Disposition Quotes
More Disposition Quotes
There is a strong disposition in youth, from which some individuals never escape, to suppose that everyone else is having a more enjoyable time than we are ourselves.
— 1952 A Buyer's Market, ch.4.
As Dr. Sigmund Freud has observed, it can not even be said that the State has ever shown any disposition to suppress crime, but only to safeguard its own monopoly of crime. ... Taking the State wherever found, striking into its history at any point, one sees no way to differentiate the activities of its founders, administrators and beneficiaries from those of a professional-criminal class.
albert jay nock— p. 50 (Our Enemy, the State (1935))
The theory of politics that emerges from the political literature of the pre-Revolutionary years rests on the belief that what lay behind every political scene, the ultimate explanation of every political controversy, was the disposition of power.
bernard bailyn— Chapter III, POWER AND LIBERTY A THEORY OF POLITICS, p. 55
The spirit of true religion breathes gentleness and affability; it gives a native, unaffected ease to the behavior; it is social, kind, cheerful; far removed from the cloudy and illiberal disposition which clouds the brow, sharpens the temper, and dejects the spirit.
blair hugh— P. 501. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
Great occasions rally great principles, and brace the mind to a lofty bearing, a bearing that is even above itself. But trials that make no occasion at all, leave it to show the goodness and beauty it has in its own disposition. And here precisely is the superhuman glory of Christ as a character, that He is just as perfect, exhibits just as great a spirit in little trials as in great ones.
horace bushnell— P. 59. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
As to my body and burial, I do leave it to the disposition and discretion of my executor, hereafter named, but with this special charge, that it be done as privately as may be, without any state, acknowledging myself to be unworthy of the least outward regard in this world, and unworthy of any remembrance, that hath been so great a sinner, and I do further charge and desire that no monument be made for me, but at the utmost a plain stone with this inscription only — Vermis sum. [I am a worm.]
william lenthall— Last will, as quoted in History of Burford (1891) by William John Monk, p. 131
Good fortune and a good disposition are rarely given to the same man.
livy— Book XXX, sec. 42
"Our family members are believers in Islam. We observe Islamic proprieties and behave in good faith. Believing in Allah, cultivating our minds and disposition, we aim to be good human beings. In particular, it is important to be respectful in the implemation of our prayer and our family members ought to observe the rules of prayer."
ma fuxiang— Masumi, Matsumoto. The completion of the idea of dual loyalty towards China and Islam. Retrieved on 2010-06-28.
The object of punishment is to... lift the man up; to stamp out his bad nature and wicked disposition.
isaac parker— Letter to U.S. Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland (May 27, 1885).
The most necessary disposition to relish pleasures is to know how to be without them.
— Marquise de Lambert, A Mother's Advice to Her Son (1726), p. 160.
Life admits not of delays; when pleasure can be had, it is fit to catch it. Every hour takes away part of the things that please us, and perhaps part of our disposition to be pleased.
samuel johnson— September 1, 1777.
By the look of you, Nynaeve, I could almost think you were angry, but I know you have such a sweet disposition people ask you to dabble your fingers in their tea.
robert jordan— Thom Merrilin to Nynaeve al'Meara
Art is the human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an aesthetic end.
james joyce— Notebook entry, Paris (28 March 1903), printed in James Joyce: Occasional, Critical and Political Writing (2002) edited by Kevin Barry [Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-192-83353-7], p. 104
Considering mankind's indifference to freedom, their easy gullibility and their facile response to conditioning, one might very plausibly argue that collectivism is the political mode best suited to their disposition and their capacities. Under its regime, the citizen, like the soldier, is relieved of the burden of initiative and is divested of all responsibility, save for doing as he is told.
albert jay nock— p. 319 (Memoirs of a Superfluous Man (1943))
Most of the early Christian writers thought the text "I and my Father are one," was to be understood of an unity or harmony of disposition only. Thus Tertullian observes, that the expression is unum , one thing, not one person; and he explains it to mean unity, likeness, conjunction, and of the love that the Father bore to the Son. Origen says, "let him consider that text, 'all that believed were of one heart and of one soul,' and then he will understand this, 'I and my Father are one.'"
joseph priestley— Part I : The History of Opinions Relating to Jesus Christ, § III : The Supremacy was always ascribed to the Father before the Council Of Nice
Our forefathers and ancestors of all times have been of this nature and disposition, that, upon the winning of a battle, they have chosen rather, for a sign and memorial of their triumphs and victories, to erect trophies and monuments in the hearts of the vanquished by clemency than by architecture in the lands which they had conquered. For they did hold in greater estimation the lively remembrance of men purchased by liberality than the dumb inscription of arches, pillars, and pyramids, subject to the injury of storms and tempests, and to the envy of everyone.
françois rabelais— Chapter 50 : Gargantua's speech to the vanquished
Guyal reined his horse and reflected that flowers were rarely cherished by persons of hostile disposition.
jack vance— Chapter 6, "Guyal of Sfere"
Then westward ho! Grace and good disposition Attend your ladyship!
william shakespeare— William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (c. 1601-02), Act III, scene 1, line 146.
It is, therefore, with the sincerest pleasure I have observed on the part of the British government various manifestations of a just and friendly disposition towards us; we wish to cultivate peace and friendship with all nations, believing that course most conducive to the welfare of our own; it is natural that these friendships should bear some proportion to the common interests of the parties.
— Thomas Jefferson, letter to Sir John Sinclair, July 31, 1816.—The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Andrew A. Lipscomb, vol. 15, p. 54 (1904).
In a system where ninety percent or more of cases end in a negotiated disposition, it is unclear why the "discounted" punishment imposed in that ninety percent of cases should not rather be considered the norm. Where almost no one pays the "manufacturer's suggested retail price," and almost everyone buys the item at a "discounted" price, no one really gets a "bargain," and the product's real price is what is actually charged in the marketplace.
— Gerard E. Lynch (9 July 2003), Screening versus Plea Bargaining: Exactly What Are We Trading Off?, 55, Stanford Law Review
But a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition, to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.
— Edmund Burke, "Reflections on the Revolution in France," 1790, The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke (1899), vol. 3, p. 440.
Humility, what is it? It is a gracious gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the same disposition which the Psalmist called a " broken heart," and that consciousness of need which Jesus had in view when He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." So far as it has respect to God, it is that docility which is willing to learn what God teaches; that conscious penury, which is willing to accept whatever God proffers; that submission which is willing to do what God desires, and to endure whatever God deems needful.
— James Hamilton, p. 331. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
If you consider that the constant tenor of the gospel precepts is to promote love , peace , good-will among men you will not doubt that the cultivation of an amiable disposition is a great part your religious duty ; since nothing leads more directly to the breach of charity , and to the injury and molestation of our fellow creatures , than the indulgence of an ill-temper.
— Hester Chapone in:Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, Cambridge University Press, 21 November 2013, p.120
"Our family members are believers in Islam. We observe Islamic proprieties and behave in good faith. Believing in Allah, cultivating our minds and disposition, we aim to be good human beings. In particular, it is important to be respectful in the implemation of our prayer and our family members ought to observe the rules of prayer."
— Masumi, Matsumoto. The completion of the idea of dual loyalty towards China and Islam. Retrieved on 2010-06-28.
Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations...In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others.
alexis de tocqueville— Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America.
He is of a very melancholy disposition.
— Hero, scene i
A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it, but a good patriot and a true politician always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition to preserve and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.
— Edmund Burke, in Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
