Characteristic Quotes

466 quotes by 382 authors

It is characteristic of spontaneous friendship to take on first, without enquiry and almost at first sight, the unseen doings and unspoken sentiments of our… — George Santayana
Memory has the singular characteristic of recalling in a friend absent, as in a journey long past, only that which is agreeable. — Charles Dudley Warner
It's characteristic of democracy that majority rule is understood as being effective not only in politics but also in thinking. In thinking, of course, the… — Joseph Campbell
Sexual behavior in our species goes through three characteristic phases: pair formation, precopulatory activity, and copulation, usually but not always in that order. The pair-formation… — Desmond Morris
Expulsion and genocide, though both are international offenses, must remain distinct; the former is an offense against fellow-nations, whereas the latter is an attack upon… — Hannah Arendt
In this society, the norm of masculinity is phallic aggression. Male sexuality is, by definition, intensely and rigidly phallic. A man's identity is located in… — Andrea Dworkin
Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like, all-embracing compassion. — Arnold Bennett
The political is replacing the metaphysical as the characteristic mode of grasping reality. — Harvey Cox
I think that any wealth creates a sense of trusteeship... it is characteristic of the new generation which has created wealth to have some amount… — Azim Premji
For under certain conditions the chemical atoms emit light waves of a specific length or oscillation frequency - their familiar characteristic spectra - and these… — Johannes Stark
Enforced by genetics, sexual reproduction, perspective, and experience, the most manifest characteristic of human beings is their diversity. The freer an economy is, the more… — George Gilder
Joy is the characteristic by which God uses us to re-make the distressing into the desired, the discarded into the creative. Joy is prayer-Joy is… — Mother Teresa
Does it not appear to you versatility is the true and rare characteristic of that rare thing called genius-versatility and playfulness? In my mind they… — Mary Russell Mitford
The Americans are extremely gadget minded people and American gadgets have a peculiar characteristic: they work. — George Mikes
Since I reached the conclusion that the essence of the creative person is being in love with what one is doing, I have had a… — Ellis Paul Torrance
May we attribute to the color of the herbage and plants, which no doubt clothe the plains of Mars, the characteristic hue of that planet,… — Camille Flammarion
Posterity will do justice to that unprincipled maniac Gladstone - extraordinary mixture of envy, vindictiveness, hypocrisy and superstition; and with one commanding characteristic - whether… — Benjamin Disraeli
But it would be absolutely mistaken to regard a wealth of theoretical knowledge as characteristic proof for the qualities and abilities of a leader. — Adolf Hitler
Fidelity to the subject's thought and to his characteristic way of expressing himself is the sine qua non of journalistic quotation. — Janet Malcolm
Obesity is the result of a loss of self-control. Indeed, loss of self-control might be said to be the defining social (or anti-social) characteristic of… — Theodore Dalrymple

Who Wrote These Characteristic Quotes

382 authors contributed a total of 466 Characteristic Quotes, led by these top contributors: