No Other Choice Quotes

If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion. ~ Joseph Brodsky

I find it impossible to subscribe to a philosophy that believes that the destruction of human life is a legitimate solution to a problem that is mostly social, economic and psychological, ... In reality, most women 'choose' abortion because they believe they have no other choice. ~ Patricia Heaton

You're either attaching to your thoughts or inquiring. There's no other choice. ~ Byron Katie

Steele knew Breezy wasn't going to be won over easily, but as far as he was concerned, there was no other choice. He 'had' to win her over for his own self-preservation. ~ Christine Feehan

Life is complicated. It's a form of joy to have no other choice. ~ M O Walsh

Don't make the same mistakes that everyone else makes. Make wonderful mistakes. Make the kind of mistakes that make people so shocked that they have no other choice but to be a little impressed. ~ Jenny Lawson

I realized then how much alike we were. Both of us looked backwards to a beloved time that was lost to us, a time where everything had been beautiful. Both of us looked forward to some time and place that would be better. And both of us were here, now, in a grim, unhappy time where little was as we wanted it to be. We lived in our memories and in our hopes, enduring the present because we had no other choice, and because we loved the people who lived here with us. ~ Susan Palwick

Bodies could be beacons, too, Saul knew. A lighthouse was a fixed beacon for a fixed purpose; a person was a moving one. But people still emanated light in their way, still shone across the miles as a warning, an invitation, or even just a static signal. People opened up so they became a brightness, or they went dark. They turned their light inward sometimes, so you couldn't see it, because they had no other choice. ~ Jeff VanderMeer

He found his shivers receding as his resolve grew. It really wasn't that cold. The fear and horror of his night in the forest had left a mark on him, a mark that might never fade, but he would face it and overcome it. There was no other choice. ~ Anthony Ryan

In my life I had no other choice than to become a strong person. ~ Donatella Versace

A wise man once found peace in the practice of saying nothing, leaving the gossiper with no other choice but to fabricate gossip about a wise man saying nothing ~ Herbert Maurice Brunner

In this, our age of infamy Man's choice is but to be A tyrant, traitor, prisoner: No other choice has he. ~ Alexander Pushkin

The choice before human beings, is not, as a rule , between good and evil but between two evils. You can let the Nazis rule the world : that is evil; or you can overthrow them by war , which is also evil. There is no other choice before you, and whichever you choose you will not come out with clean hands. ~ George Orwell

You'll be surprised what someone is able to handle given no other choice. ~ Tarryn Fisher

If you truly want to escape from everyday life, you've no other choice but to keep evolving. ~ Orihara Izaya

We have no other choice but to go on managing the conflict. We propose a stability plan: We want to strengthen the Palestinian Authority economically and establish mutual industrial zones and help them to develop independent energy capabilities, enabling the Palestinians to live their lives independently and have a future. This is where the European States should invest, not in NGOs that harm Israel. ~ Ayelet Shaked

Enjoy the life as if there is no other choice. ~ Debasish Mridha

She ran because she had no other choice. She feared what would happen if she dared to stop. There was no time to think. There was barely any time for her to breathe. On her broken ankle, she ran. With her bruised arms, she ran. With her bleeding sides, she ran because she knew today was the day she was meant to die. ~ Judyann McCole

To avoid a military conflict, Saddam Hussein has no other choice than to leave the country. ~ Ari Fleischer

An abuser doesn't change because he feels guilty or gets sober or finds God. He doesn't change after seeing the fear in his children's eyes or feeling them drift away from him. It doesn't suddenly dawn on him that his partner deserves better treatment. Because of his self-focus, combined with the many rewards he gets from controlling you, an abuser changes only when he has to, so the most important element in creating a context for change in an abuser is placing him in a situation where he has no other choice. Otherwise, it is highly unlikely that he will ever change his behavior. ~ Lundy Bancroft

...But we will succeed. I've seen the future, Jorj. We will succeed, because we have no other choice."

