Oxymoron Quotes

Mothering Oxymoron: Reminding the kids to not talk with food in their mouths, yet I have food in my mouth while trying to correct them in the moment. ~ Mommy Moo Moo

Even the word 'unconditional' is superfluous, because love, by its true definition, is unconditional. 'Conditional love' is an oxymoron -- a contradiction in terms. As soon as we put a condition on love, it become something else entirely.... unconditional love is a state of being, not a emotion. It means it has no opposite. Human love is an emotion, and as with all other emotions, it's part of duality. An opposite emotion, such as fear or hate, balances it out. But unconditional love just IS. It's not one side of the coin -- it's the WHOLE coin. ~ Anita Moorjani

Dying isn't the only way into the Underworld, but it's the safest.
Well, that sounded like an oxymoron if I'd ever heard one. ~ Jennifer L. Armentrout

My parents divorced when I was born, and my mother is a political science professor, like a feminist Mormon, which is sort of an oxymoron. ~ Eliza Dushku

Let's get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous. So, in a strange way, I'm pleased that the racist folks of Arizona have
officially declared, in banning me alongside Urrea, Baca, and Castillo, that their anti-immigration laws are also anti-Indian. I'm also strangely pleased that the folks of Arizona
have officially announced their fear of an educated underclass. You give those brown kids some books about brown folks and what happens? Those brown kids change the world. In the effort to vanish our books, Arizona has actually given them enormous power. Arizona has made our books sacred documents now. ~ Sherman Alexie

An oxymoron? What's that? A moron who studies at Oxford? ~ Johnny Carson

For many people - from secular feminists to observant Jews - the notion of a feminist Judaism is an oxymoron. ~ Judith Plaskow

Piper directed me into downtown Los Angeles.
I considered this a bad sign. "Downtown Los Angeles" had always struck me as an oxymoron, like "hot ice cream" or "military intelligence". (Yes, Ares, that was an insult.) ~ Rick Riordan

Conceptual art' is an oxymoron. Concepts are articulations of fact or supposition, not attributes of quality. ~ Walter Darby Bannard

Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women - two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians - have rendered the notion of "capitalist democracy" into an oxymoron. ~ Peter Thiel

I'm a Christian. I believe that greatness has to do with the quality of love shown to the least of thy brethren and the quality of service to those who are catching hell. When you look at it in that sense, I'd say America has had great moments, but I wouldn't call it a great nation. I don't think there have been any great nations in the history of the world, because in every nation you find poor people being subjugated. So, I see the term "great nation" as a contradiction, as an oxymoron. ~ Cornel West

A Bible-quoting erotica writer--you are quite the oxymoron. ~ Tiffany Reisz

'Doing your own thing' and being a Christian is an oxymoron. As Christians, every day we need to be presenting ourselves before the Lord, thanking Him for His mercy and asking Him to make us more like Him by emptying us of our will, so God's will can be done. ~ Monica Johnson

And there's no figuring out the unknowable. And there's some kind of oxymoron in that that's more moron than anything else. ~ Sarah Mussi

I took the stairs two at a time. There's a time for decorum and a time to run like a crazed vorpal's after you, except a crazed vorpal's an oxymoron. This was the time to run. ~ L.E. Modesitt Jr.

'Sustainable Development' is an oxymoron. 'Development' in all it's senses entails expansion and wanting more. Continual expansion and wanting more are unsustainable. Globally we are approaching the point when the only sustainable way forward is to want less. Indeed, the choice element may be removed from us and we will just have to have less. In the meantime we still have some choices about how to influence our future ~ Don Johnston

What is conditional love?

