Top 100 Plainly Quotes
#1. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly.
George Orwell
#2. To consider mankind other than brethren ... plainly supposes a darkness of understanding.
John Woolman
#3. This was Betsy and Tacy's private corner. Betsy's mother was a great believer in people having private corners, and the piano box was plainly meant to belong to Betsy and Tacy, for it fitted them so snugly.
Maud Hart Lovelace
#4. The room was plainly but adequately furnished; she noted the shower stall in the bathroom beyond. Actually, she would have preferred a tub, but this would do.
Robert Bloch
#5. Plainly put, a relationship with jesus requires total, superior, and exclusive devotion.
David Platt
#6. Tears fell from my eyes - yes, weak and foolish as it now appears to me, I wept for my departed youth; and for that beauty of which the faithful mirror too plainly assured me, no remnant existed.
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess Of Blessington
#7. However long you have a cat and however plainly he lays his life open before you, there is always something hidden, some name he goes by in a place you never heard of.
Barbara Holland
#8. The mandated description of fetal characteristics at two-week intervals, no matter how objective, is plainly overinclusive. [It is] not medical information that is always relevant to the woman's decision, and it may serve to confuse and punish her and to heighten her anxiety.
Harry A. Blackmun
#10. How many times have I laughed at you telling me plainly that I was too lazy to be anything but a lawyer.
Abraham Lincoln
#11. As the corruption of our nature shews the absolute necessity of regeneration, so the absolute necessity of regeneration plainly proves the corruption of our nature; for why should a man need a second birth, if his nature were not quite marred in the first birth?
Thomas Boston
#12. ...Mabel put on the boiled potatos, unmashed, the stewed tomatos, some inferior dried beef, and some bread that plainly said, 'Darling, I am growing old'.
Bess Streeter Aldrich
#13. And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see - or like a sealed letter they could not plainly read.
Alice Walker
#14. To put is still more plainly: the desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath. A society based on the quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet.
Alan W. Watts
#15. Standing at my door, I heard the discharge of a gun, and in four or five seconds of time, after the discharge, the small shot came rattling about me, one or two of which struck the house; which plainly demonstrates that the velocity of sound is greater than that of a cannon bullet.
Benjamin Banneker
#16. But now she couldn't deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.
Barbara Demick
#17. It is plainly evident that, in a country where land was to be had for the asking, fuel for the cutting, corn for the planting and harvesting, and game and fish for the least expenditure of labor, no man would long serve for another, and any system of reliable service indoors or afield must fail.
Alice Morse Earle
#18. The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech; he takes a low business-tone, avoids all brag, is nobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in monosyllables, hugs his fact.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
#19. We've all become so conscious of how we'll be perceived and so frightened to
possibly offend someone that we've filtered ourselves to what borders on dishonesty. Sure, as my wife constantly reminds me, you don't have to say everything you think; but when did speaking plainly become such a sin?
Aaron Blaylock
#20. The things that your eyes see plainly and cant forget are worse than huddled black figures left to the imagination.
Kendare Blake
#21. It is a good plan, with a young person of a character to be much affected by ludicrous and absurd representations, to show him plainly by examples that there is nothing which may not be thus represented. He will hardly need to be told that everything is not a mere joke.
Richard Whately
#22. Whosoever is found variable, and changeth manifestly without manifest cause, giveth suspicion of corruption: therefore, always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly, and declare it, together with the reasons that move thee to change.
John Locke
#23. He turns to me and blinks. "You need to go to Kingston and I need the feathers of a snowy owl." He says it so plainly, so flat, like we're speaking about pizza toppings.
Anonymous
#24. I asked of Echo 't other day (Whose words are few and often funny), What to a novice she could say Of courtship, love, and matrimony. Quoth Echo, plainly, Matter-o'-money.
John Godfrey Saxe
#25. Half the American population no longer reads newspapers: plainly, they are the clever half.
Gore Vidal
#26. It's so pathetic, the tough-guy posturing, but so sinister, because, to put it plainly, that's how black men die. Insecure, pee-pants white men assume that any disagreement is a life-threatening situation.
