Figure Quotes - 5
More Figure Quotes
I can't remember a single masculine figure created bya woman who is not, at bottom, a booby.
— 1918 In Defence of Women, ch.1, pt.1.
I think General Pershing was the most military figure I’ve ever seen.
frank buckles— On meeting General John Pershing
— Kansascity.com
It took me years to figure out that you don't fall into a tub of butter, you jump for it.
claudette colbert— Unknown
In 1904, 20 per cent of journeys were made by bicycle in London. I want to see a figure like that again. If you can't turn the clock back to 1904, what's the point of being a Conservative?
Boris Johnson— Boris Johnson on South Bank for Barclays Cycle Hire launch, London SE1, 30 July 2010
— Said during the official launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme.
Martin himself had of course a serious intention and must, for all his motley, be regarded as a heroic figure. Nor have I any sympathy with those who make prim mouths at him for introducing scurrility into a theological debate, for debate was precisely what the bishops had suppressed. Those who refuse to let their opponents dispute have no right to complain if they hear instead lewd catcalls in the streets; in a sense, it is what they have chosen.
martin marprelate— C. S. Lewis English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959) p. 405.
It is evident that Bhoja had the reputation of a strong ruler, able to maintain peace in his kingdom and defend it against Muslim aggression and left this task as a sacred legacy to his succession. He was undoubtedly one of the outstanding political figure of India in ninth century and ranks with Dhruva and Dharmpala as a great general and empire builder.
mihira bhoja I— According to historian Dr. R. C. Majumdar History of Ancient India: Earliest Times to 1000 A. D..
Voroshilov was a striking figure, with a great deal of influence among the workers, so that the degree of influence of the committee on the workers and its success as regards recruitment depended primarily on him.
kliment voroshilov— Leopold H. Haimson
Evolution is not finished; reason is not the last word nor the reasoning animal the supreme figure of Nature . As man emerged out of the animal , so out of man the superman emerges.
sri aurobindo— Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913)
(In response to Alfred Tennyson’s poem Vision of Sin , which included the line Every moment dies a man, // every moment one is born. ) If this were true, the population of the world would be at a stand-still. In truth, the rate of birth is slightly in excess of death. I would suggest that the next edition of your poem should read: “Every moment dies a man, every moment 1 1 / 16 is born.” Strictly speaking, the actual figure is so long I cannot get it into a line, but I believe the figure 1 1 / 16 will be sufficiently accurate for poetry.
Charles Babbage— New Scientist, 4 December 1958, pg.1428.
Of the eternal corporeal substance (which is not producible ex nihilo , nor reducible ad nihilum , but rarefiable, condensable, formable, arrangeable, and "fashionable") the composition is dissolved, the complexion is changed, the figure is modified, the being is altered, the fortune is varied, only the elements remaining what they are in substance, that same principle persevering which was always the one material principle, which is the true substance of things, eternal, ingenerable and incorruptible.
giordano bruno— As translated by Arthur Imerti (1964)
He is so vain that he wants to figure in history as the settler of all the great questions; but a Parliamentary constitution is not favorable to such ambitions; things must be done by parties, not by persons using parties as tools.
benjamin disraeli— Letter to Lord John Manners, referring to the tactics of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel (17 December 1846), cited in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (Vol. 2) (1913), p. 337-338.
In the political, the social, the economic, even the cultural sphere, the revolutions of our time have been revolutions "against" rather than revolutions "for"... On the whole throughout this period the man--or party--that stood for doing the positive has usually cut a pathetic figure; well meaning but ineffectual, civilized but unrealistic, he was suspect alike to [by both] the ultras of destruction and the ultras of preservation and restoration.