Conditional love is an oxymoron.
Conditional love is an imposter of love.
Conditional love is something other than love,
because you cannot conditionalize the un-conditional. ~ Donald L. Hicks

Ian chuckled. "You know what the world's greatest oxymoron is?" "Happily married," Sid said wearily. ~ Peter F. Hamilton

You know, my degrees are in computer engineering. I spent a lot of time in the tech industry. And I like to say that I don't invest in tech because I spent time in it. And I saw firsthand that the durability of technology moats is many times an oxymoron. ~ Mohnish Pabrai

. . . my fear, my joy more horrible than my fear, my obscene words, my words which are keys locking me into a mirror, with you, but ever alone. ~ Alejandra Pizarnik

Correct thinkers think that 'baseball trivia' is an oxymoron: nothing about baseball is trivial. ~ George Will

Twenty-three stories up and all I could see out the windows was grey smog. They could call it the City of the Angels if they wanted to, but if there were angels out there, they had to be flying blind. ~ Laurell K. Hamilton

For Tozer, entertainment was simply the Church synchronizing with the world and succumbing to it. It was utter nonsense to him that the Church wanted to bring itself "up to speed" with the world around it. A worldly church was, in Tozer's thinking, an oxymoron and completely anathema. ~ A.W. Tozer

The Term "a Criminal Lawyer" Is the Opposite of an Oxymoron ~ Carsten Stroud

Being both entrepreneurial and social is no longer an oxymoron, but rather a tautology. ~ Jeremy Rifkin

By its durability this settlement proved that conservative liberty is an oxymoron, not a contradiction in terms. ~ Timothy C.W. Blanning

Most of us persist in regarding leadership as synonymous with - indeed solely derived from - high position. Perhaps the notion of grass-roots leadership strikes us as too much of an oxymoron; confronted with apparent paradox, our imaginations fail ... I believe that in the future, our ideas about the nature of leadership will undergo a radical transformation. As the instrumental use of knowledge continues to redefine the nature and purpose of organizations, we will begin to look at those on the front lines for leadership. ~ Sally Helgesen

BLOOM: I take it that a successful therapy is an oxymoron.
INTERVIEWER: It's always interminable?
BLOOM: I do not know anyone who has ever benefited from Freudian or any other mode of analysis, except by being, to use the popular trope for it, so badly shrunk, that they become quite dried out. That is to say, all passion spent. Perhaps they become better people, but they also become stale and uninteresting people with very few exceptions. Like dried-out cheese, or wilted flowers. ~ Harold Bloom

Fresh ideas from this group was virtually an oxymoron, Marlys thought, wriggling her butt against the comfortless chair. ~ John Sandford

Let us talk about oxymoron, common sense, for instance. ~ Lois Greiman

Pushy bottom--that's a bit of a stereotype."

"A Dom who isn't pushing--that's a bit of an oxymoron," Stunt challenged him. ~ Lyn Gala

Independent film is not only an oxymoron; it doesn't exist anymore. ~ Martha Plimpton

A bachelor's life is no life for a single man. ~ Samuel Goldwyn

The reality is a reality check is an oxymoron ~ Tom Schafer

Is it just me or do they put the MORON in OXYMORON? ~ Melissa Cutler

The first is that seemingly small features of social situations can have massive effects on people's behavior; nudges are everywhere, even if we do not see them. Choice architecture, both good and bad, is pervasive and unavoidable, and it greatly affects our decisions. The second claim is that libertarian paternalism is not an oxymoron. Choice architects can preserve freedom of choice while also nudging people in directions that will improve their lives. ~ Richard H. Thaler

The business of music. You know, it's an oxymoron in a sense. It's like the two things. Although we both need each other, they really don't go together. ~ Kelis

Emotional intelligence, the perfect oxymoron! ~ David Nicholls

I guess I'm a spiritual secularist, if that's not an oxymoron. My paths of secularism and spirituality are the same: I try to do the appropriate thing at each moment. ~ Paul Krassner

