Top 100 Not Rather Quotes
#1. My wife, who does not like journalizing, said it was leaving myself embowelled to posterity
a good strong figure. But I think itis rather leaving myself embalmed. It is certainly preserving myself.
James Boswell
#2. I would suggest that the prisons I incessantly create are not designed to lock me in, rather they are designed to lock the world out. And the oddity is that either way, I am a prisoner who has sentenced himself to a prison within which I do not belong.
Craig D. Lounsbrough
#3. Throughout the centuries, man has considered himself beautiful. I rather suppose that man only believes in his own beauty out of pride; that he is not really beautiful and he suspects this himself; for why does he look on the face of his fellow-man with such scorn?
Comte De Lautreamont
#4. The best legacy you could leave is not some building that is names after you or a piece of jewelry but rather a world that has been impacted and touched by your presence, your joy, and your positive actions.
Jon Gordon
#5. Maybe I don't really want to know what's going on. Maybe I'd rather not know. Maybe I couldn't bear to know. The Fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge.
Margaret Atwood
#6. One of the most frightening things about your true nerd, for may people, is not that he's socially inept - because everybody's been there - but rather his complete lack of embarrassment about it.
Neal Stephenson
#7. Another is that the findings demonstrate that happiness is not the surplus of pleasant over unpleasant moments. Rather,
Yuval Noah Harari
#8. The drawing teacher has this problem of communicating how to draw by osmosis and not by instruction, while the physics teacher has the problem of always teaching techniques, rather than the spirit, of how to go about solving physical problems.
Richard P. Feynman
#9. Though one may acquire much in wealth, fame, or honor, the real joy of life does not lie there but, rather, in keeping the romance of living going. Nothing gives such complete and profound happiness as the perpetually fresh wonder and mystery of exciting life.
Norman Vincent Peale
#10. [Nonviolence] is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil. It is evil that the nonviolent resister seeks to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil.
Martin Luther King Jr.
#11. The ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us. Rather, all creatures are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God, in that transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things.
Pope Francis
#12. As a street artist, I'm used to sharing my stuff with the public. It's a communal experience. I've learned not to be so precious, but rather to enjoy the process.
Shepard Fairey
#13. 29. Most loneliness results from insulation rather than isolation. In other words, we are lonely because we insulate ourselves, not because others isolate us.
James C. Dobson
#14. What's important is the work that you're doing, not the country that you're in. I would much rather be in a play at the Royal Court than in Los Angeles making 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.'
James Corden
#15. Shall we go away whenever life looks like turning in the slightest uncanny, or not quite normal, or even rather painful and mortifying? No, surely not. Rather stay and look matters in the face, brave them out; perhaps precisely in so doing lies a lesson for us to learn.
Thomas Mann
#16. I have an unfortunate compulsion. I really would rather not do it, as it is very nerve-wracking and un-fun. But when it works, there is nothing like it.
John Hodgman
#17. But shall we be happy, to say that we live in the dusk rather than in the full night? Shall we rejoice that we shall only suffer, while your offspring will be the ones to know the torments of the damned? Shall this be why we do not act?
Robin Hobb
#19. Americans prefer to isolate villains who despoil a preexisting innocence, rather than admit that there might not have been any innocence there in the first place.
Rick Perlstein
#20. Learning not to crumple before these uncertainties fuels my resolve to print myself upon the texture of each day fully rather than forever.
Audre Lorde
#21. Confidentiality and transparency are not mutually exclusive, but rather two sides of the same coin.
Thomas De Maiziere
#22. One ought not to encourage beggars, and yes, you are right, it is far better to donate to charities that address the causes of poverty rather than to him, a creature who is merely its symptom.
Mohsin Hamid
#23. But to give him anything to drink was impossible, or would have been so had not the landlord bored a reed, and putting one end in his mouth poured the wine into him through the other; all which he bore with patience rather than sever the ribbons of his helmet.
Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra
#24. It's not good enough to just keep producing technology with no notion of whether it's going to be useful. You have to create stuff that people really want, rather than create stuff just because you can.
