Top 100 Principle Quotes
#1. It is compassion rather than the principle of justice which can guard us against being unjust to our fellow men.
Bruce Lee
#2. America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle," he said. "We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.
George W. Bush
#3. No precautions, and no precautionary principle, can avoid problems that we do not yet foresee. We need a stance of problem-fixing, not just problem-avoidance.
David Deutsch
#4. By going one step further back in thought, discordant opinions are reconciled by being seen to be two extremes of one principle, and we can never go so far back as to preclude a still higher vision.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
#5. Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition.
Dennis Gabor
#6. For what are myths if not the imposing of order on phenomena that do not possess order in themselves? And all myths, however they differ from philosophical systems and scientific theories, share this with them, that they negate the principle of randomness in the world.
Stanislaw Lem
#7. Genuine simplicity of heart is a healing and cementing principle.
Edmund Burke
#8. The hero, the mythical subject, is constructed as human being and as male; he is the active principle of culture, the establisher of distinction, the creator of differences.
Teresa De Lauretis
#9. We all know people who say: "It's the principle of the matter" to justify sustaining toxic emotions for years. As they hold onto their anger or hurt, they bleed away their energy reserves, often ending up bitter and depressed.
Doc Childre
#10. I use the confit principle for chicken thighs. I season them with herbs and garlic, let them marinate, and then cook them in chicken fat.
Geoffrey Zakarian
#11. Looking at the great values of the feminine principle - relatedness, presence, an open heart, warmth, patience, and trust - I
Massimilla Harris
#12. The principle that certain sins should not receive the Church's testimony of forgiveness was probably no novelty at all, but had been applied in various churches; perhaps, however, with no strict consistency.
Robert Rainy
#14. The Christian life from start to finish is based upon this principle of utter dependence upon the Lord Jesus.
Watchman Nee
#15. It is today an accepted principle of golfing architecture that the tiger should be teased and trapped and tested, while the rabbit should be left to peace, since he can make his own hell for himself.
Bernard Darwin
#16. Okinawa, one of the longest-lived and healthiest populations in the world, practice a principle they call hara hachi bu: Eat until you are 80 percent full.
Michael Pollan
#17. Personal responsibility for everything is the hallmark of an enlightened being. If you blame others, bad luck or the Universe/God for your difficulties, you clearly do not understand the Principle of Oneness. You are in charge and responsible for everything. Embrace your power and make no excuses.
Russell Anthony Gibbs
#18. My message to Washington is very simple. Face reality. Be leaders. Demonstrate accountability. Engage in principle compromise. And understand your job is to find solutions.
Kenneth Chenault
#19. Sovereignty is a question of principle. We must tell the Iraqis: you are a sovereign people. And you are in charge of your own future.
Jacques Chirac
#20. Buddhism's cardinal ethical principle is to avoid causing harm.
Gil Fronsdal
#21. In business the 80/20 principle is behind any innovation, any extra value. It is an entrepreneurial principle, a formula for value creation utilized not only by entrepreneurs, but by most managers and organizations.
Richard Koch
#22. When at last in a race a new principle appears, an idea
that conserves it; ideas only save races.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
#23. Throughout history, people have risked their lives for love, for patriotism, for principle, and for God far more often than fear has made them run away. Upon that fact depends progress. The
Tom Clancy
#24. If there is a simple, easy principle that binds everything I have done together, it is my interest in people and their relationship to things.
Bill Moggridge
#25. It seems logical that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of a war against civilians.
John Hersey
#26. Happiness is the first principle of life. Happiness basically means well-being. It is always good and always a choice ... We need to make the choice to be happy in a particular situation, just as it is, and at a given moment.
Alexandra Stoddard
#27. Alleviation of suffering is my fundamental principle.
Yusuf Hamied
#28. Which takes more courage: to rigidly and inflexibly defend a principle, or to demonstrate a sense of perspective and willingness to compromise or walk away from a senseless argument?
Thomas J. Harbin
#29. The pejorative term "political correctness" was adapted to express disapproval of the enlargement of etiquette to cover all people, in spite of this being a principle to which all Americans claim to subscribe
Judith Martin
#30. To me the special quality (which of course many men have as well) is first of all a sharpness, a clarityIt cuts through - especially intellectual ossification. Itgets to the point. To me the dakini principle stands for the intuitive force.
Tenzin Palmo
#31. The principle of positive thinking is simplicity itself. Picture an outcome, dwell on it in your thoughts and feelings, and unseen agencies - whether metaphysical or psychological - will supposedly come to your aid. Seen in this way, the mind is a causative force.
Mitch Horowitz
#32. Life is planned with one principle objective to make you do all the particular things you particularly don't want to do.
Mark Twain
#33. 13No temptationc has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be temptedd beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,e he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Principle
John Baker
#34. The 21st chapter gives the novel the quality of genuine fiction, an art founded on the principle that human beings change.
