Statements Quotes - Page 33

• Science fiction is a dialogue, a tennis match, in which the Idea is volleyed from one side of the net to the other. Ridiculous to say that someone 'stole' an idea: no, no, a thousand times no. The point is the volley, and how it's carried, and what statement is made by the answering 'statement.' In other words — if Burroughs initiates a time-gate and says it works randomly, and then Norton has time gates confounded with the Perilous Seat, the Siege Perilous of the Round Table, and locates it in a bar on a rainy night — do you see both the humor and the volley in the tennis match?

  C. J. Cherryh

  Night, Ideas, Tennis

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• . . . a statement that is repugnant to one's beliefs can be as true as one that is pleasurable.

  Taylor Caldwell

  Belief

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• Man is a rational animal – so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favour of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it, though I have searched in many countries spread over three continents.

  Bertrand Russell

  Animal, Men, Long

  "Unpopular Essays".

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• Self-deceit—It’s in the “Nine Satanic Statements” but deserves to be repeated here. Another cardinal sin. We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered into is when it’s fun, and with awareness. But then, it’s not self-deceit!

  Anton Szandor LaVey

  Fun, Self, Play

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• Always it is thus with my new students, and especially with the human ones; the mind is the last muscle they train or use, and the one that they regard the least. Ask them about swordplay and they can list every blow from a duel a month old, but ask them to solve a problem or make a coherent statement and... well, I would be lucky to get more than a blank stare in return.

  Christopher Paolini

  Blow, Mind, Would Be

  Christopher Paolini (2009). “Eldest: Book Two”, p.347, Random House

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• I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement

  Robert Jordan

  Stupidity, Doubt, Magnitude

  Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson (2009). “The Gathering Storm: Book Twelve of the Wheel of Time”, p.238, Macmillan

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• One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

  J. K. Rowling

  Reality, People, Greek

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• Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty and wisdom will come to you that way.

  Christopher Hitchens

  Thinking, Texas, Risk

  Christopher Hitchens' closing remarks at Hitchens-Dembski debate at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, www.youtube.com. November 18, 2010.

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• Even the financial disclosure statements that political bloggers were required to post hadn't stemmed the suspicion that people's opinions weren't really their own. "Who's paying you?" was a retort that might follow any bout of enthusiasm, along with laughter - who would let themselves be bought?

  Jennifer Egan

  Laughter, People, Political

  Jennifer Egan (2011). “A Visit From the Goon Squad”, p.251, Hachette UK

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• Ender nodded. It was a lie, of course, that it wouldn’t hurt a bit. But since adults always said it when it was going to hurt, he could count on that statement as an accurate prediction of the future. Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.

  Orson Scott Card

  Hurt, Lying, Adults

  Orson Scott Card (2010). “Ender's Game”, p.18, Macmillan

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• Holding Hawke’s gaze in a way that not many men could, Walker said, “You will be good to her.” Not a statement, but an order. Hawke’s wolf stirred. “Do you think I’d be otherwise?” “If I did, you’d be dead.

  Nalini Singh

  Men, Thinking, Order

  Nalini Singh (2011). “Kiss of Snow”, p.215, Penguin

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• MAKE STATEMENTS also applies to us women: Speak in statements instead of apologetic questions. No one wants to go to a doctor who says, “I’m going to be your surgeon? I’m here to talk to you about your procedure? I was first in my class at Johns Hopkins, so?” Make statements, with your actions and your voice.

  Tina Fey

  Witty, Class, Voice

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• Even our beliefs have become trend statements.

  Donald Miller

  Trends, Belief

  Donald Miller (2012). “Blue Like Jazz: Movie Edition: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality”, p.107, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• If, however, you take a moment to observe how you actually feel immediately after you criticise someone, you'll notice that you will feel a little deflated and ashamed, almost like you're the one who has been attacked. The reason this is true is that when we criticise, it's a statement to the world and to ourselves, "I have a need to be critical." This isn't something we are usually proud to admit.