A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to. ~ Banksy

A German sense of humor is an oxymoron. ~ Joan Rivers

A Manifesto for Introverts
1. There's a word for 'people who are in their heads too much': thinkers.
2. Solitude is a catalyst for innovation.
3. The next generation of quiet kids can and must be raised to know their own strengths.
4. Sometimes it helps to be a pretend extrovert. There will always be time to be quiet later.
5. But in the long run, staying true to your temperament is key to finding work you love and work that matters.
6. One genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards.
7. It's OK to cross the street to avoid making small talk.
8. 'Quiet leadership' is not an oxymoron.
9. Love is essential; gregariousness is optional.
10. 'In a gentle way, you can shake the world.' -Mahatma Gandhi ~ Susan Cain

The term congressional hearing is an oxymoron. No congressional hearing is ever called to gather information. Rather, it is an exercise designed strictly for posturing, by people who have already made up their minds, looking for ammunition to support their positions. ~ Jack McDevitt

There's a FEW THINGS you need to get STRAIGHT about being GAY..."
"That's an OXYmoron."
"You'll be an OXYmoron if you don't listen. GAY men SUCK and FUCK. They don't go around falling in LOVE. At least not with every TOM, DICK and HARRY. ~ Giorge Leedy

Oh, don't be so wise and stupid. ~ Elizabeth Gaskell

From The Twelve Enlightenments
Observe your own body. It breathes. You breathe when you are asleep, when you are no longer conscious of your own ideas of self-identity. Who, then, is breathing? The collection of information that you mistakenly think it's you is not the main protagonist in this drama called the breath. In fact, you are not breathing; breath is naturally happening to you. You can purposely end your own life, but you cannot purposely keep your own life going. The expression, "My life" is actually an oxymoron, a result of ignorance and mistaken assumption. You don't posses life; life expresses itself through you. Your body is a flower that life let bloom, a phenomenon created by life. ~ Ilchi Lee

An idle genius is an oxymoron. ~ James Thornton

Placing 'amicable' and 'separation' together creates an oxymoron - we don't usually decide to end a partnership until the very sight of our soon-to-be ex fills us with disgust, misery, agony or a combination of all three. ~ Mariella Frostrup

If Lincoln were alive today he'd be turning over in his grave. ~ Gerald R. Ford

Fun math is an oxymoron. ~ Kiera Cass

I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance. ~ A. J. Jacobs

A cautious creative is an oxymoron. ~ George Lois

It behooves us to avoid archaisms. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. ~ William Safire

The whole notion of passwords is based on an oxymoron. The idea is to have a random string that is easy to remember. Unfortunately, if it's easy to remember, it's something nonrandom like 'Susan.' And if it's random, like 'r7U2*Qnp,' then it's not easy to remember. ~ Bruce Schneier

Cats were not and are not tool makers the way humans became toolmakers. They are specifically adapted as obligate carnivores, This means the vegetarian cat is an oxymoron at best and a blatant lie at worst. Cats need meat. The concept of a Garden of Eden would be rather atrocious to them. ~ Leviak B. Kelly

The notion of children being "kindergarten ready" is a bizarre oxymoron. It's like saying you have to know how to play the piano before you can learn how to play the piano. ~ Peter Campbell

The budget was unlimited, but I exceeded it. ~ Donald Trump

See, it's just a matter of looking at the lines and doing the math." "Ugh, more math. I do enough of that as it is." He laughed. "But this is fun math." "Fun math is an oxymoron." Kile ~ Kiera Cass

I learned why 'out riding alone' is an oxymoron: An equestrian is never alone, is always sensing the other being, the mysterious but also understandable living being that is the horse. ~ Jane Smiley

I bump into a group of girls congregating around a locker. Jessica, Willow (who is notably the only Willow enrolled in our 397-student class and in our 1,579-student school), and Abby. Miney has labeled them in my notebook, in block letters and underlined with a Sharpie:THE POPULAR BITCHES.

