Force Quotes - Page 23

• To believe in God for me is to feel that there is a God, not a dead one, or a stuffed one, who with irresistible force urges us towards more loving.

  Vincent Van Gogh

  Believe, Belief, Irresistible

  Vincent van Gogh, Vincent Willem Gogh (1927). “The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh to His Brother, 1872-1886: With a Memoir by His Sister-in-law, J. Van Gogh-Bonger ...”

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• The motivating force of the theory of a Democratic way of life is still a belief that as individuals we live cooperatively, and, to the best of our ability, serve the community in which we live.

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Community, Way, Belief

  Eleanor Roosevelt (1995). “What I Hope to Leave Behind: The Essential Essays of Eleanor Roosevelt”, Carlson Pub

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• The terminology of philosophical art is coercive: arguments are powerful and best when they are knockdown, arguments force you to a conclusion, if you believe the premisses you have to or must believe the conclusion, some arguments do not carry much punch, and so forth. A philosophical argument is an attempt to get someone to believe something, whether he wants to beleive it or not. A successful philosophical argument, a strong argument, forces someone to a belief.

  Robert Nozick

  Art, Strong, Powerful

  Robert Nozick (1981). “Philosophical Explanations”, p.4, Harvard University Press

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• It is sometimes frightening to observe the success which comes even to the outlaw with a polished technique, and we find ourselves doubting the validity of the virtues we have been taught. But I believe we must reckon with character in the end, for it is as potent a force in world conflict as it is in our own domestic affairs. It strikes the last blow in any battle.

  Philip D. Reed

  Success, Believe, Character

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• Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade; therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as be wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.

  John F. Kennedy

  Peace, Attitude, War

  American University Commencement Address, delivered 10 June 1963

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• Electricity and magnetism are those forces of nature by which people who know nothing about electricity and magnetism can explain everything.

  Egon Friedell

  People, Vegetarian, Electricity

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• I know the force women can exert in directing the course of events.

  Helen Gahagan Douglas

  Education, School, Events

  Helen Gahagan Douglas (1963). “The Eleanor Roosevelt we remember”

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• Mainly through sins of impurity, do the forces of darkness subjugate souls.

  Pope Pius XII

  Soul, Darkness, Modesty

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• Okay, so maybe I'm romantic... but somebody is supposed to be romantic. Some warrior is supposed to go to war against the imperial forces of cynicism and irony. I am a sentimental soldier.

  Sherman Alexie

  War, Soldier, Sentimental

  Sherman Alexie (2012). “Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories”, p.304, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Christ does not force our will, He only takes what we give Him. But He does not give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield ourselves entirely to Him.

  Teresa of Avila

  Yield, Giving, Doe

  St Teresa of Avila, of Avila Teresa, Saint (2007). “The Way of Perfection”, p.165, Cosimo, Inc.

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• There are few of us so blind as not to realize that unless the moral force of religious conviction impels, the goal of truth and lasting international cooperation cannot be attained; there are few of us who do not appreciate the vital truth of the words, "If God does not build the house, those who build it build in vain."

  Sumner Welles

  Religious, Appreciation, Appreciate

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• Climbing is the lazy man's way to enlightenment. It forces you to pay attention, because if you don't, you won't succeed, which is minor - or you may get hurt, which is major. Instead of years of meditation, you have this activity that forces you to relax and monitor your breathing and tread that line between living and dying. When you climb, you always are confronted with the edge. Hey, if it was just like climbing a ladder, we all would have quit a long time ago.

  Duncan Ferguson

  Hurt, Men, Hiking

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• Only the incompetent wait until the last extremity to use force, and by then, it is usually too late to use anything, even prayer.

  H. Beam Piper

  Prayer, Waiting, Apathy

  H. Beam Piper (2010). “A Slave Is a Slave”, p.5, eStar Books

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• Every type of destruction that human philosophy, human science, human reason, human art, human cunning, human force, and human brutality could bring to bear against this Book, and yet the Bible stands absolutely unshaken today. At times almost all the wise and great of the earth have been pitted against the Bible, and only an obscure few for it. Yet it has stood.

  R. A. Torrey

  Bible, Christian, Wise

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• "When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality."

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Powerful, Love Life, Reality

  Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

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• This is what meditation is all about, just becoming a watcher. Failure comes, success comes, you are praised, you are condemned, you are respected, you are insulted - all kinds of things come, they are all dualities. And you go on watching. Watching the duality, a third force arises in you; a third dimension arises in you. The duality means two dimensions: one dimension is happiness; another is unhappiness. Watching both, a depth arises in you: the third dimension, witnessing, sakshin.

  Rajneesh

  Happiness, Mean, Two

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• If life is a gift then all that belongs to life is going to be a gift. Happiness, love, meditation - all that is beautiful is going to be a gift from the holy, from the whole. You cannot deserve it in any way and you cannot force existence to make you happy, or to make you loving, or to make you meditative. That very effort is of the ego. That very effort creates misery. That very effort goes against you. That very effort has destroyed you - it is suicidal.

  Rajneesh

  Happiness, Beautiful, Suicidal

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• It is impossible to pursue happiness. Nobody has ever pursued it. One has to wait for it. And it is not a right at all. No law court can force you to be happy or force happiness to be with you. No government violence is capable of making you happy. No power can make you happy.

  Rajneesh

  Happiness, Government, Law

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• Why is it so? If live is a gift, all that belongs to and is intrinsic to life is going to be a gift. You can wait for it, you can be receptive to it, you can remain in a surrendered mood, waiting, patient, but you cannot demand, and you cannot force.

  Rajneesh

  Happiness, Waiting, Demand

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• US special forces are closing in on Saddam Hussain but they're afraid to go in. He's hiding out in Tony Martin's farmhouse.

  Patrick Kielty

  America, Special, Hussain

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• Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle. A tree that is unbending is easily broken.

  Laozi

  Strength, Army, Winning

  Laozi (1997). “道德经”, Vintage

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• Force is followed by loss of strength. This is not the way of the Tao. That which goes against the Tao comes to an early end.

  Laozi

  Strength, Loss, Way

  Laozi (1997). “道德经”, Vintage

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• Having confidence in a free society is to focus on the process of discovery in the marketplace of values rather than to focus on some imposed vision or goal. Using governmental force to impose a vision on others is intellectual sloth and typically results in unintended, perverse consequences. Achieving the free society requires courage to think, to talk, and to act - especially when it is easier to do nothing.

  Ken Schoolland

  Freedom, Thinking, Discovery

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• At times some people use force or fraud to take from others without willful, voluntary consent. Normally, the initiation of force to take life is murder, to take liberty is slavery, and to take property is theft. It is the same whether these actions are done by one person acting alone, by the many acting against a few, or even by officials with fine hats and titles.

  Ken Schoolland

  Freedom, People, Liberty

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• All "public interest' legislation (and any distribution of money taken by force from some men for the unearned benefit of others) comes down ultimately to the grant of an undefined undefinable, non-objective, arbitrary power to some government officials. The worst aspect of it is not that such a power can be used dishonestly, but that it cannot be used honestly. The wisest man in the world, with the purest integrity, cannot find a criterion for the just, equitable, rational application of an unjust, inequitable, irrational principle.

  Ayn Rand

  Integrity, Taken, Men

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.161, Penguin

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