-Thrawn ~ Timothy Zahn

I'd heard people say that as a traveler, you have to be careful not to get attached. Now that I'd felt it, I'd say that's garbage. If you are lucky enough to find people worth getting attached to, attach yourself with nothing less than all of your heart. Because if you find a companion to walk a stretch of the road with you, a person whose warmth and kindness makes your journey feel much brighter, you have no other choice - you are among the very, very fortunate. ~ Signe Pike

I knew I wanted to do a show on NBC - it's rooted in its history; it's part rooted in nostalgia and part rooted in the potential of it. For me, there was no other choice. ~ Jerrod Carmichael

You must believe before everything else that the revolution must come, that there is no other choice, ~ Abdullah Ocalan

We were the Colors of our dragons whether we lived or died. There were no other choices for us. ~ Sarah K.L. Wilson

We brood about what we should have done differently or better or what we should not have done, because we are doomed to do so, but it does not lead anywhere. The disaster was inevitable, is what we then say and for a while, if only a short while, we are quiet. Then we start all over again asking questions and probing and probing until we have gone half crazy. We constantly look for someone responsible, or for several persons responsible, in order to make things bearable for ourselves at least for a moment, and naturally, if we are honest, we invariably end up with ourselves. We have reconciled ourselves to the fact that we have to exist, even though most of the time against our will, because we have no other choice, and only because we have again and again reconciled ourselves to this fact, every day and every moment anew, can we progress at all. And where we are progressing to, we have, if we are honest, known all our lives, to death, except that most of the time we are careful not to admit it. ~ Thomas Bernhard

If you want to reach the non-everyday, you'll either have to move somewhere else or get into more "underground" things. But once you step into that world, it'll only take about three days for that to seem normal, too. If you truly want to continue escaping from everyday life, you've no other choice but to keep evolving. No matter whether you're aiming higher or lower. Enjoy each day for what it is ~ Ryohgo Narita

In the past, humans hesitated when they took lives, even non-human lives. But society had changed, and they no longer felt that way. As humans grew stronger, I think that we became quite arrogant, losing the sorrow of 'we have no other choice.' I think that in the essence of human civilization, we have the desire to become rich without limit, by taking the lives of other creatures. ~ Hayao Miyazaki

I told you you'd come," said a nearby voice, one Isobel knew well. "You said you would."
( ... )
"You shouldn't have, though," he said, and looked up, his face twisted with anger. "Even if we knew you would, you shouldn't have." He got up and began moving toward her.
"Why," he growled, "when we will only show you we are not worth it? Why, when we have no other choice but to prove to you we're not worth it? ~ Kelly Creagh

I'm currently working on a romantic comedy between me and Philip Seymour Hoffman. So my next step is to write something so mind-blowingly spectacular that he has no other choice but to agree to do it! Wish me luck. ~ Haley Webb

Riders called me up afterwards to say that they had had no other choice. I couldn't understand the way they changed their tune. ~ Patrik Sinkewitz

If you different, be different. People'll get used to it. They ain't got no other choice ~ Daniel Black

Some things, if you don't do them, they follow you all your life, whispering in your ear," says Granny Carne. She faces me sternly as if she's judging me. "You'll find a dozen good reasons why you pulled back from the Call, and you'll even fool yourself that you had no other choice. But in your bed at night you'll curse yourself for a coward. ~ Helen Dunmore

You either believe what you think or
you question it. There's no other choice. ~ Byron Katie

It would occur to him later that the body knows how to fight when it has to. That it's a secret the body keeps, just as it does the secrets of how to run or jump a creek or throw a fuck or - quite likely - die when there's no other choice. That under conditions of extreme stress it simply takes over and does what needs doing while the brain stands off to one side, unable to do anything but whistle and tap its foot ~ Stephen King