When she first used this designation, Miney had to give me a long lecture about how this wasn't an oxymoron, how someone could be both popular, which I presumed meant that lots of people liked you, and at the same time also be a bitch, which I presumed would have the opposite outcome. Apparently popularity in the context of high school has a negative correlation with people actually liking you but a high correlation with people wanting to be your friend. After careful consideration, this makes sense, though in my case, I am both an outlier and a great example of the fact that correlation does not imply causation. I am nice to everyone but without any upside: People neither like me nor want to be my friend. ~ Julie Buxbaum

The most formidable way to lead is to serve. And while the perplexing oxymoron of such a grinding statement absolutely cripples us, it birthed a Savior. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Knowledge management is a great oxymoron. ~ Thomas Petzinger

That's the Senate Ethics Committee, an oxymoron since 1973. ~ Jon Stewart

Dead Max was the biggest oxymoron in history. ~ James Patterson

Subtly but definitively? Isn't that an oxymoron, you moron? ~ Lauren Gallagher

You coordinate intel from the alphabet soup that serves our great nation's intelligence community. Oxymoron if ever I heard one. Now, I know I'm an ignorant yokel compared to a fancy DC suit like yourself. But that is your job description, yes?"
"Yes, but - "
"So there's a question on my mind, John. How the hell did you coordinate this into such a colossal goddamn shit-show on wheels? ~ Andrew Warren

Sadly, I don't really believe in the idea of timeless fashion. It's an oxymoron. If 'classic fashion' really never changed, we'd all still be wearing togas. ~ Russell Smith

I take it that a successful therapy is an oxymoron. ~ Harold Bloom

It's, like, a safety bomb."
-Iggy ~ James Patterson

And then I go over to the Delta Help Desk, which is an oxymoron, and I go, "Can I please go home on an airplane?" and they go "No! In fact, we"re gonna frame you for murder, and you're gonna go to jail for thirty years!"
And I go, "Why are you doing this to me?!"
And they go, "Because we're Delta Airlines, and life is a fucking nightmare! ~ John Mulaney

In a sane world, a term like "chronic crisis" would be instantly seen by anone as an oxymoron. Nevertheless, that's the state that many of us Western Worlders live in, provoking crisis after crisis so that we can justify our dis-ease rather than addressing that directly. ~ Anthony D. Ravenscroft

Bad leadership is an oxymoron. ~ Joseph C. Rost

The human race is one of the few creatures whom can cry tears. If you look at us we are running around like small insects - all submerged in our own important errands. Everyone blind of whats going on underneath their own noses. We can be compassionate as well as evil. We can love and we can destroy. I will always wonder how the same creature can do both. Oxymoron." Everything Changes, Always. ~ Adrian Sandvaer

To me, this was an oxymoron, doing a painting of a dancer. Dancers are always moving. ~ Jamie Wyeth

The phrase "a little genetic test" strikes me as an oxymoron. ~ Veronica Roth

I don't think anyone should write their autobiography until after they're dead ~ Samuel Goldwyn

Instant opinion is an oxymoron. You don't get real opinions in an instant. You get reactions. ~ Ellen Goodman

I've been saying in the press that being a NY Post investigator reporter is an oxymoron. ~ Joe Pantoliano

An honest politician is an oxymoron. ~ Mark Twain

You are a foreigner in an actual world, a human co-worker, a truth, a divine word, and a perfect mistake. ~ Michael Bassey Johnson

Like apes, we breed, sleep, and die. Yet like God we say, "I am." We are ontological oxymorons. ~ Peter Kreeft

Wearing: shorts + a jersey = a visual oxymoron. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

I find nothing more depressing than optimism. ~ Paul Fussell

The Sherwood Forest Chronicles
.
1. If Robin Hood steals from the rich, doesn't that make them poor? Does he give them their money back? I mean, what the point of robbing to begin with if your mission statement is logically flawed?
2. If the Sheriff of Nottingham is such an asshole, why isn't he the Prime Minister of Nottingham?
3. Why don't I see elves here? Did all the elves of Sherwood Forest migrate to New Zealand to become extras on the Peter Jackson's Hobbit films?
4. Does Little John even know what an oxymoron is?
5. If Smokey the Bear came to Sherwood Forest to make a public service announcement about preventing forest fires, would he leave with arrows in his ass or would the Merry Men feast on bear meat for several days? And what makes the Merry Men merry in the first place?
6. What do you think? Does Robin Hood shop at Walmart or Target? ~ Beryl Dov

