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a2cca46 You can talk with someone for years, everyday, and still, it won't mean as much as what you can have when you sit in front of someone, not saying a word, yet you feel that person with your heart, you feel like you have known the person for forever.... connections are made with the heart, not the tongue. human-connections relationships humanism humanity inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspirational affection inspirational-love heartwarming communication human-nature C. JoyBell C.
1a2ae1d If you're reading this.. congratulations poetry humanity inspiration inspire hope life wisdom inspirational alive smile Chad Sugg
6236c7d Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. prayer humanity religion god heart inspirational souls weakness Mahatma Gandhi
133e114 We have to allow ourselves to be loved by the people who really love us, the people who really matter. Too much of the time, we are blinded by our own pursuits of people to love us, people that don't even matter, while all that time we waste and the people who do love us have to stand on the sidewalk and watch us beg in the streets! It's time to put an end to this. It's time for us to let ourselves be loved. those-who-love-us to-be-loved true-love people humanity learning reality inspirational-life inspirational-quotes life-and-living life-lessons love inspirational inspirational-love what-matters growing real-love reality-of-life C. JoyBell C.
41294b5 One love, one heart, one destiny. bob-marley compassion humanity destiny heart love inspirational Robert Marley
61290d9 Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people. being-human humanism kindness human humanity goodness inspiration inspirational-attitude inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspire life-and-living life-quotes living optimistic positive-affirmation positive-life inspiring positive positive-thinking life-lessons optimism life love inspirational inspirational-quote smiles life-philosophy smile human-nature Roy T. Bennett
090884d If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. compassion humanity love inspirational connecting sharing Mother Teresa
a9a9e37 And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes. humanity Kurt Vonnegut
8eff89b We're so self-important. So arrogant. Everybody's going to save something now. Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save the snails. And the supreme arrogance? Save the planet! Are these people kidding? Save the planet? We don't even know how to take care of ourselves; we haven't learned how to care for one another. We're gonna save the fuckin' planet? . . . And, by the way, there's nothing wrong with the planet in the first place. The planet is fine. The people are fucked! Compared with the people, the planet is doin' great. It's been here over four billion years . . . The planet isn't goin' anywhere, folks. We are! We're goin' away. Pack your shit, we're goin' away. And we won't leave much of a trace. Thank God for that. Nothing left. Maybe a little Styrofoam. The planet will be here, and we'll be gone. Another failed mutation; another closed-end biological mistake. pale-blue-dot humanity inspirational extinction perspective George Carlin
9b9b0fc Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat. defeat humanity life Ralph Ellison
e5f1ff1 There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human- in not having to be just happy or just sad- in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time. being-human humanism human humanity inspirational-quotes life-and-living living sadness inspiring happiness life inspirational human-nature C. JoyBell C.
036cdcd I think that we are like stars. Something happens to burst us open; but when we burst open and think we are dying; we're actually turning into a supernova. And then when we look at ourselves again, we see that we're suddenly more beautiful than we ever were before! stars people human humanity self-awareness inspirational-life inspirational-quotes life-and-living living inspiring strength life truth inspirational supernova C. JoyBell C.
f6a8987 Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul. humanity sadness Oscar Wilde
123efe8 But if I'm it, the last of my kind, the last page of human history, like hell I'm going to let the story end this way. I may be the last one, but I am the one still standing. I am the one turning to face the faceless hunter in the woods on an abandoned highway. I am the one not running but facing. Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity's last war, then I am the battlefield. human humanity inspirational cassie survivor powerful Rick Yancey
8fa29fc I'm not in search of sanctity, sacredness, purity; these things are found after this life, not in this life; but in this life I search to be completely human: to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to get lost, to be found, to dance, to love and to lust, to be so human. passion humanism human humanity inspiration inspirational-life inspirational-quotes life-and-living living life inspirational sacredness living-life sanctity feeling dancing purity human-nature C. JoyBell C.
2ae16ef Let's tell the truth to people. When people ask, 'How are you?' have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avaoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you. humanity social-mores self-worth Maya Angelou
29668f7 How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. light world humanity goodness life inspirational good-deeds William Shakespeare
025e191 Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things. kindness humanity evil Terry Pratchett
8a7a06d I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sand castles, houses of cards, that's where they begin. Their great skills is their capacity to escalate. humanity Markus Zusak
4b85f0f Anger is like flowing water; there's nothing wrong with it as long as you let it flow. Hate is like stagnant water; anger that you denied yourself the freedom to feel, the freedom to flow; water that you gathered in one place and left to forget. Stagnant water becomes dirty, stinky, disease-ridden, poisonous, deadly; that is your hate. On flowing water travels little paper boats; paper boats of forgiveness. Allow yourself to feel anger, allow your waters to flow, along with all the paper boats of forgiveness. Be human. hate humanism human humanity inspirational-attitude inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspiring inspirational anger forgiveness water C. JoyBell C.
