Peter Berger Quotes

Good sociologists have always had an insatiable curiosity about about even the trivialities of human behaviour, and if this curiosity leads a sociologist to devote many years to the painstaking exploration of some small corner of the social world that may appear quite trivial to others, so be it: Why do more teenagers pick their noses in rural Minnesota than in rural Iowa? What are the patterns of church socials over a twenty-year period in small-town Saskatchewan? What is the correlation between religious affiliation and accident-proneness among elderly Hungarians? ~ Peter Berger

As Peter Berger has noted, the strategy of apologizing for Christian faith by trying to demonstrate its social utility is always eventually self-liquidating. Sooner of later people realize that a great many of the supposedly practical and secular benefits of the Christian religion can be had more easily without religion ... The logic of practical atheism may well be more deeply ingrained in the evangelical tradition than conservatives perhaps have realized. ~ Craig M. Gay

In all its manifestations, religion constitutes an immense projection of human meanings into the empty vastness of the universe-a projection, to be sure, which comes back as an alien reality to haunt its producers.' - p.100, 'The Sacred Canopy ~ Peter Berger

The sociology of knowledge has taught us to recognize the fact, which is obvious once it is stated, that in every human society there is what Peter Berger calls a "plausibility structure," a structure of assumptions and practices which determine what beliefs are plausible and what are not. It is easier to see the working of the plausibility structure in a culture of a different time or place than it is to recognize it in one's own. ~ Lesslie Newbigin

Religion is no longer considered the source of serious truth claims that could potentially conflict with public agendas. The private realm has been reduced to an "innocuous 'play area'", says Peter Berger, where religion is acceptable for people who need that kind of crutch- but where it won't upset any important applecarts in the larger world of politics and economics. ~ Nancy Pearcey

The rate of innovation is a function of the total number of people connected and exchanging ideas. It has gone up as population has gone up. It's gone up as people have concentrated in cities. ~ Peter Diamandis

Blind eyes cannot read. ~ Peter Greenaway

There will be losing years; but if the art of making money is not to lose it, then there should not be substantial losses. ~ Peter Cundill

Peter Marshall: A western saddle has a curved horn on the front to hold something for the cowboy. What is it? ~ Paul Lynde

Harriet looked up. "I did work that out - eventually. But what happened last week seemed to make it quite impossible." "I don't think," said Peter, "you approached the problem - forgive me for saying so - with an unprejudiced mind and undivided attention. Something got between you and the facts." "Miss Vane has been helping me so generously with my books," murmured Miss Lydgate, contritely; "and she has had her own work to do as well. We really ought not to have asked her to spare any time for our problems." "I had plenty of time," said Harriet. "I was only stupid. ~ Dorothy L. Sayers

A drawing is an autobiographical record of one's discovery of an event - either seen, remembered or imagined. A 'finished' work is an attempt to construct an event in itself. ~ John Berger

Peter Fonda is the reason I became a motorcyclist. I saw Easy Rider and I bought a motorcycle the next day, and I rode it all the way from LA to San Francisco. ~ Nicolas Cage

I'm told women scream when they give birth because of the intense pain. And I think about how easily life can just slide away, like thawing ice. And how it's only the living that scream. ~ Peter Hedges

NEVERLAND:The imaginary island home of Peter Pan and the lost boys. A place where you never grow up. Michael Jackson's former retreat. An accurate description of the 21st century. ~ Daniel Prokop

The great danger of law in modern student affairs practice is apathy, acceptance, and blind disobedience. ~ Peter Lake

Is she really old enough to have crushes on boys? I feel like she's too young for all that."
"I had crushes on boys when I was nine," I tell him. I'm still thinking about Kitty. I wonder how I can make it so she isn't mad at me anymore. Somehow I don't think snickerdoodles will cut it this time.
"Who?" Josh asks me.
"Who what?" Maybe if I can somehow convince Daddy to buy her a puppy…
"Who was your first crush?"
"Hmm. My first real crush?" I had kindergarten and first- and second-grade crushes aplenty, but they don't really count. "Like the first one that really mattered?"
"Sure."
"Well…I guess Peter Kavinsky."
Josh practically gags. "Kavinsky? Are you kidding me? He's so obvious. I thought you'd be into someone more…I don't know, subtle. Peter Kavinsky's such a cliché. He's like a cardboard cutout of a 'cool guy' in a movie about high school."
I shrug. "You asked."
"Wow," he says, shaking his head. "Just…wow."
"He used to be different. I mean, he was still very Peter, but less so." When Josh looks unconvinced, I say, "You're a boy, so you can't understand what I'm talking about."
"You're right. I don't understand!"
"Hey, you're the one who had a crush on Ms. Rothschild!"
Josh turns red. "She was really pretty back then!"
"Uh-huh." I give him a knowing look. "She was really 'pretty.'" Our across-the-street neighbor Ms. Rothschild used to mow her lawn in terry-cloth short shorts and a string bikini top. ~ Jenny Han

I certainly don't believe you documentary filmmakers. Like me, you are involved in making fiction, and your fiction is just as well organized and just as well predicated, but the big difference between me and you is that I'm honest and you're dishonest. I know I'm telling you lies. ~ Peter Greenaway

