Inclination Quotes

• The inclination to self-depreciation, to freely accepting being robbed, being duped, and being swindled, could be the modesty of a god among men.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Men, Self, Modesty

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• Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience.

  Thomas Chandler Haliburton

  Power, Natural, Authority

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• I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.

  Thomas Hobbes

  Authority And Power, Desire, Leviathan

  Leviathan pt. 1, ch. 11 (1651)

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• Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.

  Pope John Paul II

  Hard Work, People, Evil

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• Friendship is a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of one another.

  Eustace Budgell

  Friendship, Relationship, Strong

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• Vice came in always at the door of necessity, not at the door of inclination.

  Daniel Defoe

  Doors, Vices

  'Moll Flanders' (1721)

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• Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is more or less strong tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.

  Pope Benedict XVI

  Strong, Evil, Moral

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• A man ought to read just as inclination leads him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good.

  Samuel Johnson

  Education, Reading, Men

  Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (entry for 14 July 1763)

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• When natural inclination develops into a passionate desire, one advances towards his goal in seven-league boots.

  Nikola Tesla

  Passion, League, Goal

  Nikola Tesla (2014). “My Inventions Nikola Tesla's Autobiography”, p.26, Lulu.com

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• One must work, if not from inclination, at least out of despair — since it proves, on close examination, that work is less boring than amusing oneself.

  Charles Baudelaire

  Boredom, Boring, Amusing

  "My Heart Laid Bare, and Other Prose Writings".

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• Whatever a person frequently thinks and reflects on, that will become the inclination of their mind.

  Gautama Buddha

  Thinking, Mind, Cognitive Therapy

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• The inclination to aggression constitutes the greatest impediment to civilization.

  Sigmund Freud

  Civilization, Aggression, Impediments

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• If the system is broken, my inclination is to fix it rather than to fight it. I have faith in the process of the law, and if it is carried out fairly, I can live with the results, whatever they may be.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Fighting, Law, Broken

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• My natural inclination to be improv rather than an educated character serves me well.

  Gary Vaynerchuk

  Character, Natural, Educated

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• When a woman has scholarly inclinations there is usually something wrong with her sexuality.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Sexuality, Sexist, Scholarly

  Friedrich Nietzsche, Rolf-Peter Horstmann, Judith Norman (2002). “Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future”, p.69, Cambridge University Press

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• In this world the inclination to do things is of more importance than the mere power.

  Edwin Hubbel Chapin

  World, Importance, Mere

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• It is a secret known but to few, yet of no small use in the conduct of life, that when you fall into a man's conversation, the first thing you should consider is, whether he has a greater inclination to hear you, or that you should hear him.

  Richard Steele

  Fall, Men, Secret

  Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele (1826). “The Spectator: With Notes, and a General Index”, p.64

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• Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing is more of an accomplishment.

  Steve Martin

  Writing, Accomplishment, Acting

  "COVER STORY : A Side Order of Steve Martin : He's had his ups and downs with L.A., but they're back together in his new movie". Interview with Elaine Dutka, articles.latimes.com. February 3, 1991.

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• I was always a silent comedy nerd. I would stay up late and sneak downstairs to watch 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Kids in the Hall,' and things like that. Very early on, my parents realized that I was not going to be an engineer or a doctor. I just don't have those inclinations, at all.

  Mindy Kaling

  Kids, Night, Doctors

  "Mindy Kaling Talks Acting in and Producing THE MINDY PROJECT, Returning to THE OFFICE, GAME OF THRONES Obsessions and More". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. July 30, 2012.

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• Left to my own devices, my first inclination is to mess in other people's lives. I secretly believe my whole family, and really the whole world, is my responsibility.

  Anne Lamott

  Believe, Responsibility, People

  "Anne Lamott's directions for grandparents: 'Some Assembly Required'". Interview With Katia Hetter, www.cnn.com. April 6, 2012.

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• How can you be a recluse in a house full of children, even if you had the inclination to be, which I don't?

  Daniel Day-Lewis

  Children, House, Recluse

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• I was mainly raised by a working mum who didn't have much time or inclination for making food. So I had three or four basic meals: fish fingers and a tomato; a packet scotch egg and a tomato; pasta with a tin of tomatoes; and extra mild plastic-y cheddar chopped into cubes with bits of cucumber.

  Paloma Faith

  Scotch, Eggs, Meals

  "Paloma Faith: 'I woo people with food, so I'm always cooking'". Interview with John Hind, www.theguardian.com. February 16, 2013.

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• Being a nice girl from the Mid-West, my inclination is always to give in and say yes because I want people to like me.

  Cindy Crawford

  Girl, Nice, People

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• Whatever starts in California unfortunately has an inclination to spread.

  Jimmy Carter

  California, Political, Politics

  "As Jerry Brown Touts California In China, Its Citizens Pack Their Bags" by David Davenport, www.realclearpolitics.com. April 12, 2013.

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• I am sure that, on the one hand, the Rothschilds appreciate the merits of Marx, and that on the other hand, Marx feels an instinctive inclination and a great respect for the Rothschilds.

  Mikhail Bakunin

  Hands, Appreciate, Merit

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