1026c43 One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, "I love you", "I'm sorry", "I appreciate you", "I'm proud of you"...whatever you're feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share it...cause a smile today for someone else...and give plenty of hugs. action kindness compassion humanity spirituality motivational success life inspirational living-now seize-the-day Steve Maraboli
9efc797 Never let hard lessons harden your heart; the hard lessons of life are meant to make you better, not bitter. humanity learning inspiration inspirational-attitude inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspire life-and-living life-quotes living optimistic positive-affirmation positive-life inspiring positive positive-thinking life-lessons optimism heart life inspirational what-matters growing Roy T. Bennett
c557b80 Growing up means learning what life is. When you're little, you have a set of ideals, standards, criteria, plans, outlooks, and you think that you have to sit around and wait for them to happen to you and then life will work. But life isn't like that, for anybody; you can't fall in love with a standard, you have to fall in love with a person. You can't live in a criteria, you have to live your life. You can't wait for your plans to materialize, because they may never materialize the way you think they will. You can't wait to watch your ideals and standards walk up to you, because you can't know what's yours until you have it. I always say, always take the first chance in case you never get a second one, but growing up takes that even one step further, growing up means that you have to hold on to what you have, when you have it, because what you have- that's yours- and all the ideals and criteria you have set in your head, those aren't yours, because those haven't happened to you. humanism humanity learning inspirational-life inspirational-quotes life-and-living life-lessons life inspirational life-experiences growing growth C. JoyBell C.
129f96b Most of us must learn to love people and use things rather than loving things and using people. being-human humanism human humanity learning inspiration inspirational-attitude inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspire life-and-living life-quotes living optimistic positive-affirmation positive-life inspiring positive positive-thinking life-lessons optimism happiness life love inspirational inspirational-quote life-philosophy human-nature Roy T. Bennett
2d81f08 In school we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk. risk humanity inspirational mistakes school Robert T. Kiyosaki
1c6156b For everything in this journey of life we are on, there is a right wing and a left wing: for the wing of love there is anger; for the wing of destiny there is fear; for the wing of pain there is healing; for the wing of hurt there is forgiveness; for the wing of pride there is humility; for the wing of giving there is taking; for the wing of tears there is joy; for the wing of rejection there is acceptance; for the wing of judgment there is grace; for the wing of honor there is shame; for the wing of letting go there is the wing of keeping. We can only fly with two wings and two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance. Two beautiful wings is perfection. There is a generation of people who idealize perfection as the existence of only one of these wings every time. But I see that a bird with one wing is imperfect. An angel with one wing is imperfect. A butterfly with one wing is dead. So this generation of people strive to always cut off the other wing in the hopes of embodying their ideal of perfection, and in doing so, have created a crippled race. human-race life-s-journey the-journey two-wings perfection people humanity inspirational-life inspirational-quotes life-and-living living inspiring life truth wisdom inspirational living-life flying imperfection flight wisdom-quotes perfect ancient wings journey C. JoyBell C.
e112d2b We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct & individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don't share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive. I will not blind myself and say that my black brother is not different from me. I will not blind myself and say that my brown sister is not different from me. But my black brother is he as much as I am me. But my brown sister is she as much as I am me. sisterhood equality unity color individuality humanism human humanity inspiration inspirational-life inspirational-quotes life-and-living living life inspirational brotherhood differences difference society race harmony respect C. JoyBell C.
f069c69 Humanity does not ask us to be happy. It merely asks us to be brilliant on its behalf. humanity mazer-rackham Orson Scott Card
3f8b51d We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane. humanity Kurt Vonnegut
c4a742a Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture. feminism women humanity gender-equality Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
398e781 If there's only one nation in the sky, shouldn't all passports be valid for it? humanity inspiration religion Yann Martel
58016d5 Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves. compassion greed humanity inspirational volunteerism charity helping-others Horace Mann
830015d What makes you think human beings are sentient and aware? There's no evidence for it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told-and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion. Next question. humanity Michael Crichton
927405a All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. mankind theatre world poetry humanity life roles stage William Shakespeare
6a91cf6 Human reason can excuse any evil. humanity reasoning evil Veronica Roth
0fec081 I find it odd- the greed of mankind. People only like you for as long as they perceive they can get what they want from you. Or for as long as they perceive you are who they want you to be. But I like people for all of their changing surprises, the thoughts in their heads, the warmth that changes to cold and the cold that changes to warmth... for being human. The rawness of being human delights me. mankind rawness humanism greed humanity inspirational-attitude inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspirational raw human-nature C. JoyBell C.
