Possessing Quotes

• Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.

  Peace Pilgrim

  Birthday, Peace, Age

  Peace Pilgrim (1992). “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words”, p.19, Friends of Peace PIlgrim

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• An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.

  Pliny the Elder

  Marriage, Education, Goal

  "The Letters of Pliny the Younger". Book by Pliny the Elder (Book II, Letter 15), 1751.

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• No government, any more than an individual, will long be respected without being truly respectable; nor be truly respectable, without possessing a certain portion of order and stability.

  James Madison

  Government, Order, Long

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (2003). “The Federalist: With Letters of Brutus”, p.305, Cambridge University Press

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• Conceit spoils the finest genius.

  Louisa May Alcott

  Life, Conceited, Genius

  1868 Little Women, pt.1, ch.7.

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• Conceit spoils the finest genius?and the great charm of all power is modesty.

  Louisa May Alcott

  Genius, Modesty, Little Women

  1868 Little Women, pt.1, ch.7.

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• Enthusiasm is the dynamics of your personality. Without it, whatever abilities you may possess lie dormant; and it is safe to say that nearly every man has more latent power than he ever learns to use. You may have knowledge, sound judgment, good reasoning faculties; but no one-not even yourself-will know it until you discover how to put your heart into thought and action.

  Dale Carnegie

  Inspirational, Attitude, Lying

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• Imagine craving absolutely nothing from the world. Imagine cutting the invisible strings that so painfully bind us: what would that be like? Imagine the freedoms that come from the ability to enjoy things without having to acquire them, own them, possess them. Try to envision a relationship based on acceptance and genuine care rather than expectation. Imagine feeling completely satisfied and content with your life just as it is. Who wouldn't want this? This is the enjoyment of non-attachment.

  Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

  Inspirational, Life, Relationship

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• Everyone who has something is afraid of losing it, and people with nothing are worried they'll forever have nothing. Everyone is the same.

  Haruki Murakami

  Fear, People, Worry

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• I understand that a man can have everything having nothing and nothing having everything.

  Mihai Eminescu

  Meaningful, Wisdom, Men

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• Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.

  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  Country, Travel, Memories

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• A horse will never tire of a rider who possesses both tact and sensitivity because he will never be pushed beyond his possibilities.

  Nuno Oliveira

  Horse, Pushing, Equestrian

  "Reflections on Equestrian Art". Book by Nuno Oliveira, 1965.

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• Life isn't something you possess. It's something you take part in, and you witness.

  Louis C. K.

  Life, Comedian, Possession

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• If truth is not undergirded by love, it makes the possessor of that truth obnoxious and the truth repulsive.

  Ravi Zacharias

  Love, Truth, Obnoxious

  Twitter post from Aug 26, 2016

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• You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

  Khalil Gibran

  Inspirational, Motivational, Kindness

  Khalil Gibran (2014). “The Prophet - Der Prophet”, p.34, Lulu.com

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• All in all, I think that out of all musical genres, the world of metal is the most escapist one. Metal is also music for people who think for themselves. I think metalheads are smart people who possess a healthy dose of self-irony and a good sense of humor, and that appeals to me. I felt a strong affinity with the scene from the first moment on.

  Tuomas Holopainen

  Music, Strong, Smart

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• A successful person realizes his personal responsibility for self-motivation. He starts with himself because he possesses the key to his own ignition switch.

  Kemmons Wilson

  Motivational, Success, Basketball

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• I am prepared to sacrifice every so-called privilege I possess in order to have a few rights.

  Inez Milholland

  Women, Sacrifice, Rights

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• The loved object is simply one that has shared an experience at the same moment of time, narcissistically; and the desire to be near the beloved object is at first not due to the idea of possessing it, but simply to let the two experiences compare themselves, like reflections in different mirrors. All this may precede the first look, kiss, or touch; precede ambition, pride, or envy; precede the first declarations which mark the turning point—for from here love degenerates into habit, possession, and back to loneliness.

  Lawrence Durrell

  Loneliness, Ambition, Kissing

  Lawrence Durrell (2012). “The Alexandria Quartet: Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, Clea”, p.39, Faber & Faber

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• no one worth knowing can be quite known, no one worth possessing can be quite possessed

  William Landay

  Knowing, Possessed, Known

  William Landay (2012). “Defending Jacob: A Novel”, p.125, Delacorte Press

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• No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed; Lay that on your heart, My young angry dear; This truth, this hard and precious stone, Lay it on your hot cheek, Let it hide your tear. Hold it like a crystal When you are alone And gaze in the depths of the icy stone. Long, look long and you will be blessed: No one worth possessing Can be quite possessed.

  Sara Teasdale

  Blessed, Heart, Precious Stones

  Sara Teasdale (1933). “Strange victory: by Sara Teasdale”

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• At that time, he was satisfying a sensual curiosity by experiencing the pleasures of people who live for love. He had believed he could stop there, that he would not be obliged to learn their sorrows; how small a thing her charm was for him now compared with the astounding terror that extended out from it like a murky halo, the immense anguish of not knowing at every moment what she had been doing, of not possessing her everywhere and always!

  Marcel Proust

  Knowing, People, Sensual

  Marcel Proust (2003). “In Search of Lost Time: The Way by Swann's”, p.369, Penguin UK

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• Really, Watson, you excel yourself," said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. "I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt.

  Arthur Conan Doyle

  Light, Giving, People

  Arthur Conan Doyle, General Press (2016). “The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 56 Stories & 4 Novels”, p.1557, GENERAL PRESS

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• If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans?

  Peter Singer

  Animal, Degrees, Doe

  Peter Singer (2015). “Animal Liberation”, p.31, Random House

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• We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone until those smiling possibilities are dead... By neglecting the necessary concrete labor, by sparing ourselves the little daily tax, we are positively digging the graves of our higher possibilities.

  William James

  Effort, Digging, Littles

  William James (2008). “Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life's Ideals”, p.62, Nuvision Pubns

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