Antithesis Quotes

• We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn't. Success often lies just the other side of failure.

  Leo Buscaglia

  Wisdom, Lying, Failure

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• The madness of depression is, generally speaking, the antithesis of violence. It is a storm indeed, but a storm of murk. Soon evident are the slowed-down responses, near paralysis, psychic energy throttled back close to zero. Ultimately, the body is affected and feels sapped, drained.

  William Styron

  Depression, Zero, Psychics

  William Styron (2010). “Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness”, p.25, Open Road Media

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• Success often lies just the other side of failure.

  Leo Buscaglia

  Lying, Sides, Success And Failure

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• Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.

  William Shakespeare

  Rome, Cassius, Ides Of March

  'Julius Caesar' (1599) act 3, sc. 2, l. [22]

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• This liberal progressive agenda... is the antithesis of who we are as a constitutional republic.

  Allen West

  Agendas, Republic, Who We Are

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• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

  Charles Dickens

  Inspirational, Time, Cities

  A Tale of Two Cities bk. 1, ch. 1 (1859)

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• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

  Charles Dickens

  Spring, Communication, Winter

  A Tale of Two Cities bk. 1, ch. 1 (1859)

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• We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Motivational, Respect

  Speech at St. Louis, 22 Mar. 1964, in St Louis Post-Dispatch 23 Mar. 1964

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• In brief, egoism in its modern interpretation, is the antithesis, not of altruism, but of idealism.

  John Buchanan Robinson

  Modern, Idealism And Realism, Interpretation

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  This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

  Neil Armstrong

  Motivational, Positive, Moon

  In New York Times 31 July 1969, p. 20

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• Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Love, Life, Marriage

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• Well, the first thing is that truth and power for me form an antithesis, an antagonism, which will hardly ever be resolved. I can define in fact, can simplify the history of human society, the evolution of human society, as a contest between power and freedom.

  Wole Soyinka

  Firsts, Facts, Evolution

  FaceBook post by Wole Soyinka from Jan 23, 2015

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• Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, War, Communication

  "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967.

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• I sometimes struggle, because my job is like the antithesis of what surfing is all about. Surfing's simple. It's real.

  Paul Walker

  Jobs, Real, Struggle

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• There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.

  C. S. Lewis

  Squares, Religion, Atheism

  C. S. Lewis (2003). “A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis”, p.168, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Now the relation which, in the sphere of nature, being and semblance or sensation bear to one another in this antithesis, is the same as that which in ethics exists between good and pleasure or feeling.

  Friedrich Schleiermacher

  Feelings, Bears, Spheres

  Friedrich Schleiermacher (1836). “Schleiermacher's Introductions to the Dialogues of Plato”, p.172

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• The farther a society progresses, the more clearly the individual becomes the antithesis of the group.

  Herbert Read

  Progress, Groups, Literature

  Herbert Read (1963). “Selected Writings: Poetry and Criticism”

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• Now a great debate has been born. The thesis is Democratic Socialism. The antithesis is free-market capitalism. The Obama Democrats have posed the challenge. It is now up to the Republicans to pick it up and fight along these lines.

  Dick Morris

  Fighting, Democratic Socialism, Challenges

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• Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness - I wouldn't know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

  Aaron Copland

  Inspirational, Art, Self

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• Force is the antithesis of freedom, but force must be used, if only to defend against other force.

  Thomas Sowell

  Black, Used, Force

  Thomas Sowell (1996). “Knowledge And Decisions”, p.116, Basic Books

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• It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Life And Love, Book, Athlete

  Abraham Lincoln (1999). “The Wit & Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: A Treasury of Quotations, Anecdotes, and Observations”, Gramercy

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  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dream, Kings, Children

  Speech at Civil Rights March,Washington, D.C., 28 Aug. 1963

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• My life has been the antithesis of that book 'The Secret'. I've always been interested in doing what I do. I love storytelling and I really enjoyed acting, but it never seemed like a realistic thing.

  Aaron Stanford

  Book, Secret, Acting

  "Q&A – Aaron Stanford (Horace Cook, Jr.)". AMC interview, www.amc.com.

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• Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

  Samuel Johnson

  Education, Honesty, Integrity

  'Rasselas' (1759) ch. 41

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• What opposite discoveries we have seen! (Signs of true genius, and of empty pockets.) One makes new noses, one a guillotine, One breaks your bones, one sets them in their sockets; But vaccination certainly has been A kind antithesis to Congreve's rockets.

  Lord Byron

  Science, Discovery, Opposites

  Lord Byron (2015). “Don Juan”, p.28, Sheba Blake Publishing

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