Being Contrary Quotes

#1. Love must precede hatred, and nothing is hated save through being contrary to a suitable thing which is loved. And hence it is that every hatred is caused by love.

Thomas Aquinas

#2. Academic freedom is being lost by a great many people who dare to challenge Darwinism. That's a terrifying situation. That's contrary to the principles of science.

Ben Stein

#3. In this way of thinking, the fact that women show a lot of skin or that men curse in public is not a sign of cultural decay. On the contrary, it's a sign that they live in a society that is so civilized that they don't have to fear being harassed or assaulted in response.

Steven Pinker

#4. The sense of community does not arise out of collective movement, nor from conforming to some group direction. Quite the contrary. Each individual tends to use the opportunity to become all that he or she can become. Separateness and diversity - the uniqueness of being "me" - are experienced

Carl Rogers

#5. We keep on being told that religion, whatever its imperfections, at least instills morality. On every side, there is conclusive evidence that the contrary is the case and that faith causes people to be more mean, more selfish, and perhaps above all, more stupid.

Christopher Hitchens

#6. Our object should not be to have scripture on our side but to be on the side of scripture; and however dear any sentiment may have become by being long entertained, so soon as it is seen to be contrary to the Bible, we must be prepared to abandon it without hesitation.

William Symington

#7. Far from being a bad thing to seek advice, you must, on the contrary, do so when the matter is of any importance, or when we cannot come to a clear decision on our own.

Vincent De Paul

#8. With no matter what human being, taken individually, I always find reasons for concluding that sorrow and misfortune do not suit him; either because he seems too mediocre for anything so great, or, on the contrary, too precious to be destroyed.

Simone Weil

#9. When the conception of internal form is governed by edge, color appears to remain on or above the surface. I think, on the contrary, of color as being seen in and throughout, not solely on, the surface.

Jules Olitski

#10. Love is not a matter of getting what you want. Quite the contrary. The insistence on always having what you want, on always being satisfied, on always being fulfilled, makes love impossible.

Thomas Merton

#11. To love in the sense of passion-love is the contrary of to live. It is an impoverishment of one's being, an askesis without sequel, an inability to enjoy the present without imagining it as absent, a never-ending flight from possession.

Denis De Rougemont

#12. Libertarianism is a way of measuring how the government and other kinds of systems respect the individual. At the core of libertarianism is the idea that the individual is sacrosanct and that anything that's done contrary to the well-being of the individual needs some pretty serious justification.

P. J. O'Rourke

#13. Contrary to the common misconception that loving yourself equates to being self-absorbed and lacking empathy or consideration for others, the true meaning of self-love is about caring, respecting and knowing yourself, taking responsibility for your life, and ultimately, your happiness.

Miya Yamanouchi

#14. On the contrary, he was a man with both feet firmly on the ground, the only difficulty being that the ground in question was on some other planet, the one with the fluffy pink clouds and the happy little bunnies.

Terry Pratchett

#15. 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

Niccolo Machiavelli

#16. Respect for the dignity of others includes treating them as rational creatures capable of being persuadad by rational argument, even in the face of frequent evidence to the contrary.

Richard John Neuhaus

#17. The feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is on the contrary born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else
we are the busiest people in the world.

Eric Hoffer

#18. Contrary to the vulgar belief that men are motivated primarily by materialistic considerations, we now see the capitalist system being discredited and destroyed all over the world, even though this system has given men the greatest material comforts.

Ayn Rand

#19. It is certain that there is no other passion which does produce such contrary effects in so great a degree. But this may be said for love, that if you strike it out of the soul, life would be insipid, and our being but half animated.

Joseph Addison

#20. Surrender is a positive, healthy state. Being a surrendered person does not mean one is beaten down and so hopeless he or she has "given up." It's quite the contrary.

Judith Orloff

#21. The award is destined for scientists who do not fear to touch on some of the darkest aspects of being without betraying what they have achieved. On the contrary, they head in this direction.

Vaclav Havel

#22. Karl Marx did not call for an opposition to the forces of history. On the contrary he accepted all of them, the drive of technology, the revolutionizing effects of democratic striving, even the vagaries of capitalism, as being indeed the carriers of a brighter future.

