Challenging Topics Quotes

Dealing with all the questions once the book is out and unchangeable, forces you to permanently give opinions about - in this case - sensible, challenging topics that you are basically only half the expert you would have to be if you wanted to explain yourself in a trustworthy, intelligent and helpful manner. ~ Sasa Stanisic

The only way that someone can be of help to you is by challenging your ideas. ~ Anthony De Mello

I'm opposed to the notion of official ideology--not just fascism, Communism, Baathism, but the fluffier ones, too, like 'multiculturalism' and 'climate change' and 'marriage equality.' Because the more topics you rule out of discussion--immigration, Islam, 'gender fluidity'--the more you delegitimize the political system. ~ Mark Steyn

It's a red letter day, too: the new set of science textbooks has
finally arrived.
This may not seem much to you but I feel like bringing in
champagne to celebrate or asking the Head for a half day's holiday.
In the past, we have shared one dirty, dog-eared textbook between
two or even three children and it's a book which doesn't even cover
the right topics for our syllabus.
These new ones are written by the people who set the exam, so
they must cover the relevant stuff.
The Head of Department arrives carrying the books and hands
them out to the kids, handling them with great reverence.
'These books are brand new,' he intones solemnly, placing one
neatly on my desk. 'They must be treated with great respect and care
so that others may use them in the future. ~ Frank Chalk

All of us necessarily hold many casual opinions that are ludicrously wrong simply because life is far too short for us to think through even a small fraction of the topics that we come across. ~ Julian Simon

The Verse-Refrain form starts with a context before the topic that the Refrain is talking about happens. ~ Ryan Cayabyab

Challenging leaders is as American as it gets. ~ Rick Santelli

Why incentivize laziness? High-school students shouldn't be discouraged from grappling, sometimes unsuccessfully, with challenging books, pictures, and songs. A really, really good work of art doesn't bow down to you; you step up to it, and it rewards you. In the end, kids faced with what Chaucer actually wrote may still dislike him, and I'm fine with that; they will have earned that opinion rather than had it handed to them. For heaven's sake, it's easy for kids to see themselves and their peers in a rap song. When they can start to see themselves in a 14th-century poem, then they're actually learning something. ~ Jeff Sypeck

But what's left on earth that I haven't tried?" Prince Lír demanded. "I have swum four rivers, each in full flood and none less than a mile wide. I have climbed seven mountains never before climbed, slept three nights in the Marsh of the Hanged Men, and walked alive out of that forest where the flowers burn your eyes and the nightingales sing poison. I have ended my betrothal to the princess I had agreed to marry - and if you don't think that was a heroic deed, you don't know her mother. I have vanquished exactly fifteen black knights waiting by fifteen fords in their black pavilions, challenging all who come to cross. And I've long since lost count of the witches in the thorny woods, the giants, the demons disguised as damsels; the glass hills, fatal riddles, and terrible tasks; the magic apples, rings, lamps, potions, swords, cloaks, boots, neckties, and nightcaps. Not to mention the winged horses, the basilisks and sea serpents, and all the rest of the livestock." He raised his head, and the dark blue eyes were confused and sad.

"And all for nothing," he said. "I cannot touch her, whatever I do. For her sake, I have become a hero - I, sleepy Lír, my father's sport and shame - but I might as well have remained the dull fool I was. My great deeds mean nothing to her. ~ Peter S. Beagle

Franny stepped on a piece of glass," Alex explains.
James makes a little clucking noise of sympathy.
Julia says, "What are you guys doing here?"
"I decided a day at the beach sounded like fun, so James drove us here to meet up with you guys." Marie turns to Harry. "I don't see [i] you [/i] helping out with this operation."
"I'm providing moral support," he says airily. "It's a very challenging job."
"You trying to be moral? I'm sure it is," she counters archly. ~ Claire LaZebnik

In the late '70s I was asked to sing for the first time in Germany. I'll never forget it. It was at a festival in Bremen. The German audience went berserk and the reviews were a phenomenon. For some reason the German audience understood how technically challenging this music was; it wasn't just someone yelling their head off. ~ Meredith Monk

Furthermore, our initial perception of God is largely formed by our interaction with our parents and other early caregivers. As children, to be safe, we developed ways of coping with our imperfect parents. And due to these varied challenging experiences in our childhood, perhaps some of us may wonder how safe God really is. ~ J.P. Moreland

Its hard to measure yourself if nobody is challenging you. ~ John Tomac

You might discuss important philosophical topics, such as the nature of existence- or what a bunch of lying toe rags politicians are. ~ Nick Spalding