It was excruciating at first, getting over Trip. Not that I ever really did, mind you. But during those first years, I had no other choice but to go on with my life. Because do you ever really get over your first love? Even during your twenties, when you experience that initial taste of being a grown-up ... that teenager still lives inside you. That person you were before the world started telling you how to be, what to say, who you should be with. Before you lost yourself in expectations and plans, and could just be a work-in-progress with only the vaguest results in mind. ~ T. Torrest

Kerwyn pulled me aside as the last of the supplies were being loaded. "Please, Jaron, don't go."
Despite his pleas, I could only shake my head. "There's no other choice now."
"I thought a little sleep would change your mind."
Placing my hand on Kerwyn's shoulder, I said, "I had the same concern, so I kept myself awake. ~ Jennifer A. Nielsen

You have a job but you don't always have job security, you have your own home but you worry about mortgage rates going up, you can just about manage but you worry about the cost of living and the quality of the local school because there is no other choice for you.rankly, not everybody in Westminster understands what it's like to live like this and some need to be told that it isn't a game. ~ Theresa May

I had a husband who stayed with me, and small children, and I had no choice but to pull myself together and rebuild a different kind of life. There was no other choice. ~ Kimberly Quinn

When you get punched, you have to get up. You have no other choice. If you don't, you're not going to grow, you're not going to get better as a player. ~ Scott Brooks

Dead is dead. For whatever reason. And in choice between life and death, there is no other choice. ~ David Levithan

WE ARE DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY - I mean our country itself, our land. This is a terrible thing to know, but it is not a reason for despair unless we decide to continue the destruction. If we decide to continue the destruction, that will not be because we have no other choice. This destruction is not necessary. It is not inevitable, except that by our submissiveness we make it so. ~ Wendell Berry

My past is my shadow, it follows me everywhere I go. Well, all those things come from when I had no other choice. They put my back against the wall. I do what I gotta do. ~ Curtis Jackson

In the vicinity the city's committee consider me
The trilogy of terror, whatever I do I bring light
You're blinded by the glare of the trendsetter
Beware when I strike, blueprints like no other
The soldier of fortune, the undercover
Rebel of rap attackin the ones who's attackin blacks
I'm on a mission of peace, I make tracks
Elevate with the almighty God in front of me
Teach seeds in the hood the truth, the wannabe
Competitor will have no other choice but to surrender
Can't stand the pressure, the extinction agenda. ~ Prince Po

He laughed, like someone had stabbed him in the chest and he had no other choice but to find it amusing. ~ Marissa Meyer

Yet losing him seemed unbearable. He was the one she loved, the one she would always love, and as he leaned in to kiss her, she gave herself over to him. While he held her close, she ran her hands over his shoulders and back, feeling the strength in his arms. She knew he'd wanted more in their relationship than she'd been willing to offer, but here and now, she suddenly knew she had no other choice. There was only this moment, and it was theirs. ~ Nicholas Sparks

Khesot was looking not at the map but at us, his old eyes sad.
I winced, knowing what he'd say if asked: that he had not been trained for his position any more than nature had suited Bran and me for war.
But there was no other choice.
"So if Hrani takes her riding up here on Mount Elios, mayhap they can spy out Galdran's numbers better," Branaric said slowly. "Then we send out someone to lure 'em to the Ghost Fall Ravine."
I forced my attention back to the map. "Even if the Marquis fails to see so obvious a trap," I said, finally, smoothing a wrinkle with my fingers, "they're necessarily all strung out going through that bottleneck. I don't see how we can account for many of them before they figure out what we're at, and retreat. I say we strike fast, in total surprise. We could set fire to their tents and steal all their mounts. That'd set 'em back a little."
Bran frowned. "None of our attempts to scare 'em off have worked, though--even with Debegri. He just sent for more reinforcements, and now there's this new commander. Attacking their camp sounds more risky to us than to them."
Khesot still said nothing, leaning over only to tap out and reload his pipe. I followed the direction of his gaze to my brother's face. Had Branaric been born without title or parental plans, he probably would have found his way into a band of traveling players and there enjoyed a life's contentment. Did one not know him by sight, there was no sign in his worn dress o ~ Sherwood Smith