Robert Heilbroner

#23. To use words and phrases in an easygoing manner without scrutinizing them too curiously is not in general a mark of ill-breeding. On the contrary, there is something low-bred in being too precise. But sometimes there is no help for it

Socrates

#24. Friendship on the contrary is enjoyed in proportion to our desire: since it is a matter of the mind, with our souls being purified by practising it

Michel De Montaigne

#25. Chaos is a natural state of being - as natural as structure is - so there is no reason to fear it. On the contrary, one should embrace it. It means something extraordinary and unexpected is about to happen.

Tohoru Masamune

#26. There is a view in some philosophical circles that anything that can be understood by people who have not studied philosophy is not profound enough to be worth saying. To the contrary, I suspect that whatever cannot be said clearly is probably not being thought clearly either.

Peter Singer

#27. I can't get around this dilemma: I have a horror of troubles, but they whip me up, they make me talented. Peace and well-being, on the contrary, paralyze me. Either be a nobody, or everlastingly plagued.

Jules Renard

#28. Some people conclude that the injustices existing in the world prove there is no God. On the contrary, I conclude that God, being both just and merciful, will and can rectify all inequities in a life after death.

Henry Eyring

#29. In the middle of the conversation, I open a third ale. I cup my hand over the mouthpiece so they don't hear the tab of the ale being popped. It dawns on me that this is a slightly contrary action. Like stopping into Baby Gap before having an abortion.

Augusten Burroughs

#30. she was struck again by the intensity of his gaze. She wasn't used to being scrutinized this way - on the contrary, she often felt virtually invisible as she went through the well-worn circuit of her daily routines.

Nicholas Sparks

#31. It would seem, after this, that even when living upon earth we must live as if in the heavenly kingdom, dwelling there in anticipation by hope. But in reality, for the greater part, the contrary is the case. Men cling with their whole being to the earth and everything earthly.

John Of Kronstadt

#32. They could not understand the advantage of living contrary to their inclinations in this world in order to enjoy a hypothetical well-being in another.

Isabel Allende

#33. Contrary to what they tell you ... You are not a limited material being.

Amit Goswami

#34. Transcending mind-made limitations doesn't mean you stop being yourself. On the contrary, you become more yourself than ever before.

Steve Ross

#35. The Jew is contrary to our being ... He desecrated our people, spit on our ideals, paralyzed the strength of the nation, made our customs rotten, and polluted the morale.

Joseph Goebbels

#36. One does not "find oneself" by pursuing one's self, but on the contrary by pursuing something else and learning through discipline or routine ... who one is and wants to be.

May Sarton

#37. Repentance, contrary to popular misconception, is not a heroic first step I make toward Christ, nor is it a feeling-sorry-for my sins. It is the divine gift of being turned toward truth. William Willimon

Gary L. Thomas

#38. Inaction, contrary to its reputation for being a refuge, is neither safe nor comfortable.

Madeleine M. Kunin

#39. In order to be good, you must recognize the difference between right and wrong and strive to choose the right. To be truly evil you must do the contrary. Being good or evil is a choice.

Brandon Mull

#40. I acknowledge myself a unitarian - Believing that the Father alone, is the supreme God, and that Jesus Christ derived his Being, and all his powers and honors from the Father ... There is not any reasoning which can convince me, contrary to my senses, that three is one, and one three.

Abigail Adams

#41. Democracy is necessarily despotism, as it establishes an executive power contrary to the general will; all being able to decide against one whose opinion may differ, the will of all is therefore not that of all: which is contradictory and opposite to liberty.

Immanuel Kant

#42. Regardless of the importance of known evidence to the contrary, the arts are generally regarded as being so much entertaining fluff, a commodity that isn't a priority in the traditional program of learning. This is unacceptable in a so-called 'enlightened' society.

Ken Danby

#43. Contrary to some of our great myths, the universe was not created once upon a time, but rather is constantly being created and re-created.

Deepak Chopra

#44. I suppose we all share this pipe-dream of being able to reach out a hand and find anything at will; what is amazing is that we think that good filing could somehow make it comes true. On the contrary: putting a letter into a filing system is like releasing your ferret in the Hampton Court maze.