Genevieve Bell
#25. He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms that it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near, but rather he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love.
Augustine Of Hippo
#26. We too often let the material things serve as indicators that we're doing well, even though something inside us tells us that were not doing our best. That we are avoiding that which is hard, but also necessary. That we are shrinking from rather than rising to the challenges of the age.
Barack Obama
#27. Let's embrace more of life, not less. Balanced people don't change the world, and I'd rather spend my time feeling worn out from meaningful activities and projects.
Chris Guillebeau
#28. It's no wonder we are so messed up when it comes to walking with God. In nearly every aspect of our existence, good performance equals good reward. Except not with him. A good thing turns bad when we perform to earn God's acceptance rather than simply receive it like a gift.
Emily P. Freeman
#29. Education is not to be viewed as something like filling a vessel with water but, rather, assisting a flower to grow in its own way
Bertrand Russell
#30. I'd rather make a thousand mistakes trying for a better life, than to die not making any mistakes at all.
Steven Aitchison
#31. The problems of philosophy and the systems designed to solve them are formulated in terms which tend to refer, not to the realm of actuality, but to the realms of possibility and necessity: to what might be and what must be, rather than to what is.
Roger Scruton
#32. We must concern ourselves not with what is beyond life, or what is life, or what is the purpose of life, but rather with the understanding of this complex existence of everyday life, because that is the foundation upon which we must build.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
#33. Inspiration doesn't really work like that - you're not looking out for it. Inspiration is something that tends to capture you rather than you capture it.
Joan Armatrading
#34. Paul's lack of concern with the historical Jesus is not due, as some have argued, to his emphasis on Christological rather than historical concerns. It is due to the simple fact that Paul had no idea who the living Jesus was, nor did he care.
Reza Aslan
#35. A humble person is not one who thinks little of himself, hangs his head and says, "I'm nothing." Rather, he is one who depends wholly on the Lord for everything, in every circumstance.
David Wilkerson
#36. I am failing as a woman. I am failing as a feminist. To freely accept the feminist label would not be fair to good feminists. If I am, indeed, a feminist, I am a rather bad one. I am a mess of contradictions.
Roxane Gay
#37. The afterlife is not so much a place but rather what happens to me, to the others left behind, after Ben's life.
Sophie Hardcastle
#38. You are afraid of hell. But that's all religion is, really. Fear of a place we'd rather not be, and where there's no such a thing as suicide to steal us away.
Patrick DeWitt
#39. The danger of loss of faith in God is not that one will believe in nothing, but rather that one will believe in anything.
Gilbert K. Chesterton
#40. It's not that I have no shame. Rather, I'm exhausted with shame, slippery all over with its sticky albumen taint. It is not an emotion that leads anywhere.
Lionel Shriver
#41. When introducing a character, you're usually better off sticking with broad strokes. The important thing at that point is not what color hair someone has or how tall they are, but rather, what kind of person they are.
Jason Black
#42. Doctrines, scriptures, sutras, essays, are not to be regarded as systems to be followed. They merely contribute to understanding. They should be for us a source of stimulation, and nothing more ... Adopted, rather than used as a stimulus, they are a hindrance
Wei Wu Wei
#43. I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.
Abraham Lincoln
#44. We're always pitching ideas and being told "no thank you." No offense taken, because I would so much rather be told the truth that they're not interested and be able to find the right show for that network down the line.
J.J. Abrams
#45. But the task of science fiction is not to predict the future. Rather, it contemplates possible futures.
Anonymous
#46. Therefore we will not listen to the source itself in order to learn what it is or what it means, but rather to the turns of speech, the allegories, figures, metaphors, as you will, into which the source has deviated, in order to lose it or rediscover it - which always amounts to the same.
Jacques Derrida
#47. Hocking was slender in the way that writers and musicians are sometimes slender: not out of any desire or design but rather because his days were spent being consumed rather than consuming.
Tom Bissell
#48. Whether we athletes liked it or not, the 4-minute mile had become rather like an Everest: a challenge to the human spirit, it was a barrier that seemed to defy all attempts to break it, an irksome reminder that men's striving might be in vain.