6d2f925 It seems to me now that the plain state of being human is dramatic enough for anyone; you don't need to be a heroin addict or a performance poet to experience extremity. You just have to love someone. poetry humanity love Nick Hornby
f1dd04c I know there's evil in the world, and there always has been. But you don't need to believe in Satan or demons to explain it. Human beings are perfectly capable of evil all by themselves. humanity Tess Gerritsen
0a6d35e We're actors -- we're the opposite of people! theatre people humanity humor archetypes symbolism Tom Stoppard
10e690b If you are not the hero of your own story, then you're missing the whole point of your humanity. story humanity motivational success happiness life inspirational hero Steve Maraboli
b05a375 So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being. good humanity Paulo Coelho
f3c8aef To me, history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me, it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is. mankind responsibility history humanity life civic-responsibility David McCullough
479217e All the world's a stage. theatre universe world humanity philosophy stage William Shakespeare
76de407 The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made, as far as Fats could see, was being ashamed of what they were; lying about it, trying to be somebody else. being-someone-else lying humanity inspirational being-someone-else-you-are-not hating-yourself trying-to-be-like-someone-else self-acceptance hiding shame self-hatred J.K. Rowling
4b3dd33 It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. good humanity humans Anthony Burgess
1464ac5 Muscles aching to work, minds aching to create - this is man. humanity life inspirational John Steinbeck
814a2d2 "Idris: Are all people like this? humanity human-greatness tardis the-doctor-s-wife vastness potential consciousness doctor-who soul Neil Gaiman
bf93c36 Trees're always a relief, after people. nature humanity forest trees David Mitchell
503f538 No word matters. But man forgets reality and remembers words. words story history humanity reality semiotics truthful narrative memory Roger Zelazny
e4c8d31 Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, The proper study of mankind is Man. Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise and rudely great: With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side, With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride, He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest; In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast; In doubt his mind or body to prefer; Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little or too much; Chaos of thought and passion, all confused; Still by himself abused or disabused; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd; The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides, Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides; Instruct the planets in what orbs to run, Correct old time, and regulate the sun; Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere, To the first good, first perfect, and first fair; Or tread the mazy round his followers trod, And quitting sense call imitating God; As Eastern priests in giddy circles run, And turn their heads to imitate the sun. Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule-- Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! mankind enlightenment poetry humanity reason error fallibility humility Alexander Pope
f26ac99 If we wish to know about a man, we ask 'what is his story--his real, inmost story?'--for each of us is a biography, a story. Each of us is a singular narrative, which is constructed, continually, unconsciously, by, through, and in us--through our perceptions, our feelings, our thoughts, our actions; and, not least, our discourse, our spoken narrations. Biologically, physiologically, we are not so different from each other; historically, as narratives--we are each of us unique. individuality humanity human-condition uniqueness Oliver Sacks
eb88329 Anger is an essential part of being human. People are taught to deny themselves anger, and in this, they are actually opening themselves up to hate. The more you deny yourself the freedom to be angry, the more you will hate. Let yourself be angry, and hate will disintegrate, and when hate disintegrates, forgiveness prevails! The more you deny that you are angry, in attempts to be "holy" the more inhuman you will become, and the more inhuman you will become, the harder it will be to forgive. hate humanism humanity inspirational-life inspirational-quotes inspirational anger forgiveness C. JoyBell C.
65bcc40 The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens ('wise man'). In any case it's an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pan narrans, the storytelling chimpanzee. humanity chimpanzees stories Terry Pratchett
b07e739 The downfall of the attempts of governments and leaders to unite mankind is found in this- in the wrong message that we should see everyone as the same. This is the root of the failure of harmony. Because the truth is, we should not all see everyone as the same! We are not the same! We are made of different colours and we have different cultures. We are all different! But the key to this door is to look at these differences, respect these differences, learn from and about these differences, and grow in and with these differences. We are all different. We are not the same. But that's beautiful. And that's okay.In the quest for unity and peace, we cannot blind ourselves and expect to be all the same. Because in this, we all have an underlying belief that everyone should be the same as us at some point. We are not on a journey to become the same or to be the same. But we are on a journey to see that in all of our differences, that is what makes us beautiful as a human race, and if we are ever to grow, we ought to learn and always learn some more. equality unity color humanism human humanity inspiration inspirational-quotes inspirational differences difference society culture race government harmony peace C. JoyBell C.
a3664b2 It's the idea that people living close to nature tend to be noble. It's seeing all those sunsets that does it. You can't watch a sunset and then go off and set fire to your neighbor's tepee. Living close to nature is wonderful for your mental health. nature humanity humor Daniel Quinn
22b3e98 The human mind isn't a terribly logical or consistent place. Most people, given the choice to face a hideous or terrifying truth or to conveniently avoid it, choose the convenience and peace of normality. That doesn't make them strong or weak people, or good or bad people. It just makes them people. people humanity Jim Butcher
dbca8d8 It is when we think we can act like God, that all respect is lost, and I think this is the downfall of peace. We lie if we say we do not see color and culture and difference. We fool ourselves and cheat ourselves when we say that all of us are the same. We should not want to be the same as others and we should not want others to be the same as us. Rather, we ought to glory and shine in all of our differences, flaunting them fabulously for all to see! It is never a conformity that we need! We need not to conform! What we need is to burst out into all these beautiful colors! color conformism humanism freedom human humanity inspiration inspirational-life inspirational-quotes living life inspirational differences conformity difference race respect C. JoyBell C.
