Magnificent Obsession Quotes

On both sides of the highway I could see the rows of little frame houses, all alike, as if there were only one architect in the city and he had a magnificent obsession. ~ Ross Macdonald

Everyone should have at least one magnificent obsession. It's a life jacket when the ship goes down ~ Melanie Jackson

I have a magnificent obsession. All I want to do is change the world ... make it a better place for this and future generations. ~ W. Clement Stone

It may be the character of his mind, to be always in singular need of occupation. That may be, in part, natural to it; in part, the result of affliction. The less it was occupied with healthy things, the more it would be in danger of turning in the unhealthy direction. He may have observed himself, and made the discovery. ~ Charles Dickens

I desire a violent, domineering, fearless, and ferocious upcoming generation. It must be able to bear pain. It must show no signs whatsoever of weakness or tenderness. The free and magnificent predator must once again glint from their eyes. ~ Adolf Hitler

Dream a magnificent dream; now live it. ~ Debasish Mridha

My introduction to the Brady book was an attempt to nail the exact same idea since Brady addressed the point. And since I write pornography, naturally, something of an obsession for me. ~ Peter Sotos

When two people love each other as we do, no one can come between them, no one," I said, amazed at the words I was uttering without preparation. "Lovers like us, because they know that nothing can destroy their love, even on the worst days, even when they are heedlessly hurting each other in the cruelest , most deceitful ways, still carry in their hearts a consolation that never abandons them." (p.191) ~ Orhan Pamuk

For those of us with a bookish bent, reading is a reflexive response to everything. This is how we deal with the world and anything that comes our way. We have always known that there is a book for every occasion and every obsession. When in doubt, we are always looking things up. ~ Diane Schoemperlen

He could quite quickly become detached from the nuances of common human emotion. Particularly if he was engaged in some aspect of a scientific problem or research. His work excluded any consideration for the feelings of those around him. And he rarely excused himself or justified his behavior. It was as if he was compelled to focus all his energy on one subject and was unaware that others did not follow his obsession. ~ Theresa Breslin

Despairing Dido, queen of ancient Carthage, slain by her own hand as her magnificent lover Aeneas lifts anchor and sails away forever: this is one of the most haunting and permanent images of the classical world. ~ Thomas Cahill

We might believe that our world embraced everything, we might do our thing down here on the beach, drive around in our cars, phone each other and chat, visit one another, eat and drive and sit indoors imbibing the faces and opinions and fates of those appearing on the TV screen in this strange, semi-artificial symbiosis we inhabited and lull ourselves for longer and longer, year upon year, into thinking that it was all there was, but if on the odd occasion we were to raise our gaze to this, the only possible thought was one of incomprehension and impotence, for in fact how small and trivial was the world we allowed ourselves to be lured by? Yes, of course, the dramas we saw were magnificent, the images we internalized sublime and sometimes also apocalyptic, but be honest, slaves, what part did we play in them? None. ~ Knausgaard, Karl Ove

It's more than magnificent - it's mediocre. ~ Samuel Goldwyn

Zero-sum thinking is an obsession of mine, but mostly in economics. ~ P. J. O'Rourke

Another "chant" we were required to memorize was a list of two-syllable soldierly virtues, Jingshen Da-shu, to be shouted out in the place of "one" and "two": Xiongzhuang! (magnificent), Weiwu! (formidable), Yansu! (serious), Gangzhi! (upright), Anjing! (calm), Jianqiang! (strong), Queshi! (reliable), Sujue! (quick), Chenzhuo! (steady), Rennai! (patient), Jiji! (vigorous), Yonggan! (brave). ~ T.C. Locke

The magnificent title of the Functional School of Anthropology has been bestowed on myself, in a way on myself, and to a large extent out of my own sense of irresponsibility. ~ Bronislaw Malinowski

Gifts and abilities, no matter how magnificent, are either limited or enhanced by character. ~ John Wimber

Now, I was a planet tilted off its axis. A brighter sun had appeared in my system, pulling me away from the world I knew before. All else paled in comparison to the magnificent Morgon man standing before me. ~ Juliette Cross

And so we endure. We have faith that there is purpose. We hope for things we can't see. We believe that there are lessons in loss, power in love, and that we have within us the potential for a beauty so magnificent that our bodies can't contain it. ~ Amy Harmon

I have loved you in every manner that my imagination could contrive. I have wanted you so deeply that my body sang with pain and pleasure. You have been my obsession, my passion, my philosophers' stone of fantasy. You are my desire, my longing, my spirit. I love you unconditionally. - Sabine Strohem ~ Nick Bantock

Kingsley looked magnificent, like a Regencyera fever dream. If Jane Austen had set eyes on Kingsley, she would never have written her genteel comedies of manner.
She would have written porn. ~ Tiffany Reisz

