Thomas Nagel Quotes

To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of how to decide what to believe.

Thomas Nagel

• Action
• Moral
• Psychology
• Theory
• Ethics

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Quotes to Explore

• The physical part of comedy is as hard as a lot of action movies. It scares me, but in a way that I like.

  

  Rachel McAdams
  • Way
  • Action
  • Comedy

• With the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescents.

  

  Omar N. Bradley
  • World
  • Man
  • Humanity

• I'd always wanted to be an action heroine. That's a chick dream, getting to wear a leather bodysuit and be blonde and kick ass. But, what really attracted me to 'Dredd' was the script. It was fantastic! It was about people and characters, and not just about explosions and fighting.

  

  Olivia Thirlby
  • People
  • Dream
  • Action

• Never jeopardize who you are for a role. Now, I'm not saying you should never change for a role, because the fun of being different characters is adapting different nuances and different parts of the character, but never jeopardize your moral compass or anything like that to have a role.

  

  Yara Shahidi
  • Different
  • Character
  • Fun

• I'm a psychologist. I was a psychology faculty member, and then I became an administrator of the department, then the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. At the time of the presidential search, I was the dean.

  

  I. King Jordan
  • Time
  • College
  • Search

• Many, many, many small moves of many kinds can bring a way to manage change. The theory can come later.

  

  Flora Lewis
  • Small
  • Change
  • Theory

• It is in their inherent moral components that recent Western strategies may be deficient. What percentage of the populations in countries engaged in the 14-year effort in Afghanistan could even name the three main Taliban groups with whom their soldiers have been engaged?

  

  H. R. McMaster
  • May
  • Effort
  • Moral

• I would say both Western psychology and Eastern paths would recognize that we get caught up in feeling like a separate self and an unworthy self.

  

  Tara Brach
  • Up
  • Feeling
  • Self

• The relations between rhetoric and ethics are disturbing: the ease with which language can be twisted is worrisome, and the fact that our minds accept these perverse games so docilely is no less cause for concern.

  

  Octavio Paz
  • Language
  • Ethics
  • Accept

• Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.

  

  Ralph Ellison
  • Action
  • More
  • Preparation

• I always thought that if I got no love at all early in my standup career, or I was god awful, I thought I'd get into psychology.

  

  Dane Cook
  • God
  • Love
  • Career

• We are certainly in a common class with the beasts; every action of animal life is concerned with seeking bodily pleasure and avoiding pain.

  

  Saint Augustine
  • Life
  • Action
  • Pain

• There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

  

  Oscar Wilde
  • Book
  • Moral
  • Thing

• Affirmative action makes employers think, 'Black woman nuclear physicist? Hah! Probably let her into Harvard 'cause they were looking for a twofer. Bet she got C's in high school practical math. Give her a job in personnel.'

  

  P. J. O'Rourke
  • School
  • Job
  • Black

• The moral and intellectual character of the Africans is widely different in different nations.

  

  Samuel George Morton
  • Different
  • Character
  • Moral

• I was pretty lucky to get into Berklee at all. I never really had any theory or music-reading capabilities; I was completely by ear.

  

  Madi Diaz
  • Music
  • Pretty
  • Reading

• By sincerity, a man gains physical, mental and linguistic straightforwardness, and harmonious tendency; that is, congruence of speech and action.

  

  Mahavira
  • Man
  • Action
  • Speech

• I support affirmative action. I support special measures when you need it.

  

  Quentin Bryce
  • You
  • Action
  • Support

• Design, to me, is part psychology, part sociology, and part magic. A good decorator should know what's going on in someone's marriage and how their kids are doing in school.

  

  Nate Berkus
  • Good
  • School
  • Kids

• I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it.

  

  Albert Einstein
  • Authority
  • Ethics
  • Concern

• I consider non-violence to be compassion in action. It doesn’t mean weakness, cowering in fear, or simply doing nothing. It is to act without violence, motivated by compassion, recognising the rights of others.

  

  Dalai Lama
  • Fear
  • Action
  • Violence

• There is a little of everything, apparently, in nature, and freaks are common.

  

  Samuel Beckett
  • Nature

• Instead of praying: 'Dear God, bring me someone fabulous,' try: 'Dear God, make me into someone fabulous.'

  

  Marianne Williamson
  • God
  • Try
  • Fabulous

• To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of how to decide what to believe.

  

  Thomas Nagel
  • Action
  • Moral
  • Psychology