Don't be so concerned," he whispered. "We will get through this, I promise."
"What makes you so certain?" I couldn't help my skepticism.
"We have no other choice," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Is that really all you can come up with?" I scowled. "Couldn't you just lie and tell me you have some kind of secret badass weapon that is going to make this a piece of cake? ~ M.A. George

My Darling,

It is late at night and though the words are coming hard to me, I can't escape the feeling that it's time that I finally answer your question.

Of course I forgive you. I forgive you now, and I forgave you the moment I read your letter. In my heart, I had no other choice. Leaving you once was hard enough; to have done it a second time would have been impossible. I loved you too much to have let you go again. Though I'm still grieving over what might have been, I find myself thankful that you came into my life for even a short period of time. In the beginning, I'd assumed that we were somehow brought together to help you through your time of grief. Yet now, one year later, I've come to believe that it was the other way around.

Ironically, I am in the same position you were, the first time we met. As I write, I am struggling with the ghost of someone I loved and lost. I now understand more fully the difficulties you were going through, and I realize how painful it must have been for you to move on. Sometimes my grief is overwhelming, and even though I understand that we will never see each other again, there is a part of me that wants to hold on to you forever. It would be easy for me to do that because loving someone else might diminish my memories of you. Yet, this is the paradox: Even though I miss you greatly, it's because of you that I don't dread the future. Because you were able to fall in love with me, you have given me hop ~ Nicholas Sparks

When a man is shooting a handgun, it's just like he is shooting because that's his job, and he has no other choice. It's no good. When a girl is shooting a handgun, it's really something. ~ Hayao Miyazaki

Wow ... At least I can rest assured that you definitely can't read my mind," I remarked. "Clearly you know nothing about me ... because the surest way to keep me from doing something is to tell me I have no other choice. ~ M.A. George

A man cannot conceal joy," I said, though I wasn't sure where it was coming from, "because joy undoes deceit. What I have, I will share, because I must. There is no other choice. ~ Kristina Meister

Black Girls rock because we have no other choice. ~ Iyanla Vanzant

Nobody sets out to break new ground. I think change comes when people have no other choice. ~ Felicia Day

It was the Law of Attraction that she was referring to, and it was something I had always understood on a certain, nebulous level but rarely had paid attention to until a situation got so extreme that I had no other choice but to listen because I was out of other options. Like attracts like. Positive attracts positive, negative attracts negative. Change your outlook, change your day-to-day experience, change your future, change your world. Now that I was more conscious of it, I was working to enact it more into my life by making better choices and opening myself to the change that appeared for me to reach out and experience. That was key, too--being open to the change and allowing it to happen. Not being too afraid to experience something efferent and unfamiliar. Allowing yourself to stretch and grow in new ways of being. Change was scary, but it was exciting, too. It all comes back to you and your outlook. ~ Madelyn Alt

This is what people who have never wanted to die don't understand: the worst thing for those of us who do is feeling like we have to live when we don't want to. That we have to be when we don't want to, exist where we don't want to. What we want is nothingness, numbness, because that has to be better than the life of quiet desperation we're living. Mara's hand is in my hair as I lean my head back against the cracked leather seat, eyes closed, mind ruminating. The others…they weren't missing what I'm missing, is the thing. They didn't exist because they had no other choice. They didn't see the world through a lens in which every scene contains a door marked exit, a door I'm forever unable to open. They lived because they wanted to. Until the end, when something, or someone, made them stop wanting. And I need to find out what. ~ Michelle Hodkin

I've had many doors closed in my face. More, in fact, than I can count. I hit rock bottom, but got back up and continued. I had no other choice; I had people depending on me. ~ Hagir Elsheikh

I just always loved comedy and I really wanted to be good at it. And it was heartbreaking, 'cause I started and I wasn't good at it. I was only 17-years-old, so I had a lot to learn about life in general. But I just kept on trying. I was young enough and stupid enough and I had no other choice. I had nothing else I was good at. ~ Louis C.K.