Isn't a gay Mormon like an oxymoron?'
'Do I look like an oxymoron to you?'
'An oxymormon. ~ David Ebershoff

Notice that whenever we suffer pain, the mind is always quick to identify with the negative aspects of things and replay them over and over again, wounding us deeply. Almost all humans have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) of the mind, which is why so many people become fearful, hate-filled, and wrapped around their negative commentaries. This pattern must be recognized early and definitively. Peace of mind is actually an oxymoron. When you're in your mind, you're hardly ever at peace, and when you're at peace, you're never only in your mind. ~ Richard Rohr

Squatting' in a Smith machine is an oxymoron. A Smith machine is not a squat rack, no matter what the girls at the front desk tell you. A squat cannot be performed on a Smith machine any more than it can be performed in a small closet with a hamster. Sorry. There is a gigantic difference between a machine that makes the bar path vertical for you and a squat that is executed correctly enough to have a vertical bar path. The job of keeping the bar path vertical should be done by the muscles, skeleton, and nervous system, not by grease fittings, rails, and floor bolts. ~ Mark Rippetoe

Why do people always say change is the only constant? It so sounds Oxymoron ~ Bhavik Sarkhedi

That's when I realize that if anyone's an oxymoron, it's me. Or maybe it's anyone who claims to follow Jesus. ~ Rachel Held Evans

I always advise people never to give advice. ~ P.G. Wodehouse

In terms of the romantic kind of lead, I just never enjoy those movies very much. Maybe they'll come to interest me more as I get older. I doubt it, but maybe. Romantic comedies tend to be, for me, an oxymoron. ~ Christian Bale

Honest dishonesty. That's quite the oxymoron – but I like the originality that you've brought to bear in the art of rationalization. Maybe you should consider becoming a lawyer," he added jokingly. ~ Zack Love

Why don't you pair'em up in threes? ~ Yogi Berra

Tell them to stand closer apart. ~ Samuel Goldwyn

Life plays a role of oxymoron. You can't predict the actual sense of it unless you feel it. ~ Bhavik Sarkhedi

'Feminist comedy,' practically an oxymoron, had a couple of good years after WWII. Chalk it up to the forced female autonomy that occurred during wartime, when Rosie the Riveter went to work in the factories, constructing the Allies' war machines while taking charge of the finances, the home, and the children. ~ Grace Slick

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day. ~ Samuel Goldwyn

I am willing to contribute for a grand tombstone for Political Correctness (PC). This mouthplug has made us cowards, afraid to exercise our freedom of expression. It has stifled frank exchange of ideas and has made debates one-sided and pre-concluded. It has given strength to ideas which cannot defend themselves in an open debate. PC may be acceptable in private space but it is diastrous in public space as it makes that public space an oxymoron by making it restricted to only the "acceptable". Democracy is about competitive ideas and PC is undemocratic as it discounts the possibility of a level playing field. All growth of ideas is through cross fertilisation and PC leads to degeneration of ideas by restricting the process to inbreeding. Only those who use weakness as leverage to gain advantage without effort or have an hidden agenda will root for PC. It is the tool of the lazy and the devious. My offer for its tombstone stands. ~ R.N. Prasher

Grown children (an oxymoron, I realize) veer instinctively to extremes: the young scholar is much more a pedant than his older counterpart. And I, being young myself, took these pronouncements of Henry's very seriously. I doubt if Milton himself could have impressed me more. ~ Donna Tartt

- activity holidays are a whatsit. Contradiction in terms."
"Oxymoron."
I flipped him a finger. "Same to you with knobs on. ~ J.L. Merrow