Brutally honest. Really sharp. She's a director for actors. That's what she's best at, sitting down with an actor and just getting to the heart of what a scene is. And getting to the heart of not just what the scene is and the character is, but what you are, and how to build that bridge between the "me" and the character, and those emotions.

  Joseph Gordon-Levitt

  Heart, Character, Bridges

  Interview with Scott Tobias, www.avclub.com. March 28, 2007.

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• We are working on creating self-describing, self-organizing, self-diagnosing and self-repairing networks.

  John Seely Brown

  Self, Creating, Repairing

  "Robots will manage your network" by Sandra Gittlen, www.cnn.com. January 28, 1999.

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• There was a time when formal clothes were one of life's great pleasures, as well as a way of describing instantly a man's status wealth. Toffs wore the most, the proles the least. Fast forward to 2008 and clothes are still an unrivalled pleasure but some men - and this includes many of our betters - have confused status with fake informality.

  Peter York

  Confused, Men, Clothes

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• The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.

  Benjamin Lee Whorf

  Passive Voice, Nouns, Adjectives

  Benjamin Lee Whorf, John B. Carroll, Stephen C. Levinson, Penny Lee (2012). “Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf”, p.113, MIT Press

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• You won't catch Liberal Democrats describing trade unionists as wreckers.

  Charles Kennedy

  Democrat, Trade

  "Kennedy: trade unionists are not 'wreckers'" by Matthew Tempest, www.theguardian.com. September 11, 2002.

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• In describing the honourable mission I charged him with, M. Pernety informed me that he made my name known to you. This leads me to confess that I am not as completely unknown to you as you might believe, but that fearing the ridicule attached to a female scientist, I have previously taken the name of M. LeBlanc in communicating to you those notes that, no doubt, do not deserve the indulgence with which you have responded.

  Sophie Germain

  Believe, Taken, Science

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• Writing about sex at length is a bit like describing mastication at length. It's the causes and the consequences and the meaning of it that are interesting, not the anatomical descriptions.

  Richard Flanagan

  Sex, Writing, Interesting

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

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• Documenting trips makes them that much richer. I stick in train tickets and business cards from restaurants. It makes the whole experience poetic, describing the sights, smells and sounds around me. It means I can relive the holiday years later.

  Hayley Atwell

  Holiday, Mean, Sight

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• In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying them all on the same plane, without any discrimination of value, as though good and evil were external to them, as though the effort toward the good could be absent at any moment from the thought of any man.

  Simone Weil

  Men, Evil, Effort

  "On Science, Necessity, and the Love of God". Book by Simone Weil, Translated by R. Rees, "The responsibility of writers," p. 168, 1968.

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• I once started a detective story to make money—but I couldn't get the murder to take place! At the end of three chapters I was still describing the characters and the milieu, so I thought, this is not going to work. No corpse!

  Mary McCarthy

  Character, Three, Stories

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• True wit is everlasting, like the sun; describing all men, but described by none.

  George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

  Men, Sun, Wit

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• Describing laughter: The sound is produced by a deep inspiration followed by short, interrupted, spasmodic contractions of the chest, and especially the diaphragm... the mouth is open more or less widely, with the corners drawn much backwards, as well as a little upwards; and the upper lip is somewhat raised.

  Charles Darwin

  Laughter, Inspiration, Sound

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• Inviting people to inquiry is much more powerful to me than describing my experience... When people hear me tell the story, they often say, "Oh my goodness, I get it. I get it!" But it's not enough.

  Byron Katie

  Powerful, People, Inquiry

  "The Turnaround: A Byron Katie Interview". Interview with Ray Hemachandra, rayhemachandra.com. December 3, 2013.

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• If you want to talk about grace, if you want to talk about revelation, talk about your life with some depth, which doesn't mean lurid revelations as much as simply looking at your own deep experiences and describing them as they are.

  Frederick Buechner

  Mean, Grace, Depth

  Frederick Buechner's Door Interview, www.jmm.org.au. October 13, 2003.

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• "Real" drawing is about specifics. It's about describing an object as accurately as possible. In a comic strip you have to draw a picture of the idea of the object. You have to draw the word that you are picturing, then you have to mix in specifics with it for it to work as a story. But you are still working with drawn words.

  Chris Ware

  Real, Ideas, Drawing

  Source: content.time.com

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• The goal in tasting wine is not to "find" the same aromas and flavors some other taster is describing. If you hone your own perceptual abilities and develop the vocabulary to articulate them, you'll not only derive more pleasure from the wine itself, but also stimulate better communication between you and the friends who are sharing the bottle.

  Marvin Shanken

  Communication, Wine, Vocabulary

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• women, when describing their roles in their organizations, usually referred to themselves as being in the middle of things. Not at the top, but in the center; not reaching down, but reaching out.

  Sally Helgesen

  Organization, Roles, Reaching

  Sally Helgesen (2011). “The Female Advantage: Women's Ways of Leadership”, p.45, Crown Business

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• When you gossip about another person, listeners unconsciously associate you with the characteristics you are describing, ultimately leading to those characteristics' being “transferred” to you. So, say positive and pleasant things about friends and colleagues, and you are seen as a nice person. In contrast, constantly complain about their failings, and people will unconsciously apply the negative traits and incompetence to you.

  Richard Wiseman

  Nice, Gossip, People

  Richard Wiseman (2009). “59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot”, p.58, Anchor

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