If I let you, you would make me destroy myself. In order to survive you, I must first survive myself. I can sink no further, and I cannot forgive you. There's no choice but to confront you, to engage you, to erase you. I've gone to great lengths to expand my threshold of pain. I will use my mistakes against you. There's no other choice. I'm shameless now, I'm nameless now. I'm nothing now, I'm no one now. But my soul must be iron, 'cause my fear is naked. I'm naked and fearless, and my fear is naked. ~ Henry Rollins

Every little prick out there wants me to lift them. I had this one kid from Oklahoma, big fat shitter he was. Legs as fat as a Downers forehead screaming Up, up, Hulk up! at me for ten minutes until I had no other choice. Fat fucker damn near put my back out and then his old man stiffs me with Canadian dollars. Canadian, can you believe that shit?! ~ David Louden

Welcome to the apocalypse. Where make-do is a motto and life seems wrong, out-of-place. Where the weak become strong because they have no other choice. ~ Caroline George

The trouble with rules, though, is that you'll always be tempted to break one- for the right reasons, due to unavoidable circumstances, because it feels as if there's no other choice. And once you break one, the rest seem like so much broken glass. The damage is already done. ~ Stacey Kade

Armenia categorically rejects the resumption of military hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh as an option. In case Azerbaijan resorts to military aggression, Armenia will have no other choice but to recognize the Nagorno Karabakh Republic de jure and to employ all its capabilities to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh. ~ Serzh Sargsyan

In real pain we have no other choice but to learn to ask for help and on a daily basis. Pain tells us we belong and cannot live forever alone or in isolation. Pain makes us understand reciprocation. ~ David Whyte

I realized that we all have the ability to live in worlds of our own doing, to own what happens to us, and to shape our inner worlds with such a positive force that our outer worlds have no other choice but to conform. ~ Andrew Kendall

Independence was easy when there was no other choice. ~ Sorcha Mowbray

I can't believe the world was created in six days. I do not take Genesis or Revelation literally. I AM OUT. I am alone. I am an outsider for Christ. I will study my Bible, and pray to God in private and alone. I have no other choice. ~ Anne Rice

In view of the fourteen incidents of sabotage and infiltration perpetrated in the past month alone, Israel may have no other choice but to adopt suitable countermeasures against the focal points of sabotage. Israel will continue to take action to prevent any and all attempts to perpetrate sabotage within her territory. There will be no immunity for any state which aids or abets such acts. ~ Levi Eshkol

Some things you say because you have no other choice. Some things you keep to yourself. But, some things are more than what you say. They're what you do. Or don't do. And these things, they speak for themselves. These are the things that affect people the most. <3 ~ Tanya Masse

Why don't you just do it, then?" Racath hissed. "Just kill me. I dare you."

Now, I assume you know what this is. You've seen this before in other stories - the part where the disgruntled villain stands over the hero. He is triumphant, the hero now at his mercy. But when commanded to slay him, he hesitates. He lowers his sword. And he says: "I cannot."

If you are to take away but one thing from the words I have spoken, let it be this: there is a world of difference between "I Cannot" and "I will not".

"I cannot" is a surrender. It implies a lack of options. Someone who says such a thing does so only because they have no other choice. They do not WISH to relent - in fact, they usually want to obey their mandate and destroy the hero at their feet. But they cannot, because the guilt is too unbearable. But that does not make him a better man; all that a man who says "I cannot" has done, is given in to the compulsion to repent.

