Firmness Quotes - Page 4

• Fortitude implies a firmness and strength of mind, that enables us to do and suffer as we ought. It rises upon an opposition, and, like a river, swells the higher for having its course stopped.

  Jeremy Collier

  Rivers, Mind, Suffering

  Jeremy Collier (1969). “Essays Upon Several Moral Subjects: (1698-1709).”

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• In respect to foresight and firmness, the people are more prudent, more stable, and have better judgement than princes.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  People, Judgement, Prudent

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• Firmness or stiffness of the mind is not from adherence to truth, but submission to prejudice.

  John Locke

  Mind, Adherence, Prejudice

  John Locke (1828). “An essay concerning human understanding ... The twentieth edition, etc”, p.560

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• Nonviolence means an ocean of compassion. It means shedding from us every trace of ill will for others. It does not mean abjectness or timidity, or fleeing in fear. It means, on the contrary, firmness of mind and courage, a resolute spirit.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Ocean, Mean, Compassion

  Mahatma Gandhi (1986). “The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi: Civilization, Politics and Religion”, Clarendon Press

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• Truth, purity, self-control, firmness, fearlessness, humility, unity, peace, and renunciation - these are the inherent qualities of a civil resister.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Humility, Self, Unity

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• The aged oak upon the steep stands more firm and secure if assailed by angry winds; for if the winter bares its head, the more strongly it strikes its roots into the ground, acquiring strength as it loses beauty.

  Pietro Metastasio

  Winter, Roots, Wind

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• The shortest route is not the most direct one, but rather the one where the most favorable winds swell our sails:Mthat is the lesson that seafarers teach. Not to abide by this lesson is to be obstinate: here, firmness of character is tainted with stupidity.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Character, Wind, Stupidity

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• Stand firm and immovable as an anvil when it is beaten upon.

  Ignatius of Loyola

  Anvils, Stand Firm, Beaten

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• Over your breasts of motionless current, over your legs of firmness and water, over the permanence and the pride of your naked hair I want to be, my love, now that the tears are thrown into the raucous baskets where they accumulate, I want to be, my love, alone with a syllable of mangled silver, alone with a tip of your breast of snow.

  Pablo Neruda

  Pride, Hair, Snow

  Pablo Neruda (1990). “Selected Poems”, p.127, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• There is nothing more to be esteemed than a manly firmness and decision of character.

  William Hazlitt

  Character, Decision, Manly

  William Hazlitt (1859). “Table talk”

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• Without [firmness] I see the majority of Communities that are lax reach that state because of the excessive leniency of Superiors. So, be firm, Monsieur.

  Vincent de Paul

  Leadership, Community, Majority

  Saint Vincent de Paul, Pierre Coste (1990). “Correspondence, Conferences, Documents: Correspondence; January 1640-July 1646)”

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• From the steady opposition which faithful Friends in early times made to wrong things then approved, they were hated and persecuted by men living in the spirit of this world, and suffering with firmness, they were made a blessing to the Church, and the work prospered.

  John Woolman

  Men, Blessing, Faithful

  John Woolman (1837). “A Journal of the Life, Gospel Labours, and Christian Experiences, of that Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, John Woolman”, p.72

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• Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence, and benevolence of spirit.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Perfect, Body, Asana

  "Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom".

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• Firmness in the body leads to firmness in the nervous system.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Body, Nervous, Nervous System

  B. K. S. Iyengar (2016). “Sparks of Divinity: The Teachings of B. K. S. Iyengar”, p.101, Shambhala Publications

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• I'm glad [Ornette Coleman] is such an individualist. I like the firmness of thought and purpose that goes into what he's doing, even though I don't always like to listen to it. It's like living in a house where everything's painted red.

  Paul Desmond

  Memorable, House, Purpose

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• I arise today
  Through the strength of heaven:
  Light of sun
  Brilliance of moon
  Splendor of fire
  Speed of lightning
  Swiftness of wind
  Depth of sea
  Stability of earth
  Firmness of rock.

  Saint Patrick

  Nature, Moon, Fire

  "Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century". Book by Bernard McGinn, Jean Leclercq, John Meyendorff, 1986.

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• Oh God! that one might read the book of fate, And see the revolution of the times Make mountains level, and the continent, Weary of solid firmness, melt itself Into the sea.

  William Shakespeare

  Book, Fate, Science

  'Henry IV, Part 2' (1597) act 3, sc. 1, l. 45

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• God knows that a mother needs fortitude and courage and tolerance and flexibility and patience and firmness and nearly every other brave aspect of the human soul. But because I happen to be a parent of almost fiercely maternal nature, I praise casualness. It seems to me the rarest of virtues. It is useful enough when children are small. It is useful to the point of necessity when they are adolescents.

  Phyllis McGinley

  Mother, Children, Women

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• [Oppose] with manly firmness [any] invasions on the rights of the people.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Freedom, Rights, People

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• We are unreasonably desirous to separate the goods of life from those evils which Providence has connected with them, and to catch advantages without paying the price at which they are offered to us. Every man wishes to be rich, but very few have the powers necessary to raise a sudden fortune, either by new discoveries, or by superiority of skill in any necessary employment; and among lower understandings many want the firmness and industry requisite to regular gain and gradual acquisitions.

  Samuel Johnson

  Men, Skills, Discovery

  Samuel Johnson (1824). “Works: With an Essay on His Life and Genius”, p.243

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• As to sagacity, I should say that his judgement respecting the warmest place and the softest cushion in a room is infallible, his punctuality at meal times is admirable, and his pertinacity in jumping on people's shoulders till they give him some of the best of what is going, indicates great firmness.

  Thomas Huxley

  Cat, Jumping, People

  Thomas Henry Huxley, Leonard Huxley (1900). “Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley”

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• It is a general principle of human nature, that a man will be interested in whatever he possesses, in proportion to the firmness or precariousness of the tenure by which he holds it.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Men, Principles, Human Nature

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1852). “The Federalist, on the new constitution, written in 1788, with an appendix, containing the letters of Pacificus and Helvidius on the proclamation of neutrality of 1793, also the original articles of confederation and the constitution of the United States”, p.328

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• Far must thy researches go
  Wouldst thou learn the world to know;
  Thou must tempt the dark abyss
  Wouldst thou prove what Being is;
  Naught but firmness gains the prize,
  Naught but fullness makes us wise,
  Buried deep truth e'er lies.

  Friedrich Schiller

  Wise, Lying, Knowledge

  Friedrich Schiller, “The Proverbs Of Confucius”

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• But what is the past? Could it be, the firmness of the past is just illusion? Could the past be a kaleidoscope, a pattern of images that shift with each disturbance of a sudden breeze, a laugh, a thought? And if the shift is everywhere, how would we know?

  Alan Lightman

  Past, Laughing, Patterns

  Alan Lightman (2011). “Einstein's Dreams”, p.102, Vintage

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• The patriot, like the Christian, must learn to bear revilings and persecutions as a part of his duty; and in proportion as the trial is severe, firmness under it becomes more requisite and praiseworthy. It requires, indeed, self-command. But that will be fortified in proportion as the calls for its exercise are repeated.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Christian, Exercise, Self

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies: From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson”, p.37

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