Lindy West
#27. The shameless Chloe placed on the tombs of her seven husbands the inscription, "The work of Chloe." How could she have expressed herself more plainly?
Martial
#28. Avoid you. I want to avoid you. He stared at her, plainly confused.
Nicholas Sparks
#29. The characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what are plainly the disjointed parts of some possible narrative.
Alasdair MacIntyre
#30. Any one who speaks in favor of bringing the Arab refugees back must also say how he expects to take the responsibility for it, if he is interested in the state of Israel. It is better that things are stated clearly and plainly: We shall not let this happen.
Golda Meir
#31. I gave the wretched beast a look that said plainly I'll deal with you later.
He flicked his tail at me, cat-speak for Do I look like I'm bothered?
J.L. Merrow
#32. It is in this power of saying everything, and yet saying nothing too plainly, that the perfection of art consists.
John Ruskin
#33. It isn't possible," she said. "But there it is. Look again." In the distance, pinpricks of light arranged into a grid. There, plainly visible on the side of a hill some miles distant: a town, or a village, whose streets were lit up with electricity.
Emily St. John Mandel
#34. Let us say plainly: the unredeemed state of the world consists precisely in the failure to understand the meaning of creation, in the failure to recognize truth; as a result, the rule of pragmatism is imposed, by which the strong arm of the powerful becomes the god of this world.
Pope Benedict XVI
#35. It is easy for most of us to keep our hands from picking and stealing when picking and stealing plainly lead to prison diet and prison garments. But when silks and satins come of it, and with the silks and satins general respect, the net result of honesty does not seem to be so secure.
Anthony Trollope
#36. If you do not love Christ, let me plainly tell you what is the reason: You have no sense of debt to Him.
J.C. Ryle
#37. I think astronomy is a bad study for you. It makes you feel human insignificance too plainly.
Thomas Hardy
#38. You may assuredly find perfect peace, if you are resolved to do that which your Lord has plainly required
and content that He should indeed require no more of you
than to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.
John Ruskin
#39. You might not see one in a hundred with
gentleman so plainly written as in Mr. Knightley.
Jane Austen
#40. We must teach plainly that the faith which saves the soul is not a dead faith, but a faith which operates with purifying effect upon our entire nature, and produces in us fruits of righteousness to the praise and glory of God.
Charles Spurgeon
#41. And you yourself always be seated at the middle fo the high table that your presence as lord or lady may appear openly to all, and that you may plainly see on either side all the service and all the faults.
Robert Grosseteste
#42. People who pay greater respect to a wealthy villain than to an honest, upright man in poverty, almost deserve to be enslaved; they plainly show that wealth, however it may be acquired, is, in their esteem, to be preferred to virtue.
John Hancock
#43. The lives of those such as Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein are plainly of interest in their own right, as well as for the light they shed on the way these great scientists worked. But are 'routine' scientists as fascinating as their science? Here I have my doubts.
Martin Rees
#44. Witches see the truth plainly - even if their husbands are full of nonsense.
Deborah Harkness
#45. It was impossible to quarrel with words, whose tremulous inequality showed indisposition so plainly.
Jane Austen
#46. The court's recent understanding of religion as a private matter for individuals has plainly become malnourished and impoverished.
Stephen V Monsma
#47. The Constitution gives the president the power to appoint, upon the advice and consent of a majority of the Senate, and it plainly does not give a minority of senators any right to interfere with that process.
John Jay Hooker
#48. There's something in your eyes that scares me,"
Max whispired, looking through the window.
Landon took her face into his hand and made her look into his eyes "What?" he asked. "What do you see?"
"Fear," she answered plainly. "I see fear
Shawn Kirsten Maravel
#49. Half the misery in the world comes of want of courage to speak and to hear the truth plainly and in a spirit of love.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
#50. Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night.
J.K. Rowling
#51. Westminster Abbey, the Tower, a steeple, one church, and then another, presented themselves to our view; and we could now plainly distinguish the high round chimneys on the tops of the houses, which yet seemed to us to form an innumerable number of smaller spires, or steeples.