Roger Bannister
#49. At that moment, Oliver realized that home is not a place, but rather, the people who love you.
Jodi Picoult
#50. I'd rather not have a moment when I'm known for my looks; being funny and interesting lasts longer.
Kelly Ripa
#51. You have to know yourself and know what you can carry. If you're not comfortable, no matter how well dressed you are, you're not going to look right. I'd rather be happy and feel comfy.
Iris Apfel
#52. Experience, or what we call experience, is not the inventory of our pains, but rather the learned sympathy towards the pain of others.
Juan Gabriel Vasquez
#53. I'm seeing more and more books by celebrity authors, and I'm not happy to see them. I'd rather see publishing budgets devoted to genuine talents.
Jabari Asim
#54. A successful Christian life will not be based on how much work we have done, but rather, on how close to the Lord we have become and how obedient we have been.
Rick Joyner
#55. I fear feeling my heart break a second time, because I'm not sure I could survive it. I'd rather live alone than risk the pain.
Nora Roberts
#56. I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now.
Henry David Thoreau
#57. I'm Nancy Pelosi, but my grandchildren call me Mimi. For me, politics is an extension of my role as a mother and a grandmother. For the Democratic women of the House, our work is not about the next election, but rather the next generation.
Nancy Pelosi
#58. When readers close the covers on 'Running the Rift,' I want them to understand that it is not a genocide novel but rather a story of hope and rebirth.
Naomi Benaron
#59. Reading a book should not be a passive exercise, but rather a raucous conversation.
Studs Terkel
#60. Far rather would I sit and sew beside my poor mother, for this thing is not of my condition. But I must go, and I must do this thing, because my Lord will have it so. Rather now than tomorrow, and tomorrow than the day after!
Joan Of Arc
#61. We're in the business not so much of being contrarians deliberately, but rather we like to take perceived risk instead of actual risk. And what I mean by that is that you get paid for taking a risk that people think is risky, you particularly don't get paid for taking actual risk.
Wilbur Ross
#62. Buddhism does not accept a theory of God, or a creator. According to Buddhism, one's own actions are the creator, ultimately. Some people say that, from a certain angle, Buddhism is not a religion but rather a science of mind.
Dalai Lama
#63. At the outset, I think that one should be natural, not just when it comes to writing but in every area of life. If you try to be something that you are not just to impress others, then it's a rather sad life.
Amish Tripathi
#65. Investigations "eliminated solipsism but not the horror." The only difference between this new predicament and that of the Tractatus was that rather than being trapped alone in our private thoughts, we were trapped together, with other people, in the institution of language.
James Ryerson
#66. We do not choose who we love but rather
our souls choose for us.
N.R. Hart
#67. And as long as a self is driven by an id to a Thou, it is not a matter of love, either. In love the self is not driven by the id, but rather
Viktor E. Frankl
#68. The power of a successful salesman is not putting his hand in the customer's pocket to pull his money out. but rather manipulate the customer's mind to let him put his hand and happily pull the money and give it to you
Hisham Fawzi
#69. Is it not rather meant that it was placed far above us, in order to convince us of our utter feebleness?
John Calvin
#70. It must be remembered that the Iliad and Odyssey were composed as epic tales and not as historical texts. To use Shakespeare's Macbeth as a source for 11th-century Scottish politics would rather miss the point of the play, and the same is true of the Homeric epics.
Nic Fields
#71. It is not the words or the actions you should trust, rather the pattern.
Shannon L. Alder
#73. I'm not really into gourmet food; I'm the kind of guy who just stops by a place that looks good rather than heading for the restaurant of the moment.
Lee Child
#74. My aim is not to exhibit craft, but rather to submerge it, and make it rightfully the handmaiden of beauty, power and emotional content.
Andrew Wyeth
#75. I like to think of myself as a coworker with lots of experience rather than a boss, Franklin said.
I like to think of myself as a boss more than a slave but mostly I prefer to not think about it at all because when I think about it, I can't stop.
