Rubenesque Figure Quotes

[Tolstoy] denounced [many historians'] lamentable tendency to simplify. The experts stumble onto a battlefield, into a parliament or public square, and demand, "Where is he? Where is he?" "Where is who?" "The hero, of course! The leader, the creator, the great man!" And having found him, they promptly ignore all his peers and troops and advisors. They close their eyes and abstract their Napoleon from the mud and the smoke and the masses on either side, and marvel at how such a figure could possibly have prevailed in so many battles and commanded the destiny of an entire continent. "There was an eye to see in this man," wrote Thomas Carlyle about Napoleon in 1840, "a soul to dare and do. He rose naturally to be the King. All men saw that he was such."
But Tolstoy saw differently. "Kings are the slaves of history," he declared. "The unconscious swarmlike life of mankind uses every moment of a king's life as an instrument for its purposes." Kings and commanders and presidents did not interest Tolstoy. History, his history, looks elsewhere: it is the study of infinitely incremental, imperceptible change from one state of being (peace) to another (war).
The experts claimed that the decisions of exceptional men could explain all of history's great events. For the novelist, this belief was evidence of their failure to grasp the reality of an incremental change brought about by the multitude's infinitely small actions. ~ Daniel Tammet

The way I figure it, everyone gets one miracle. Like, I will probably never be struck by lightning, or win a nobel prize, or become the dictator of a small nation in the Pacific Islands, or contract terminal ear cancer, or spontaneously combust. But If you consider all the unlikely things together, at least one of them will happen to each of us. ~ John Green

I knew that one of the reasons we talked so much when we were younger was that we needed to figure out who we were and what we believed - we needed to hear it out loud, change it a little, hear it again. I knew time was at a premium and life was more complicated nowadays; there was less time available for talking. But didn't the very fact that life was more complicated now mean we had more to talk about, not less? ~ Mary Laura Philpott

The only thing we'll get from trying to figure out where another path would have taken us are questions there are no answers to, and heatbreak that can't be healed. Regardless of how we got there, all any of us can do is move forward frome where we are. ~ Mia Sheridan

I have certain rules that I've established for myself that took a while post-day job to figure out. Everyone says people who freelance or are writers struggle with the structure of it. I'm not allowed to check email before a certain hour. I'm not allowed to run errands during the day. I have to write a certain amount every day. ~ Sloane Crosley

She could have been a figure in a Welsh fairy tale, a nymph who had formed from the mist off a lake. There was something otherworldly about the delicacy of her porcelain skin, and the arresting contrast between her dark lashes and brows and her silver-blond hair. And those eyes, cool translucence contained in dark rims. ~ Lisa Kleypas

You have to figure out as a band how a band becomes a business, and then you have to keep that business mentality separate from the creative one, which is good for the songs. It's always a work in progress. ~ David Longstreth

If a figure doesn't look back at you, you forget it. ~ Nathan Oliveira

figure out if he knew her from somewhere. But he didn't, she was sure, unless it was just in passing at the mall. She would have remembered a man like him. For a long, long time. And then she would have dreamed about him. A lot. Probably without clothes. On either of them. ~ Elizabeth Bevarly

I figure if you've got to take someone down or set them straight, you might as well enjoy it on some level.
Malcom ~ Nora Roberts

Rule number one: wear loose clothing.

No Problem.

Rule number two: no alcohol for the next three days.

Slight problem. I'll miss my evening glass of wine but figure I can go for three days without and compensate later.

And the last rule: absolutely no coffee or tea or caffeine of any kind.

Big problem. This rule hits me like a sucker punch and sure would have knocked me to the floor had I not been sitting there already. I'm eying the exits, plotting my escape. I knew enlightenment came at a price, but i had no idea the price was this steep. A sense of real panic sets in. How am I going to survive for the next seventy-two hours without a single cup of coffee? ~ Eric Weiner

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice. ~ Theodore Parker

It was a hard lesson to learn, but eventually I had to come to grips with the fact that I cannot solve everyone's problems and lead them to a happy, fulfilled life. They have to figure that out on their own. ~ Theo Rossi

It is our responsibility to find God in someone who is different from us. I think that God basically says, 'I created diversity on purpose, and it is your responsibility to figure out how to make it work.' ~ Bruce Feiler

Don't be afraid to fall in love with ideas, with places, with subjects, with people. You'll fall in and out of love many times, but this is how we figure it out. This is how we learn what we love, this is how we recognize what we want, this is how we know what we need and, maybe just as important, what we do not need. ~ Patti Digh

I don't read a lot of the sports, because I think people sometimes either build it up, or you have this guy that hates sports that is going to write bad about it, so I figure I'm not going to read it. Because I'm not going to let him put an idea into my head. ~ Herschel Walker

Someday you'll have to tell me the whole story behind you two."
"Maybe. But first, I have to figure it out myself. ~ Andrea Kane

I'm an actor, and I keep observing people and their reactions to figure out what they are thinking. There's only so much you can do on your own, so you have to keep learning. Art imitates life. ~ Preity Zinta

When I work, I like to just kind of stay quiet, stay to myself. I like to walk around a lot and figure out what's gonna happen in the scene and try to get my head straight. ~ Kenneth Choi

As long as I'm learning something, I figure I'm OK - it's a decent day. ~ Hunter S. Thompson

Give the girl some credit. At least she told you, instead of letting you figure it out on your own."
"Yeah, and she told me last!" Eve glared at the two boys, hands on her hips.
"Boyfriend," Shane said, holding up his hand.
"Landlord," Michael chimed in.
"Crap," Eve sighed. "I guess that does leave me in last place. ~ Rachel Caine