09b55b2 God is not needed to create guilt or to punish. Our fellow men suffice, aided by ourselves. You were speaking of the Last Judgement. Allow me to laugh respectfully. I shall wait for it resolutely, for I have known what is worse, the judgement of men. For them, no extenuating circumstances; even the good intention is ascribed to crime. Have you at least heard of the spitting cell, which a nation recently thought up to prove itself the greatest on earth? A walled-up box in which the prisoner can stand without moving. The solid door that locks him in the cement shell stops at chin level. Hence only his face is visible, and every passing jailer spits copiously on it. The prisoner, wedged into his cell, cannot wipe his face, though he is allowed, it is true. to close his eyes. Well, that, mon cher, is a human invention. They didn't need God for that little masterpiece. humanity spiritual Albert Camus
b808ac5 The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few and toxic slag heaps for the many. The glittering mansion overlooks a vast sprawl of shanty towns, wherein a desperate, demoralized humanity is kept in line with drugs, television, and armed force. television nature humanity miltary drugs Michael Parenti
8647ad5 " This was a brave statement but innocently absurd. No one will ever understand Auschwitz. What I might have set down with more accuracy would have been: Auschwitz itself remains inexplicable. The most profound statement yet made about Auschwitz was not a statement at all, but a response. The query: "At Auschwitz, tell me, where was God?" And the answer: "Where was man?" understanding man humanity god evil William Styron
20ea3eb Blushing is the most peculiar and most human of all expressions. humanity embarassment emotions Charles Darwin
b32eaa2 What it means to be human is to bring up your children in safety, educate them, keep them healthy, teach them how to care for themselves and others, allow them to develop in their own way among adults who are sane and responsibile, who know the value of the world and not its economic potential. It means art, it means time, it means all the invisibles never counted by the GDP and the census figures. It means knowing that life has an inside as well as an outside. And I think it means love. humanity education love Jeanette Winterson
fe440b5 We who bore the mark might well be considered by the rest of the world as strange, even as insane and dangerous. We had awoken, or were awakening, and we were striving for an ever perfect state of wakefulness, whereas the ambition and quest for happiness of the others consisted of linking their opinions, ideals, and duties, their life and happiness, ever more closely with those of the herd. They, too, strove; they, too showed signs of strength and greatness. But as we saw it, whereas we marked men represented Nature's determination to create something new, individual, and forward-looking, the others lived in the determination to stay the same. For them mankind--which they loved as much as we did--was a fully formed entity that had to be preserved and protected. For us mankind was a distant future toward which we were all journeying, whose aspect no one knew, whose laws weren't written down anywhere. humanity hermann-hesse Hermann Hesse
8505a05 They're animals, all right. But why are you so goddam sure that makes us human beings? humanity life humanity-and-society Stephen King
19b06f2 To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell, is to be banished from humanity. humanity hell C.S. Lewis
29f733f If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness. humanity science education skepticism society rights Carl Sagan
ed794dd What is the cause of historical events? Power. What is power? Power is the sum total of wills transferred to one person. On what condition are the willso fo the masses transferred to one person? On condition that the person express the will of the whole people. That is, power is power. That is, power is a word the meaning of which we do not understand. humanity sociology power Leo Tolstoy
e43560c The longing for Paradise is man's longing not to be man. nature humanity life philosophy nurture roots Milan Kundera
61591ab she wasn't very interesting but few people are. poem poetry people women humanity family death life love bukowski interesting conversation society Charles Bukowski
13d0dbe I think there is a song out there to describe just about any situation. musician world poetry humanity music songs life truth inspirational lyrics songwriting art connection song-lyrics artist Criss Jami
7c4f039 "One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me. . ." humanity the-little-prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
e24f354 How fragile we are under the sheltering sky. Behind the sheltering sky is a vast dark universe, and we're just so small. humanity life Paul Bowles
df5cf5a Love is about bottomless empathy, born out of the heart's revelation that another person is every bit as real as you are. And this is why love, as I understand it, is always specific. Trying to love all of humanity may be a worthy endeavor, but, in a funny way, it keeps the focus on the self, on the self's own moral or spiritual well-being. Whereas, to love a specific person, and to identify with his or her struggles and joys as if they were your own, you have to surrender some of your self. humanity love Jonathan Franzen
25cf192 Our humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a handshake, a kiss, an embrace, a word of love, a present, a part of our life...all of our life. humanity love self-giving Henri J.M. Nouwen
30e4130 How easy it is to invent a humanity, for anyone at all. humanity Margaret Atwood
20303ea The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made, as far as Fats could see, were being ashamed of what they were, lying about it, trying to be somebody else. Honesty was Fats' currency, his weapon and defense. It frightened people when you were honest; it shocked them. Other people, Fats had discovered, were mired in embarrasment and pretense, terrified that their truths might leak out, but Fats was attracted by rawness, by everything that was ugly but honest, by the dirty things about which the likes of his father felt humiliated and disgusted. Fats thought a lot about messiahs and pariahs; about men labeled mad or criminal; noble misfits shunned by the sleepy masses. lying humanity honesty humiliation lie J.K. Rowling
2c428bd All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. mankind world humanity actors theater stage William Shakespeare
5b70898 Don't you find it a beautiful clean thought, a world empty of people, just uninterrupted grass, and a hare sitting up? humanity ecology D.H. Lawrence
