Societal Change Quotes

If one generation does not see how to absolutely solve things that are wrong today, another generation shall surely come to suffer from the same wrong things tomorrow! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

The tobacco control movement provides a good model for how to achieve massive societal changes. In 1965, over 50 percent of men and 34 percent of women smoked. By 2010, only 23.5 percent of men and 17.9 percent of women were smoking (CDC 2011). These numbers represent one of the twentieth century's most important public health achievements. ~ Anthony Biglan

Gender is not an easy conversation to have. It makes people uncomfortable, sometimes even irritable. Both men and women are resistant to talk about gender, or are quick to dismiss the problems of gender. Because thinking of changing the status quo is always uncomfortable. ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I spent the beginning of my focus on activism by doing what most everyone else was doing; blaming other people and institutions. Don't like the war? Let's blame the president, congress, or lobbyists. Don't like ecological disregard? Let's blame this or that corrupt corporation or some regulatory body for poor performance. Don't like being poor and socially immobile? Let's blame government coercion and interference in this free market utopia everyone keeps talking about.

The sobering truth of the matter is that the only thing to blame is the dynamic, causal unfolding of system expression itself on the cultural level. In other words, none of us create or do anything in isolation – it's impossible. We are system-bound both physically and psychologically; a continuum. Therefore our view of causality with respect to societal change can only be truly productive if we seek and source the most relevant sociological influences we can and begin to alter those effects from the root causes. ~ Peter Joseph

Phoenix is an interesting example. Drive around and see the golf courses everywhere, and you see people's big green lawns. And you live in a desert! I've always remarked about the capacity of human beings to look at somewhere and move there because of its uniqueness and its beauty and then change it. ~ Philippe Cousteau, Jr.

There's always, I guess, a philosophy that if you come in, you want to change all the parts, you want to change everything over. I've always tried to preach that consistency and continuity are very, very important. So if I know the baseball people, and I know they're competent and could do the job, I don't see any reason to replace them. ~ Pat Gillick

Not ignoble. Don't torture yourself over it. I can't change the past but I can, hopefully, ease your fears from the future. ~ Stephen Lloyd Jones

Prayer has the power to change mountains into highways. ~ Wesley L. Duewel

What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds. ~ Wayne W. Dyer

There's something about a warm summer night where all the boundaries of the world seem to fall to the softness of moonlight and crickets. And with the astonishing expanse of the entire world having drawn within arm's reach, I realize that nothing is so far from where I am that it can't be affected by who I am. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Significant changes in the growth rate of money supply, even small ones, impact the financial markets first. Then, they impact changes in the real economy, usually in six to nine months, but in a range of three to 18 months. Usually in about two years in the US, they correlate with changes in the rate of inflation or deflation."
"The leads are long and variable, though the more inflation a society has experienced, history shows, the shorter the time lead will be between a change in money supply growth and the subsequent change in inflation. ~ Milton Friedman

But intolerant,narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host,change form,and continue to thrive. They're a lost cause, and I don't want anyone like that coming in here. ~ Haruki Murakami

Being sick allows you to check out of life. Getting well again means you have to check back in. It is absolutely crucial that you feel ready to check back into life because you feel as though something has changed from the time before you were sick. Whatever it was that made you feel insecure, less than, or pressured to live in a way that was uncomfortable to you has to change before you want to go back there and start over. ~ Portia De Rossi

I am married and happy. My only wish is that nothing will change. ~ Alexander Pushkin

The right to the city is far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city. ~ David Harvey

The virus in the movie 'Contagion' is based on the bird flu which came out of nowhere back in 2008. Everyone thought it was going to change the way we live and it just faded away. Wait a minute, I'm talking about President Obama. ~ Craig Ferguson

There is a theory that men do not need Paganism because they have endless avenues of societal power available. Why use spells when one can get a bank loan with little trouble? The world already bends over backward to accommodate men, so why perfect the art of magickally shaping it? ~ Thomm Quackenbush

We have a problem and a a problem demands a solution. Problem and solution - these two terms are inseparably connected to each other. It means if a person has a problem there is a certain method - it could be mathematical, algebra - that you can apply to this problem. What you get out of that is the solution. With that the problem is over.

