Quotes for All
Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of matter. By this test, absolute power is the manifestation most inimical to human uniqueness. Absolute power wants to turn people into malleable clay. Eric Hoffer
One thing that has helped me personally in the past was to stop interfering with the people around me and getting frustrated when I couldn’t change them. Instead of intrusion and passivity, may I suggest submission? Some people make the mistake of confusing “submission” with “weakness”, whereas it is anything but. Submission is a form … Read more
It’s a bit scary to see my book come true: the recent (if minor) LA earthquakes, Hurricane Sandy, the Boston bomber, and so on – much of it stoppable, I think, and yet I, too, am also guilty of passivity. Edan Lepucki
Take the so-called standard of living. What do most people mean by \”living\”? They don’t mean living. They mean the latest and closest plural approximation to singular prenatal passivity which science, in its finite but unbounded wisdom, has succeeded in selling their wives. e. e. cummings
Inaction, letting be, neither creating nor destroying–that is my evil. And also the knower as one without desire. Friedrich Nietzsche
The state has no religion for the simple reason that it has each and everyone. Franz Grillparzer
Captivating the spirit of the age is a matter of great talent; being swept away by it characterizes an average mind. The two are as different from one another as activity and passivity. Franz Grillparzer
Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism. Dorothy Thompson
Between an uncontrolled escalation and passivity, there is a demanding road of responsibility that we must follow. Dominique de Villepin
I cannot have chaos erupting around me until I am prepared for it. I am a collector. I am an observer. I don’t participate. My resources, and my standing, must be secure before I can allow the uncertainty of war to crash down upon us. Derek Landy