dedb3da A human being without the proper empathy or feeling is the same as an android built so as to lack it, either by design or mistake. We mean, basically, someone who does not care about the fate which his fellow living creatures fall victim to; he stands detached, a spectator, acting out by his indifference John Donne's theorem that 'No man is an island,' but giving that theorem a twist: that which is a mental and a moral island . humanity Philip K. Dick
1fc1106 "Scholars discern motions in history & formulate these motions into rules that govern the rises & falls of civilizations. My belief runs contrary, however. To wit: history admits no rules; only outcomes. What precipitates outcomes? Vicious acts & virtuous acts. What precipitates acts? Belief. Belief is both prize & battlefield, within the mind & in the mind's mirror, the world. If we humanity is a ladder of tribes, a colosseum of confrontation, exploitation & bestiality, such a humanity is surely brought into being, & history's Horroxes, Boerhaaves & Gooses shall prevail. You & I, the moneyed, the privileged, the fortunate, shall not fare so badly in this world, provided our luck holds. What of it if our consciences itch? Why undermine the dominance of our race, our gunships, our heritage & our legacy? Why fight the "natural" (oh, weaselly word!) order of things? Why? Because of this:--one fine day, a purely predatory world consume itself. Yes, the devil shall take the hindmost until the foremost the hindmost. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul. For the human species, selfishness is extinction. Is this the doom written within our nature? If we that humanity may transcend tooth & claw, if we divers races & creeds can share this world as peaceably as the orphans share their candlenut tree, if we that leaders must be just, violence muzzled, power accountable & the riches of the Earth & its Oceans shared equitably, such a world will come to pass. I am not deceived. It is the hardest of worlds to make real. Torturous advances won over generations can be lost by a single stroke of a myopic president's pen or a vainglorious general's sword. A life spent shaping a world I Jackson to inherit, not one I Jackson shall inherit, this strikes me as a life worth the living." humanity life-and-living David Mitchell
47d04da The human touch is that little snippet of physical affection that brings a bit of comfort, support, and kindness. It doesn't take much from the one who gives it, but can make a huge difference in the one who receives it. comfort human human-touch humanity-quotes humanity love inspirational kindess support Mya Robarts
72a6ec1 God's creatures who cried themselves to sleep stirred to cry again. sleep murder humanity darkness god god-s-creation hannibal never-ending psychopath the-silence-of-the-lambs doomed cycle doom serial-killer serial-killers crying punishment prison insanity horror mental-illness hell Thomas Harris
19971f9 We all are men, in our own natures frail, and capable of our flesh; few are angels. mankind perfection humanity character falliability frailty flaws William Shakespeare
fe6db0b "There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous." ( , February 19, 1938)" emotion humanity science truth inspirational Raymond Chandler
aa4d12d It strikes me profoundly that the world is more often than not a bad and cruel place. murder theory humanity quote living life american-psycho psycho conclusion psychopath murderers gore serial-killer epiphany serial-killers the-world demons murderer society human-beings crime humans cruel human-nature horror evil Bret Easton Ellis
8d877d2 They didn't understand what they were doing. I'm afraid that will be on the tombstone of the human race. understanding humanity science Michael Crichton
bb57597 Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor. Perhaps, in a way, that's where humanity is now: about to discover we're not as smart as we thought we were, will be forced by life to surrender our attacks and defenses which avail us of nothing, and finally break through into the collective beauty of who we really are. tragedy perseverance humanity change life cataclysm revelation-of-self humility transformation Marianne Williamson
487b23d There is a darkness in you. In all of us, probably. Beasts we keep chained. Ordinary men have to keep the chains strong, for if we let the beast loose then society will turn upon us with fiery vengeance. Kings though...well, who is there to turn upon them? So the chains are made of straw. It is the curse of kings, Helikaon, that they can become monsters. And they invariably do. humanity leadership treachery kings David Gemmell
6f5e1ba "I would like you to teach [the orcs] civilised behaviour," said Ladyship coldly. He appeared to consider this. "Yes of course, I think that would be quite possible," he said. "And who would you send to teach the humans?" humanity monsters Terry Pratchett
696b758 "Twisted and perverse are the ways of the human mind," Jane intoned. "Pinocchio was such a dolt to try to become a real boy. He was much better off with a wooden head." humanity reality real-boy pinocchio Orson Scott Card
9488820 Loving humanity means as much, and as little, as loving raindrops, or loving the Milky Way. You say that you love humanity? Are you sure you aren't treating yourself to easy self-congratulation, seeking approval, making certain you're on the right side? mankind humanity Julian Barnes
e4d61c8 No shame in saying that I felt a loneliness drifting through me. Funny how it was, everyone perched in their own little world with the deep need to talk, each person with their own tale, beginning in some strange middle point, then trying so hard to tell it all, to have it all make sense, logical and final. humanity truth Colum McCann
07628cd Ah! how little knowledge does a man acquire in his life. He gathers it up like water, but like water it runs between his fingers, and yet, if his hands be but wet as though with dew, behold a generation of fools call out, 'See, he is a wise man!' Is it not so? mankind futility stupidity humanity learning intelligence wisdom foolishness knowledge H. Rider Haggard
6a7c7f7 It is because Humanity has never known where it was going that it has been able to find its way. humanity life Oscar Wilde
f65570a Every soul is special. They're all beautiful. They're all far more significant than anyone on this rock realizes. I think when people are at their best, they're acting in accordance with their soul. The ones who have gone bad don't have bad souls. They've just given up on keeping in touch with them. humanity Jim Butcher
4404529 Human beings, whatever their backgrounds, are more open than we think, that their behavior cannot be confidently predicted from their past, that we are all creatures vulnerable to new thoughts, new attitudes. And while such vulnerability creates all sorts of possibilities, both good and bad, its very existence is exciting. It means that no human being should be written off, no change in thinking deemed impossible. humanity love-and-respect-for-all dignity vulnerability Howard Zinn
