Counterproductive Quotes

• I think most people don't react well to being screamed at. It's counterproductive.

  Dick Wolf

  Thinking, People, Wells

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• It's counterproductive and self-destructive to bear grudges with people that are negative.

  Carl Froch

  Motivation, Self, People

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• 'Efficient' scheduling and control of time are often counterproductive. The efficiency focus creates expectations that clash with the opportunities to develop rich relationships, to meet human needs, and to enjoy spontaneous moments on a daily basis.

  Stephen Covey

  Opportunity, Expectations, Focus

  Stephen R. Covey (2016). “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change”, p.184, Mango Media Inc.

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• Any debate among politicians about monetary policy is counterproductive.

  Gerhard Schroder

  Debate, Politician, Monetary Policy

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• Certainly, the Bush Administration will rely in the first instance on its friends, since it would be both illogical and counterproductive to reward its adversaries.

  Richard V. Allen

  Would Be, Rewards, Firsts

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• A total nuclear freeze is counterproductive - especially now, when technology is rapidly changing and the Soviets have some important strategic advantages.

  Herman Kahn

  Technology, Important, Nuclear

  Herman Kahn (1985). “Thinking Unth 80SP”, p.26, Simon and Schuster

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• I never had a policy about marriage. I got married very young in life and I always think in all relationships, I've always thought that it's counterproductive to have a theory on that.

  Jack Nicholson

  Marriage, Thinking, Married

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• Today, the world is so small and so interdependent that the concept of war has become anachronistic, an outmoded approach. As a rule, we always talk about reform and changes. Among the old traditions, there are many aspects that are either ill-suited to our present reality or are counterproductive due to their shortsightedness. These, we have consigned to the dustbin of history. War too should be relegated to the dustbin of history.

  Dalai Lama

  Peace, War, Reality

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• What I do know is that drones are a modern weapon. When used effectively, when taking out ISIS or terrorist leaders, that's pretty impressive. When bombing wedding parties of innocent people and killing dozens of them, that is, needless to say, not effective and enormously counterproductive. So whatever the mechanism, whoever is in control of that policy, it has to be refined so that we are killing the people we want to kill and not innocent collateral damage.

  Bernie Sanders

  Party, Isis, People

  Interview with the Daily News Editorial Board, www.nydailynews.com. April 1, 2016.

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• I would need to see changes in the Iraq governance. Otherwise I don't think strikes are going to have any impact and could be very well counterproductive.

  Adam Schiff

  Military, Thinking, Iraq

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• Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.

  Thomas Sowell

  People, Important, Fabric

  Thomas Sowell (2006). “Ever Wonder Why? and Other Controversial Essays”, Hoover Inst Press

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• The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. However valuable-even necessary-that may have been in enforcing good behavior on primitive peoples, their association is now counterproductive. Yet at the very moment when they should be decoupled, sanctimonious nitwits are calling for a return to morals based on superstition.

  Arthur C. Clarke

  Tragedy, Calling, Hijacking

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• Life teaches us that human thought almost never walks hand in hand with logic, and it is usually counterproductive to raise the point.

  Jeff Lindsay

  Hands, Logic, Teach

  Jeff Lindsay (2013). “Dexter's Final Cut: Dexter Morgan (7)”, p.22, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

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• We've observed that people who stall in their personal growth work often have counterproductive soft addictions that stand in their way of growth and having the life they say they want. It can be a simple thing, such as watching TV instead of finishing a project.

  Judith Wright

  Life, Simple, People

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• The time is long overdue to stop looking for progress through racial or ethnic leaders. Such leaders have too many incentives to promote polarizing attitudes and actions that are counterproductive for minorities and disastrous for the country.

  Thomas Sowell

  Country, Attitude, Long

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• I believe in truths, but I don't believe in the Truth. Furthermore, I think that vision of an underlying Truth, with as capital T, that scientists are privy to, has been a very counterproductive vision. It has served scientists very well, but what it has done, above all, is encloses the world of science and immunize it from criticism.

  Evelyn Fox Keller

  Believe, Thinking, Vision

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• Uh uh uh, turning the car into oncoming traffic... is counterproductive!

  Jim Carrey

  Car, Traffic

  YouTube Channel "walbertcito"/"Jim Carrey - Unnatural Act (1991)", www.youtube.com. June 11, 2012.

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• But the consequences of the whole-hearted and uncritical embrace of politics by Christians has been, IN EFFECT, to reduce Christian faith to a political ideology and various Christian denominations and para-church organizations as special interest groups. The political engagement of the various Christian groups is certainly legal, but in ways that are undoubtedly unintended, it has also been counterproductive of the ends to which they aspire.

  James Davison Hunter

  Christian, Organization, Political

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• The only feasible solution is a political reconciliation... Mr. President, the time is now to put pressure on the Iraqi government to change. That is our only hope. Sending a contingent of U.S. military personnel, no matter how small, will be counterproductive to that goal. Our presence will send the wrong message to the Malaki government that we will support them despite what they have done and continue to do to destroy the country by alienating the minority populations of Iraq.

  Mike Coffman

  Country, Military, Government

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• Independent self-reliant people would be a counterproductive anachronism in the collective society of the future where people will be defined by their associations.

  John Dewey

  Independent, Self, People

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• And yet as a coach, I know that being fixated on winning (or more likely, not losing) is counterproductive, especially when it causes you to lose control of your emotions. What’s more, obsessing about winning is a loser’s game: The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. The ride is a lot more fun that way.

  Phil Jackson

  Letting Go, Fun, Winning

  Phil Jackson, Hugh Delehanty (2013). “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success”, p.23, Penguin

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• The last thing the consumer index wants men and women to do is to figure out how to love one another: The $1.5 trillion retail-sales industry depends on sexual estrangement between men and women, and is fueled by sexual dissatisfaction. Ads do not sell sex--that would be counterproductive, if it meant that heterosexual women and men turned to one another and were gratified. What they sell is sexual discontent.

  Naomi Wolf

  Sex, Men, Would Be

  Naomi Wolf (1990). “The Beauty Myth”, Vintage

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• Tunisia's responsibility, and especially that of its political and intellectual elites, is enormous. All the protagonists of the nation's social, cultural, economic and political life must work to overcome useless and counterproductive polarisation, and to find solutions to domestic, regional and international problems.

  Tariq Ramadan

  Responsibility, Political, Intellectual

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• I don't like rock. Honestly, I like to listen to it, but it's not for me. There's a lot of musical genres that I find interesting, but they don't suit me. It's one thing to listen to different genres, but to perform a genre that isn't yours is counterproductive.

  Luis Miguel

  Rocks, Interesting, Musical

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• Slowing down doesn't mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.

  Tim Ferriss

  Motivational, Mean, Cutting

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