Curiosity Quotes - Page 27

• It may be that the strongest instinct of the human race, stronger than sex or hunger, is curiosity: the absolute need to know. It can and often does motivate a lifetime, it kills more than cats, and the prospect of satisfying it can be the most exciting of emotions.

  Jack Finney

  Sex, Cat, Race

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• The holiness of the church means that life, as well as truth, marks Christ’s church; the behavior of Christians in the world must be remarkable enough to cause grudging admiration, astonished curiosity or threatening hostility.

  Edmund Clowney

  Christian, Mean, Church

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• Legendary innovators like Franklin, Snow, and Darwin all possess some common intellectual qualities—a certain quickness of mind, unbounded curiosity—but they also share one other defining attribute. They have a lot of hobbies.

  Steven Johnson

  Snow, Intellectual, Mind

  Steven Johnson (2010). “Where Good Ideas Come From”, p.108, Penguin

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• Opinions are not to be learned by rote, like the letters of an alphabet, or the words of a dictionary. They are conclusions to be formed, and formed by each individual in the sacred and free citadel of the mind, and there enshrined beyond the arm of law to reach, or force to shake; ay! and beyond the right of impertinent curiosity to violate, or presumptuous arrogance to threaten.

  Frances Wright

  Law, Arrogance, Mind

  Frances Wright (1831). “Course of Popular Lectures,”, p.132

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• To find out who you are is like putting yourself on a psychiatric couch, but you have nobody to help you. Really it isn't easy. I was talking with my nephew this morning and he gave me one of the best quotes I've heard in years 'Personal style is curiosity about oneself.'

  Iris Apfel

  Morning, Talking, Years

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• The great affair, the love affair with life,
  is to live as variously as possible,
  to groom one's curiosity like a high-spirited thoroughbred,
  climb aboard, and gallop over the thick, sun-struck hills every day.
  Where there is no risk, the emotional terrain is flat and unyielding,
  and, despite all its dimensions, valleys, pinnacles, and detours,
  life will seem to have none of its magnificent geography, only a length.
  It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery,
  but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.

  Diane Ackerman

  Life, Beautiful, Country

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• The magician depends for the success of his art upon the credulity of the people. Whatever mystifies, excites curiosity; whatever in turn baffles this curiosity, works the marvelous.

  Alexander Herrmann

  Art, People, Magician

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• God is not an encyclopedia whose task is to satisfy our curiosity.

  Jacques Ellul

  Tasks, Encyclopedia

  "The Politics of God and the Politics of Man".

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• Curiosity has no important place in my work, only conformity.

  John Taylor Gatto

  Important, Conformity

  John Taylor Gatto, Thomas Moore (2013). “Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling”, p.24, New Society Publishers

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• In such a case secrecy must be absolute to be effective, and although mere vague curiosity induced many persons of my intimate acquaintance to ask to be allowed to just go in and have a peep, I never admitted anyone.

  Henry Bessemer

  Intimate, Secrecy, Cases

  Sir Henry Bessemer (1905). “Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S.: An autobiography”

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• Be neat, Philothea; let nothing be negligent about you. It is a kind of contempt of those with whom we converse, to frequent their company in uncomely apparel; but, at the same time, avoid all affectation, vanity, curiosity, or levity in your dress. Keep yourself always, as much as possible, on the side of plainness and modesty, which, without doubt, is the greatest ornament of beauty, and the best excuse for the want of it.

  Saint Francis de Sales

  Vanity, Doubt, Want

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• Adrienne Mayor's inquiry into the myth--and surprising reality--of Amazon women begins with the fierce Greek huntress Atalanta, but takes us deep into the past and as far afield as the Great Wall of China. With the restless curiosity and meticulous scholarship that have become her hallmark, the author once again has found a gap in my bookshelf and filled it, admirably.

  Steven Saylor

  Wall, Past, Reality

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• Why is man man? As long as we have had minds to think with, stars to ponder upon, dreams to disturb us, curiosity to inspire us, hours free for meditation, words to place our thoughts in order, the question like a restless ghost has prowled the cellars of our consciousness.

  Robert Ardrey

  Dream, Stars, Men

  Robert Ardrey (1977). “The Hunting Hypothesis: A Personal Conclusion Concerning the Evolutionary Nature of Man”

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• Education is learning more than it is being taught. It's the chemistry of curiosity exposed to information. In that sense all of life is potentially school. And even I can pass that.

  Bob Guccione, Jr.

  Education, School, Information

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• What do those of us who aren't tall, flawlessly sculpted adolescents do?
  Answer: Console ourselves with how relative beauty can be...
  Thank heavens for the arousing qualities of zest, intelligence,
  wit, curiosity, sweetness, passion, talent and grace.

  Diane Ackerman

  Beauty, Passion, Zest

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• The human mind has a desire to know its place in the universe and the role we play in the tapestry of life. This is actually hardwired into our brains, the desire the know our relationship to the universe. This was good for our evolution, since it enabled us to see our relationship to others and to nature which was good for our survival. And it is also what drives our curiosity to understand the universe.

  Michio Kaku

  Play, Brain, Survival

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• I had a healthy curiosity and would try things on - play lots of practical jokes. But it was more in my head - fantasies of "What would happen if...? Like what would happen in class if you took all your clothes off and you ran around the room?

  Andy Griffiths

  Class, Play, Clothes

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• In teaching, you must simply work your pupil into such a state of interest in what you are going to teach him that every other object of attention is banished from his mind; then reveal it to him so impressively that he will remember the occasion to his dying day; and finally fill him with devouring curiosity to know what the next steps in connection with the subject are.

  William James

  Art, Teaching, Psychology

  William James (1912). “Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life's Ideals”

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• It's necessary to have an energy that carries you forward. You need the will to live, to have a great curiosity. To look for the best in life, to find new interests.

  Sophia Loren

  Energy, Needs, Looks

  Interview with Alain Elkann, alainelkanninterviews.com. June 9, 2014.

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• I guess, I ended up finding music to pour my curiosity into. It was my creative outlet and therapy at the same time.

  Missy Higgins

  Creative, Outlets, Therapy

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• Curiosity in children is but an appetite for knowledge.

  John Locke

  Children, Appetite

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• Curiosity is the direct incontinence of the spirit.

  Jeremy Taylor

  Spirit, Incontinence, Direct

  Jeremy Taylor (1839). “Holy Living and Dying Together with Prayers: Containing the Whole Duty of a Christian...”, p.101

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• Some men covet knowledge out of a natural curiosity and inquisitive temper; some to entertain the mind with variety and delight; some for ornament and reputation; some for victory and contention; many for lucre and a livelihood; and but few for employing the Divine gift of reason to the use and benefit of mankind.

  Francis Bacon

  Knowledge, Men, Mind

  Francis Bacon (2016). “The Advancement of Learning”, p.40, Jazzybee Verlag

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• ...it is curiosity, initiative, originality, and the ruthless application of honesty that count in research- much more than feats of logic and memory alone.

  Julian Huxley

  Honesty, Memories, Discovery

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• Let's just say I was testing the bounds of reality. I was curious to see what would happen. That's all it was curiosity.

  Jim Morrison

  Reality, Curious, Testing

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