Useless Quotes - Page 23

• So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take a pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information.

  George Orwell

  Long, Style, Alive

  George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.315, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• At first blush I am tempted to conclude that a satisfactory hobby must be in large degree useless, inefficient, laborious, or irrelevant.

  Aldo Leopold

  Hobbies, Degrees, Firsts

  Aldo Leopold (1972). “Round River”, p.10, Oxford University Press

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Useless people are not improved by giving them the impression that they are useful.

  John Barnes

  People, Giving, Impression

  "The Armies of Memory".

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• So generation after generation of men in love with pain and passivity serve out their time in the Zone, silent, redolent of faded sperm, terrified of dying, desperately addicted to the comforts others sell them, however useless, ugly or shallow, willing to have life defined for them by men whose only talent is for death.

  Thomas Pynchon

  Pain, Men, Dying

  Thomas Pynchon (2012). “Gravity's Rainbow”, p.580, Penguin

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.

  H. G. Wells

  Life Changing, Science, Needs

  H G Wells (2004). “The Time Machine (Sparklesoup Classics)”, p.48, Sparklesoup LLC

  42 Copy quote

  Show source

• The younger one looked to be completely useless.

  Megan Whalen Turner

  Megan Whalen Turner (2009). “The Thief”, p.28, Harper Collins

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• It's useless to lecture a human.

  Rick Riordan

  Lectures, Humans

  Rick Riordan (2006). “The lightning thief”

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.

  Aldo Leopold

  Ignorance, Men, Animal

  Aldo Leopold (1972). “Round River”, p.108, Oxford University Press

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• Useless, idle, exploitative male chauvinist drone!

  Sue Limb

  Males, Drones, Male Chauvinist

  Sue Limb (2012). “Charming But Insane”, p.43, A&C Black

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• Women are so useless and unimaginative, aren't they? All they ever think of planting in the dirt is the seed of something beautiful or edible. The only missile they can ever think of throwing at anybody is a ball or a bridal bouquet.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Beautiful, Thinking, Balls

  Kurt Vonnegut (2009). “Bluebeard: A Novel”, p.239, Dial Press

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Useless pursuits and conversations always about the same things absorb the better part of one's time, the better part of one's strength, and in the end there is left a life grovelling and curtailed, worthless and trivial, and there is no escaping or getting away from it—just as though one were in a madhouse or prison.

  Anton Chekhov

  Escaping, Prison, Ends

  Anton Chekhov (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Anton Chekhov (Illustrated)”, p.2939, Delphi Classics

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Again, somehow, one saw life, a pure bead. I lifted the pencil again, useless though I knew it to be. But even as I did so, the unmistakable tokens of death showed themselves. The body relaxed, and instantly grew stiff. The struggle was over. The insignificant little creature now knew death. As I looked at the dead moth, this minute wayside triumph of so great a force over so mean an antagonist filled me with wonder. Just as life had been strange a few minutes before, so death was now as strange.

  Virginia Woolf

  Struggle, Mean, Triumph

  Virginia Woolf (2017). “Essays Virginia Woolf”, p.446, Random House

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I'm not afraid," Rafi said. "Why not?" "If I die tomorrow it will have been useless to have been afraid today.

  Mark Helprin

  Why Not, Today, Tomorrow

  Mark Helprin (2005). “A Soldier of the Great War”, p.197, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• The great spiritual task facing me is to so fully trust that I belong to God that I can be free in the world--free to speak even when my words are not received; free to act even when my actions are criticized, ridiculed, or considered useless.... I am convinced that I will truly be able to love the world when I fully believe that I am loved far beyond its boundaries.

  Henri Nouwen

  Spiritual, Believe, Tasks

  Henri J. M. Nouwen (2017). “You are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living”, Hachette UK

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Tita knew through her own flesh how fire transforms the elements, how a lump of corn flour is changed into a tortilla, how a soul that hasn't been warmed by the fire of love is lifeless, like a useless ball of corn flour.

  Laura Esquivel

  Love Is, Fire, Soul

  Laura Esquivel (2010). “Like Water For Chocolate”, p.63, Random House

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Is it useful to feel fear, because it prepares you for nasty events, or is it useless, because nasty events will occur whether you are frightened or not?

  Daniel Handler

  Fear, Events, Nasty

  4 Copy quote

• If our life is poured out in useless words, we will never hear anything, never become anything, and in the end, because we have said everything before we had anything to say, we shall be left speechless at the moment of our greatest decision.

  Thomas Merton

  Wisdom, Decision, Life Is

  Thomas Merton (2011). “Thoughts In Solitude”, p.105, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• There are two Newman's laws. The first one is "It is useless to put on your brakes when you're upside down." The second is "Just when things look darkest, they go black.

  Paul Newman

  Law, Two, Black

  14 Copy quote

• Sometimes a woman needs a man for company, no matter how useless he is.

  Lisa Kleypas

  Men, Needs, Matter

  Lisa Kleypas (2015). “The Travis Family Series, Books 1-3: Blue-Eyed Devil, Smooth Taking Stranger and Sugar Daddy”, p.386, St. Martin's Press

  16 Copy quote

  Show source

• Forgive my rudeness. I cannot abide useless people.

  Jane Espenson

  People, Forgiving, Rudeness

  "Firefly (TV Series): Shindig". www.imdb.com. 2002.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• To use is necessary. And if you can't be used, then you're useless.

  Kanye West

  Use, Used, Ifs

  "Kanye West for the soul: rapper releases self-help book" by Sean Michaels, www.theguardian.com. February 6, 2008.

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• I cannot abide useless people.

  Joss Whedon

  People

  "Firefly". www.imdb.com. 2002.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Amidst all the attention given to the sciences as to how they can lead to the cure of all diseases and daily problems of mankind, I believe that the biggest breakthrough will be the realization that the arts, which are considered "useless," will be recognized as the whole reason why we ever try to live longer or live more prosperously. The arts are the science of enjoying life.

  John Maeda

  Art, Believe, Enjoy Life

  "VOICES; John Maeda", www.nytimes.com. November 11, 2003.

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• Hindsight, I think, is a useless tool. We, each of us, are at a place in our lives because of innumerable circumstances, and we, each of us, have a responsibility (if we do not like where we are) to move along life's road, to find a better path if this one does not suit, or to walk happily along this one if it is indeed our life's way. Changing even the bad things that have gone before would fundamentally change who we are, and whether or not that would be a good thing, I believe, it is impossible to predict. So I take my past experiences... and try to regret nothing. -Drizzt Do'urden

  R. A. Salvatore

  Regret, Believe, Moving

  59 Copy quote

• Katie had a fierce desire for survival which made her a fighter. Johnny had a hankering after immortality which made him a useless dreamer. And that was the great difference between these two who loved each other so well.

  Betty Smith

  Two, Differences, Dreamer

  BETTY SMITH (1943). “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”

  6 Copy quote

  Show source