Distinction Quotes - Page 33

• If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.

  Samuel Johnson

  Thinking, House, Vices

  Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) (entry for 14 July 1763)

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• As a German philosopher writing in the aftermath of the Nazi regime, Marcuse understood the sleep inducing force of indoctrination, its power to make people forget and forfeit their own real interests. "The fact that the vast majority of the population accepts, and is made to accept, this society does not render it less irrational and less reprehensible," he wrote. "The distinction between true and false consciousness, real and immediate interest still is meaningful."

  Daniel Pinchbeck

  Meaningful, Freedom, Real

  Daniel Pinchbeck (2007). “2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl”, p.67, Penguin

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• Government cannot make us equal; it can only recognize, respect, and protect us as equal before the law. That [affirmative action] programs may have been motivated, in part, by good intentions cannot provide refuge from the principle that under our Constitution, the government may not make distinctions on the basis of race.

  Clarence Thomas

  Equality, Law, Race

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• There is no greater egoism than that of learning when it is treated simply as a mark of personal distinction to be held and cherished for its own sake. ... [K]knowledge is a possession held in trust for the furthering of the well-being of all

  John Dewey

  Sake, Mark, Possession

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• The concept of number is the obvious distinction between the beast and man. Thanks to number, the cry becomes a song, noise acquires rhythm, the spring is transformed into a dance, force becomes dynamic, and outlines figures.

  Joseph de Maistre

  Song, Spring, Math

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• I have never made any distinction between those who have taken vows and those who have not; some should not be overburdened in order to spare others.

  Vincent de Paul

  Faith, Taken, Order

  Saint Vincent de Paul, Pierre Coste (1985). “Correspondence, Conferences, Documents: Apr. 1650-July 1653”

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• If you would understand this secret, you must first understand the distinction between training an animal and educating one. Trained animals are relatively easy to turn out. All that is required is a book of instructions, a certain amount of bluff and bluster, something to use for threatening and punishing purposes, and of course the animal. Educating an animal, on the other hand, demands keen intelligence, integrity, imagination, and the gentle touch, mentally, vocally, and physically.

  J. Boone

  Dog, Integrity, Book

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• In the Age of Perfect Virtue, men lived among the animals and birds as members of one large family. There were no distinctions between superior and inferior to separate one man or species from another. All retained their natural Virtue and lived in a state of pure simplicity.

  Benjamin Hoff

  Animal, Men, Perfect

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• The concept of number is the obvious distinction between the beast and man.

  Joseph de Maistre

  Math, Men, Numbers

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• I enjoy my wrinkles and regard them as badges of distinction - I've worked hard for them!

  Maggie Kuhn

  Inspirational, Wrinkles, Badges

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• Is there any sex-distinction in the Atman (Self)? Out with the differentiation between man and woman—all is Atman! Give up the identification with the body, and stand up!

  Swami Vivekananda

  Sex, Giving Up, Men

  Swami Vivekananda (1963). “Complete Works”

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• The utmost I can bear for myself in my best days is that I was one of the hundred best playwrights
  in the world, which is hardly a supreme distinction.

  George Bernard Shaw

  World, Bears, Hundred

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• There was a distinction between lying and telling half-truths, but it was a very narrow one.

  Alexander McCall Smith

  Lying, Half, Half Truth

  Alexander McCall Smith (2008). “The Sunday Philosophy Club”, p.121, Hachette UK

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• The ends do not justify the means. If our actions will bring harm to others, even in the service of some 'good,' they are almost certainly deluded. If our actions do not come from a kind heart, from loving courage and compassion, they are deluded. If they are based on a distinction between 'us' and 'them,' they stem from delusion. Only to the extent that we act from the wisdom of no separation, understanding how we are woven together, will our intention bring benefit.

  Jack Kornfield

  Heart, Mean, Compassion

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• Animals have their tragic and their comic side, and resemble us in many ways. They, too, have their distinctions and individualities. Many people believe that there is a huge gap separating them from the animals, but it is only really a step in the Wheel of Life, for we are all children of the One. To understand a fellow creature, we must regard him as a brother.

  Manfred Kyber

  Brother, Children, Believe

  Manfred Kyber (1967). “Among animals: the collected animal stories”

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• Seek the underlying harmonies of love and the overarching rainbow of hope, rather than the surface distinctions of creeds and of sects. Work for peace in religion.

  Jenkin Lloyd Jones

  Rainbow, Harmony, Creeds

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• I am led to the proposition that there is no fiction or nonfiction as we commonly understand the distinction: there is only narrative.

  E. L. Doctorow

  Fiction, Narrative, Propositions

  E.L. Doctorow (2011). “Jack London, Hemingway, and the Constitution:: Selected Essays, 1977-1992”, p.160, Random House

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• In distinguishing between Islamic teachings and social taboos, we must remember that Islam forbids injustice; Injustice against people, against nations, against women. It shuns race, color, and gender as a basis of distinction amongst fellowmen. It enshrines piety as the sole criteria for judging humankind.

  Benazir Bhutto

  Teaching, Islamic, Race

  Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan. Directorate of Films & Publications (2008). “Speeches and Statements: Oct. 1993-Nov. 1996”

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• The basic success of the conga came from ...that basic principle of African music and dance: everybody participates. The conga eradicated the distinction between performer and audience, broke down the wall of the proscenium.

  Ned Sublette

  Wall, Principles, African Music

  Ned Sublette (2007). “Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo”, p.409, Chicago Review Press

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• The church is ever in peril-and never more so than now-of the disaster which must follow when she allows men of distinction in the sphere of human attainments, who are unregenerate or unspiritual, to dictate as to what her beliefs shall be.

  Lewis Sperry Chafer

  Men, Church, Spheres

  Lewis Sperry Chafer (1947). “Systematic Theology”

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• In Bosnian, there's no distinction in literature between fiction and nonfiction; there's no word describing that.

  Aleksandar Hemon

  Fiction, Literature, Bosnians

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• The individual skill of the player determines the outcome, unlike betting on the horses or betting on the lottery. It's not an individual betting against the house and that's an important distinction.

  John Pappas

  Horse, Player, Skills

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• There is no clear distinction anywhere on the Earth's surface between living and nonliving matter. There is merely a hierarchy of intensity going from the 'material' environment of the rocks and the atmosphere to the living cells.

  James Lovelock

  Life, Rocks, Cells

  James Lovelock (2000). “The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth”, p.39, Oxford University Press, USA

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• What I learned about them, I liked. But it also seemed that the liberal line was not entirely correct, for it was obvious that racial differences went far beyond skin color. It would be difficult to categorize all the distinctions I noticed. In fact, I made no effort to catalogue them at the time, but their differences ranged all the way from physical characteristics to more subtle differences such as extreme aversion for work in cold weather. On cold days, when I felt invigorated, my black co-workers seemed lethargic.

  David Duke

  Ku Klux Klan, Differences, Skin Color

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• Rarest of all is the man who can and does reason at all times, quickly, accurately, inclusively, despite hope or fear or bodily distress, without egocentric bias or thalmic disturbance, with correct memory, with clear distinction between fact, assumption, and non-fact.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Motivational, Memories, Men

  Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Assignment in Eternity”, Pocket Books

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