#state

Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#conservative #distinguished #enamored #evils #existing

I have a hat. It is graceful and feminine and give me a certain dignity, as if I were attending a state funeral or something. Someday I may get up enough courage to wear it, instead of carrying it. ↗

— Erma Bombeck

#carrying #certain #courage #dignity #enough

Language is a mixture of statement and evocation. ↗

— Elizabeth Bowen

#mixture #statement

A giant octopus living way down deep at the bottom of the ocean. It has this tremendously powerful life force, a bunch of long, undulating legs, and it's heading somewhere, moving through the darkness of the ocean… It takes on all kinds of different shapes—sometimes it's 'the nation,' and sometimes it's 'the law,' and sometimes it takes on shapes that are more difficult and dangerous than that. You can try cutting off its legs, but they just keep growing back. Nobody can kill it. It's too strong, and it lives too far down in the ocean. Nobody knows where its heart is. What I felt then was a deep terror. And a kind of hopelessness, a feeling that I could never run away from this thing, no matter how far I went. And this creature, this thing doesn't give a damn that I'm me or you're you. In its presence, all human beings lose their names and their faces. We all turn into signs, into numbers. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#others #society #state #life

When I was younger I used to be devastated if I would lose. ↗

— Kim Clijsters

#i #lose #used #would #younger

And you have to understand this, that a prince, especially a new one, cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed, being often forced, in order to maintain the state, to act contrary to faith, friendship, humanity, and religion. “ The Prince, XVIII, 5 ↗

— Niccolò Machiavelli

#modern-stateman #morals #faith

Love it or loathe it, you can never leave it or lose it. ↗

— Gore Vidal

#love

Christmas can be celebrated in the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was called Christmas. ↗

— Ronald Reagan

#secular #separation-of-church-and-state #teacher

Grace is my favourite church word. A state of being. Something you can pray for. Something God can grant. Something you can obtain. Perfection is out of reach. But grace -- grace you can reach for. ↗

— Elizabeth Scott

#ya #young-adult #state

Support Group featured a rotating cast of characters in various states of tumor-driven unwellness. Why did the cast rotate? A side effect of dying. ↗

— John Green

#john-green #support-group #tfios #state