Doe Quotes - Page 66

The protection of our liberties does not ultimately depend on parliaments or even the courts. It depends on the love of the people for liberty.

One does not "find oneself" by pursuing one's self, but on the contrary by pursuing something else and learning through discipline or routine. . . who one is and wants to be.

Tokenism does not change stereotypes of social systems but works to preserve them, since it dulls the revolutionary impulse.

An education which does not teach us to discriminate between good and bad, to assimilate the one and eschew the other, is a misnomer

Why does anybody tell a story? It does indeed have something to do with faith. Faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically.

What do I want? The answer to that question does not exist.

How can one liberate the many? By first liberating his own being. He does this not by elevating himself, but by lowering himself. He lowers himself to that which is simple, modest, true; integrating it into himself, he becomes a master of simplicity, modesty, truth.

A true hero is not someone who thinks about doing what is right, but one that simply does what is right without thinking!

All the other pleasures of life seem to wear out, but the pleasure of helping others in distress never does.

Abjection is above all ambiguity. Because, while releasing a hold, it does not radically cut off the subject from what threatens it --- on the contrary, abjection acknowledges it to be in perpetual danger.

Painting for me is like a fabric, all of a piece and uniform, with one set of threads as the representational, esthetic element, and the cross-threads as the technical, architectural, or abstract element. These threads are interdependent and complementary, and if one set is lacking the fabric does not exist. A picture with no representational purpose is to my mind always an incomplete technical exercise, for the only purpose of any picture is to achieve representation.

I love Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart because they're bringing irony back into American humor, which is a delicious treat. The entire Colbert persona of being extreme right-wing when he's not at all is highly amusing. He does it so well, but sometimes a little too well. My wife is convinced he's completely that way.

The criminal does not expect his prey to fight back. May he never choose you, but, if he does, surprise him.

Humor does not include sarcasm, invalid irony, sardonicism, innuendo, or any other form of cruelty. When these things are raised to a high point they can become wit, but unlike the French and the English, we have not been much good at wit since the days of Benjamin Franklin.

Gardeners know that you must nourish the soil if you want healthy plants. You must water the plants adequately, especially when seeds are germinating and sprouting, and they should be planted in a nutrient-rich soil. Why should nutrition matter less in the creation of young humans than it does in young plants? I'm sure that it doesn't.

The costliness of keeping friends does not lie in what one does for them, but in what one, out of consideration for them, refrains from doing.

Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you, but what happens inside of you.

If only we could see the value of one soul like God does.

A political society does not live to conduct foreign policy; it would be more correct to say that it conducts foreign policy in order to live.

You lose power to the people and circumstances you judge. They capture your attention in the same way that a movie does.

Nothing ever happens in the world that does not happen first inside human hearts.

I have always thought it curious that, while most scientists claim to eschew religion, it actually dominates their thoughts more than it does the clergy.

Why does God endow us with compassion?

Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.

Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for security.