bfbbc70 What do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence? We mean that man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world-and defines himself afterward. mankind existence humanity self-awareness essence self-definition classic-quotes Jean-Paul Sartre
dda68f1 Everybody sins, Francis. The terrible thing is that we love our sins. We love the thing that makes us evil. heroes humanity love robert-cormier psychology sin Robert Cormier
f8e6aa5 I still believe in man in spite of man. I believe in language even though it has been wounded, deformed, and perverted by the enemies of mankind. And I continue to cling to words because it is up to us to transform them into instruments of comprehension rather than contempt. It is up to us to choose whether we wish to use them to curse or to heal, to wound or to console. humanity hope language Elie Wiesel
2745915 And now that its ruby eyes are set into the gold, you cannot see their tear-shape, so they seem to be laughing rather than crying. It is a constant reminder to me of the human ability to create something beautiful even when things are at the darkest. humanity inspiration hope despair Cressida Cowell
619569f We're all mad, the whole damned race. We're wrapped in illusions, delusions, confusions about the penetrability of partitions, we're all mad and in solitary confinement. madness solitude humanity illusions delusions William Golding
d74f8d4 Human beings are ultimately nothing but carriers-passageways- for genes. They ride us into the ground like racehorses from generation to generation. Genes don't think about what constitutes good or evil. They don't care whether we are happy or unhappy. We're just means to an end for them. The only thing they think about is what is most efficient for them. humanity science heredity Haruki Murakami
eb14ac5 Nevertheless, in this sea of human wretchedness and malice there bloomed at times compassion, as a pale flower blooms in a putrid marsh. humanity hope hope-and-despair Henryk Sienkiewicz
cc59f9b When I applied to graduate school many years ago, I wrote an essay expressing my puzzlement at how a country that could put a man on the moon could still have people sleeping on the streets. Part of that problem is political will; we could take a lot of people off the streets tomorrow if we made it a national priority. But I have also come to realize that NASA had it easy. Rockets conform to the unchanging laws of physics. We know where the moon will be at a given time; we know precisely how fast a spacecraft will enter or exist the earth's orbit. If we get the equations right, the rocket will land where it is supposed to--always. Human beings are more complex than that. A recovering drug addict does not behave as predictably as a rocket in orbit. We don't have a formula for persuading a sixteen-year-old not to drop out of school. But we do have a powerful tool: We know that people seek to make themselves better off, however they may define that. Our best hope for improving the human condition is to understand why we act the way we do and then plan accordingly. Programs, organizations, and systems work better when they get the incentives right. It is like rowing downstream. humanity politics goverment incentives social-policy Charles Wheelan
4f719ff "Nothing can describe the withering horror of this. You feel lost, sick at heart before such unmasked hatred, not so much because it threatens you as because it shows humans in such an inhuman light. You see a kind of insanity, something so obscene the very obscenity of it (rather than its threat) terrifies you. It was so new I could not take my eyes from the man's face. I felt like saying: "What in God's name are you doing to yourself?" hate humanity John Howard Griffin
82d613a In the days when hyenas of hate suckle the babes of men, and jackals of hypocrisy pimp their mothers' broken hearts, may children not look to demons of ignorance for hope. hatred prejudice humanity politics leadership intelligence coexisting-together coexistência election-year-politics political-commentary political-corruption gun-laws gun-violence presidential-election world-suicide-prevention-day hate-crimes coexistence extremism megalomania human-rights-day national-history-day nonviolent-conflict-resolution police-reform police-shootings bigotry terrorism xenophobia hypocrisy ignorance Aberjhani
b1aa921 Humans are part of nature, and nature is one great big wood chipper. Sooner or later, everything shoots out the other end in a spray of blood, bones, and hair. nature humanity Douglas Coupland
3793d90 [T]he family is a school of compassion because it is here that we learn to live with other people. (68) humanity living family life Karen Armstrong
8e9f799 The best place for discovering what a man is is the heart of the desert. Your plane has broken down, and you walk for hours, heading for the little fort at Nutchott. You wait for the mirages of thirst to gape before you. But you arrive and you find an old sergeant who has been isolated for months among the dunes, and he is so happy to be found that he weeps. And you weep, too. In the arching immensity of the night, each tells the story of his life, each offers the other the burden of memories in which the human bond is discovered. Here two men can meet, and they bestow gifts upon each other with the dignity of ambassadors. humanity connecting decency Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
ae70715 Where humanity sowed faith, hope, and unity, joy's garden blossomed. history joy humanity faith spirituality philosophy multiculturalità rebith rejuvenation remembering-september-11 teaching-diversity world-suicide-prevention-day multiculturalismo famous-quotes-from-classic-books haikus national-history-day personal-growth healing multiculturalism americans haiku patriotism Aberjhani
f2c1074 It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment. people humanity resilience Bram Stoker
1a6faca Even in darkness it is possible to create light and encourage compassion. That it is possible to feel free inside a prison. That even in exile, friendship exists and can become an anchor. That one instant before dying, man is still immortal. humanity Elie Wiesel
896b19f One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people's lives simply by existing. humanity inspirational misattributed-plutarch J.K. Rowling
f04af26 The measure of civilized behavior is compassion. travel humanity Paul Theroux
dc8d582 It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used. The fact that they exist at all, their presence in our lives, will wreak more havoc than we can begin to fathom. Nuclear weapons pervade our thinking. Control our behavior. Administer our societies. Inform our dreams. They bury themselves like meat hooks deep in the base of our brains. They are purveyors of madness. They are the ultimate colonizer. Whiter than any white man that ever lived. The very heart of whiteness. madness humanity fear truth colonizer nuclear-threat nuclear-bomb whiteness folly white nuclear-weapons danger humans mind-control Arundhati Roy
