Provoking Quotes - Page 22

• Philip could not have wanted to annex England militarily, since this would have opened another costly occupation struggle, and brought France in against him. He might, however, neutralize Elizabth by supporting her internal Catholic enemies, even provoking civil war.

  Peter Padfield

  War, Struggle, Catholic

  Peter Padfield (2000). “Maritime Supremacy & the Opening of the Western Mind: Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World”, Overlook Books

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The animadversions of critics are commonly such as may easily provoke the sedatest writer to some quickness of resentment and asperity of reply.

  Samuel Johnson

  Writing, May, Resentment

  Samuel Johnson (1820). “The Rambler”, p.394

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• If we desire to live securely, comfortably, and quietly, that by all honest means we should endeavor to purchase the good will of all men, and provoke no man's enmity needlessly; since any man's love may be useful, and every man's hatred is dangerous.

  Isaac Barrow

  Mean, Men, Hatred

  Isaac Barrow (1839). “The Sermons and Expository Treatises of Isaac Barrow: With a Life of the Author”, p.271

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• I made the flames lick the surface of the painting in such a way that is recorded the spontaneous traces of the fire. But what is it that provokes in me this pursuit of the impression of fire? Why must I search for its traces?

  Yves Klein

  Fire, Flames, Burning

  "Yves Klein, 1928 - 1962, Selected Writings" by Yves Klein, in 1961; p. 67, 1974.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• The men of wealth who today are trying to prevent the regulation and control of their business in the interest of the public by the proper government authorities will not succeed, in my judgment, in checking the progress of the movement. But if they did succeed they would find that they had sown the wind and would surely reap the whirlwind, for they would ultimately provoke the violent excesses which accompany a reform coming by convulsion instead of by steady and natural growth.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Business, Men, Wind

  The Man with the Muck-rake, delivered 14 April 1906

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• After long centuries, agrarian civilization is weakening. Is sufficient attention being devoted to the arrangement and improvement of the life of the country people, whose inferior and at times miserable economic situation provokes the flight to the unhappy crowded conditions of the city outskirts, where neither employment nor housing awaits them?

  Pope Paul VI

  Country, Land, Civilization

  5 Copy quote

• As history shows, childless women in America eventually provoke hysteria.

  Michelle Goldberg

  Women, Hysteria, America

  5 Copy quote

• There's a huge misconception that innovation is mostly about inventing or coming up with cool new things. More often than not, innovation is about figuring out what people really need or want but can't have or afford.

  Ziad K. Abdelnour

  People, Thought Provoking, Innovation

  11 Copy quote

• Not in the name of a necessary protection of the white race did the European break into China, but for the benefit of the Jewish-mercantile greed for profit. He thus dishonored himself, destroying a whole civilization, provoking justified indignation. China fights for its myth, for its race, and its ideals, as does the renewal-movement in Germany against the mercantile race that rules all stock markets and the actions of most governments.

  Alfred Rosenberg

  Fighting, Civilization, Names

  "The Myth of the Twentieth Century". Book by Alfred Rosenberg, 1930.

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• Frankly speaking, we all know that provoking military and political instability, regional, and other conflicts is a helpful means of distracting the public from growing domestic social and economic problems in certain countries. Such attempts cannot be ruled out, unfortunately.

  Vladimir Putin

  Honesty, Military, Responsibility

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum, archive.premier.gov.ru. January 28, 2009.

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• The aim of modern propaganda is no longer to modify ideas, but to provoke action.

  Jacques Ellul

  Ideas, Action, Propaganda

  "Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes". Book by Jacques Ellul, translated by Konrad Kellen and Jean Lerner, 1965.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• That was how divorced from the human scale modern warfare had become. You could smash and destroy from unthinkable distances, obliterate planets from beyond their own system and provoke stars into novae from light-years off... and still have no good idea why you were really fighting.

  Iain Banks

  Stars, Distance, Fighting

  "Consider Phlebas (The Culture, Book 1)". Book by Iain Banks (Chapter 2 "The Hand of God 137", p. 32), 1987.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• My opinion is that somebody certainly has the right to do cartoons that make fun of somebody else's religion. But to reprint them just to provoke a fight and just to provoke it like thumbing your nose at someone else and going, "What are you gonna do about it?"

  David Byrne

  Fun, Fighting, Cartoon

  Interview with Chris Dahlen, pitchfork.com. July 17, 2006.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Can storied urn, or animated bust Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust, Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

  Thomas Gray

  Dust, Voice, Fleeting

  'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' (1751) l. 41

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• Orientation in time, space, and status are the essentials of social existence, and the Balinese, although they make very strong spirits for ceremonial occasions, with a few startling exceptions resist alcohol, because if one drinks one loses one's orientation. Orientation is felt as a protection rather than as a strait jacket and its loss provokes extreme anxiety.

  Margaret Mead

  Strong, Loss, Space

  Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead (1942). “Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis”

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Every heart is the lair of a ferocious animal. The greatest wrong that you can put upon a man is to provoke him to let out his beast.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Heart, Animal, Men

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1209, Delphi Classics

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Her virtues, graced with external gifts, Do breed love's settled passions in my heart; And like as rigour of tempestuous gusts Provokes the mightiest hulk against the tide, So am I driven by breath of her renown Either to suffer shipwreck or arrive Where I may have fruition of her love.

  William Shakespeare

  Passion, Heart, Suffering

  William Shakespeare (1823). “The plays of William Shakspeare, pr. from the text of the corrected copies left by G. Steevens and E. Malone, with a selection of notes from the most eminent commentors by A. Chalmers”, p.343

  25 Copy quote

  Show source

• The innovator's motto is this: I succeed or I learn but I never fail.

  Paul Sloane

  Thought Provoking, Succeed, Failing

  47 Copy quote

• The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting.

  Verner Panton

  Work, People, Imagination

  87 Copy quote

• When we read, we fancy we could be martyrs; when we come to act, we cannot bear a provoking word.

  Hannah More

  Fancy, Bears, Martyr

  7 Copy quote

• The greatest source of inspiration is hard work. Of course, I also believe in inspiration itself, but sometimes you have to provoke it, call on it repeatedly, even though it may take a while. There are times when I feel uninspired and I don't want to compose. I call these my 'bewitched' periods. I have to be touched with a magic wand.

  Joaquin Rodrigo

  Believe, Inspiration, Hard Work

  18 Copy quote

• And so we have to be careful with looking at additional stimulus that we don't provoke an increase in the bond rate and then offset a lot of the stimulus we've already got.

  Franklin Raines

  Stimulus, Increase, Be Careful

  8 Copy quote

• Good satire hopefully provides thought-provoking conversation.

  Lizz Winstead

  Thought Provoking, Satire, Conversation

  "Lizz Winstead, Freely Speaking". Interview with Lianne Stokes, www.interviewmagazine.com. May 9, 2012.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Abdur Rab offers a comprehensive vision of Islam using the Quran as his sole religious textual source. He intentionally avoids the hadith literature, which he believes, and argues, has done much damage to the message of the Quran. His work provides many thought-provoking insights and should be a significant contribution to the 'Quran only' movement in modern Islam.

  Jeffrey Lang

  Religious, Believe, Thought Provoking

  15 Copy quote

• Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change. A company that stands still will soon be forgotten. Trying to provoke positive change is a principle we've embedded across the Virgin family for more than four decades.

  Richard Branson

  Change, Trying, Stories

  8 Copy quote