Random acts of kindness are essential to our wellbeing, as they liberate us from self-obsession, selfishness, and isolation; they are the result of an open and loving nature. True generosity is giving without expectation, with no need to be repaid in any form. ~ Ed & Deb Shapiro

What if deep down inside you...you knew you were more amazing and magnificent than you thought you were? ~ Roger James McDonald

Desari reached up to trace his lips. 'You have a perfect mouth, Julian. An amazingly perfect mouth.'
He arched an eyebrow at her. 'Just my mouth is amazing?'
'You are such a man.' Her eyes laughed at him. 'You need constant reassurance that you are magnificent.'
He nodded. 'Magnificent. I like that. I could live with magnificent. Good choice of words, lifemate. ~ Christine Feehan

Hermann Boerhaave still defined melancholia as merely "a long persistent delirium without fever, during which the sufferer is obsessed by only one thought. ~ Michel Foucault

French architecture always manages to combine the most magnificent underlying themes of architecture; like Roman design, it looks to the community. ~ Stephen Gardiner

It may very well be that the frotteurist is a helpless victim in the clutches of his obsession, but it's equally possible that he's simply a bored creep looking for a cheap thrill. ~ Jon Ronson

The real problem at the moment is that the banks - because of their existing culture, which is frankly anti-business, obsession with short-term trading profits, not focusing on the long term - are throttling the recovery of British industry. ~ Vince Cable

I should not yield to it, he told himself once again as he walked along carrying the briefcase. Compulsion-obsession-phobia. But he could not free himself. It in my grip, I in its, he thought. ~ Philip K. Dick

Guitars have been the obsession of my life. I first picked one up at the age of four and I've been a guitar junkie ever since. ~ Johnny Marr

I wonder why love is so often equated with joy when it is everything else as well. Devastation, balm, obsession, granting and receiving excessive value, and losing it again. It is recognition, often of what you are not but might be. It sears and it heals. It is beyond pity and above law. It can seem like truth. ~ Florida Scott-Maxwell

Evil Hall had been transformed into a magnificent ballroom, glittering with green tinsel, black balloons, thousands of green-flamed candles, and a spinning chandelier streaking wall murals with emerald bursts of light. Around a towering ice sculpture of two entwined snakes, Hort and Dot stumbled through a waltz, Anadil wrapped her arms around Vex, Brone tried not to step on Mona's green feet, and Hester and Ravan swayed and whispered as more villainous couples waltzed around them. Ravan's bunk mates picked up the music on reed violins as more pairs flooded onto the floor, clumsy, bashful, but aglow with happiness, dancing beneath a spangled banner:
THE 1ST ANNUAL VILLAINS NO BALL ~ Soman Chainani

If I were a German today, I would be proud, proud but also worried. I would be proud of the magnificent achievement of rebuilding my country, entrenching democracy and assuming the undoubtedly preponderant position in Europe. But a united Germany can't and won't subordinate its national interests in economic or in foreign policy to those of the Community indefinitely. Germany's new pre-eminence is a fact - and its power is a problem - as much for Germans as for the rest of Europe. ~ Margaret Thatcher

It's magnificent, Alyosha, this science! A new man's arising-that I understand ... And yet I am sorry to lose God! ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Duty, the most indecent of all obsessions, was only another name for love. ~ Colleen McCullough

I'm inspired by dreams and shadows, obsession and desire. By nature, I'm a dream collector and never stop working. I question people about their weirdest dreams and the strangest, most inexplicable experiences they've had. All this information whirls around in my mind, and new dreams emerge that form the seeds of stories and novels. ~ Storm Constantine

Be kind to her when she comes back. Her love is not only for children but for humanity. She will be a good-hearted and magnificent zealot one day. As her mother is now.
Goodbye, Kate. And below he had signed as he rarely did, with his Christian name. ~ Dorothy Dunnett

It was important to my brother. And now"-I shook my head, knowing I sounded like I'd lost it-"now it's become this obsession." I seemed to have quite a collection of those.
Clouds darkened overhead, forming a canopy of gray. "But what if you let your grief become your guilt?" His voice was as soft as the night breeze. "It's okay to let go."
I shook my head and moved out of his grip. "I can't," I said. "Not now. Not yet."
Abd sometimes I feared ... not ever. ~ Jenny B. Jones

What is love?"
"I don't know."
"Love is the name given to the bond Kemal feels with Füsun whenever they travel along highways or sidewalks; visit houses, gardens, or rooms; or whenever he watches her sitting in tea gardens and restaurants, and at dinner tables."
"Hmmm … that's a lovely answer,~ But isn't love what you feel when you can't see me?"
"Under those circumstances, it becomes a terrible obsession, an illness. ~ Orhan Pamuk

To achieve the mood of a warrior is not a simple matter. It is a revolution. To regard the lion and the water rats and our fellow men as equals is a magnificent act of a warrior's spirit. It takes power to do that. ~ Carlos Castaneda