Allow me to make myself perfectly clear - I HAD other options. Easy options. Simple options. I could have killed Racath Thanjel that day. I could have killed him and all the others, too. I could have left them dead and bloody on that grassy hill, and gone trotting back to the Imperator's lap. I could have shrugged off the attrition that had dogged my every step, thought better of my disenssion, given up on all hope of absolution and accepted my damnation. And I could have spent the rest of eternity destroying God' ~ S.G. Night

I am always happy because I have no other choice. ~ Debasish Mridha

Maybe I'll be able to relax and enjoy my life without letting fear keep me from living it. Maybe one day I'll easily acknowledge the frank truth ... that I have no other choice but to breathe and move forward. ~ Jenny Lawson

She went to him because there was no other choice. ~ Christine Feehan

I usually wake up far after breakfast. So I have no other choice but to go straight to dinner. ~ Marilyn Manson

In his essay, 'Perpetual Peace,' the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, argued that perpetual peace would eventually come to the world in one of two ways, by human insight or by conflicts and catastrophes of a magnitude that left humanity no other choice. We are at such a juncture. ~ Henry Kissinger

I let myself feel the fear, give in to it completely, for the space of several deep, long breaths. Then, because I had no other choice, I let it go. ~ Vicki Keire

You must learn early in life to endure what comes your way. We, as women, have no other choice. ~ Diana Wallis Taylor

Wars are all fought by men who either believe they are right or who have no other choice. How they fight defines who they are when the blood stops flowing. ~ Lucas Bale

NC-17 means that you get it in like 3 theaters. They won't run the spots on MTV, won't run the advertising. It's the kiss of death so there was really no other choice. ~ Rob Zombie

If your humanity overflows, divinity will follow and serve you. It has no other choice. ~ Sadhguru

Peter pushed off from the roof and stalked a few feet away, his back to her. "Please tell me this is all some kind of a sick joke."
"It's the truth. All of it. That's why hunters are after me."
"How did they find out?" Peter asked, swiveling toward her now.
"I think Beck ratted me out. I went to his house this morning and told him what had happened. He was furious, Peter. I've never seen anyone that angry."
"Duh! Now there's a surprise," her friend replied sarcastically. "I saw the way he looked at you at your dad's funeral. Of course he'd be mad. You're about the only one on the planet who doesn't realize how he feels about you."
"He never said anything," she retorted.
"Hey, we guys don't blurt out that kind of stuff," he replied. "It's against the man code. Beck may never have said how he felt, but everything he did for you should have been a big clue. I mean, come on, how slow are you?"
She glowered at her friend. "I figured he was doing it because of my father."
"Maybe, but the guy is really into you, Riley."
"No way. If he'd liked me, he wouldn't have blown me off and - "
"Ancient history, girl!" he countered. "You were, what, fifteen? Your dad would have torn him apart if he'd touched you. Beck had no other choice."
"He didn't have to be so mean."
"God, will you listen to yourself?" Peter retorted.
"You have no idea how much he hurt me," she shot back.
"Give it up, will you? You're my best friend, but ~ Jana Oliver

I'm not talking about loving someone in expectation of anything in return. I'm talking about loving someone because of who they are. Because of the way they talk, they smile, they fight; because of what they say and what they believe; because of all the wonderful, annoying, beautiful, frustrating, stupid, lovely, embarrassing things they do and they are. Because they are the one person in all the world who makes you finally understand how perfectly, intricately amazing a human being can be. And if they do not love me it changes nothing, because I will not love them so they love me, I will love them because I have no other choice. ~ George DeValier

The only way for errors to occur in a program is by being put there by the author. No other mechanisms are known. Programs can't acquire bugs by sitting around with other buggy programs. ~ Harlan Mills

I am perpetually indecisive on even the most mundane decisions, and I couldn't imagine leaving such an important choice to other people ~ Aziz Ansari

Jealousy can't sour someone to this extreme, can it? (Aiden)
It can and it does. Believe me. I've seen a lot worse than this in my billion or so years of existence – the first murder man committed was one brother against the other for no other reason than that one petty emotion. Jealousy turns to hatred which then turns to poison. It infects and it destroys until it eats someone alive. (Deimos) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

