Old Traditions Quotes

• Capitalism attacks and destroys all the finer sentiments of the human heart; it ruthlessly sweeps away old traditions and ideas opposed to its progress, and it exploits and corrupts those things once held sacred.

  Daniel De Leon

  Heart, Ideas, Progress

  "Patriotism and Poverty". "The Daily People" Newspaper, July 26, 1900.

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• Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Teaching, Diversity, Social Justice

  W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

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• A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril.

  Winston Churchill

  Patriotism, World War 2, Tradition

  Winston Churchill (1952). “War Speeches: From September 11, 1943 to August 16, 1945”

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• Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe and aren't even aware of.

  Ellen Goodman

  Powerful, Mind, Tradition

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• Everybody grows up with comedy. I mean, Egyptian comedy has a very, very old tradition. Our theater and our movies are just, like, amazing.

  Bassem Youssef

  Growing Up, Mean, Comedy

  "Egyptian Jon Stewart' Bassem Youssef Will Now Satirize U.S. Democracy". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. February 3, 2016.

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• Here is an old tradition badly in need of return: You have to earn your way into politics. You should go have a life, build a string of accomplishments, then enter public service.

  Peggy Noonan

  Accomplishment, Way, Return

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• All the old traditions tell us that there is more than one path to the great Goal.. . . The shortest and easiest pathway of all is the pathway of Love. It is the one pathway that is open to all, irrespective of what their personal conditions or circumstances may be. For every person, everywhere, true attainment awaits through the yoga of Love, for yoga means union and it is our union with God that makes the attainment possible.

  Emmet Fox

  Love, Yoga, Mean

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• The hallmark of an authentic evangelicalism is not the uncritical repetition of old traditions but the willingness to submit every tradition, however ancient, to fresh biblical scrutiny and, if necessary, reform.

  John Stott

  Inspirational, Success, Uplifting

  John Stott (2013). “Balanced Christianity”, p.68, InterVarsity Press

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• My true function within a society which embraces all of us is to continue an age-old tradition. This tradition is to create images from the depths of the imagination and to give them form, whether visual, intellectual or musical.

  Michael Tippett

  Giving, Imagination, Intellectual

  Michael Tippett, Covent Garden Gallery (1977). “A Man of Our Time: Michael Tippett”, London : Schott

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• Classical music is a wonderful 1200 year-old tradition that witnesses everything that it has meant and what it means right now to be human.

  Michael Tilson Thomas

  Mean, Years, Wonderful

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• The family is both a biological and a cultural group. It is biologic in sense that it is the best arrangement for begetting children and protecting them while they are dependent. It is a cultural group because it brings into intimate association persons of different age and sex who renew and reshape the folkways of the society into which they are born. The household serves as a "cultural workshop" for the transmission of old traditions and for the creation of new social values.

  Arnold Gesell

  Sex, Children, Social Values

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• Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century exponents of prefabrication were certain it would supplant age-old traditions of individualized design and handcrafted construction. The building art would be revolutionized by freeing designers and construction workers from repetitive tasks, and democratized by making high-style architecture more affordable.

  Martin Filler

  Art, Construction Workers, Design

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• I am a Libertarian. I want to be known as a Libertarian and a Constitutionalist in the tradition of the early James Madison - father of the Constitution. Labels change and perhaps in the old tradition I would be considered one of the original Whigs. The new title I would wear today is that of Conservative, though in its original connotation the term Liberal fits me better than the original meaning of the word Conservative.

  Ezra Taft Benson

  Father, Titles, Would Be

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• To me documentary photography means making a picture so that the viewer doesn’t think about the man who made the picture. At its esthetic core is very old tradition in art: naturalism. And its purpose is to document all facets of social relationships.

  Aaron Siskind

  Photography, Art, Mean

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• I work in an old tradition that goes back to the ancient Greeks. You hold a mirror to crime to see what's happening in society. I could never write a crime story just for the sake of it, because I always want to talk about certain things in society.

  Henning Mankell

  Writing, Mirrors, Greek

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• Of course, the age-old tradition that a star must appear even if he or she is practically dying is an excellent one, but it can be carried too far. I one played a performance of The Knight of the Burning Pestle with a temperature of 103 and gave sixteen members of the company mumps, thereby closing the play and throwing everybody out of work. There may be a moral lurking somewhere in this, but I cannot for the life of me discover what it is.

  Noel Coward

  Stars, Knights, Play

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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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• Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as mother love or cherry pie.

  Edward Abbey

  Mother, Pie, Tradition

  Edward Abbey (2015). “A Voice Crying in the Wilderness”, p.22, RosettaBooks

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• The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.

  George W. Bush

  Country, New Beginnings, Simple

  First Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 2001

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• I think we have to make our own rules. I don't think we should live our lives in relationships based off of old traditions that don't suit our world any longer.

  Cameron Diaz

  Thinking, Our World, Suits

  "Cameron Diaz In Maxim Hot 100: Marriage Is Dead", www.huffingtonpost.com. May 4, 2011.

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• Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall.

  Dave Barry

  Christmas, Holiday, Years

  Dave Barry (2010). “Dave Barry's Greatest Hits”, p.79, Ballantine Books

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• Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.

  Dave Barry

  Christmas, Wise, Stars

  Dave Barry (2010). “Dave Barry's Greatest Hits”, p.79, Ballantine Books

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• She turned to Skulduggery and held out her arms. “Come here, you.” He tilted his head. “My hugs are for special occasions only.” “Hug me.” “I prefer the old tradition.” “Hug.” “Would a handshake do?” “Hug.” “A pat on the back?” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms round him. “Hug,” she said. He sighed, and his hands settled on her shoulders. The others were warm and their embraces strong – with Skulduggery the hug was cold, and there were areas on his jacket that gave way beneath her fingers, and she could feel the emptiness within. She didn’t mind.

  Derek Landy

  Strong, Hands, Hug

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• Taking the continent as a whole, this religious tension may be responsible for the revival of the commonest racial feeling. Africa is divided into Black and White, and the names that are substituted- Africa south of the Sahara, Africa north of the Sahara- do not manage to hide this latent racism. Here, it is affirmed that White Africa has a thousand-year-old tradition of culture; that she is Mediterranean, that she is a continuation of Europe and that she shares in Graeco-Latin civilization. Black Africa is looked on as a region that is inert, brutal, uncivilized - in a word, savage.

  Frantz Fanon

  Religious, Latin, Black And White

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• Baseball may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience. Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials.

  Evan Bayh

  Sports, Country, Baseball

  "Why I’m Leaving the Senate" by Evan Bayh, www.nytimes.com. February 20, 2010.

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