  Richard Carlson

  Needs, World, Proud

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• It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his murderer.

  H. P. Lovecraft

  My Best Friend, Bullets, Six

  H.P. Lovecraft (2002). “Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft”, p.239, Del Rey

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• I do not," I felt oddly appalled by her statement. "I'm an excellent liar. Ask my dentist. He swears I floss regularly.

  Darynda Jones

  Liars, Dentist, Excellent

  Darynda Jones (2011). “Second Grave on the Left”, p.21, Macmillan

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• "This is me, remember!" retorts Suze. "I know what you're like! You used to throw all your bank statements into the trash and hope a complete stranger would pay off your bills!" This is what happens. You tell your friends your most personal secrets, and they use them against you.

  Sophie Kinsella

  Secret, Use, Pay

  "Shopaholic Ties the Knot". Book by Sophie Kinsella, 2002.

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• ...we should all fortify ourselves against the dark hours of depression by cultivating a deep distrust of the certainties of despair. Despair is relentless in the certainties of its pessimism. But we have seen again and again, from our own experience and others', that absolute statements of hopelessness that we make in the dark are notoriously unreliable. Our dark certainties are not sureties.

  John Piper

  Dark, Despair, Pessimism

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• And I love Jane Austen's use of language too--the way she takes her time to develop a phrase and gives it room to grow, so that these clever, complex statements form slowly and then bloom in my mind. Beethoven does the same thing with his cadence and phrasing and structure. It's a fact: Jane Austen is musical. And so's Yeats. And Wordsworth. All the great writers are musical.

  Andrew Clements

  Clever, Giving, Musical

  Andrew Clements (2008). “Things Hoped For”, p.77, Penguin

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• I‟m going to kill her,” Francesca said to no one in particular. Which was probably a good thing, as there was no one else present. “Who are you talking to?” Hyacinth demanded. “God,” Francesca said baldly. “And I do believe I have been given divine leave to murder you.” “Hmmph,” was Hyacinth‟s response. “If it was that easy, I‟d have asked permission to eliminate half the ton years ago.” Francesca decided just then that not all of Hyacinth‟s statements required a rejoinder. In fact, few of them did.

  Julia Quinn

  Believe, Talking, Years

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• Without a mission statement, you may get to the top of the ladder and then realize it was leaning against the wrong building!

  Dave Ramsey

  Ladders, May, Realizing

  Twitter post from Mar 22, 2011

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• Philosophers, for example, often fail to recognize that their remarks about the universe apply also to themselves and their remarks. If the universe is meaningless, so is the statement that it is so.

  Alan Watts

  Example, Philosopher, Failing

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• Socrates himself said, 'One thing only I know, and this is that I know nothing.' Remember this statement, because it is an admission that is rare, even among philosophers. Moreover, it can be so dangerous to say in public that it can cost you your life. The most subversive people are those who ask questions. Giving answers is not nearly as threatening. Any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers.

  Jostein Gaarder

  People, Giving, Cost

  Jostein Gaarder (2010). “Sophie's World”, p.66, Hachette UK

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• Who are you? You don't belong to the police?' 'I am better than the police,' said Poirot. He said it without conscious arrogance. It was, to him, a simple statement of fact.

  Agatha Christie

  Simple, Police, Arrogance

  Agatha Christie (1984). “Five complete Hercule Poirot novels”, Random House Value Pub

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• Niko caught my hand and slapped it lightly down on the bar. “Pistol whipping elderly women isn’t precisely our mission statement, Cal.” I hadn’t been going to pistol-whip her. Yell at her a little more, then pick her up and toss her out into the street. Some risk of a broken hip there, but that wasn’t pistol-whipping… unless she tried to come back in.

  Rob Thurman

  Elderly, Hands, Broken

  Rob Thurman (2010). “Roadkill: A Cal Leandros Novel”, p.25, Penguin

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