"A Clockwork Orange Resucked" intro to first full American version 1986
Anthony Burgess
#35. I tend to work on the principle that much humour relies on cognitive dissonance - on the foreground not matching the background, on the protagonist's response to a situation being inappropriate, and so on.
Charles Stross
#36. Honesty in principle was one thing. In someone's face, it was another.
Sarah Dessen
#37. God dies when faith in god dies but gods principle live till we live.
Agnel Vishal
#38. When applied to politics and taken to its extreme, kitsch is the mask of death. Fascism was all aesthetics. There was no core principle to it. There was no truth to it.
John Cusack
#39. "Who are we to say what is right and what is wrong?" is the common refrain under the doctrine of pure pluralism. Clearly, society cannot long survive if this principle is pushed to its logical conclusion and everyone is free to write his own laws.
Benjamin Hart
#40. But assuredly Fortune rules in all things; she raised to eminence or buries in oblivion everything from caprice rather than from well-regulated principle.
[Lat., Sed profecto Fortuna in omni re dominatur; ea res cunctas ex lubidine magis, quam ex vero, celebrat, obscuratque.]
Sallust
#41. God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men.
Thomas Jefferson
#42. Johnson saw preoccupation with principle and procedure as a sign of impotence. Such men were "troublemakers," more concerned with appearing forceful than in exercising the real strengths that led to tangible achievement.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
#43. There's a Chinese principle called yuanfen, which means your fate with someone else [...] Two people with strong yuanfen have a greater chance of meeting in their lifetimes, and can become as close as family.
Stacey Lee
#44. We in the United States are pluralistic respecting ultimate beliefs. Profound values exist apart from a devotion to a god. Indeed, those who discriminate against nonbelievers flout the principle of religious tolerance that they often profess.
Norman Dorsen
#45. And read ... read all the time ... read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life.
David McCullough Jr.
#46. The personal power that comes from principle-centered living is the power of a self-aware, knowledgeable, proactive individual, unrestricted by the attitudes, behaviors, and actions of others or by many of the circumstances
Stephen R. Covey
#47. Why is it anytime somethin's different, it's automatically wrong? That single principle has caused more suffering and tragedy than any other in the history of the world. Our actions make is good or evil, Ana. Nothin more. Nothin' less. (Grey Eyes, Forever Trilogy Part One)
Brandon Alston
#48. Good. If you checked your e-mail every five minutes, or keep texting and Tweeting in the middle of our conversation, I might snap your neck out of sheer principle.
Jeaniene Frost
#49. You cannot spontaneously levitate and hover above the ground, whether or not you are seated in the lotus position. Although, in principle, you could perform this stunt if you managed to let loose a powerful and sustained exhaust of flatulence.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
#50. Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principle.
Will Durant
#51. As it has been finely expressed, "Principle is a passion for truth." And as an earlier and homelier writer hath it, "The truths we believe in are the pillars of our world.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton
#53. We live in an age which must be amused, though genius, feeling, trust, and principle be the sacrifice.
Hannah More
#54. Furthermore, the revolutionary parties in all countries gave public utterance to the socialist principle of international peace that must be preserved at all hazards, even to the extent of revolt and revolution at home. The
Jack London
#55. This I consider to be a valuable principle in life: Do no thing in excess.
Terence
#56. The Exclusion Principle is laid down purely for the benefit of the electrons themselves, who might be corrupted (and become dragons or demons) if allowed to associate too freely.
Alan Turing
#57. We admit no faith to be justifying, which is not itself and in its own nature a spiritually vital principle of obedience and good works.
John Owen
#58. The guiding principle of this Nation has been, is now, and ever shall be IN GOD WE TRUST.
John F. Kennedy
#59. Sitting in front of a keyboard and a screen is work. Thousands of offices operate on this very principle.
Terry Pratchett
#60. Those who wish well to the State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation.
John Witherspoon
#61. The Master Mind principle: Two or more people actively engaged in the pursuit of a definite purpose with a positive mental attitude, constitute an unbeatable force.
Napoleon Hill
#62. Neutrality, as a lasting principle, is an evidence of weakness.
Lajos Kossuth
#63. John F. Kennedy responded, as he often did when at his best, skillfully mixing dollops of wit with, self-deprecation, and the principle of not-really-going-near-the-question.
David Pietrusza
#64. The fanatic is not really a stickler to principle. He embraces a cause not primarily because of its justness or holiness but because of his desperate need for something to hold onto.
Eric Hoffer
#65. Principle of "Christian love": it insists upon being well paid in the end.
Friedrich Nietzsche
#66. The most important principle of divine philosophy is the oneness of the world of humanity, the unity of mankind, the bond conjoining East and West, the tie of love which blends human hearts.
Abdu'l- Baha
#67. The people of England well know that the idea of inheritance furnishes a sure principle of conservation and a sure principle of transmission, without at all excluding a principle of improvement.
Edmund Burke
#68. Language is the leading principle which unites or separates the tribes of mankind.
