Uncertain Quotes - Page 24

• Because one does not want to be disturbed, to be made uncertain, he establishes a pattern of conduct, of thought, a pattern of relationships to man. He then becomes a slave to the pattern and takes the pattern to be the real thing.

  Bruce Lee

  Real, Men, Doe

  "Tao of Jeet Kune Do".

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• The bore is good for promoting sleep; but though he causeth sleep in others, it is uncertain whether he ever sleeps himself; as few can keep awake in his company long enough to see. It is supposed that when he sleeps it is with his mouth open.

  Maria Edgeworth

  Sleep, Long, Mouths

  Maria Edgeworth (1848). “Harrington ; Thoughts on bores ; and, Ormond”, p.209

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• The more we try to live in the world of words, the more we feel isolated and alone, the more all the joy and liveliness of things is exchanged for mere certainty and security. On the other hand, the more we are forced to admit that we actually live in the real world, the more we feel ignorant, uncertain, and insecure about everything.

  Alan Watts

  Real, Insecure, Hands

  Alan Watts (1951). “The Wisdom of Insecurity”, Vintage

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• All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea is the master of all who are uncertain or wavering. Clear, deep, living convictions rule the world.

  James Freeman Clarke

  Faith, Strong, Believe

  James Freeman Clarke (1875). “Common-sense in Religion: A Series of Essays”, p.339

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• Uncertain as I was as I pushed forward, I felt right in my pushing, as if the effort itself meant something. That perhaps being amidst the undesecrated beauty of the wilderness meant I too could be undesecrated, regardless of the regrettable things I'd done to others or myself or the regrettable things that had been done to me. Of all the things I'd been skeptical about, I didn't feel skeptical about this: the wilderness had a clarity that included me.

  Cheryl Strayed

  Effort, Done, Pushing

  Cheryl Strayed (2012). “Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found”, p.128, Atlantic Books Ltd

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• The smell of that buttered toast simply spoke to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cozy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries.

  Kenneth Grahame

  Morning, Cat, Winter

  1908 The Wind in the Willows, ch.8.

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• It can be a good thing if deeper theology, or philosophy, only makes one more uncertain. It may lead to a healthy doubt; he may throw his hands up saying, 'God, I just don't know anymore. If you're out there, I'm giving it all to you.' From there, after the surrender, he is allowing God himself, rather than theories, books, and documents, to take over and lead him into all truth.

  Criss Jami

  Philosophy, Book, Hands

  Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.9, Criss Jami

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• How is it that one day life is orderly and you are content, a little cynical perhaps but on the whole just so, and then without warning you find the solid floor is a trapdoor and you are now in another place whose geography is uncertain and whose customs are strange?

  Jeanette Winterson

  Life, Cynical, One Day

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• Because she was raw and uncertain, and she liked to keep all the messy parts of herself to herself. ... As much as Lena liked to hide the mess and display the finished product, by this point she was all mess and no product.

  Ann Brashares

  Messy, Products, Finished

  Ann Brashares (2011). “Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants): A Novel”, p.224, Random House

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• Who reads Incessantly, and to his reading brings not A spirit and judgment equal or superior, (And what he brings what need he elsewhere seek?) Uncertain and unsettled still remains, Deep versed in books and shallow in himself, Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge, As children gathering pebbles on the shore.

  John Milton

  Children, Reading, Book

  John Milton (2014). “Paradise Regained In Plain and Simple English: A Modern Translation and the Original Version”, p.78, BookCaps Study Guides

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• If what the philosophers say be true, that all men's actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain, so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage.

  Epictetus

  Men, Action, Philosopher

  Epictetus (1866). “The Works of Epictetus: Consisting of His Discourses, in Four Books, the Enchiridion, and Fragments”, p.54

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• Lifeless in appearance, sluggish dazed spring approaches They enter the new world naked, cold, uncertain of all save that they enter.

