Possessed Quotes - Page 15

• I used many times to touch my own chest and feel, under its asthmatic quiver, the engine of the heart and lungs and blood and feel amazed at what I sensed was the enormity of the power I possessed. Not magical power, but real power. The power simply to go on, the power to endure, that is power enough, but I felt I had also the power to create, to add, to delight, to amaze and to transform.

  Stephen Fry

  Real, Heart, Blood

  "Moab Is My Washpot". Book by Stephen Fry, 1997.

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• Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with tempting titles and tantalizing covers.

  Alberto Manguel

  Book, Trying, Path

  Alberto Manguel (2011). “The Library at Night”, p.67, Vintage Canada

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• the scientist's religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question closely akin to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages.

  Albert Einstein

  Religious, Selfish, Reflection

  Albert Einstein (2016). “The Albert Einstein Collection: Essays in Humanism, The Theory of Relativity, and The World As I See It”, p.182, Open Road Media

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• I'm still there, watching those possessed children, as far away from the mystery now as I was then. I've never written, though I thought I wrote, never loved, though I thought I loved, never done anything but wait outside the closed door.

  Marguerite Duras

  Children, Doors, Waiting

  Marguerite Duras (2011). “The Lover”, p.25, Pantheon

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• The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.

  Georg C. Lichtenberg

  Greek, Hibernation, Able

  "Aphorisms". Book by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. Notebook F 44, 1799.

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• The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man

  Jose Ortega y Gasset

  Power, Men, Metaphor

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• God knows what possessed me, but having that science book in my hand propelled me to immediate action. So I hit her with it.

  Melina Marchetta

  Book, Hands, Action

  Melina Marchetta (2007). “Looking for Alibrandi”, p.81, Knopf Books for Young Readers

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• They were afraid of your authentic love, because authentic love is beyond their control.You are possessed by it. You are not the possessor, you are the possessed. And every society wants you to be in control. The society is afraid of your wild nature, it is afraid of your naturalness, so from the very beginning it starts cutting your wings. And the most basic thing which is dangerous in you is the possibility of love, because if you are possessed by love you can go even against the whole world.

  Rajneesh

  Love You, Cutting, Love Is

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• Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.

  Denis Diderot

  Hurt, Men, Self

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• The significance of language for the evolution of culture lies in this, that mankind set up in language a separate world beside the other world, a place it took to be so firmly set that, standing upon it, it could lift the rest of the world off its hinges and make itself master of it. To the extent that man has for long ages believed in the concepts and names of things as in aeternae veritates he has appropriated to himself that pride by which he raised himself above the animal: he really thought that in language he possessed knowledge of the world.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Lying, Pride, Animal

  Friedrich Nietzsche, R. J. Hollingdale (1996). “Nietzsche: Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits”, p.16, Cambridge University Press

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• The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determined not to be slaves themselves, they employed their power to enslave the rest of mankind.

  Thomas Paine

  Government, Liberty, Principles

  Thomas Paine (1819). “The American Crisis”, p.83

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• The public affairs of the union are spread throughout a very extensive region, and are extremely diversified by the local affairs connected with them, and can with difficulty be learnt in any other place, than in the central councils, to which a knowledge of them will be brought by the representatives of every part of the empire. Yet some knowledge of the affairs, and even of the laws of all the states, ought to be possessed by the members from each of the states.

  James Madison

  Law, Federalism, Unions

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2012). “Selected Federalist Papers”, p.127, Courier Corporation

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• Being a Christian is more like having your soul possessed by a spirit than having your mind clothed with new beliefs... It is like being haunted by the Holy Ghost.

  Peter Kreeft

  Faith, Christian, Inspiration

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• A man is never so truly and intensely himself as when he is most possessed by God. It is impossible to say where, in the spiritual life, the human will leaves off and divine grace begins.

  William Ralph Inge

  Spiritual, Men, Grace

  William Ralph Inge (1934). “Vale”

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• A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.

  George Washington

  People, Banking, May

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson (1784). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.473

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• No wild enthusiast could rest, till half the world like him was possessed.

  William Cowper

  Half, World, Enthusiasm

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• Man, even man debased by the neocapitalism and pseudosocialism of our time, is a marvelous being because he sometimes speaks. Language is the mark, the sign, not of his fall but of his original innocence. Through the Word we may regain the lost kingdom and recover powers we possessed in the far-distant past.

  Octavio Paz

  Fall, Past, Men

  Octavio Paz (1973). “Alternating Current”, p.48, Arcade Publishing

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• I will now direct the attention of scientists to a previously unnoticed cause which brings about the metamorphosis and decomposition phenomena which are usually called decay, putrefaction, rotting, fermentation and moldering. This cause is the ability possessed by a body engaged in decomposition or combination, i.e. in chemical action, to give rise in a body in contact with it the same ability to undergo the same change which it experiences itself.

  Justus von Liebig

  Science, Giving, Attention

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• We live alone in our cluttered psyches, possessed by our entrenched beliefs, our fatuous desires, our endless contradictions - and like it or not we have to put up with this in one another.

  A.S.A. Harrison

  Psych, Desire, Belief

  A. S. A. Harrison (2013). “The Silent Wife: A Novel”, p.107, Penguin

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• What if one happens to be possessed of a heart that can’t be trusted—? What if the heart, for its own unfathomable reasons, leads one willfully and in a cloud of unspeakable radiance away from health, domesticity, civic responsibility and strong social connections and all the blandly-held common virtues and instead straight towards a beautiful flare of ruin, self-immolation, disaster?

  Donna Tartt

  Beautiful, Strong, Responsibility

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• He possessed the rare merit of making a property of his time and not a burden.

  Anthony Trollope

  Time, Merit, Burden

  Anthony Trollope (2015). “The Palliser Novels: Complete Parliamentary Chronicles (All Six Novels in One Volume): Can You Forgive Her? + Phineas Finn + The Eustace Diamonds + Phineas Redux + The Prime Minister + The Duke’s Children”, p.1780, e-artnow

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• To me, this acquirement of nervous, physical, and emotional concentration is the one element possessed to the highest degree by the truly great dancers of the world. Its acquirement is the result of discipline, of energy in the deep sense. That is why there are so few great dancers.

  Martha Graham

  Dance, Emotional, Discipline

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• Humility is an attribute of godliness possessed by true Saints. It is easy to understand why a proud man fails. He is content to rely upon himself only. This is evident in those who seek social position or who push others aside to gain position in fields of business, government, education, sports, or other endeavors. Our genuine concern should be for the success of others. The proud man shuts himself off from God, and when he does he no longer lives in the light.

  Howard W. Hunter

  Sports, Humility, Men

  Howard W. Hunter (1994). “That We Might Have Joy”, Shadow Mountain

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• Nowadays Christians appear to treat prayer as a means to accomplish their aims and ideas. If they possessed just a little deeper understanding, they would recognize that prayer is but man uttering to God what is God's will.

  Watchman Nee

  Christian, Prayer, Mean

  Watchman Nee (2006). “Journeying Towards the Spiritual: A Digest of the Spiritual Man in 42 Lessons”, p.92, Christian Fellowship Publishers

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• I concluded some time ago that a major part of success of a team, or of an individual, has a great deal to do with the intangible qualities possessed. The real key is in how a person see himself (humility), how he feels about what he does (passion), how he works with others (unity), how he makes others better (servanthood), and how he deals with frustration and success, truly learning from each situations (thankfulness). I believe those concepts are the essence of a good player, team, coach, or individual in any capacity in life.

  Dick Bennett

  Basketball, Team, Real

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