821863d The definition of an asshole is a guy who doesn't believe what he's seeing. humanity Richard Bachman
dda9065 All the great groups that stood about the Cross represent in one way or another the great historical truth of the time; that the world could not save itself. Man could do no more. Rome and Jerusalem and Athens and everything else were going down like a sea turned into a slow cataract. Externally indeed the ancient world was still at its strongest; it is always at that moment that the inmost weakness begins. But in order to understand that weakness we must repeat what has been said more than once; that it was not the weakness of a thing originally weak. It was emphatically the strength of the world that was turned to weakness and the wisdom of the world that was turned to folly. In this story of Good Friday it is the best things in the world that are at their worst. That is what really shows us the world at its worst. It was, for instance, the priests of a true monotheism and the soldiers of an international civilisation. Rome, the legend, founded upon fallen Troy and triumphant over fallen Carthage, had stood for a heroism which was the nearest that any pagan ever came to chivalry. Rome had defended the household gods and the human decencies against the ogres of Africa and the hermaphrodite monstrosities of Greece. But in the lightning flash of this incident, we see great Rome, the imperial republic, going downward under her Lucretian doom. Scepticism has eaten away even the confident sanity of the conquerors of the world. He who is enthroned to say what is justice can only ask: 'What is truth?' So in that drama which decided the whole fate of antiquity, one of the central figures is fixed in what seems the reverse of his true role. Rome was almost another name for responsibility. Yet he stands for ever as a sort of rocking statue of the irresponsible. Man could do no more. Even the practical had become the impracticable. Standing between the pillars of his own judgement-seat, a Roman had washed his hands of the world. humanity rome G.K. Chesterton
22a3df5 A man's every action is inevitably conditioned by what surrounds him and by his own body. humanity Leo Tolstoy
576d8c9 You want fantasy? Here's one... There's this species that lives on a planet a few miles above molten rock and a few miles below a vacuum that'd suck the air right out of them. They live in a brief geological period between ice ages, when giant asteroids have temporarily stopped smacking into the surface. As far as they can tell, there's nowhere else in the universe where they could stay alive for ten seconds. And what do they call their fragile little slice of space and time? They call it real life. universe humour humanity science realism Terry Pratchett
b6d18a4 Their manners are more gentle, kind, than of our generation you shall find. shakespeare humanity tempest manners William Shakespeare
362b88a Individual cultures and ideologies have their appropriate uses but none of them erase or replace the universal experiences, like love and weeping and laughter, common to all human beings. laughter joy humanity angel-art appropriate-application common-ground cultural-boundaries cultural-demographics cultural-heritage cultural-literacy demographics universal-truths ideologies ideology-religion-war-compromise philosophy-for-millennials racial-division racial-identity social-philosophy sociological-imagination universal-love cultural-differences waging-peace ending-violent-jihad anti-racism ending-war faith-in-love interfaith-dialogue multiculturalismo faith-in-humanity peacism antiracism spiritual-philosophy joy-of-life coexistence cultural-relativism nonviolent-conflict-resolution human-condition universal multiculturalism love-for-humanity diversity universality race-relations weeping human-beings ideology Aberjhani
bdcaf1e Just when the gods had ceased to be, and the Christ had not yet come, there was a unique moment in history, between Cicero and Marcus Aurelius, when man stood alone. humanity religion classical rome Gustave Flaubert
2c42f9e On either side of a potentially violent conflict, an opportunity exists to exercise compassion and diminish fear based on recognition of each other's humanity. Without such recognition, fear fueled by uninformed assumptions, cultural prejudice, desperation to meet basic human needs, or the panicked uncertainty of the moment explodes into violence. prejudice war compassion humanity fear trust charter-for-compassion compassion-action-network cultural-differences cultural-diversity global-community military-conflict opportunity-quotes polarization slpendid-literarium stop-killing-each-other waging-peace peacism antiracism terrorists militarization assumptions compassion-heals-lives nonviolent-conflict-resolution police-reform police-shootings nonviolence overcoming-fear terrorism xenophobia uncertainty political-philosophy panic desperation Aberjhani
24ab8a6 For God's sake, let us be men not monkeys minding machines or sitting with our tails curled while the machine amuses us, the radio or film or gramophone. Monkeys with a bland grin on our faces. humanity reflection machines thought monkeys D.H. Lawrence
b534708 It is a beautiful thing to be on fire for justice... there is no greater joy than inspiring and empowering others--especially the least of these, the precious and priceless wretched of the earth! social-justice joy humanity inspiration empowerment antiracism black-prophetic-fire economic-disparity impoverishment political-motivation political-movements poor-people social-movements social-injustice servant-leadership democracy Cornel West
87e1879 For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs--as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions. evolution man slavery humanity sacrifice great-ape great-apes apes belief preference superstition humans torture Charles Darwin
79c64a6 The fragility of love is what is most at stake here--humanity's most crucial three-word avowal is often uttered only to find itself suddenly embarrassing or orphaned or isolated or ill-timed--but strangely enough it can work better as a literal or reassuring statement than a transcendent or numinous or ecstatic one. humanity love isolation Christopher Hitchens