  William Carlos Williams

  Spring, Naked, World

  1923 Spring and All, 'Spring and All'.

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• This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores. Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Strong, Powerful

  Democratic National Convention Presidential Nomination Acceptance, delivered 28 August 2008, INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

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• We may, indeed, say that the hour of death is uncertain, but when we say this we think of that hour as situated in a vague and remote expanse of time; it does not occur to us that it can have any connexion with the day that has already dawned and can mean that death -- or its first assault and partial possession of us, after which it will never leave hold of us again -- may occur this very afternoon, so far from uncertain, this afternoon whose time-table, hour by hour, has been settled in advance.

  Marcel Proust

  Mean, Thinking, Doe

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• Failure is a reality; we all fail at times, and it's painful when we do. But it's better to fail while striving for something wonderful, challenging, adventurous, and uncertain than to say, " I don't want to try because I may not succeed completely.

  Jimmy Carter

  Failure, Reality, Challenges

  Jimmy Carter (2011). “Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith”, p.221, Three Rivers Press

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• Americans treat history like a cookbook. Whenever they are uncertain what to do next, they turn to history and look up the proper recipe, invariably designated "the lesson of history.

  Russell Baker

  Looks, Lessons, Recipes

  Russell Baker (2014). “So This is Depravity”, p.75, Diversion Books

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• And whereas many men, by accident unevitable, become unable to maintain themselves by their labour; they ought not to be left to the Charity of private persons; but to be provided for, (as far-forth as the necessities of Nature require,) by the Lawes of the Common-wealth. For as it is Unchariablenesse in any man, to neglect the impotent; so it is in the Soveraign of a Common-wealth, to expose them to the hazard of such uncertain Charity.

  Thomas Hobbes

  Men, Hazards, Charity

  "Leviathan". Book by Thomas Hobbes. The Second Part, Chapter 30, 1651.

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• In these uncertain times, I know 100 percent that I can stake my life on the unshakeable, unchanging promises of God!

  Sheila Walsh

  Promise, Uncertain Times, Stakes

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• I see in the act of throwing the dice and of risking the affirmation of some intuitively felt truth, however uncertain, my whole reason for living.

  Antonin Artaud

  Truth, Dice, Affirmation

  Antonin Artaud, Susan Sontag (1976). “Antonin Artaud, Selected Writings”, p.91, Univ of California Press

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• In the uncertain ebb and flow of time and emotions, much of one’s life history is etched in the senses. And things of no particular importance, or irreplaceable things, can suddenly resurface in a café one winter night.

  Banana Yoshimoto

  Winter, Night, Ebb And Flow

  Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (1979). “Three Plays”, p.75, Grove Press

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• The future was uncertain, absolutely, and there were many hurdles, twists, and turns to come, but as long as I kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other, the voices of fear and shame, the messages from those who wanted me to believe that I wasn't good enough, would be stilled.

  Chris Gardner

  Believe, Moving, Voice

  Chris Gardner (2009). “The Pursuit of Happyness”, p.6, Harper Collins

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• Luxury is a word of uncertain signification, and may be taken in a good as in a bad sense

  David Hume

  Taken, Luxury, May

  David Hume (2007). “Writings on Economics”, p.19, Transaction Publishers

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• The landscape with its violent, pure colours dazzled and blinded me. I was always uncertain.

  Paul Gauguin

  Confidence, Landscape, Violent

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• It is a shame for the tongue to cast itself upon the uncertain pardon of other's ears

  Joseph Hall

  Ears, Tongue, Shame

  Joseph Hall, Josiah Pratt (1808). “Works: Practical works”, p.281

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• A mob is usually a creature of very mysterious existence, particularly in a large city. Where it comes from, or whither it goes, few men can tell. Assembling and dispersing with equal suddenness, it is as difficult to follow to its various sources as the sea itself; nor does the parallel stop here, for the ocean is not more fickle and uncertain, more terrible when roused, more unreasonable or more cruel.

  Charles Dickens

  Ocean, Men, Sea

  Charles Dickens (1867). “Charles Dickens's works. Charles Dickens ed. [18 vols. of a 21 vol. set. Wanting A child's history of England; Christmas stories; The mystery of Edwin Drood].”, p.244

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