'Luther' is absolutely a monster-of-the-week show. Although it's post-watershed and is rendered in intense graphic novel-style images, it's inspiration is not that different from 'Doctor Who' as in both cases you've got a trickster figure who fights the monster of the week and is eventually successful. ~ Neil Cross

Yes, let her sleep
She can't figure out now,
not you, don't speak to her
that she doesn't feel this heart, anymore.
Wind, you too, She can't figure out now
she sleeps, sleeps and doesn't want this heart
Four winds and I'm alone,
my notes without luck
let her still sleep
let to die as soon as possible
this soul without love,
not you, don't give it
Time pass and don't speak
time pass and don't tell her ~ White Wind

When God is your source it doesn't matter whether you're graced with a six-figure salary or living in squalor in a slum. All you got to do is see Him as your source and you'll find your needs met. ~ David Roiel

It took me years to figure out that upset was upset, and tumultuousness was not the same thing as passion. Love isn't drama. ~ Deb Caletti

Idon't believe anything really lasts. If things lasted forever, then coffee wouldn't cool. And cigarettes wouldn't end. And feelings would stay the same. And you would still love me. But the cold hard truth is, nothing lasts forever. Life simply goes on. And I'm trying to figure out where to go from here. ~ Hemantsmarty

I half closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, and maybe even call. ~ Kazuo Ishiguro

What I'm concerned about now is creating a metaphor for what the figure really is. ~ Nathan Oliveira

Let us fill a cup and drink to that most noble, ridiculous, laughable, sublime figure in our lives ... The Young Man Who Was. Let us drink to his dreams, for they were rainbow-colored; to his appetites, for they were strong; to his blunders, for they were huge; to his pains for they were sharp; to his time for it was brief; and to his end, for it was to become one of us. ~ Herman Wouk

I joined a gym recently. I don't have the best history in the world of sticking with my fitness regimens, but I feel like this time's gonna be different. I figure one of two things is gonna happen: either I'll get into shape, or I'll just resign myself to paying an $85 a month fat tax. ~ Christian Finnegan

A long, white banner spread out, lifting on the air. Rand could only stare. The whole thing seemed of a piece, neither woven, nor dyed, nor painted. A figure like a serpent, scaled in scarlet and gold, ran the entire length, but it had scaled legs, and feet with five long, golden claws on each, and a great head with a golden mane and eyes like the sun. The stirring of the banner made it seem to move, scales glittering like precious metals and gems, alive, and he almost thought he could hear it roar defiance. ~ Robert Jordan

I don't think I'm a celebrity. Maybe I'm a cult figure? ~ Joss Whedon

You're supposed to be the big boss."
Sam said nothing. The crowd hushed, ready to watch this one-on-one confrontation.
"You're the big boss of the freaks," Zil yelled. "But you can't do anything. You can shoot laser beams out of your hands, but you can't get enough food, and you can't keep the power on, and you won't do anything about that murderer Hunter, who killed my best friend." He paused to fill his lungs for a final, furious cry. "You shouldn't be in charge."
"You want to be in charge, Zil? Last night you were running around trying to get a lynch mob together. And let's not even pretend that wasn't you responsible for graffiti I saw driving into town just now."
"So what?" Zil demanded. "So what? So I said what everyone who isn't a freak is thinking."
He spit the word "freak," making it an insult, making it an accusation.
"You really think what we need right now is to divide up between freaks and normals?" Sam asked. "You figure that will get the lights turned back on? That will put food on people's tables? ~ Michael Grant

In fact, in the last job I had before coming to the White House - I remember this clearly - I was on maternity leave with Sasha, still trying to figure out what to do with my life, and I got a call for an interview for this position, a senior position at the hospitals. And I thought, okay, here we go. So I had to scramble to look for babysitting, and couldn't find one. ~ Michelle Obama

Suppose the looking glass smashes, the image disappears, and the romantic figure with the green of forest depths all about it is there no longer, but only that shell of a person which is seen by other people - what an airless, shallow, bald, prominent world it becomes! A world not to be lived in. As we face each other in omnibuses and underground railways we are looking into the mirror that accounts for the vagueness, the gleam of glassiness, in our eyes. ~ Virginia Woolf

Just go with it', he thought. 'You won't figure out anything if you give in to fear'. ~ James Dashner

I was just trying to demonstrate to the students of Rowland University that Rowland University was not infinite. It had taken me a long time to figure out what the problem was, but one day I realized that the students at Rowland University thought that Rowland University was infinite. Infinite bookstore. Infinite fraternities and sororities. Infinite sports teams. Infinite snack shop. Infinite Homecoming. Infinite graduation. Infinite prospects. ~ Jon Woodson

I wondered what it does to each of us to spend the majority of our waking hours doings things we'd rather not do, wishing we were outside or simply elsewhere, wishing we were reading, thinking, making love, fishing, sleeping, or simply having time to figure out who the hell we are and what the hell we're doing. ~ Derrick Jensen

I carry my adornments on my soul.
I do not dress up like a popinjay;
But inwardly, I keep my daintiness.
I do not bear with me, by any chance,
An insult not yet washed away- a conscience
Yellow with unpurged bile- an honor frayed
To rags, a set of scruples badly worn.
I go caparisoned in gems unseen,
Trailing white plumes of freedom, garlanded
With my good name- no figure of a man,
But a soul clothed in shining armor, hung
With deeds for decorations, twirling- thus-
A bristling wit, and swinging at my side
Courage, and on the stones of this old town
Making the sharp truth ring, like golden spurs! ~ Edmond Rostand

Honestly, you needn't think it's easy to be the "badly brought up" central figure of a hypocritical family in hiding. ~ Anne Frank

Essentially the Succubus is a mythical figure - who used to come in and cause trouble with innocent men. ~ MyAnna Buring