Katharine Whitehorn

#45. I make a distinction between theory and methodology, the latter being the practical deployment of a premise. Theory on the contrary may well be applied, hence becomes methodology without a hitch, but isn't necessarily practical at all.

Paul Fry

#46. Enthusiasm, being the infirmity of bold and ambitious tempers, is naturally accompanied with a spirit of liberty; as superstition,on the contrary, renders men tame and abject, and fits them for slavery.

David Hume

#47. It's not that you aren't likable. On the contrary. You are. It's just that one wonders if you haven't made a career out of being so likable.

Jerzy Kosinski

#48. I always disagree, however, when people end up saying that we can only combat Communism, Fascism or what not if we develop an equal fanaticism. It appears to me that one defeats the fanatic precisely by not being a fanatic oneself, but on the contrary by using one's intelligence.

George Orwell

#49. [T]o a limited being its limited understanding is not felt to be a limitation; on the contrary, it is perfectly happy and contented with this understanding[.]

Ludwig Feuerbach

#50. you do not escape from money by being moneyless. On the contrary, you are the hopeless slave of money until you have enough of it to live on

George Orwell

#51. Sometimes being a contrary bastard was a real pain.

Lori Foster

#52. I've never thought of my characters as being sad. On the contrary, they are full of life. They didn't choose tragedy. Tragedy chose them.

Juliette Binoche

#53. There's nothing inherently interesting about being a drunk
in fact, quite the contrary.

Heather King

#54. Being a ruler is, contrary to popular notions, a calling of self-sacrifice. That is, if one wants to be a good ruler.

S.D. Smith

#55. Contrary to what I believed as a little girl, being the boss almost never involves marching around, waving your arms, and chanting, I am the boss! I am the boss!

Tina Fey

#56. Contrary to popular thinking, being worthy isn't something you earn, it's something you recognize.

Mike Dooley

#57. The void is 'not-being,' and no part of 'what is' is a 'not-being,'; for what 'is' in the strict sense of the term is an absolute plenum. This plenum, however, is not 'one': on the contrary, it is a 'many' infinite in number and invisible owing to the minuteness of their bulk.

Aristotle.

#58. No truly conscious human being sabotages himself - it's impossible, because it's contrary to Nature.

Guy Finley

#59. The truth is paradoxical to the extent of being exactly contrary to the usual perception.

Georges Bataille

#60. Resentment is always resentment against oneself. The
rebel, on the contrary, from his very first step, refuses to allow anyone to touch what he is. He is fighting
for the integrity of one part of his being. He does not try, primarily, to conquer, but simply to impose.

Albert Camus

#61. It is a mistake to suppose that the Supreme Court is either honoured or helped by being spoken of as beyond criticism. On the contrary, the life and character of its justices should be the objects of constant watchfulness by all, and its judgments subject to the freest criticism.

David Josiah Brewer

#62. [O]ne of the mixed blessings of being twenty and twenty-one and even twenty-three is the conviction that nothing like this, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, has ever happened before.

Joan Didion

#63. I am no longer surprised by anything and I feel no distress at seeing my complete helplessness. On the contrary, I glory in it and every day I expect to discover fresh flaws in myself. In fact, this revelation of my nothingness does me much more good than being enlightened on matters of faith.

John Beevers

#64. Some mathematicians didn't even perceive of the possibility of a picture being helpful. To the contrary, I went into an orgy of looking at pictures by the hundreds; the machines became a little bit better.

Benoit Mandelbrot

#65. Now being in such grace and favor by reason I learned him some points of geometry and understanding of the art of mathematics with other things, I pleased him so that what I said he would not contrary.

William Adams

#66. I am so far from being a pessimist ... on the contrary, in spite of my scars, I am tickled to death at life.

Eugene O'Neill

#67. Man must not attempt to dispel the ambiguity of his being but, on the contrary, accept the task of realizing it.

Simone De Beauvoir

#68. All gentle cant and philosophizing to the contrary notwithstanding, no people in this world ever did achieve their freedom by goody-goody talk and moral suasion: it being immutable law that all revolutions that will succeed, must begin in blood.

Mark Twain

#69. Why would some all powerful being create creatures capable of reason and then demand that they act in a manner contrary to their creation?

Josh Charles

#70. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness.

Karl Marx