I will love you, I will honor you, I will give you my affections. I will walk with no other partner, and no matter how dark or how cold the way, no matter how weak you become, I will love you always and walk together with you until we reach the King's City. ~ Annie Wald

Nick snorted. "Fine. Whatever. We've got to find him. If for no other reason, we don't need him to do something that could out himself in public."
"Yeah," Caleb said sarcastically. "They have laws against exposing yourself in public. ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

There is never a sudden revelation, a complete and tidy explanation for why it happened, or why it ends, or why or who you are. You want one and I want one, but there isn't one. It comes in bits and pieces, and you stitch them together wherever they fit, and when you are done you hold yourself up, and still there are holes and you are a rag doll, invented, imperfect. And yet you are all that you have, so you must be enough. There is no other way. ~ Marya Hornbacher

I try to express in my films things that no other art can approach. In my monster films for example, I use special effects in the same way one would use a special film stock, a special camera, and so on. Monster films permit me to use all of these elements at the same time. They are the most visual kind of film. ~ Ishiro Honda

Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and the we'll need no other light. ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Let's start with this statistic: You are delicious. Be brave, my sweet. I know you can get lonely. I know you can crave companionship and sex and love so badly that it physically hurts. But I truly believe that the only way you can find out that there's something better out there is to first believe there's something better out there. What other choice is there? ~ Greg Behrendt

There are no other choices for you, Prince Jalan, and when there are no choices all men are equally brave. ~ Mark Lawrence

The bravest souls I know are those who are willing to risk having the entire world turns its back on them, and all they've ever wanted to do – and they would lay down their lives to do it,
because there is no other way to defeat truth– is simply, to tell the world
with their whole heart their story. ~ Xue Yun

You are a Jew?' the Dalai Lama asked him. When Kevin said yes, His Holiness said, 'Judaism and Buddhism are very much alike. You should learn more about both and become a better Jew.'

I envy that. My tradition has a hard time blessing strong bonds to other traditions, especially those whose truths run counter to our own. We like people to make a conscious choice for Christ and then stay on the road they have chosen, inviting other people to join them as persuasively as they can. It is difficult to imagine a Christian minister talking to a Buddhist who has spent years studying a Christian concept and then telling him to go become a better Buddhist. In some circles, that would constitute a failure on the minister's part, a missed opportunity to save a soul. This is another way in which Buddhism and Christianity differ. Both are evangelistic - what else is a Buddhist mission doing in a suburb of Atlanta? - but the Buddhists seem to understand what Gandhi meant by the 'evangelism of the rose.' Distressed by the missionary tactics of Christians in his country, he reminded them that a rose does not have to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance, allowing people to respond as they will. ~ Barbara Brown Taylor

In today's impoverished dialogue, critiques of liberalism are often naively called "conservative," as if twenty-five hundred years of Western intellectual tradition presented no other alternatives. ~ Camille Paglia

The myriad valleys could have arisen anywhere on the landscape. The current positions are quite accidental. If we could repeat the experiment, we might obtain no valleys at all, or a completely different system. Yet we now stand at the shore line contemplating the fine spacing of valleys and their even contact with the sea. How easy it is to be misled and to assume that no other landscape could possibly have arisen. ~ Stephen Jay Gould

There are parallel universes in which different events have happened to the same people. An alternate choice has been made, or an accident has turned out differently. Everyone has duplicates of themselves in these other worlds. Different selves with different lives, different luck.
Variations. ~ E. Lockheart

A trait no other nation seems to possess in quite the same degree as we do namely, a feeling of almost childish injury and resentment unless the world as a whole recognizes how innocent we are of anything but the most generous and harmless intentions ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Intuitive powers played a central role in my scientific work, not wild speculation, yet a valued resource when no other approach was available. ~ Albert Einstein

The Bible is the most thought suggesting book in the world. No other deals with such grand themes. ~ Herrick Johnson