fee470d Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream was a manifestation of hope that humanity might one day get out of its own way by finding the courage to realize that love and nonviolence are not indicators of weakness but gifts of significant strength. courage humanity faith leadership spirituality dreams strength hope love agape-love american-history black-history-month compassion-heals-lives conflict-resolution famous-authors famous-speeches great-leaders human-rights-day i-have-a-dream-speech martin-luther-king-day martin-luther-king-jr mlk-day mlkdream50 national-history-day nonviolent-conflict-resolution police-reform police-shootings spiritual-visions voting-rights-act-of-1965 nonviolence civil-rights-movement Aberjhani
5e4ecc6 Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled, And each man fixed his eyes before his feet. Flowed up the hill and down King William Street, To where St Mary Woolnoth kept the hours With a dead sound on the final stock of nine. There I saw one I knew, and stopped him crying: 'Stetson! You, who were with me in the ships at Mylae! That corpse you planted last year in your garden, Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed? Oh keep the Dog far hence, that's friend to men, Or with his nails he'll dig it up again! You! hypocrite lecteur!-mon semblable,-mon frere! war humanity fear the-wasteland london T.S. Eliot
faebe56 Civilizations grow by agreements and accomodations and accretions, not by repudiations. The rebels and the revolutionaries are only eddies, they keep the stream from getting stagnant but they get swept down and absorbed, they're a side issue. Quiet desperation is another name for the human condition. If revolutionaries would learn that they can't remodel society by day after tomorrow -- haven't the wisdom to and shouldn't be permitted to -- I'd have more respect for them ... Civilizations grow and change and decline -- they aren't remade. rebellion humanity human-condition civilization growth society revolution Wallace Stegner
049a7b7 "All these angels start coming out of the boxes and everywhere, guys carrying crucifixes and stuff all over the place, and the whole bunch of them - thousands of them - singing "Come All Ye Faithful" like mad. Big deal. It's supposed to be religious as hell, I know, and very pretty and all, but I can't see anything religious or pretty, for God's sake, about a bunch of actors carrying crucifixes all over the stage. When they all finished and started going out the boxes again, you could tell they could hardly wait to get a cigarette of something. I saw it with old Sally Hayes the year before, and she kept saying how beautiful it was, the costumes and all. I said old jesus probably would've puked if he could see it." people humanity truth human-nature J.D. Salinger
60e65b1 [T]here is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men. men humanity human-condition beasts Herman Melville
988eddb Time is different for a tree than for a man. Sun and soil and water, these are the things a weirwood understands, not days and years and centuries. For men, time is a river. We are trapped in its flow, hurtling from past to present, always in the same direction. The lives of trees are different. They root and grow and die in one place, and that river does not move them. The oak is the acorn, the acorn is the oak. present time humanity past epistemology trees George R.R. Martin
0de7791 No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The idea of clones being inferior is a filthy lie. lies humanity inferiority Nancy Farmer
192496f You want to know what I'm afraid of? All right, I'll tell you. I'm afraid of men - yes, I'm very much afraid of men. And I'm even more afraid of women. And I'm very much afraid of the whole bloody human race. Afraid of them? Of course I'm afraid of them. Who wouldn't be afraid of a pack of damned hyenas? [...] And when I say afraid - that's just a word I use. What I really mean is that I hate them. I hate their voices, I hate their eyes, I hate the way they laugh. I hate the whole bloody business. It's cruel, it's idiotic, it's unspeakably horrible. I never had the guts to kill myself or I'd have got out of it long ago. human-race suicide men hate women humanity fear guts cruelty horrible idiotic hyenas idiocy cruel horror Jean Rhys
ff8f16e She missed the built environment of New York City. It was only in an urban landscape, amid straight lines and architecture, that she could situate herself in human time and history. She missed people. She missed human intrigue, drama and power struggles. She needed her own species, not to talk to, necessarily, but just to be among, as a bystander in a crowd or an anonymous witness. humanity society new-york-city Ruth Ozeki
794de3c We must choose between the violence of adults and the smiles of children, between the ugliness of hate and the will to oppose it. Between inflicting suffering and humiliation on our fellow man and offering him the solidarity and hope he deserves. Or not. humanity Elie Wiesel
c6d2edd But for a moment Dirk had a sense of inifinite loss and sadness that somewhere among the frenzy of information noise that daily rattled the lives of men he thought he might have heard a few notes that denoted the movements of gods. humanity Douglas Adams
8044e49 In a fallen world marked by human depravity and deep-seated sin, in a world where Hitler and Stalin had recruited millions of followers to commit mass murder, love must harness power and seek justice in order to have moral meaning. Love without power remained impotent, and power without love was bankrupt. humanity love moral-meaning followers mass-murder impotence stalin hitler power sin Timothy B. Tyson
7b7de19 We're not hunter-gatherers anymore. We're all living like patients in the intensive care unit of a hospital. What keeps us alive isn't bravery, or athleticism, or any of those other skills that were valuable in a caveman society. It's our ability to master complex technological skills. It is our ability to be nerds. We need to breed nerds. bravery future humanity intelligence brainiac breed caveman gatherer hunter-gatherer intensive-care patients athleticism hunter complexity geeks society genius brains nerds hospital mastery technology Neal Stephenson
cf95095 The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt--and there is the story of mankind. I think that if rejection could be amputated, the human would not be what he is. humanity love rejection John Steinbeck
c345d97 I advance in life, I grow more simple, and I become more and more patriotic for humanity. human-rights humanity simplicity patriotism Victor Hugo
f9499bd This history of culture will explain to us the motives, the conditions of life, and the thought of the writer or reformer. history humanity life motives Leo Tolstoy
90e3dad Maybe she still was a pretty-head, making up irrational stories about the empty forest. The longer she stayed alone out here, the more Tally understood why the Rusties and their predecessors had believed in invisible beings, praying to placate spirits as they trashed the natural world around them. humanity religion nature-of-human spirits Scott Westerfeld
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