As a matter of selective necessity, man is an agent. He is, in his own apprehension, a centre of unfolding impulsive activity; "teleological activity." He is an agent seeking in every act the accomplishment of some concrete, objective, impersonal end. By force of being such an agent, he is possessed of a taste for effective work, and a distaste for futile effort. ~Thorstein Veblen
#quotes #thorstein-veblen #human

My most resolute opponents believe that I am too visible, that I am a little too alive, that my name echoes too much in the texts which they nevertheless claim to be inaccessible. ~Jacques Derrida
#quotes #jacques-derrida #lively

No matter how beautiful the theory, one irritating fact can dismiss the entire formulism, so it has to be proven. ~Michio Kaku
#quotes #michio-kaku #theory

I did climb about 80 buildings around the world and I climbed even the five tallest. ~Alain Robert
#quotes #alain-robert #climbing #building

He who lets the goat be laid on his shoulders is soon after forced to carry the cow. ~Italian Proverb
#proverbs #italian-proverbs #helping

I have had a few people recognise me in public. But I wouldn't like everybody to recognise me. I can still walk across the street and not be noticed. ~Bonnie Wright
#quotes #bonnie-wright #popularity

Only fools and dead men don't change their minds. Fools won't. Dead men can't. ~John Henry Patterson
#quotes #john-henry-patterson #men #mind

All I can say right now is the U.S. government is not going to be able to cover this up by jailing or murdering me. Truth is coming, and it cannot be stopped. ~Edward Snowden
#quotes #edward-snowden #truth #government

That is one of the things about going on tour, that I get to work with some really talented people and it allows me to be able to listen to them as well; and just have fun on stage. ~Joan Armatrading
#quotes #joan-armatrading #entertainment #talent #touring

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. ~Paulo Coelho
#quotes #paulo-coelho #the-alchemist #universe #inspiration #wish

Authors are far closer to the truths enfolded in mystery than ordinary people, because of that very audacity of imagination which irritates their plodding critics. As only those who dare to make mistakes succeed greatly, only those who shake free the wings of their imagination brush, once in a way, the secrets of the great pale world. If such writers go wrong, it is not for the mere brains to tell them so ~Gertrude Atherton
#quotes #gertrude-atherton #writing #reality

You know what, Steve Jobs is real nice to me. He lets me be an employee and that's one of the biggest honors of my life. ~Steve Wozniak
#quotes #steve-wozniak #steve-jobs #apple #work

I had my nearest and most intimate glimpses of the presence of my Lord in those dread moments when musket, club or spear was being levelled at my life. ~John Gibson Paton
#quotes #john-gibson-paton #god

You can undo a lot of things. If you're not happy, you can become happy. Happiness is a choice. That's the thing I really feel. ~Jennifer Aniston
#quotes #jennifer-aniston #happiness

I have a folder of scraps and pieces of paper with stuff, ideas for songs from the last 25 years; just little things, maybe early songs that I finished, but didn't think they were good enough. ~Lucinda Williams
#quotes #lucinda-williams #past #music

Yes, God wants you to do signs and wonders. But the love of God manifested through you is what people really need. So you first must see His face. You must become so close to His very heartbeat that you can feel what others feel. ~Heidi Baker
#quotes #heidi-baker #god #compassion

The places I've been, or passed through, or seen at a distance, have had as much an impact on my life as the people I've known. ~Bryan Lee O'Malley
#quotes #bryan-lee-o-malley #life #places

One's only rival is one's own potentialities. One's only failure is failing to live up to one's own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king. ~Abraham Maslow
#quotes #abraham-maslow #king #future

Extremism can flourish only in an environment where basic governmental social responsibility for the welfare of the people is neglected. Political dictatorship and social hopelessness create the desperation that fuels religious extremism. ~Benazir Bhutto
#quotes #benazir-bhutto #extremism #government #society

For me, poetry is always a search for order. ~Elizabeth Jennings
#quotes #elizabeth-jennings #poetry #order

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought. ~Zen Proverb
#proverbs #zen-proverbs #buddhism

You think you are prepared. You think you have done everything you're supposed to, study hard, work hard, keep yourself out of trouble, and then, whoosh! Something arrives out of the blue that you never saw coming. Something you never even imagined. Something that will knock your little world off its axis. Something that will either change your life for the better, or end it forever. Chaos. ~James Michael
#quotes #james-michael

Even if I had expected it, even if I had known what I was going to do with my life, it would have knocked the wind out of me. When something that violent hits you, you can't help but lose your balance and fall. And after you pick yourself up, you realize you can't trust anybody to save you, not your husband, not your mother, not God. So what can you do to stop yourself from tilting and falling all over again? ~Amy Tan
#quotes #amy-tan #family

All managers are losers, they are the most expendable pieces of furniture on the face of the Earth. ~Ted Williams
#quotes #ted-williams #work #management

First the amendment of their own minds. For the removal of the impediments of the mind will sooner clear the passages of fortune than the obtaining fortune will remove the impediments of the mind. ~Francis Bacon
#quotes #francis-bacon #mind