Counterproductive Quotes

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

  Dick Wolf

  Thinking, People, Wells

  9 Copy quote

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

  Carl Froch

  Motivation, Self, People

  10 Copy quote

• '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.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• Any debate among politicians about monetary policy is counterproductive.

  Gerhard Schroder

  Debate, Politician, Monetary Policy

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  9 Copy quote

• 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

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  11 Copy quote

• 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.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

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

  Tim Ferriss

  Motivational, Mean, Cutting

  14 Copy quote

• 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

  4 Copy quote

• 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

  215 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  7 Copy quote

• 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

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed.

  Barack Obama

  Inspiring, Real, Practice

  A More Perfect Union, delivered 18 March 2008, Philadelphia, PA

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The mug is a tool. My ace in the hole. To have looks is the bonus on top of what motivates me to be an actor. Not to realize they're an asset would be counterproductive to the cause; they serve the common good.

  Billy Zane

  Acting, Would Be, Tools

  17 Copy quote

• It's a terrible and tragic and counterproductive policy to avoid communicating with people who disagree with us.

  Jimmy Carter

  Communication, People, Tragic

  4 Copy quote

• Vision without implementation is counterproductive.

  Douglas B. Reeves

  Vision, Implementation

  Douglas B. Reeves (2012). “Transforming Professional Development into Student Results”, p.57, ASCD

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Our federal tax system is, in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive . . . [It] reeks with injustice, and is fundamentally un-American

  Ronald Reagan

  Unjust, Impossible, Injustice

  4 Copy quote

• Hmm. Petty? Yes. Ineffectual? Yes. Infuriating and off-putting? Yes. Counterproductive? Yes. It's got to be a product of the French Foreign Ministry.

  Glenn Reynolds

  Ministry, Politics, Infuriating

  4 Copy quote

• Race is a constant factor in American life. Yet reacting to every incident,real or imagined, is crippling, tiring, and ultimately counterproductive.

  Condoleezza Rice

  Real, Race, Tire

  Condoleezza Rice (2010). “Extraordinary, Ordinary People”, p.157, Three Rivers Press

  46 Copy quote

  Show source

• I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be. We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment...Our imprisonment policies are counterproductive.

  William J. Clinton

  Marijuana, Thinking, Needs

  6 Copy quote

• I know that the writers I read and admire all have an influence on my work, but trying to determine to what degree any particular piece of input changes the way I think about writing seems counterproductive.

  Kevin Powers

  Writing, Thinking, Trying

  4 Copy quote

• Together they [President Nixon and Secretary Kissinger] pursued ends that frequently had a tenuous link with reality, using means that were not merely disproportionate but counterproductive and untrue to those values they were meant to defend. In fact neither man demonstrated much faith in those values.

  William Shawcross

  Mean, Reality, Men

  4 Copy quote

• To think that we are disconnected in some way serves the occupation whether it's through indifference or a distancing. It is a colonial approach of making you a subject and them the spectators. That is disturbing and counterproductive. And then suddenly they are surprised or find it alienating that the microcosmic effects of Palestine are happening in the U.S., France, and England, whether it's from the Islamic movements or immigration factors. Keeping a false purity of their countries will harm them eventually.

  Elia Suleiman

  Country, Islamic, Thinking

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

  8 Copy quote

  Show source