Usefulness Quotes - Page 4

• I loathed the game, and since I could see no pleasure or usefulness in it, it was very difficult for me to show courage at it. Football, it seemed to me, is not really played for the pleasure of kicking a ball about, but is a species of fighting.

  George Orwell

  Soccer, Football, Fighting

  George Orwell (1970). “A Collection of Essays”, p.36, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• We have no organ at all for knowledge, for truth: we know (or believe or imagine) precisely as much as may be useful in the interest of the human herd, the species: and even what is here called usefulness is in the end only a belief, something imagined and perhaps precisely that most fatal piece of stupidity by which we shall one day perish.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Believe, Knowledge, Stupidity

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• One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world.

  Ann Radcliffe

  Real, World, Action

  Ann Radcliffe (1795). “The Mysteries of Udolfo: A Romance Interspersed with Some Pieces of Poetry”, p.214

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• So far there has been no philosopher in whose hands philosophy has not grown into an apology for knowledge; on this point, at least, every one is an optimist, that the greatest usefulness must be ascribed to knowledge. They are all tyrannized over by logic, and this is optimism in its essence.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Philosophy, Apology, Hands

  Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1965). “The Philosophy of Nietzsche”, Signet Book

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• If all human lives depended upon their usefulness - as might be judged by certain standards - there would be a sudden and terrific mortality in the world.

  Gene Tunney

  Sports, Making A Difference, Charity

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• The truly scientific mind is altogether unafraid of the new, and while having no mercy for ideas which have served their turn or shown their uselessness, it will not grudge to any unfamiliar conception its moment of full and friendly attention, hoping to expand rather than to minimize what small core of usefulness it may happen to contain.

  Wilfred Trotter

  Truth, Science, Ideas

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• Man, being made reasonable, and so a thinking creature, there is nothing more worthy of his being than the right direction and employment of his thoughts; since upon this depends both his usefulness to the public, and his own present and future benefit in all respects.

  William Penn

  Men, Thinking, Benefits

  Benjamin Franklin, William Penn (2012). “Franklin's Way to Wealth and Penn's Maxims”, p.74, Courier Corporation

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• If one wanted to crush and destroy a man entirely, to mete out to him the most terrible punishment, all one would have to do would be to make him do work that was completely and utterly devoid of usefulness and meaning.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Crush, Meaningful, Work

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• Any one who has studied the history of science knows that almost every great step therein has been made by the "anticipation of Nature," that is, by the invention of hypotheses, which, though verifiable, often had very little foundation to start with; and, not unfrequently, in spite of a long career of usefulness, turned out to be wholly erroneous in the long run.

  Thomas Huxley

  Running, Knowledge, Science

  Thomas Henry Huxley (2011). “Collected Essays”, p.62, Cambridge University Press

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• And many kinds of creatures must have died,
  Unable to plant out new sprouts of life.
  For whatever you see that lives and breathes and thrives
  Has been, from the very beginning, guarded, saved
  By it's trickery for its swiftness or brute strength.
  And many have been entrusted to our care,
  Commended by their usefulness to us.
  For instance, strength supports a savage lion;
  Foxes rely on their cunning; deer their flight.

  Lucretius

  Life, Death, Science

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• It must be for truth's sake, and not for the sake of its usefulness to humanity, that the scientific man studies Nature. The application of science to the useful arts requires other abilities, other qualities, other tools than his; and therefore I say that the man of science who follows his studies into their practical application is false to his calling. The practical man stands ever ready to take up the work where the scientific man leaves it, and adapt it to the material wants and uses of daily life.

  Louis Agassiz

  Art, Nature, Science

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• Indeed the general natural Tendency of Reading good History, must be, to fix in the Minds of Youth deep Impressions of the Beauty and Usefulness of Virtue of all Kinds, Publick Spirit, Fortitude.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Education, Reading, Mind

  Benjamin Franklin (2006). “The Portable Benjamin Franklin”, p.193, Penguin

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• The usefulness of mathematics in furthering the sciences is commonly acknowledged: but outside the ranks of the experts there is little inquiry into its nature and purpose as a deliberate human activity. Doubtless this is due to the inevitable drawback that mathematical study is saturated with technicalities from beginning to end.

  Herbert Turnbull

  Science, Experts, Purpose

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• Glory to God in highest heaven, Who unto man His Son hath given; While angels sing with tender mirth, A glad new year to all the earth. Martin Luther If this is to be a Happy New Year, a year of usefulness, a year in which we shall live to make this earth better, it is because God will direct our pathway. How important then, to feel our dependence upon Him!

  Matthew Simpson

  New Year, Angel, Son

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• The Age of Oil has really exhausted its usefulness, and it has actually become a danger to our lives and our ability to survive on the planet.

  Dennis Weaver

  Oil, Age, Energy

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• All mathematicians share... a sense of amazement over the infinite depth and the mysterious beauty and usefulness of mathematics.

  Martin Gardner

  Teaching, Math, Depth

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• How often do we sigh for opportunities for doing good, whilst we neglect the openings of Providence in little things, which would frequently lead to the accomplishment of most important usefulness. Good is done by degrees. However small in proportion the benefit which follows individual attempts to do good, a great deal may thus be accomplished by perseverance, even in the midst of discouragements and disappointments.

  George Crabbe

  Perseverance, Disappointment, Opportunity

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• The hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it.

  B.K.S. Iyengar

  Inspiring, Light, Shining

  B.K.S. Iyengar, John J. Evans, Douglas Abrams (2006). “Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom”, p.27, Rodale

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• Leaders of men are later remembered less for the usefulness of what they have achieved than for the sweep of their endeavors.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Leadership, Men, Endeavor

  Charles de Gaulle (1960). “The Edge of the Sword”, New York : Criterion Books

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• Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it.

  Neil Postman

  Information, Entertainment, Commodity

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• Abstractness, sometimes hurled as a reproach at mathematics, is its chief glory and its surest title to practical usefulness. It is also the source of such beauty as may spring from mathematics.

  Eric Temple Bell

  Beauty, Spring, Math

  "The Development of Mathematics" by Eric Temple Bell, (p. 9), 1940.

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• There is no excellence without labor. One cannot dream oneself into either usefulness or happiness.

  Liberty Hyde Bailey

  Dream, Excellence, Labor

  Liberty Hyde Bailey (1915). “York State Rural Problems”

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• It is a remarkable honor to receive a Nobel Prize, because it not only recognizes discoveries, but also their usefulness to the advancement of fundamental science.

  Peter Agre

  Discovery, Honor, Advancement

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• Promptitude is not only a duty, but is also a part of good manners; it is favorable to fortune, reputation, influence, and usefulness; a little attention and energy will form the habit, so as to make it easy and delightful.

  Charles Simmons

  Good Man, Littles, Energy

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• Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.

  Yamamoto Tsunetomo

  Martial Arts, Talent, Lowest

  Yamamoto Tsunetomo (2015). “Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai”, p.4, Xist Publishing

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