If all the circumstances of acting are made to easy, then there's no grain of sand to make the pearl. ~ Peter Sarsgaard

drunk right now, Amfortas suspected, or high on amphetamine, ~ William Peter Blatty

THE ADVENTURE OF BLACK PETER ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

She was an abstraction in an abstraction: an impossible intersection of dozens of bright panes, as if the disassembled tiles of a stained-glass window had each been set aglow and animated. She swirled before me like a school of fish. ~ Peter Watts

We hate to have some people give us advice because we know how badly they need it themselves. ~ Laurence J. Peter

the modern age the definition of a "racist" is a conservative who is winning an argument. ~ Peter Brimelow

You shouldn't punish others for your own choices. ~ Laurence J. Peter

There could be a hundred paintings in every one painting, depending on when you stop. ~ Peter Doig

Will Ferrell is just about the nicest guy - anyone can tell you that. ~ Peter Dinklage

To worship a crocodile is better to worship yourself. ~ Peter Kreeft

I believe benchmarking best practices can open people's eyes as to what is possible, but it can also do more harm than good, leading to piecemeal copying and playing catch-up. As one seasoned Toyota manager commented after hosting over a hundred tours for visiting executives, "They always say 'Oh yes, you have a Kan-Ban system, we do also. You have quality circles, we do also. Your people fill out standard work descriptions, ours do also.' They all see the parts and have copied the parts. What they do not see is the way all the parts work together." I do not believe great organizations have ever been built by trying to emulate another, any more than individual greatness is achieved by trying to copy another "great person. ~ Peter M. Senge

I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle; I want to ride my bicycle; I want to ride my bike; I want to ride my bicycle; I want to ride it where I like ... ; I don't believe in Peter Pan, Frankenstein or Superman; All I wanna do is bicycle, bicycle, bicycle ... ~ Freddie Mercury

The writer can only explore the inner space of his characters by perceptively navigating his own. ~ Peter De Vries

To me a translator is very, very important. If the fixer is also the translator, so much the better. I have known photographers who didn't speak the language and would work in a place for weeks without one, getting by on common sense and smiles. But how many situations did they miss because they couldn't talk to someone and get the back story on details, small daily life things, etc. ~ Peter Menzel

It is only the TRUTH that can make a man FREE, it is only the TRUTH that can make a man LIVE. ~ Peter Tosh

The entire city was his hunting ground. In the summer months, dressed in a blazer and wearing his straw hat at a jaunty angle, he would regularly stroll along under the arches, and then along the pier. Next he would ride on the Volks Railway, where in the cramped intimacy of its hard seats he liked to talk to strangers, telling them this was the world's oldest still-running electric train, and boring them with facts about it. ~ Peter James

If a man loved me, I would have talked myself into loving him, and I would have loved him very deeply after a while. ~ Peter S. Beagle

Spidey was the one comic I read consistently throughout my childhood. As someone who grew up a nerd, scrawny, and picked on in high school, I related very strongly to Peter Parker. ~ Josh Keaton

Again, we saw in Bosnia - we had U.N. peacekeepers tied to trees, being taken hostage. The fact is they don't have the type of deliberate and authoritative rule that I think is needed to get the job done. ~ Peter T. King

A person can perform only from strength. One cannot build performance on weakness, let alone on something one cannot do at all. ~ Peter F. Drucker

He bowed. "With respect, Sharum Ka, how are we to get your warriors to the city on the lake to conquer it without boats?" "We will build our own. How hard can it ... " Jayan trailed off, looking at the huge cargo vessels with their intricate rigging. "Put them out!" he cried. ~ Peter V. Brett

If penicillin had been judged by its toxicity to guinea pigs, it might never have been used by man. ~ Peter Singer

What do you and Chris even talk about?" he asks. "You have nothing in common."
"What do we talk about?" I counter.
Peter laughs. "Point taken." He pushes away from the wall and puts his head in my lap, and I go completely still.
I try to make my voice sound normal as I say, "You're in a really strange mood today."
He raises an eyebrow at me. "What kind of mood am I in?" Peter sure loves to hear about himself. Normally, I don't mind, but today I'm not in the mood to oblige him. He already has too many people in his life telling him how great he is.
"The obnoxious kind," I say, and he laughs.
"I'm sleepy." He closes his eyes and snuggles against me. "Tell me a bedtime story, Covey."
"Don't flirt," I tell him.
His eyes fly open. "I wasn't!"
"Yes, you were. You flirt with everyone. It's like you can't help yourself."
"Well, I don't ever flirt with you." Peter sits back up and checks his phone, and suddenly I'm wishing I didn't say anything at all. ~ Jenny Han

Long-term investing has gotten so popular, it's easier to admit you're a crack addict than to admit you're a short-term investor. ~ Peter Lynch

The first and primary requirement for me in a director that I'd want to work with is: do they love writing, and do they love the collaboration process with writers? ~ Peter Morgan

People complain that joking about serious subjects is 'making light' of them. Isn't that a good idea? Comedy lets the air out of the bully's tires. ~ Peter Baynham

I don't mind snorkeling. I just wish the sharks would get out of the ocean and go sit on the sun loungers while I do it. ~ Peter James West

The major flaw with human beings is that despite all our cleverness and ingenuity we both tell and believe lies. ~ Peter B. Lockhart