It was very, very challenging being on this thing called the gimbal. It would throw you around, give you whiplash, and they'd tie you down. ~ Emile Hirsch

While I find my job as an actor challenging, I also think that there's fun in that challenge. ~ Theo James

I was told I resembled a cartoon chicken, which is still true, especially after a rough weekend. My parents tell stories about my staring at them from the crib at all hours of the night. Sounds pretty creepy, right? A pale, bald and tiny baby bird peering out through the slats of its cage, challenging the adults to an all-night staring contest? ~ Amy Poehler

I did six series for the BBC and that was enough. I've been writing for ten years, which is more challenging artistically. ~ Alexei Sayle

A child is born on that day, and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual Karma. His horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable past and its probable future result. But the natal chart can be rightly interpreted only by men of intuitive wisdom - These are few. ~ Sri Yukteswar Giri

Fiancé. The very word scraped him raw. Dom had met Blakeborough half a dozen times back when he'd been courting Jane, but their paths hadn't crossed since then. As Dom recalled, the earl had been too handsome for his own good.
Through the years, however, rumors had begun to circulate about the man's disposition--that he was a curmudgeon of sorts, cynical about women and about marriage in general. Which is why Dom had initially been surprised to hear that Jane was engaged to the arse.
Still was engaged to the arse.
Dom scowled. He'd spent the entire trip imagining what he would do when confronted with the man.
The idea of challenging Blakeborough to a duel over Jane was tempting, but not remotely practical. For one thing, it would hurt Jane's reputation. For another, it might result in Dom losing her anyway. Because if afterward Dom had to flee to avoid prosecution, she might not agree to leave England with him. Besides, it would be awfully hard to drag Rathmoor Park out of arrears from afar.
Dom had even considered telling Blakeborough that his fiancée was no longer chaste. But that would send her into an apoplectic fit, and rightly so. A gentleman didn't impugn a woman's reputation to gain what he wanted. Even if what he wanted was the woman as his wife.
No, he would just have to hope that Jane did the right thing and broke with the fellow. In the meantime, Dom would pray he could speak to the man with civility…or at least without wanting to cal ~ Sabrina Jeffries

When does she leave again?' He'd taken my hand now and was drawing me into him.
I pulled back but let him keep holding it. 'One week. Maybe we should go over appropriate topics of conversation.'
'Right, because otherwise I might bring up my career as a porn star or those years I spent in juvie. ~ Jessica Martinez

Regarding R. H. Blyth: The first book in English based on the saijiki is R. H. Blyth's Haiku, published in four volumes from 1949 to 1952. After the first, background volume, the remaining three consist of a collection of Japanese haiku with translations, all organized by season, and within the seasons by traditional categories and about three hundred seasonal topics. ~ Reginald Horace Blyth

One of the problems, hanging out with me, is that I can turn any topic into a toxic horror story. I've lost two girlfriends and a job by reading an ingredients label out loud, with annotations, at the wrong time. ~ Neal Stephenson

There are certain topics songwriters stay away from because it's hard to go there. I didn't sit down and go, 'I want to write something about my dad now.' ~ Robert Coppola Schwartzman

several hundred thousand dollars in a challenging, relevant, and exciting systemic overhaul of our entire organization, focusing on our core competencies while maintaining full and listening cooperation with the communities we are proud to serve. We fully realize that our energetic attempts to mobilize the flawed infrastructure we inherited have been less than totally satisfactory, and hope and trust that our valued and loyal customers will bear with us in the coming months as we interact synergistically with change management in our striving for excellence. That is our mission." An ~ Terry Pratchett

I'm really passionate about things I enjoy, and I like to be out there doing things, and learning and challenging myself. So it's just more fun that way, just to get out and try and do and learn and meet people and try to do something new. ~ Steve Nash

We hold that the greatest right in the world is the right to be wrong, that in the exercise thereof people have an inviolable right to express their unbridled thoughts on all topics and personalities, being liable only for the use of that right. ~ William Randolph Hearst

Once she realizes that you're bad news, she'll move on, and I'll be here. I'm not giving up. I haven't even started yet." I smile back at Dax and I know that my face is getting a real wicked look on it right now. I'm not worried. Maybe I should be, but I'm not."You challenging me to a duel? Should we lock horns like a bunch of horny deer? ~ C.M. Stunich

