Mistaken Quotes - Page 16

• With all his sincerity and devotion, the authentic, absolute atheist is after all only an abortive saint, and at the same time, a mistaken revolutionist.

  Jacques Maritain

  Atheist, Saint, Sincerity

  Jacques Maritain (1966). “A Maritain Reader: Selected Writings”

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• Cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for wisdom.

  Joseph Addison

  Men, Weak Man, May

  Joseph Addison (1721). “The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq”, p.208

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• I say, of the Congress, then, this - that its aims are mistaken, that the spirit in which it proceeds towards their accomplishment is not a spirit of sincerity and whole-heartedness, and that the methods it has chosen are not the right methods, and the leaders in whom it trusts, not the right sort of men to be leaders; - in brief, that we are at present the blind led, if not by the blind, at any rate by the one-eyed.

  Sri Aurobindo

  Men, Leader, Spirit

  "New Lamps for Old". Nine articles by Sri Aurobindo in the "Indu Prakash" (a Bombay daily newspaper), August 28, 1893.

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• Nature is more subtle, more deeply intertwined and more strangely integrated than any of our pictures of her than any of our errors. It is not merely that our pictures are not full enough; each of our pictures in the end turns out to be so basically mistaken that the marvel is that it worked at all.

  Jacob Bronowski

  Errors, Enough, Ends

  Jacob Bronowski (1965). “Science and Human Values”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• Sundry manifestations of nature in men and women, are greatly perverted by existing social conventions upheld by both. There are feelings which, under our predatory régime, with its adapted standard of propriety, it is not considered manly to show; but which, contrariwise, are considered admirable in women. Hence repressed manifestations in the one case, and exaggerated manifestations in the other; leading to mistaken estimates.

  Herbert Spencer

  Men, Feelings, Social

  HERBERT SPENCER (1874). “THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY”, p.421

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• It is hard for many people to give up the religion in which they were born; to admit that their fathers were utterly mistaken, and that the sacred records of their country are but collections of myths and fables.

  Robert Green Ingersoll

  Country, Giving Up, Father

  Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.314, Library of Alexandria

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• The life of the spirit is the expression of Infinity and, as such, knows no artificial limits. True spirituality is not to be mistaken for an exclusive enthusiasm for some fad. It is not concerned with any "ism." When people seek spirituality apart from life, as if it had nothing to do with the material world, their search is futile.

  Meher Baba

  Expression, People, Isms

  "Discourses, Volume I". Book by Meher Baba, 1967.

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• Humility with energy is often mistaken for pride.

  Johann Kaspar Lavater

  Humility, Pride, Energy

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• If I have taken the word, by any reason, it has been because I think it is grave to kill men, under the pretext that they are mistaken on the interpretation of some point, for we know that even the chosen ones are not exempt from sometimes being wrong.

  Michael Servetus

  Taken, Men, Thinking

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• The brilliant creative core of capitalism ... is the story the entrepreneurs and capital investors tell themselves about the future. How they intend to alter it, what they expect to gain in return, where they will raise the capital to accomplish their vision. Many of their stories turn out to be flawed or mistaken, of course, but the capacity to envision a set of future events and then act to fulfill them is a central source of capitalism's strength and its dominance of society.

  William Greider

  Entrepreneur, Creative, Vision

  William Greider (2003). “The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy”, p.311, Simon and Schuster

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• An English village could never be mistaken for an American one: the outline against the sky differs; a thatched cottage makes a very wavy line on the blue above.

  Maria Mitchell

  Blue, Sky, Cottages

  Maria Mitchell (1896). “Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals”

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• Contrary to popular belief, I'm not promiscuous. There does seem to be a mistaken belief out there that I am sexually available somehow — which is not to say that I'm not open-minded about sex.

  Scarlett Johansson

  Sex, Doe, Belief

  "Johansson: 'I'm Not Promiscuous'" by wenn.com, October 11, 2006.

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• The fact is that in too many parts of our country, we still have discrimination. And affirmative action is not just something that applies to people of color. Some people have a mistaken view of it in America. It also is with respect to women, it's with respect to other efforts to try to reach out and be inclusive in our country.

