Principal Quotes - Page 25

• Every river appears to consist of a main trunk, fed from a variety of branches, each running in a valley proportional to its size, and all of them together forming a system of vallies, communicating with one another, and having such a nice adjustment of their declivities that none of them join the principal valley on too high or too low a level; a circumstance which would be infinitely improbable if each of these vallies were not the work of the stream that flows in it.

  John Playfair

  Running, Nice, Hard Work

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• Daydreams are doable. The turn-on is not in scale, spectacle, or cost. It's in the doing. Anything you haven't done is an adventure. Wanting to is the principal requirement. If you can do and want to, don't not. In short, while alive, live.

  Malcolm Forbes

  Adventure, Cost, Done

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• We may affirm of Mr. Buffon, that which has been said of the chemists of old; though he may have failed in attaining his principal aim, of establishing a theory, yet he has brought together such a multitude of facts relative to the history of the earth, and the nature of its fossil productions, that curiosity finds ample compensation, even while it feels the want of conviction.

  Oliver Goldsmith

  Nature, Science, Curiosity

  Oliver Goldsmith (1847). “A history of the earth and animated nature, with an intr. view of the animal kingdom tr. from the Fr. of baron Cuvier, notes [and] a life of the author by W. Irving”, p.73

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• Patriotism must be founded on great principals and supported by great virtue.

  Henry Bolingbroke

  Patriotism, Virtue

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• An investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return.

  Benjamin Graham

  Safety, Promise, Analysis

  Benjamin Graham (2009). “The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed”, p.35, Harper Collins

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• This elaborate Golden Dawn system became part of Crowley's own inner world ... He carried it further than even the Golden Dawn principals had envisaged. I know of nothing within the Order documentary that even hints at the kind of visionary and spiritual experience that Crowley managed to get out of it.

  Israel Regardie

  Spiritual, Order, Dawn

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• I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. As far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Men, Political, Islam

  "The Tocqueville Reader: A Life in Letters and Politics". Book by Alexis de Tocqueville; edited by Olivier Zunz and Alan S. Kahan, p. 229, 2002.

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• Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development, they are also among its principal means.

  Amartya Sen

  Mean, Development, Ends

  Amartya Sen (2011). “Development as Freedom”, p.10, Anchor

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• The principal benefit acting has afforded me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis.

  Marlon Brando

  Funny, Humorous, Acting

  "Marlon Brando: The Only Contender". Book by Gary Carey, Ch.13, 1985.

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• The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the word

  John Owen

  Firsts, Flocks, Duty

  John Owen (1853). “The works ...”, p.74

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• My principal motive is the belief that we can still make admirable sense of our lives even if we cease to have... an ambition of transcendence.

  Richard Rorty

  Ambition, Belief, Transcendence

  Richard Rorty (1991). “Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers”, p.12, Cambridge University Press

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• One principal reason why men are so often useless is that they neglect their own profession or calling, and divide and shift their attention among a multitude of objects and pursuits.

  Nathanael Emmons

  Success, Men, Attention

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• Occident: The part of the world lying west (or east) of the Orient. It is largely inhabited by Christians, a powerful subtribe of the Hypocrites, whose principal industries are murder and cheating, which they are pleased to call war and commerce. These, also, are the principal industries of the Orient.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Christian, Cheating, Powerful

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.152, 谷月社

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• The Gospel is not presented to mankind as an argument about religious principals. Nor is it offered as a philosophy of life. Christianity is a witness to certain facts; to events that have happened, to hopes that have been fulfilled, to realities that have been experienced, to a Person who has lived and died and been raised from the dead to reign forever.

  Massey H. Shepherd

  Faith, Religious, Philosophy

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• If we did not look to marriage as the principal source of happiness, fewer marriages would end in tears.

  Anthony Storr

  Marriage, Single Life, Tears

  Anthony Storr (2015). “Solitude a Return to the Self”, p.13, Simon and Schuster

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• Suave molecules of Mocha stir up your blood, without causing excess heat; the organ of thought receives from it a feeling of sympathy; work becomes easier and you will sit down without distress to your principal repast which will restore your body and afford you a calm, delicious night.

  Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

  Coffee, Night, Blood

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• Pardon me," I answered, as I placed a bundle of straw upon the fire and slightly stirred it. Then I turned quickly but already we had passed out of sight of La Muette. Astonished I cast a glance towards the river. I perceived the confluence of the Oise. And naming the principal bends of the river by the places nearest them, I cried, "Passy, St. Germain, St. Denis, Sevres!"

  Francois Laurent d'Arlandes

  Airplane, Fire, Sight

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• The financial history of the last century shows a steady increase in the amount of public indebtedness. Nobody believes that the states will eternally drag the burden of these interest payments. It is obvious that sooner or later all these debts will be liquidated in some way or other, but certainly not by payment of interest and principal according to the terms of the contract.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Believe, Debt, Way

  Ludwig von Mises (2016). “Human Action”, p.282, Lulu Press, Inc

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• In my day, the principal concerns of university students were sex, smoking dope, rioting and learning. Learning was something you did only when the first three weren't available.

  Bill Bryson

  Sex, Dope, University Students

  Bill Bryson (1989). “The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-town America”, p.72, VNR AG

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• My principal business is giving commercial value to the brilliant - but misdirected - ideas of others.

  Thomas A. Edison

  Motivational, Ideas, Giving

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• True Christianity, which will last forever, comes from the gospel words of Christ not from the epistles of Paul. The writings of Paul have been a danger and a hidden rock, the causes of the principal defects of Christian theology.

  Ernest Renan

  Christian, Writing, Rocks

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• The most important thing in the Land of Israel is to build, build, build. Its important that there will be an Israeli presence everywhere. Our principal problem is still Israels leaders unwillingness to say in a simple manner that the Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel.

  Naftali Bennett

  Simple, Israel, Land

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• The hedge fund known as "Long Term Capital Management" collapsed last fall through overconfidence in its highly leveraged methods, despite I.Q.'s of its principals that must have averaged 160. Smart people aren't exempt from professional disasters from overconfidence. Often, they just run aground in the more difficult voyages they choose, relying on their self-appraisals that they have superior talents and methods.

  Charlie Munger

  Running, Smart, Fall

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• I shall ever repeat it, that mankind are governed not by extremes, but by principals of moderation.

  Baron de Montesquieu

  Moderation, Mankind, Extremes

  "The Spirit of the Laws". Book by Baron de Montesquieu, Book XXII: Of Laws in Relation to the Use of Money, Ch. 22: The Same Subject continued, 1748.

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• Many people avoid talking about death, but it never bothered me. The principal of my high school was an excellent teacher. One day he was writing on the blackboard when he suddenly turned around and said 'Life is a great adventure and death is the greatest adventure of all,' then went back to the board. I have never feared death since then.

  Kathryn Tucker Windham

  Teacher, School, Adventure

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