Peter Drucker— p. 111 (Landmarks of Tomorrow: A Report on the New 'Post-Modern' World (1959))
These proposals included cries for billions of new money for social assistance in the name of “child poverty” and for more business subsidies in the name of “cultural identity. In both cases I was sought out as a rare public figure to oppose such projects.”
stephen harper— The Bulldog, National Citizens Coalition, February 1997
I could never figure out or probably did not take the trouble to figure out what the great philosophical problems are about. The momentous statements I come across are at best a storm in a teacup. There are quite a number of people who have a vested interest in the stuff, make a noble living out of it, and they conspire with one another to keep it alive.
Eric Hoffer— Entry (1977)
You might not think it now, but if you’re one of God’s children, you’re going to figure it out by the end of your life God is good.
james macdonald— p. 84 (Always True (Moody, 2011))
I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.
colin powell— Meet the Press (19 October 2008)
It's difficult to talk to people who whisper even at home, afraid of Americans eavesdropping on them. It’s not a figure of speech, not a joke, I'm serious.
vladimir putin— (17 April 2014)
No, I'm not going to explain it. If you can't figure it out, you didn't want to know anyway...
larry wall— Usenet article (1991)
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.
virginia woolf— Ch. 2 (p. 35)
There is a statue of Vishnu at the 2000 yaer old Padmanabhaswamy Temple in the heart of the city. This temple is located within the walls, or fort that encircles the town, and is the only temple in the state with a huge gopura which was so much part of the temple architecture in Tamil Nadu. This is an interesting temple but quite muted by Tamil Nadu standards and I think the six metre long reclining figure of Vishnu is probably the most striking aspect.
— Aline Dobbie, in "India: The Elephant's Blessing", p.128
Here it is clear that respondent Falwell is a "public figure" for purposes of First Amendment law.
— Chief Justice William Rehnquist, decision, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, Supreme Court of the United States, 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
It would be misleading to say that Hustler v. Falwell extended the scope of First Amendment speech protections. What the Supreme Court did, essentially, was to preserve the scope that already existed, which they did by rejecting an effort by the Appeals Court to allow a public figure, absent a finding of libel, to recover on a claim of emotional distress.
— Menand, Louis (2003). American Studies. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 227. ISBN 0374529000.
Any movie about cult figure Charles Manson needs lots of sex, drugs and blood. But as John Roecker discovered while filming his first feature -- screening Friday and Saturday only at the Avalon -- the key to amping up the gore is an old standby: puppets.
— Talcott, Christina (January 27, 2006). "Film Notes: John Roecker's 'Freaky' Puppet Show". The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company).
An aphorism is a name but every name can take on the figure of aphorism.
— Jacques Derrida in: Jacques Derrida, ?Derek Attridge (1992), Acts of Literature, p. 416
It was as if the whole western mind-training of individual differences had been made background instead of figure, so that you'd look at another human being and say, "Here we are." You'd see differences more as clothing, rather than as core stuff.
— Contrasting the attitude of those who believe that they are especially "divine" and thus believe other people "owe" them deference — and those who assert all are divine, and thus are respectful of others proper rights and dignity as both human and divine beings.
I don't want to be part of the story. I want to be an anonymous, quiet onlooker who tries to work out what the hell is happening - its not easy - and then tells other people about it. I don't like being a figure in the thing.
— John Simpson, interview in Barnes, Nicky (October 12, 2007). "Interview: John Simpson - John Simpson is one of the most respected journalists in the world. On a visit to Norwich he talked about his book Not Quite World's End, whether he will ever think of retiring and how life looks now he is the father - at 63 - of a new baby". BBC Norfolk (BBC). Retrieved on 2009-02-20.
Turns out, sometimes you have to do the wrong thing. Sometimes you have to make big mistake to figure out how to make things right. Mistakes are painful, but they're the only way to find out who you really are.
Denny Duquette— Played by Jeffery Dean Morgan on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (Season 3, Episode 4)
I never saw a contradiction between the ideas that sustain me and the ideas of that symbol , of that extraordinary figure Jesus Christ.
— Fidel Castro, in Jared C. Wilson Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior, Kregel Publications, 2009, p.12