  John F. Kerry

  Country, Views, Color

  "Text Of Bush-Kerry Debate III (3)". www.cbsnews.com. October 13, 2004.

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• Those who expect radical changes in policy and direction are mistaken and lost. The government of the fourth republic will build on what was undertaken by previous governments and will continue with all good things.

  Jakaya Kikwete

  Government, Republic, Radical Change

  "Tanzania's New President Sworn in". news.bbc.co.uk. December 21, 2005.

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• And honestly, if anyone thinks they can get an accurate picture of anyplace on the planet by reading news reports, they're sadly mistaken.

  Bruce Schneier

  Reading, Thinking, News

  "Should Terrorism be Reported in the News?". Cryptogram newsletter, www.schneier.com. May 15, 2005.

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• Enlightenment is the inner light of wisdom that is permanently free from all mistaken appearance, and whose function is to bestow mental peace upon each and every living being every day.

  Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

  Light, Appearance, Function

  Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (2011). “Eight Steps to Happiness: The Buddhist Way of Loving Kindness”, p.253, Tharpa Publications US

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• I still believe that, in the long run, the aggregate of the decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgment in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is likely to do less harm than the centralized decisions of a Government; and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster. As I said earlier in this debate, our economic medicine may be painful but it is fast and powerful because it can act freely.

  John James Cowperthwaite

  Running, Powerful, Believe

  Official Report of Proceedings of the Hong Kong Legislative Council (p. 216), March 24, 1966.

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• Delirium tremens in a drunk alcoholic are an unmistakable symptom, but those intoxicated with theories are easily mistaken for geniuses.

  Samael Aun Weor

  Delirium Tremens, Drunk, Genius

  Samael Aun Weor (2010). “The Great Rebellion: The State of Our World and How to Change It Through Practical Spirituality”, p.72, Glorian Publishing

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• Justice consists in seeing that no harm is done to men. Whenever a man cries inwardly: 'Why am I being hurt?' harm is being done to him. He is often mistaken when he tries to define the harm, and why and by whom it is being inflicted on him. But the cry itself is infallible.

  Simone Weil

  Hurt, Men, Compassion

  Simone Weil (2015). “Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings”, p.30, Wipf and Stock Publishers

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• We have this mistaken notion that everybody in the world has to go to college. The colleges are already crowded with people who never in this world will absorb more than a rudimentary education, and we dilute everything to meet this low standard.

  Katherine Anne Porter

  College, People, World

  Katherine Anne Porter, Joan Givner (1987). “Katherine Anne Porter: Conversations”, p.103, Univ. Press of Mississippi

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• The oppressed without hope are mysteriously quiet. When the conception of change is beyond the limits of the possible, there are no words to articulate discontent so it is sometimes held not to exist. This mistaken belief arises because we can only grasp silence in the moment in which it is breaking.

  Sheila Rowbotham

  Silence, Limits, Belief

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• In Canada an ordinary New England house would be mistaken for the château, and while every village here contains at least severalgentlemen or "squires," there is but one to a seigniory.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Class, House, Ordinary

  Henry David Thoreau (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau (Illustrated)”, p.922, Delphi Classics

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• I think there's a level at which you think that there's a reason that you're being singled out, that you're being chosen. As a kid, I was always mistaken for a girl. Before you reach that age where your sexuality starts to display itself, kids can look very androgynous, and I guess I leaned more toward the feminine. All those things were very hard, growing up, because you're trying to create an identity, and you're feeling shameful about the one that you're making. So, I identified with it a lot.

  Matt Reeves

  Girl, Growing Up, Being Single

  Source: www.denofgeek.com

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• My memories of Kabul are vastly different than the way it is when I go there now. My memories are of the final years before everything changed. When I grew up in Kabul, it couldn't be mistaken for Beirut or Tehran, as it was still in a country that's essentially religious and conservative, but it was suprisingly progressive and liberal.

  Khaled Hosseini

  Country, Religious, Memories

  "For Afghanistan With Love". Interview with Ilana Teitelbaum, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 28, 2013.

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• The aging process is totally minimizing. Life in general is pretty minimizing because you have a lot of big ideas, and you have to battle the mistaken delusions and instability that come with youth.

  Natasha Lyonne

  Ideas, Battle, Youth

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