Elizabeth?" Ian said in a clipped voice.
She whirled around, her heart slamming against her ribs, her hand flying to her throat, her knees turning to jelly.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"You-you startled me," she said as he strolled up to her, his expression oddly impassive. "I didn't expect you to come here," she added nervously.
"Really?" he mocked. "Whom did you expect after that note-the Prince of Wales?"
The note! Crazily, her first thought after realizing ti was from him, not Valerie, was that for an articulate man his handwriting verged on the illiterate. Her second thought was that he seemed angry about something. He didn't keep her long in doubt as to the reason.
"Suppose you tell me how, during the entire afternoon we spent together, you neglected to mention that you are Lady Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth wondered a little frantically how he'd feel if he knew she was the Countess of Havenhurst, not merely the eldest daughter of some minor noble or knight.
"Start talking, love. I'm listening."
Elizabeth backed away a step.
"Since you don't want to talk," he bit out, reaching for her arms, "is this all you wanted from me?"
"No!" she said hastily, backing out of his reach. "I'd rather talk."
He stepped forward, and Elizabeth took another step backward, exclaiming, "I mean, there are so many interesting topics for conversation, are there not?"
"Are there?" he asked, moving forward again.
"Yes," she exclaimed, ta ~ Judith McNaught

I like to take up something that is challenging. I like to stretch myself. ~ Christine Lahti

Looking back at my earlier pictures, I think that the work is very much coming from the same place. I have gone through a period of challenging myself with a complicated idea to currently challenging myself with the idea of simplicity. ~ Tim Walker

I mean, there Persephone was, minding her own business, picking flowers, when all of a sudden Hades bursts out of the ground in a flaming chariot and grabs her. I mean, you can't just go around grabbing people. That's not okay." I narrow my eyes, challenging him. "What kind of person does that?"
Haden glowers right back at me. "Maybe he didn't see any other options at the moment. ~ Bree Despain

I really appreciate crafts. I like cooking. I love food and drink. I love owning that through Instagram. Although that can be challenging at times because it doesn't fit people's stereotypes of a technical founder. ~ Kevin Systrom

Challenging is good, like good conversation, yes? Who wants to have dinner with the same old easy listening music sounding friends all the time? ~ Hilton Als

People didn't want to disturb norms. If one looked like they fit into the greater scheme of things, then it took a kind of courage to step away from the herd and stand out, challenging that. ~ Wildbow

The Truth the Dead Know


For my Mother, born March 1902, died March 1959
and my Father, born February 1900, died June 1959

Gone, I say and walk from church,
refusing the stiff procession to the grave,
letting the dead ride alone in the hearse.
It is June. I am tired of being brave.

We drive to the Cape. I cultivate
myself where the sun gutters from the sky,
where the sea swings in like an iron gate
and we touch. In another country people die.

My darling, the wind falls in like stones
from the whitehearted water and when we touch
we enter touch entirely. No one's alone.
Men kill for this, or for as much.

And what of the dead? They lie without shoes
in the stone boats. They are more like stone
than the sea would be if it stopped. They refuse
to be blessed, throat, eye and knucklebone.

Anne Sexton was a model who became a confessional poet, writing about intimate aspects of her life, after her doctor suggested that she take up poetry as a form of therapy. She studied under Robert Lowell at Boston University, where Sylvia Plath was one of her classmates. Sexton won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1967, but later committed suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning. Topics she covered in her poems included adultery, masturbation, menstruation, abortion, despair and suicide. ~ Anne Sexton

Unless you challenge yourself, you cannot grow. Mindful leadership is the art of growing by challenging the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual imposed limits on the self. ~ Amit Ray

I know, we can barely fit them in. That is a big challenge. Treating four lead characters equally, within a 30-minute format, is definitely challenging. ~ Mark Duplass

Sometimes my mother had difficulty communicating with me about certain topics. ~ Gloria Estefan

Reaching your potential is not simply about dreaming or being idealistic, It is a process that involve specific actions, exercises, discipline and hard work. It is challenging, rewarding and unending. ~ Robert S. Kaplan

There is always a solution to every challenging situation. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

You don't know what inspires you. You like to think you know what inspires you, but in the final analysis I don't think you really do. It's great to look at a blank sheet of paper, you know, and walk up to an instrument and not know what's gonna happen. It's the most challenging thing I do. ~ Bob Seger

In all of my books, I'm taking them on an emotionally challenging and sometimes physically dangerous process with a bit of fun and anarchy along the way. With the power comes responsibility. ~ Morris Gleitzman