Provocation Quotes

• A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it.

  Edward P. Morgan

  Inspirational, Book, Reading

  Edward P. Morgan (1963). “Clearing the air”, Washington, D.C.

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• Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is.

  C. S. Lewis

  Wisdom, Taken, Men

  C. S. Lewis (2003). “A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis”, p.20, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• A warrior is always aware of what is worth fighting for. He does not go into combat over things that do not concern him, and he never wastes his time over provocations.

  Paulo Coelho

  Fighting, Warrior, Doe

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• Self-Control is the very essence of character. To be able to look a man straight in the eye, calmly and deliberately, without the slightest ruffle of temper under extreme provocation, gives a sense of power which nothing else can give. To feel that you are always, not sometimes, master of yourself, gives a dignity and strength to character, buttresses it, supports it on every side, as nothing else can. This is the culmination of thought mastery.

  Orison Swett Marden

  Eye, Character, Men

  Orison Swett Marden (2015). “Peace, Power & Plenty (Unabridged): Before a Man Can Lift Himself, He Must Lift His Thought”, p.132, e-artnow

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• Provocation doesn't make me ill-tempered: it only shows me how ill-tempered I am.

  C. S. Lewis

  Ill Tempered, Show Me, Shows

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• Courage is only an accumulation of small steps.

  Gyorgy Konrad

  Running, Small Steps, Accumulation

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• We can all be good when we have no temptation or provocation to the contrary.

  Samuel Richardson

  Temptation, Goodness, Be Good

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• War is mankind's most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  War, Stupid, Men

  Graduation Exercises at the United States Military Academy, www.dwightdeisenhower.com. June 03, 1947.

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• I am talking about anything that is a provocation - ignore it. When something falls under freedom of expression, you can read it and take a critical distance.

  Tariq Ramadan

  Distance, Fall, Expression

  "'You want my reaction? You get my silence.'". Interview with Lars Mensel, Clemens Lukitsch, www.theeuropean-magazine.com. November 19, 2012.

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• To be able to bear provocation is an argument of great reason, and to forgive it of a great mind.

  John Tillotson

  Forgiveness, Forgiving, Mind

  John Tillotson (1714). “The works of the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: containing fifty four sermons and discourses on several occasions. Together with The Rule of Faith. Being all that were published by His Grace himself and now collected into one volume, to which is added an alphabetical table of the principle matter”, p.391

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• A gentlemen is one who never strikes a woman without provocation.

  H. L. Mencken

  Gentleman, Strikes

  H.L. Mencken “A little book in C major”, Рипол Классик

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• All anger is not sinful, because some degree of it, and on some occasions, is inevitable. But it becomes sinful and contradicts the rule of Scripture when it is conceived upon slight and inadequate provocation, and when it continues long.

  Wilson Mizner

  Anger, Long, Scripture

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• You take a number of small steps which you believe are right, thinking maybe tomorrow somebody will treat this as a dangerous provocation. And then you wait. If there is no reaction, you take another step: courage is only an accumulation of small steps.

  Gyorgy Konrad

  Courage, Believe, Thinking

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• Those wars are unjust which are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defence can actually be just.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Revenge, War, Defense

  "On the Republic. On the Laws".

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• I think that artists provide questions, not answers. We provide provocations rather than fully formed objects.

  Kehinde Wiley

  Artist, Thinking, Answers

  Source: www.artpractical.com

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• There is another serious thing to which many young men become addicted. This is anger. With the least provocation they explode into tantrums of uncontrolled rage. It is pitiful to see someone so weak. But even worse, they are prone to lose all sense of reason and do things which bring later regret.

  Gordon B. Hinckley

  Regret, Anger, Men

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• Many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves excelled.

  Samuel Johnson

  Needs, Enmity

  Samuel Johnson (1968). “Essays from the Rambler, Adventurer, and Idler”, p.20, Yale University Press

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• If you care about your longevity and health, be a socially affiliated baboon who is better than high-ranking ones at walking away from provocations.

  Robert M. Sapolsky

  Walking Away, Care, Ranking

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

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• The chief aim of Interpretation is not instruction, but provocation.

  Freeman Tilden

  Instruction, Interpretation, Chiefs

  Freeman Tilden (2009). “Interpreting Our Heritage”, p.59, Univ of North Carolina Press

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• Freedom includes the right to say what others may object to and resent... The essence of citizenship is to be tolerant of strong and provocative words.

  John Diefenbaker

  Strong, Essence, Freedom Of Speech

  John George Diefenbaker (1982). “The Wit & Wisdom of John Diefenbaker”, Hurtig Trade

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• Those who are determined to be 'offended' will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.

  Christopher Hitchens

  Determined, Enough, Please

  "Cartoon Debate: The case for mocking religion". www.slate.com. February 04, 2006.

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• So natural to man is the practice of violence that our indulgence allows the slightest provocation, the most disputable right, as a sufficient ground of national hostility.

  Edward Gibbon

  Men, Practice, Violence

  Edward Gibbon (2008). “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, p.266, Cosimo, Inc.

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• H. L. Mencken famously said that 'every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.' By now, however, I am no longer ashamed, because I do not identify with the government under which I live. Rather, I view it as a criminal organization that without provocation has chosen to make war on my just rights-not only mine, of course, but everyone's. Although this vile enterprise is my problem, because it robs and bullies me relentlessly and without mercy, it is not my responsibility: the nail is not the hammer.

  Robert Higgs

  War, Responsibility, Men

  Robert Higgs (2007). “Neither Liberty Nor Safety: Fear, Ideology, and the Growth of Government”, Independent Inst

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• Ask you what provocation I have had? The strong antipathy of good to bad.

  Alexander Pope

  Strong, Asks, Antipathy

  'Imitations of Horace' Epilogue to the Satires (1738) Dialogue 2, l. 197

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• One of the tragedies of modern times is that people have come to believe that something said by someone in the past, perhaps for illustrative or provocation purposes, actually represents that person's beliefs at the time.

  Idries Shah

  Believe, Past, People

  Idries Shah (1988). “Caravan of Dreams”, p.227, Octagon Press Ltd

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