Commendable Quotes

• Praise, of all things, is the most powerful excitement to commendable actions, and animates us in our enterprises.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Powerful, Action, Excitement

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  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Strength to Love (1963) ch. 3

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• While it is well enough to leave footprints on the sands of time, it is even more important to make sure they point in a commendable direction.

  James Branch Cabell

  Important, Footprint, Sand

  James Branch Cabell (2005). “Beyond Life”, p.173, Cosimo, Inc.

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• The school children of New York State planted more than 200,000 trees within ten years from the time Arbor Day was recognized. Few similar efforts in years have been more thoroughly commendable than the effort to get our people practically to show their appreciation of the beauty and usefulness of trees.

  Andrew S. Draper

  Appreciation, New York, Children

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• In things to be seen at once, much variety makes confusion, another vice of beauty. In things that are not seen at once, and have no respect one to another, great variety is commendable, provided this variety transgress not the rules of optics and geometry.

  Christopher Wren

  Respect, Confusion, Confusing

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• My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health.

  Robert E. Lee

  Alcohol, Civil War, Moral

  Robert E. Lee (2016). “The Life and Letters of Robert E. Lee (Abridged)”, p.443, BIG BYTE BOOKS

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• Charity is commendable; everyone should be charitable. But justice aims to create a social order in which, if individuals choose not to be charitable, people still don't go hungry, unschooled or sick without care. Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth; justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance.

  Bill Moyers

  Commitment, Order, Sick

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• The zeal, bravery, and good behavior of the officers and men on the night of June 30, and during July 1, was commendable in the extreme.

  John Buford

  Night, Men, June

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• Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Political, Causes, Charity

  Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

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• Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.

  Willa Cather

  Art, Writing, Breakfast Food

  Willa Cather (1988). “Willa Cather on Writing: Critical Studies on Writing as an Art”, p.103, U of Nebraska Press

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• 'Being green' is commendable, but I hope that people don't take too much pride and self-adoration because they shut off the water when they brushed their teeth. The truth of the matter is, conservation alone will do little to save our planet.

  Naveen Jain

  Pride, Self, People

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• Though the strength is lacking, yet the willingness is commendable.

  Ovid

  Lacking, Willingness

  'Epistulae Ex Ponto' bk. 3, no. 4, l. 79

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• Men are of three different capacities: one understands intuitively; another understands so far as it is explained; and a third understands neither of himself nor by explanation. The first is excellent, the second, commendable, and the third, altogether useless.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Men, Useless, Firsts

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• There is no excess in the world so commendable as excessive gratitude.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Gratitude, Excess, World

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• The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds and through commendable and seemly conduct.

  Bahá'u'lláh

  World, Deeds, Accomplished

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• The rule seemed to be that a great woman must either die unwed ... or find a still greater man to marry her. ... The great man, on the other hand, could marry where he liked, not being restricted to great women; indeed, it was often found sweet and commendable in him to choose a woman of no sort of greatness at all.

  Dorothy L. Sayers

  Sweet, Greatness, Men

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• Although the power is lacking, the will is commendable.

  Ovid

  Latin, Lacking

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• It is more or less rude to scorn indiscriminately all kinds of praise; we ought to be proud of that which comes from honest men, who praise sincerely those things in us which are really commendable.

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Men, Rude, Proud

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• Wasn't it? Is loyalty still a commendable quality when it is misdirected?

  Cassandra Clare

  Loyalty, Quality, Clockwork Princess

  Cassandra Clare (2013). “The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel; Clockwork Prince; Clockwork Princess”, p.1203, Simon and Schuster

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• Exploring Ecclesiology is true to its subtitle, being both vibrantly evangelical and admirably ecumenical; it is commendable for its depth, breadth, and erudition. Harper and Metzger's sympathetic engagement with Catholic ecclesiology is challenging and reciprocal. I especially appreciate how the authors emphasize and explore the vital connection between ecclesiology and eschatology, something very beneficial to readers seeking to better appreciate how living the Faith in community today relates to the hope of entering fully into Trinitarian communion in the life to come.

  Carl E. Olson

  Appreciate, Community, Catholic

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• Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a sign of a tractable and commendable nature; and in all cases of passion admit reason to govern.

  George Washington

  Passion, Envy, Brilliant

  George Washington (2010). “George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior”, p.20, Cosimo, Inc.

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• The Libertarians, of whom I'm rather fond, are running Harry Browne. Libertarians are, just as they claim, principled and consistent - they believe in individual liberty. Commendable as they are, and despite their reliability as allies in civil liberties struggles, you may notice that Libertarians sometimes prove that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and that there is a difference between logic and wisdom.

  Molly Ivins

  Running, Believe, Struggle

  Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 7, 1996.

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• It is as commendable to think well of oneself when alone, as it is ridiculous to speak well of oneself among others.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Thinking, Ridiculous, Speak

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• Self-exposure is commendable in art only when it is of a quality and complexity that allows other people to learn about themselves from it.

  Susan Sontag

  Art, Self, People

  Susan Sontag (2013). “Against Interpretation and Other Essays”, p.150, Penguin UK

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• Apart from a commendable determination to discomfit Trump and members of his inner circle (select military figures excepted, at least for now), journalism remains pretty much what it was prior to November 8th of last year: personalities built up only to be torn down; fads and novelties discovered, celebrated, then mocked; "extraordinary" stories of ordinary people granted 15 seconds of fame only to once again be consigned to oblivion - all served with a side dish of that day's quota of suffering, devastation, and carnage. These remain journalism's stock-in-trade.

  Andrew Bacevich

  Determination, Military, People

  "Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, What Obsessing About You-Know-Who Causes Us To Miss". www.tomdispatch.com. May 7, 2017.

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