#absence

Every one knows, that the mind will not be kept from contemplating what it loves in the midst of crowds and business. Hence come those frequent absences, so observable in conversation; for whilst the body is confined to present company, the mind is flown to that which it delights in. ↗

— Mary Astell

#body #business #come #company #confined

Not longer loved or fostered by religion, beauty is lifted from its face as a mask, and its absence exposes features on that face which threaten to become incomprehensible to man. ↗

— Hans Urs von Balthasar

#beauty #become #exposes #face #features

The surest test of discipline is its absence. ↗

— Clara Barton

#discipline #surest #test

When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence. ↗

— Brendan Behan

#back #came #could #death #dublin

Total absence of humor renders life impossible. ↗

— Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

#humor #impossible #life #renders #total

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. ↗

— Mark Twain

#absence #fear #mastery #resistance

Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence! ↗

— Edsger Dijkstra

#bugs #never #presence #program #show

The war on terror, if this is a war on terror, can only be won by a sincere regional and international cooperation. All have to believe they have something at stake and work together. In the absence of this it will become political and interest-oriented. ↗

— Hamid Karzai

#become #believe #cooperation #international #international cooperation

That a great battle must soon be fought no one could doubt; but, in the apparent and perhaps real absence of plan on the part of Lee, it was impossible to foretell the precise scene of the encounter. ↗

— Edward Everett

#apparent #battle #could #doubt #encounter

Without feeling abashed by my ignorance, I confess that I am absolutely unable to say. In the absence of an appearance of learning, my answer has at least one merit, that of perfect sincerity. ↗

— Jean Henri Fabre

#absolutely #am #answer #appearance #confess