#refusal

In the relations of a weak Government and a rebellious people there comes a time when every act of the authorities exasperates the masses, and every refusal to act excites their contempt. ↗

— John Reed

#authorities #comes #contempt #every #excites

Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra. ↗

— Fran Lebowitz

#assure #conscious #during #firm #i

Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself. ↗

— Soren Kierkegaard

#despairing #evil #oneself #refusal #root

...I committed a sin the day I refused you - I discovered metal inside me where my heart should be - forgive me, Love, for acting on principles... ↗

— John Geddes

#love #refusal #repentance #selfishness #sin

One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised. ↗

— Chinua Achebe

#compromised #integrity #refusal #tests #truest

A soft refusal is not always taken, but a rude one is immediately believed. ↗

— Alexander Chase

#believed #immediately #refusal #rude #soft

(Response to King Erik XIV of Sweden's proposal of marriage:) "[W]hile we perceive ... the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your Serene Highness with the same kind of affection. And that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards anyone. We therefore beg your Serene Highness again and again that you be pleased to set a limit to your love, that it advance not beyond the laws of friendship for the present nor disregard them in the future. ... We certainly think that if God ever direct our hearts to consideration of marriage we shall never accept or choose any absent husband how powerful and wealthy a Prince soever. But that we are not to give you an answer until we have seen your person is so far from the thing itself that we never even considered such a thing. I have always given both to your brother ... and also to your ambassador likewise the same answer with scarcely any variation of the words, that we do not conceive in our heart to take a husband but highly commend this single life, and hope that your Serene Highness will no longer spend time in waiting for us. ↗

— Elizabeth I Tudor

#empowerment #freedom #friendship #independence #love

You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner." (Elizabeth Bennett) ↗

— Jane Austen

#behaviour #declaration #empowerment #gentlemanlike #gentlemen

There is more to joy than looking only for affirmation; refusing to be challenged is the only bigotry. ↗

— Criss Jami

#bigotry #challenges #confidence #conflict-resolution #courage

The refusal to acknowledge the scientific value of embryonic stem cell research is one more tragic misstep. ↗

— Lois Capps

#cell #cell research #embryonic #embryonic stem cell #embryonic stem cell research