Karl Philipp Moritz
#52. We ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speak to Him frankly and plainly, and implore His assistance in our affairs.
Brother Lawrence
#53. Fine." He leans his face closer to mine, his eyes focusing on my chin, and my lips, and my nose. "I watched you because I like you." He says it plainly, boldly, and his eyes flick up to mine. "And don't call me 'Four,' okay? It's nice to hear my name again.
Veronica Roth
#54. Statements are made so plainly and positively that men have hardly the moral courage to pause upon them and find that they are without support.
G.K. Chesterton
#55. Let me put it very plainly: If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished.
Mitt Romney
#56. The sum of the inner movements which a man finds easy and as a consequence performs gracefully and with pleasure, one calls his soul; if these inner movements are plainly difficult and an effort for him, he is considered soulless.
Friedrich Nietzsche
#57. I'm dangerous?" I snort disbelievingly. "Very," he replies plainly. "I don't feel dangerous, I feel small and exposed," I say, turning my face away from him. "Evie, you're the most dangerous creature I have ever encountered, and I have encountered them all," he says, playing with my hair.
Amy A. Bartol
#58. They looked plainly scared, except for one, a wiry boy with bright orange hair - not the largest of the lot, but the one who seemed to be in charge. He had an air about him, Alf thought, the look of a boy who doesn't miss much.
Dave Barry
#59. Forests, beyond offering us their plainly utilitarian wealth, have to perform vast physiological functions in the great economy of nature, by contributing predominantly in the empire of vegetation to the liberation of oxygen.
Ferdinand Von Mueller
#60. I now saw plainly that this foul emanation could have no admixture or connection whatsoever with the clean air of the Libyan Desert, but must be essentially a thing vomited from sinister gulfs still lower down.
H.P. Lovecraft
#61. Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.
William Penn
#62. But a myth, to speak plainly, to me is like a menu in a fancy French restaurant: glamorous, complicated camouflage for a fact you wouldn't otherwise swallow, like maybe lima beans.
William Peter Blatty
#63. In narration he affects a disproportionate pomp of diction and a wearisome train of circumlocution, and tells the incident imperfectly in many words, which might have been more plainly delivered in few.
Samuel Johnson
#64. Big Z, little Z, what begins with Z? I do.
I'm a zizzer zazzer zuzz, as you can plainly see.
Dr. Seuss
#65. There is no doubt that the life one leads, and the thoughts one thinks are registered plainly in his face.
Spencer W. Kimball
#66. The voice of nature and experience seems plainly to oppose the selfish theory.
David Hume
#67. I am thoroughly convinced that when the last chapter of humanity is written, we will find that the implications of atheism, i.e., living without God, if consistently carried through, will
have made life plainly unlivable within the limits of reason or even common sense
Ravi Zacharias
#68. The sum of the whole is plainly this: The nature of man considered in his single capacity, and with respect only to the present world, is adapted and leads him to attain the greatest happiness he can for himself in the present world.
Joseph Butler
#69. Mrs. Strickland was plainly nervous. "Well, tell us your news," she said. "I saw your husband. I'm afraid he's quite made up his mind not to return." I paused a little. "He wants to paint.
W. Somerset Maugham
#70. The ancient world was settled so sparsely that nature was not yet eclipsed by man. Nature hit you in the eye so plainly and grabbed you so fiercely and so tangibly by the scruff of the neck that perhaps it really was still full of gods.
Boris Pasternak
#71. What is time then? If nobody asks me, I know; but if I were desirous to explain it to one that should ask me, plainly I do not know.
Augustine Of Hippo
#72. We look at each other, at random and totally ordinary moments, and just say the words "happy days"! And by doing that we constantly remind ourselves that any average day with each other is plainly happy.
Andreas Souvaliotis
#73. Love can be sent to others in a thousand ways. Even thoughts of love can change things. They can be felt. By you, and by the person you are thinking of, too. Yes, they can. Help others by by loving them, simply, plainly, openly, without condition.
Neale Donald Walsch
#74. It cannot be too plainly stated that it is quite unimportant whether photography produces 'art' or not. Its own basic laws, not the opinions of art critics, will provide the only valid measure of its future worth.
