Quotes for All
After the German abstention at the UN, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle commented that Germany doesn’t always have to stand on the side of its traditional allies. Berlin can look for new partners all over the world. Donald Rumsfeld
An artist needs knowledge and the power of observation only so that he can tell from what he is abstaining, and to be sure that his abstention will not appear artificial or false. Andrei Tarkovsky
War will disappear only when men shall take no part whatever in violence and shall be ready to suffer every persecution that their abstention will bring them. It is the only way to abolish war. Anatole France
VIRTUES, n.pl. Certain abstentions. Ambrose Bierce
A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others. Ambrose Bierce
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. Ambrose Bierce
To use legal or financial constraint to compel either abstention or submission, is entirely horrible, unnatural and absurd. Aleister Crowley
If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.
Abba Eban