Surpassing Quotes - Page 2

• It is the gods' custom to bring low all things of surpassing greatness.

  Herodotus

  Greatness, Lows, All Things

  "The Histories. Book 7". Book by Herodotus, Ch. 10, c. 440 BC.

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• Of all the thoughts of God that are Borne inward unto souls afar, Along the Psalmist's music deep, Now tell me if that any is. For gift or grace, surpassing this-- He giveth His beloved sleep.

  Elizabeth Barrett Browning

  Sleep, Grace, Soul

  Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1872). “Poetical Works”, p.68

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• Imitating paper isn't the goal; the goal is surpassing paper.

  Mark Bernstein

  Goal, Paper, Internet

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• The Spider as an Artist Has never been employed- Though his surpassing Merit Is freely certified.

  Emily Dickinson

  Artist, Spiders, Merit

  Emily Dickinson, Helen Vendler (2010). “Dickinson”, p.418, Harvard University Press

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• Given that we desire long life, should we not take eternal life into account? If we long for a kingdom which, however enduring, has an end, and glory and joy which, great as they are, will fade, and wealth that will perish with this present life, and we labour for the sake of such things; ought we not to seek the kingdom, glory, joy and riches which, as well as being all-surpassing, are unfading and endless, and ought we not to endure a little constraint in order to inherit it?

  Gregory Palamas

  Christian, Order, Long

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• Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It was only the vast fatigue which was experienced by the generation on which the multitudes of discoveries and innovations burst abruptly, imposing on it organic exigencies greatly surpassing its strength, which created favourable conditions under which these maladies could gain ground enormously, and become a danger to civilization.

  Max Nordau

  Discovery, Civilization, Hysteria

  Max Simon Nordau (1895). “Degeneration”, London, Heinemann

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• The eye speaks with an eloquence and truthfulness surpassing speech. It is the window out of which the winged thoughts often fly unwittingly. It is the tiny magic mirror on whose crystal surface the moods of feeling fitfully play, like the sunlight and shadow on a still stream.

  Henry Theodore Tuckerman

  Eye, Mirrors, Play

  Henry Theodore Tuckerman (1850). “The optimist”, p.164

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• Man is the only creature that strives to surpass himself, and yearns for the impossible.

  Eric Hoffer

  Work, Ambition, Men

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• Carole King's second album, 'Tapestry,' has fulfilled the promise of her first and confirmed the fact that she is one of the most creative figures in all of pop music. It is an album of surpassing personal-intimacy and musical accomplishment and a work infused with a sense of artistic purpose. It is also easy to listen to and easy to enjoy.

  Jon Landau

  Kings, Accomplishment, Creative

  Jon Landau (1972). “It's too late to stop now: a rock and roll journal”

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• I was keenly conscious of the comrades-in-arms who had fallen with me. A bond surpassing by a hundredfold that which I had known in life bound me to them. I felt a sense of inexpressible relief and realized that I had feared, more than death, separation from them. I apprehended that excruciating war survivor's torment, the sense of isolation and self-betrayal experienced by those who had elected to cling yet to breath when their comrades had let loose their grip.

  Steven Pressfield

  Betrayal, War, Self

  Steven Pressfield (2010). “Gates Of Fire”, p.29, Random House

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• In a split second of eternity, everything is changed, transfigured. A few bars of music, rising from an unfamiliar place, a touch of perfection in the flow of human dealings - I lean my head slowly to one side, reflect on the camellia on the moss on the temple, reflect on a cup of tea, while outside the wind is rustling foliage, the forward rush of life is crystalized in a brilliant jewel of a moment that knows neither projects nor future, human destiny is rescued from the pale succession of days, glows with light at last and, surpassing time, warms my tranquil heart.

  Muriel Barbery

  Heart, Destiny, Jewels

  "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". Book by Muriel Barbery, August, 2006.

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• And so, surpassing my own records for dangerous, reckless behavior, I ripped off Sonya's bracelet. "I'm Rose Hathaway.

  Richelle Mead

  Rose, Records, Behavior

  Richelle Mead (2010). “Last Sacrifice: A Vampire Academy Novel”, p.285, Penguin

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• And so man, as existing transcendence abounding in and surpassing toward possibilities, is a creature of distance. Only through the primordial distances he establishes toward all being in his transcendence does a true nearness to things flourish in him.

  Martin Heidegger

  Distance, Men, Doe

  Martin Heidegger (1969). “The essence of reasons”, Northwestern Univ Pr

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• In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.

  Laozi

  Being Strong, Stay Strong, Hard Times

  Laozi, D. C. Lau (1989). “Tao Te Ching”, p.113, Chinese University Press

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• Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men is foreknowledge.

  Sun Tzu

  Wise, War, Moving

  "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, translated by Chow-Hou Wee, (Chapter XIII), 2003.

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• A man who tries to surpass another may perhaps succeed in equaling inot actually surpassing him, but one who merely follows can never quite come up with him: a follower, necessarily, is always behind.

  Quintilian

  Men, Trying, Followers

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• The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from each other, and all manifested by creatures far surpassing in size the largest of existing reptiles, will, it is presumed, be deemed sufficient ground for establishing a distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles, for which I would propose the name of Dinosauria.

  Richard Owen

  Character, Science, Order

  Report of the Eleventh Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science "Report on British Fossil Reptiles" (1842)

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• Nothing matters more to AA's future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination.

  Bill W.

  Communication, Imagination, Use

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• Love is only surpassing sweet when it is directed toward a mortal object, and the secret of this ultimate sweetness only is defined by the bitterness of death. Thus the white peoples of the world foresee a time when their land with its rivers and mountains still lies under heaven as it does today, but other people dwell there; when their language is entombed in books, and their laws and customs have lost their living power.

  Franz Rosenzweig

  Sweet, Lying, Book

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• The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.

  Pope John XXIII

  Catholic, Church, Noble

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• Computers bootstrap their own offspring, grow so wise and incomprehensible that their communiqués assume the hallmarks of dementia: unfocused and irrelevant to the barely-intelligent creatures left behind. And when your surpassing creations find the answers you asked for, you can't understand their analysis and you can't verify their answers. You have to take their word on faith.

  Peter Watts

  Wise, Intelligent, Analysis

  Peter Watts (2014). “Firefall”, p.32, Head of Zeus

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• The universe exists under a reign of eternal law, surpassing the imperfect laws of human government. Such orderliness, such domination by law, imply intelligent planning and purpose. Nothing happens of itself. Nowhere, in the age-old experience of man, has continued order been found except as the product of intelligent direction.

  John Andreas Widtsoe

  Intelligent, Men, Order

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• The gospel is not a book; it is a living being, with an action, a power, which invades every thing that opposes its extension, behold! It is upon this table: This book, surpassing all others. I never omit to read it, and every day with some pleasure.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Bible, Book, Tables

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• A richer present I design,
  A finished form, of work divine,
  Surpassing all the power of art;
  A thinking head, a grateful heart.

  Mary Barber

  Gratitude, Art, Grateful

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• To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Accomplishment, People, Despise

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