Usefulness Quotes - Page 6

• Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed," cried the phantom, "not to know, that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused!

  Charles Dickens

  Christian, Regret, Mean

  Charles Dickens (1997). “Best Ghost Stories”, p.71, Wordsworth Editions

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• When all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.

  Charlotte Perkins Gilman

  Suicide, Rights, Easy

  Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1935). “The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography”, p.333, Univ of Wisconsin Press

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• The Destructive Arts are exactly like Martial Arts, except they don't have uniforms or usefulness and the end result doesn't resemble art in any way.

  Jim Benton

  Art, Uniforms, Way

  Jim Benton (2013). “Dear Dumb Diary #11: Okay, So Maybe I Do Have Superpowers”, p.10, Scholastic

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• Such nonsense!" declared Dr Greysteel. "Whoever heard of cats doing anything useful!" "Except for staring at one in a supercilious manner," said Strange. "That has a sort of moral usefulness, I suppose, in making one feel uncomfortable and encouraging sober reflection upon one's imperfections.

  Susanna Clarke

  Cat, Reflection, Imperfection

  Susanna Clarke (2005). “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell”, p.636, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

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• We are in for a fiesta of default, repossession, and distress selling of suburban property, much of which will lose its presumed usefulness and monetary value in an energy-scarce economy.

  James Howard Kunstler

  Energy, Fiesta, Economy

  Source: www.raisethehammer.org

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• In our world, I rank music somewhere between hair ribbons and rainbows in terms of usefulness.

  Suzanne Collins

  Our World, Hair, Rainbow

  Suzanne Collins (2009). “The Hunger Games”, p.206, Scholastic Inc.

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• Nothing is inherently tasty or repulsive - it depends on your needs. Deliciousness is simply an index of usefulness.

  David Eagleman

  Needs, Depends, Tasty

  David Eagleman (2011). “Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain”, p.65, Canongate Books

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• Any one who has studied the history of science knows that almost every great step therein has been made by the "anticipation of Nature," that is, by the invention of hypotheses, which, though verifiable, often had very little foundation to start with; and, not unfrequently, in spite of a long career of usefulness, turned out to be wholly erroneous in the long run.

  Thomas Huxley

  Running, Knowledge, Science

  Thomas Henry Huxley (2011). “Collected Essays”, p.62, Cambridge University Press

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• And many kinds of creatures must have died,
  Unable to plant out new sprouts of life.
  For whatever you see that lives and breathes and thrives
  Has been, from the very beginning, guarded, saved
  By it's trickery for its swiftness or brute strength.
  And many have been entrusted to our care,
  Commended by their usefulness to us.
  For instance, strength supports a savage lion;
  Foxes rely on their cunning; deer their flight.

  Lucretius

  Life, Death, Science

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• Education is the only business still debating the usefulness of technology.

  Rod Paige

  Technology, Stills

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• As Elder George F. Richards, President of the Council of the Twelve, said in a conference address in April 1947, 'when we say anything bad about the leaders of the Church, whether true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and his cause.' ... The Holy Ghost will not guide or confirm criticism of the Lord's anointed, or of Church leaders, local or general. This reality should be part of the spiritual evaluation that LDS readers and viewers apply to those things written about our history and those who made it.

  Dallin H. Oaks

  Spiritual, Reality, Lds

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• The map is not the territory... The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map.

  Alfred Korzybski

  World, Maps, Territory

  "Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics". Book by Alfred Korzybski, 1933.

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• My friend George and I were walking on the beach in Norfolk, and there were thousands of [razor-clam] shells. They were so beautiful, I thought I had to do something with them. So, we decided to make [a dress] out of them. . . . The shells had outlived their usefulness on the beach, so we put them to another use on a dress. Then Erin [O’Conner] came out and trashed the dress, so their usefulness was over once again. Kind of like fashion, really.

  Alexander McQueen

  Beautiful, Fashion, Beach

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• The press briefing today I believe has lost much of its usefulness.

  Marlin Fitzwater

  Believe, Today, Lost

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• How often do we sigh for opportunities for doing good, whilst we neglect the openings of Providence in little things, which would frequently lead to the accomplishment of most important usefulness. Good is done by degrees. However small in proportion the benefit which follows individual attempts to do good, a great deal may thus be accomplished by perseverance, even in the midst of discouragements and disappointments.

  George Crabbe

  Perseverance, Disappointment, Opportunity

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• The hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Inspiring, Light, Shining

  B.K.S. Iyengar, John J. Evans, Douglas Abrams (2006). “Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom”, p.27, Rodale

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• Leaders of men are later remembered less for the usefulness of what they have achieved than for the sweep of their endeavors.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Leadership, Men, Endeavor

  Charles de Gaulle (1960). “The Edge of the Sword”, New York : Criterion Books

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• Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it.

  Neil Postman

  Information, Entertainment, Commodity

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• Abstractness, sometimes hurled as a reproach at mathematics, is its chief glory and its surest title to practical usefulness. It is also the source of such beauty as may spring from mathematics.

  Eric Temple Bell

  Beauty, Spring, Math

  "The Development of Mathematics" by Eric Temple Bell, (p. 9), 1940.

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• There is no excellence without labor. One cannot dream oneself into either usefulness or happiness.

  Liberty Hyde Bailey

  Dream, Excellence, Labor

  Liberty Hyde Bailey (1915). “York State Rural Problems”

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• It is a remarkable honor to receive a Nobel Prize, because it not only recognizes discoveries, but also their usefulness to the advancement of fundamental science.

  Peter Agre

  Discovery, Honor, Advancement

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• Promptitude is not only a duty, but is also a part of good manners; it is favorable to fortune, reputation, influence, and usefulness; a little attention and energy will form the habit, so as to make it easy and delightful.

  Charles Simmons

  Good Man, Littles, Energy

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• Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.

  Yamamoto Tsunetomo

  Martial Arts, Talent, Lowest

  Yamamoto Tsunetomo (2015). “Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai”, p.4, Xist Publishing

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• For the Humanist, . . . head and heart . . . must function together. . . . The constitution of the Phillips Exeter Academy reads: 'Though goodness without knowledge . . . is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous. . . . Both united form the noblest character and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to mankind.'

  Corliss Lamont

  Heart, Character, Together

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• Water is also one of the four elements, the most beautiful of God's creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great readiness. It is this the Holy Scripture has in view when it says, "And the darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Water, then, is the most beautiful element and rich in usefulness, and purifies from all filth, and not only from the filth of the body but from that of the soul, if it should have received the grace of the Spirit.

  John of Damascus

  Beautiful, Should Have, Four Elements

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