Phrases Quotes - Page 37

• [Presently, science undergraduates] do not learn to write clearly and briefly, marshalling their points in due and aesthetically satisfying order, and eliminating inessentials. They are inept at those turns of phrase or happy analogy which throw a flying bridge across a chasm of misunderstanding and make contact between mind and mind.

  William Lawrence Bragg

  Writing, Science, Order

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• People have learned by bitter experience that the "European fraternal union of peoples" cannot be achieved by mere phrases and pious wishes, but only by profound revolutions and bloody struggles; they have learned that the question is not that of a fraternal union of all European peoples under a single republican flag, but of an alliance of the revolutionary peoples against the counter-revolutionary peoples, an alliance which comes into being not on paper, but only on the battlefield.

  Friedrich Engels

  Struggle, Communication, People

  Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels (1975). “Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: collected works”, Intl Pub

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• I know quite well that one needs ridiculous, mad situations like that; one can't write really well about anything else. Why was that old fellow such a marvelous propaganda technician? Because he had so many insane, excruciating things to get excited about. You've got to be hurt and upset; otherwise you can't think of the really good, penetrating, X-rayish phrases.

  Aldous Huxley

  Hurt, Writing, Thinking

  Aldous Huxley (1933). “Retrospect: an omnibus of Aldous Huxley's books”

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• That was the absolute worst catch phrase I've ever heard in the history of Monday Night Raw.

  Stone Cold Steve Austin

  Monday, Wrestling, Night

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• Put the argument into a concrete shape, into an image, some hard phrase, round and solid as a ball, which they can see and handle and carry home with them, and the cause is half won.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Home, Ideas, Shapes

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)”, p.2431, Delphi Classics

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• Begin where you are. Read every word, every phrase, every paragraph of the mind, as it operates through thought.

  Jiddu Krishnamurti

  Love, Life, Truth

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• An excellent precept for writers: Have a clear idea of all the phrases and expressions you need, and you will find them.

  Ximenes Doudan

  Writing, Expression, Ideas

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• At the beginning of their careers many writers have a need to overwrite. They choose carefully turned-out phrases; they want to impress their readers with their large vocabularies. By the excesses of their language, these young men and women try to hide their sense of inexperience. With maturity the writer becomes more secure in his ideas. He finds his real tone and develops a simple and effective style.

  Jorge Luis Borges

  Real, Writing, Maturity

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• By an epiphany he meant a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or memorable phrase of the mind itself. He believed it was for the man of letters to record these epiphanies with extreme care (saving them for later use, that is), seeing that they themselves are the most delicate and evanescent of moments.

  James Joyce

  Spiritual, Memorable, Men

  "Stephen Hero". Book by James Joyce, 1944.

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• Political writing in our time consists almost entirely of prefabricated phrases bolted together like the pieces of a child's Meccano set. It is the unavoidable result of self-censorship. To write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox.

  George Orwell

  Children, Writing, Thinking

  George Orwell (1986). “The complete works of George Orwell”

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• Avoid theatrical flourishes - the phrases that sound so damned good that they stand up and beg to be recognized as "good writing," and therefore must be struck from the text.

  Donald Spoto

  Writing, Sound, Theatrical

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• The final lesson a writer learns is that everything can nourish the writer. The dictionary, a new word, a voyage, an encounter, a talk on the street, a book, a phrase learned.

  Anais Nin

  Book, Writing, Journey

  "French Writers of the Past" by Carol A. Dingle, (p. 126), 2000.

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• Compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of a metronome.

  Ezra Pound

  Writing, Musical, Metronomes

  Ezra Pound (1968). “Literary Essays of Ezra Pound”, p.3, New Directions Publishing

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• Arguments against photography ever being considered a fine art are: the element of chance which enters in, — finding things ready-made for a machine to record, and of course the mechanics of the medium. I say that chance enters into all branches of art.

  Edward Weston

  Photography, Art, Opportunity

  "The Daybooks of Edward Weston: California".

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• Iain Dowie famously coined the phrase 'bouncebackability' to describe Crystal Palace's ability to come from behind. But this is a typical manager's idea, so optimistic. What fans are interested in is 'throwawayability': which teams toss away hard-earned leads? Now we know that 'throwawayability' exists because we proved last season that 'bouncebackability' exists (although, hilariously, Palace don't have it) and 'throw-awayability' is the flip side of it.

  Daniel Finkelstein

  Soccer, Football, Team

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• The will of the nation is one of those phrases most widely abused by schemers and tyrants of all ages.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Tyrants, Democracy, Age

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• It is deeply pejorative to call someone a "climate change denier". This is because it is a phrase designedly reminiscent of the idea of Holocaust Denial.

  Richard D. North

  Ideas, Holocaust, Climate

  "Why do people become climate change deniers?" by Richard D. North, www.socialaffairsunit.org.uk. June 30, 2005.

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• One of the things that Ivar knew about Mrs. Walker was that she would only tell him what she knew if he asked the right question, so he spent a portion of his time meditating over what he might ask Mrs. Walker and how he might phrase the question.

  Jane Smiley

  Intellectual, Intelligence, Might

  Jane Smiley (1995). “Moo”, Knopf

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• The perfect family doesn't exist, nor is there a perfect husband or a perfect wife, and let's not talk about the perfect mother-in-law! It's just us sinners. A healthy family life requires frequent use of three phrases: "May I? Thank you, and I'm sorry" and "never, never, never end the day without making peace."

  Pope Francis

  Mother, Sorry, Husband

  "Pope Francis' top 10 most quotable quotes of the year" by Carol Glatz, www.catholicnews.com. February 28, 2014.

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• If any one phrase could gather its (religion's) universal message, that phrase would be, - All is not vanity in this Universe, whatever the appearances may suggest.

  William James

  Vanity, Religion, Would Be

  William James (1987). “Writings, 1902-1910”, p.41, Library of America

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• However fragmented the world, however intense the national rivalries, it is an inexorable fact that we become more interdependent every day. I believe that national sovereignties will shrink in the face of universal interdependence. The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat.

  Jacques Yves Cousteau

  Believe, Men, Sea

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• It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they would be the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please . . . . Certainly no such universal power was meant to be given them. It [the Constitution] was intended to lace them up straightly within the enumerated powers and those without which, as means, these powers could not be carried into effect.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Mean, Evil, Judging

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• For years I walked around with the phrase "Green River" because I had seen that on a soda fountain drink when I was probably 8 or 9 years old, and I went, 'Gee, I like that.' Another one was "Lodi", which I thought sounded really cool. I got this cheap little empty plastic notebook at my local drugstore, and bought a little slab of filler paper and the very first title I wrote in it was "Proud Mary". I had no idea what that title meant.

  John Fogerty

  Notebook, Years, Ideas

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• Apropos, is not the Scotch phrase 'Auld Lang Syne' exceedingly expressive? I shall give you the verses on the other sheet. The words of 'Auld Lang Syne' are good, but the music is an old air, the rudiments of the modern tune of that name. ... Dare to be honest and fear no labor. ... Opera is where a man gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings. ... Chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure thrill the deepest notes of woe. ... Critics! Those cut-throat bandits in the paths of fame.

  Robert Burns

  Cutting, Men, Scotch

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• I knew I had to have a hit. I would get no more chances. Analyzing what they had in common I discovered they had many similar elements: harmonic rhythm, placement of the chord changes, choice of harmonic progressions, similar instrumentation, vocal phrases, drum fills, content, even the timbre of the lead solo voice. I decided to write a song that incorporated all these elements in one record.

  Neil Sedaka

  Song, Writing, Voice

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