Vanessa Veselka
#76. There is no quality I would rather have, and be thought to have, than gratitude. For it is not only the greatest virtue, but is the mother of all the rest.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
#77. It's not as if I knew answers which I am going to set down in the form of a novel or a memoir or a sermon. It's, rather, I'm going to search myself for what I might have to say in this area.
Frederick Buechner
#78. there are things in our souls which we know not how much they mean to us. Or rather, if we live without them, it is because, either through fear of failing or suffering, we daily postpone the moment of coming under their thrall.
Marcel Proust
#79. Do not try to understand love, rather, stand in love and observe what happens around you.
Nityananda Das
#80. I see myself as a man who is searching for meaning in life. This is rather different from being a staunch believer in something. A believer is someone who senses a consciousness or a direction and believes in it. The one who searches for meaning has not found the direction yet.
Aharon Appelfeld
#81. Dissociative parts of the personality are not actually separate identities or personalities in one body, but rather parts of a single individual that are not yet functioning together in a smooth, coordinated, flexible way. P14
Suzette Boon
#82. As you read God's Word, always remember that it is something active, that it is doing something to you, for better or worse. When we hear or read the Word, we are not above it, using it for our own purposes. Rather, in the Word, God is doing something to us.
Anonymous
#83. Two did not become one, but rather two came together - each one strong, healthy, and resilient, making the whole steadfast and true. They didn't lose themselves in each other, but found themselves in each other instead.
Jennifer Lane
#84. If there's a takeaway from working here, it's an understand that, as bioorganisms, we are a walking time bomb programed for cellular self-destruction. Not if, when.
Laurie Nadel
#85. A man can't pass on, like a mother could, an awareness of your body, or sensuality, or what it means to be a woman. I was never taught what femininity was. I learnt it - or rather I invented it - on my own. I tended not to talk at all, if people were staring at me.
Carole Bouquet
#86. For with all our pretension to enlightenment, are we not now a talking, desultory, rather than a meditative generation?
John Campbell Shairp
#87. We do not grow by knowing all of the answers, but rather by living with the questions.
Max De Pree
#88. It's hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God's new age, a kingdom of surprise.
Stanley Hauerwas
#89. My body is my own," I said. "I may choose to share it with someone, but it's not for sale or for hire, nor is it a reward. I'd rather starve to death than use it as such.
Erica Dakin
#90. Freedom is acquired by conquest, not by gift. It must be pursued constantly and responsibly. Freedom is not an ideal located outside of man; nor is it an idea which becomes myth. It is rather the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion.
Paulo Freire
#91. The real tragedy of our postcolonial world is not that the majority of people had no say in whether or not they wanted this new world; rather, it is that the majority have not been given the tools to negotiate this new world.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
#92. There is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is given to both men and women in the New Testament. This is what makes the New Testament a New Testament rather than the Old Testament, in which women did not have such privileges.
Tony Campolo
#93. It's easy to let life deteriorate into making a living instead of making a life. It's not the hours you put in, but what you out into the hours that count. Learn to express rather than impress. Expressing evokes a me too attitude while impressing evokes a so what attitude.
Jim Rohn
#94. the end of your praying is not to inform God, as though he knew not your wants already; but rather to inform yourselves, to
Albert C. Outler
#95. For the secret of man's being is not only to live but to have something to live for. Without a stable conception of the object of life, man would not consent to go on living, and would rather destroy himself than remain on earth, though he had bread in abundance.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
#96. I'm rather shocked by what I thought was simple mindedness actually. I thought they're not looking, they're not actually looking.
David Hockney
#97. When you die you pass into inner worlds and continue to perceive. Death is not the dissolution of the self. Death is rather just a change in perception.
Frederick Lenz
#98. The visible aspect of modern life disturbs him not; rather is it for him to render eternal all that is beautiful in Greek, Italian, and Celtic legend.
Oscar Wilde
#99. He caught his breath, not because of her bedraggled appearance, but rather because of the way she stood, so straight and tall. Courageous.
Jan Moran
#100. Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path.
Kahlil Gibran
