Stephen Spender (Sir Stephen Harold Spender) Quotes
The only true hope for civilization-the conviction of the individual that his inner life can affect outward events and that, whether or not he does so he is responsible for them.
Quotes to Explore
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I'm a lot more introspective than one would believe.
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I'm an Oscar nominee. I love saying that. Whatever happens, I'm going to sing that 'I'm an Oscar nominee' part.
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How boring would this world be if everyone was the same?
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The other aspect of American identity worth focusing on is the concept of America as a nation of immigrants. That certainly is a partial truth. But it is often assumed to be the total truth.
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The Queen's wedding dress in 1947, there was some embroidery on the train which was definitely there to illustrate new dawn/post-war optimism, that sort of thing.
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Of course I believe imaginative architecture can make a difference to people's lives, but I wish it was possible to divert some of the effort we put into ambitious museums and galleries into the basic architectural building blocks of society.
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My brothers and I always did improv stuff in our basement with our friends; we're super nerds, and that was our way of spending a Friday night.
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Some of my ideas were shot down by Lucasfilm because they stepped on territory that has been reserved for the movies. I didn't have a problem with that.
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An enterprise that is constantly exploring new horizons is likely to have a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent.
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El mal, débil, me agita; fuerte, me calma.
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Swearing was invented as a compromise between running away and fighting.
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One day isn't dramatic, but that was the median. For the more severely ill, the net reduction was three days, and for those treated early, it was 2 to 3 days.
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The choice is yours. You hold the tiller. You can steer the course you choose in the direction of where you want to be - today, tomorrow, or in a distant time to come.
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Look for the good in every person and every situation. You'll almost always find it.
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A little child paddles a little boat, Drifting about, and picking white lotuses. He does not know how to hide his tracks, And duckweed's opened up along his path.
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When you have shot and killed a man you have in some measure clarified your attitude toward him. You have given a definite answer to a definite problem. For better or worse you have acted decisively. In a way, the next move is up to him.
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When happy, be kind. When angry, be kind. When hopeful, be kind. When discouraged, be kind. When ever, be kind.
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The primary consequence of the computational nature of the universe is that the universe naturally generates complex systems, such as life. Although the basic laws of physics are comparatively simple in form, they give rise, because they are computationally universal, to systems of enormous complexity.
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The friendships with women—the women I write about in the book and others—included work. I wanted to show how shared work—parallel or in collaboration—makes for a different kind of affection and intensity.
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I did not let people tell me what to do, and I never wanted to be a groupie.
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This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed.
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Perhaps the immobility of the things that surround us is forced upon them by our conviction that they are themselves, and not anything else, and by the immobility of our conceptions of them.
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The only true hope for civilization-the conviction of the individual that his inner life can affect outward events and that, whether or not he does so he is responsible for them.