Edward Gibbon
#69. The most basic principle of Yin and Yang is that one cannot exist without the other," I stated, stepping towards her. "There can be no light without the dark, no good without evil, and no you without me; we are complementary opposites that balance each other.
Meka James
#70. Science is based on the possibility of objectivity, on the possibility of different people checking out for themselves the observations made by others. Without that possibility, there is no empirical principle capable of deciding between different arguments and theories.
Jose Padilha
#71. Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind.
Henry Grady Weaver
#72. It's government's job to respect and protect the rights of the individual. That vision is centrally important to the principle put forth by the Founding Fathers. If you don't believe that, you shouldn't be in Congress.
Bill Sali
#74. To put up with what you cannot avoid is a philosophical principle, that may not perhaps lead you to the accomplishment of great deeds, but is assuredly eminently practical.
Jules Verne
#75. The two ideas, justice and vocation, are inseparable ... It is by way of the principle and practice of vocation that sanctity and reverence enter into the human economy. It was thus possible for traditional cultures to conceive that "to work is to pray." (pg. 258, The Idea of a Local Economy)
Wendell Berry
#76. Divorce exposes absolutely ever buried assumption about marriage ... how a husband's sense of entitlement and a wife's sense of duty turned the principle of 'our money, our kids' into the reality of 'his money, her kids.
Mary Blakely
#77. Tis against some mens principle to pay interest, and seems against others interest to pay the principle.
Benjamin Franklin
#78. I have given no definition of love. This is impossible, because there is no higher principle by which it could be defined. It is life itself in its actual unity. The forms and structures in which love embodies itself are the forms and structures in which love overcomes its self-destructive forces.
Paul Tillich
#79. Only the 'Right belief' gives rise to non-contradicting principle and that which is free from contradiction is known as 'Principle'.
Dada Bhagwan
#81. If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest.
Thomas Jefferson
#82. The hold of the evolutionary paradigm is so powerful that an idea which is more like a principle of medieval astrology than a serious twentieth century scientific theory has become a reality for evolutionary biologists.
Michael Denton
#83. The fundamental principle is that no battle, combat, or skirmish is to be fought unless it will be won.
Che Guevara
#84. We all feel that the opposite of our own highest principle must be purely destructive, deadly, and evil. We refuse to endow it with any positive life-force; hence we avoid and fear it.
C. G. Jung
#85. A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice.
Mahatma Gandhi
#86. I extend that to the abortion issue, I extend that to the so-called gay rights issue, I think this is a freedom principle and consistent with the analysis in the economic area as well.
William Weld
#87. Y'know, Nature's unpredictable
that's why we had to tame her. Maybe we went too far, but in principle we made the right decision.
Jeanette Winterson
#88. Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery, and the best form of tenacity I know is expressed in a Danish fur trapper's principle: "The next mile is the only one a person really has to make."
Eric Sevareid
#89. James Dobson, founder of today's infamous 'Focus on the Family' movement,* is equally acquainted with the principle: 'Those who control what young people are taught, and what they experience - what they see, hear, think, and believe - will determine the future course for the nation.'79 ==========
Anonymous
#90. It's also why we've recently seen an avalanche of new studies, books, and video games built on the myelin-centric principle that practice staves off cognitive decline.
Daniel Coyle
#91. Art is actually based on the notion that if you would really celebrate an idea or a principle, you must think, you must plan, you must put yourself completely in the state of devotion, and not simply give the first thing that comes to your head
Maya Deren
#92. We live in a highly competitive society, each of us trying to outdo the other in wealth, in popularity or social prestige, in dress, in scholastic grades or golf scores. One is often tempted to say that conflict, rather than cooperation, is the great governing principle of human life.
S.I. Hayakawa
#93. What is tolerance? It is a necessary consequence of humanity. We are all fallible, let us then pardon each other's follies. This is the first principle of natural right.
Voltaire
#94. If a community decides that some conduct is prejudicial to itself, and so decides by numbers sufficient to impose its will upon dissenters, I know of no principle which can stay its hand.
Learned Hand
#95. Let it be a settled principle ... that men's salvation, if saved, is wholly of God; and that man's ruin, if lost, is wholly of himself.
J.C. Ryle
#96. In the most civilized and progressive countries freedom of discussion is recognized as a fundamental principle.
C.E.M. Joad
#97. What I like to call 'journalism of depth' is the media that regards the collective conscience of the masses to be its point of departure. It is the media that believes, as a matter of principle, in the potential capabilities of the people and respects their choices.
Wadah Khanfar
#98. One of the things I keep coming back to in my writing is that society doesn't work on this mirror principle, you don't have an exact replica on the left of what you have on the right. It just doesn't work that way.
Thomas Frank
#99. I think that humor has become a principle means of communication among Americans about politics.
P. J. O'Rourke
#100. That's all very well as an abstract moral principle, Avril, a coffee-table theoretical construct, but there's no denying the sheer gratuitous pleasure to be derived from seeing members of the ruling class in pain and torment.
Irvine Welsh