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
#75. When we speak freely, let us speak plainly, for plain speech is wholesome; especially, plain speech about public affairs and public men.
Albert J. Nock
#76. Her eyes widened slightly at the words and she played the last moments of their conservation over in her head. We are in love. He met her gaze, not letting her look away as he spoke. You appear to have missed my meaning. Allow me to repeat myself more plainly. I love you, Alex.
Sarah MacLean
#77. In sum, the purpose is to contest the popular view, because popular opinions are so frequently found to be untimely, misled (by propaganda), or plainly wrong.
Humphrey B. Neill
#78. Well, as you can plainly see, the possibilities are endless like meandering paths in a great big beautiful garden.
William S. Burroughs
#79. The eighth commandment reads, "Thou shalt not steal." It does not read, "Thou shalt not steal from the rich man." It does not read, "Thou shalt not steal from the poor man." It reads simply and plainly, "Thou shalt not steal."
Theodore Roosevelt
#80. You are plainly awash with debauchery.I'm merely an innocent casualty of your depravity.
Kendra Leigh
#81. A preacher should have the skill to teach the unlearned simply roundly, and plainly; for teaching is of more importance than exhorting.
Martin Luther
#82. Faith of that sort - the sort that can stand up at least for a while in a confrontation with reason - is now plainly impossible.
Christopher Hitchens
#83. Jealousy was plainly exhibited when I fondled a large doll, and when I weighed his infant sister, he being then 15? months old. Seeing how strong a feeling of jealousy is in dogs, it would probably be exhibited by infants at any earlier age than just specified if they were tried in a fitting manner
Charles Darwin
#84. Leaders of the world, my message to you is simple: to achieve universal peace and understanding on this planet you have only to speak plainly, even though you may look foolish. This is a thousand times better than looking good and talking nonsense.
David Small
#85. When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don't state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
Lewis Carroll
#86. It seems so impossible that someone could look at [Andy and Noah], see how plainly they care for each other, and find anything ugly or shameful or worthy of hatred in it, when all I see is something beautiful.
Hannah Harrington
#87. Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional.
John Marshall
#88. The coyotes sounded like hurt dogs. They agitated plainly for Christ's return. May they not be heard.
Denis Johnson
#89. But by her still halting course and winding, woeful way, you plainly saw that this ship that so wept with spray, still remained without comfort. She was Rachel, weeping for her children, because they were not.
Herman Melville
#90. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.
Abraham Lincoln
#91. We are well aware that religion is not as bad an influence as it was a short time ago, as history is counted. But it is a sufficiently bad influence even in modern times, and its reduced viciousness (in practice) is due plainly enough to its reduced power.
E. Haldeman-Julius
#92. At times it has been doubtful to me if Emerson really knows or feels what Poetry is at its highest, as in the Bible, for instance, or Homer or Shakspeare. I see he covertly or plainly likes best superb verbal polish, or something old or odd
Walt Whitman
#93. The Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ.
Pope Francis
#94. Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and us.
George Haven Putnam
#95. Let me put this as plainly as I can. Me, Dom. You, sub.
Lexi Blake
#96. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot: You will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.
Robert E.Lee
#97. What's the weirdest thing you've pierced?"
"Earlobes," he plainly stated.
"Earlobes?"
"Yeah," he said. "Once you've held a couple dozen penises in your hand, earlobes are just weird.
Sean Aiken
#98. But, in the words of a Portuguese proverb, "God writes straight with crooked lines", and He is far more interested in getting us where He wants us to be than we are in getting there. He does not discuss things with us. He leads us faithfully and plainly as we trust Him and simply do the next thing.
Elisabeth Elliot
#99. I had never seen such sorrow; it appalled me. And I was even more appalled by her attempts to overcome it, because they so plainly, pathetically failed and in failing opened up a view of the world I had only begun to suspect, where wounds did not heal, and things did not work out for the best
Tobias Wolff
#100. You think that way as you begin to get grayer and you see pretty plainly that the game is not going to end as you planned.
Loren Eiseley