But it is not like that in human life. It is not like that with - now I am going to use the word myself - problems. Human problems, social problems, societal problems will never be solved... It is an illusion that some kind of problem will be solved. ~ Joseph Weizenbaum

Creative people come often at a stark difference between the kind and the mean spirited. Be they an artist or not in life their personal ingenuity is often a marvel to behold. They create opportunities where none were just seconds prior in existence. Creative souls without flexibility are
an easy hallmark for a tyrant in behavior. The opposite is also true those creative types open to flexibility are usually more often than not easy going in demeanor. When such subcategories of personalities are highly intuitive they also
shift their behavior to match the presence of their peers. Very much like an empathic chameleon able to change its colors so as to fit in out of habit or necessity. ~ Ivan Alexander Pozo-Illas

I am so glad Todd and I eloped," she said sincerely. "There was no way to salvage the wreckage. But I think that you deserved this, and I'm very happy for you." She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. Then she whispered, "He is really, really a hottie. How did you mange that?"
"Brat," I told her, and gave her a hug. "Todd's not exactly chopped liver."
She smiled smugly and took another sip. "No he's not."
"He could be," said Ben from behind me, his British accent giving him a civilized air that he didn't deserve. "Do you want him to be chopped liver, darling?"
I turned, making sure I was between Ben and Nan, "My sisters are off-limits," I reminded him.
A flash of hurt came and went on his face. With Ben, it was even odds whether the emotion was genuine or not -but my instincts told me they had been. So I continued in a mock-chiding tone, "Ruthie is too young for you, and Nan is married to a very nice man. So be good."
Nan had caught the flash of hurt, too, I thought. She was softer than our mother, more like her father in temperament as well as looks. She couldn't stand to have anyone hurting and not do anything about it.
She sighed dramatically. "All the pretty men, and I'm tied to just one."
Ben smiled at her. "Anytime you want to change that…"
I poked him in the side-he could have slipped out of the way, but he didn't bother.
"Okay," he said, backing away with exaggerated fear. "Ill be good, I promise. Just don't hurt me ~ Patricia Briggs

You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change. ~ John Cleese

Change terrifies people. They like new, but they don't like new with change. ~ Damon Albarn

We all want to be in the center of God's will. That's why we shouldn't pursue a career, move to another place, or make any major life change without knowing that it is the will of God. The way we find out is to regularly ask God to show us what His will is and then ask Him to lead us in it. When you ask Him to speak to your heart, He will do that. He will give you peace about a certain thing and lack of peace about others. What joy to have peace that as we confidently set foot in a certain direction, God is leading us on that particular path. We can be confident that whatever happens along the way, we don't have to worry because we are right where God wants us to be. ~ Stormie O'martian

In my community, mental health isn't taken seriously enough. Therapy is replaced by prayer. Tears are a sign of weakness. When you are different, you are told to change. And really, what does that do? It isolates desperate, vulnerable people and creates victims. ~ Frida R.

I have seen how effective language attached to policies that are mainstream and delivered by people who are passionate and effective can change the course of history. ~ Frank Luntz

Changing yourself changes everything. ~ Bryant McGill

One person can change the world. ~ Rosa Parks

One has to be able to twist and change and distort characters, play with them like clay, so everything fits together. Real people don't permit you to do that. ~ Peter Carey

Well, that's your opinion, isn't it? And I'm not about to waste my time trying to change it. ~ Lady Gaga

It takes five years for a willing person's mind to change. Have patience with yourself and others when treading in an area protected by a taboo. ~ Garrett Hardin

Every new change forces all the companies in an industry to adapt their strategies to that change. ~ Bill Gates

No effort should be made to destroy those habits or qualities that we may not desire. Whatever we think about deeply or intensely, the subconscious will take up and develop further. Therefore, if we think about our failings, shortcomings or bad habits, the subconscious will take them up and give them more life and activity than they ever had before. If there is anything in our nature therefore that we wish to change, we should simply proceed to build up what we want and forget completely what we wish to eliminate. When the good develops the bad disappears. When the greater is built up, the lesser will either be removed or completely transformed and combined with the greater. ~ Christian D. Larson

There is, however, a change going on in the world. There's far more interest in drawing now than there has been in a long, long time. Schools are beginning to teach drawing again in a serious and meaningful way. ~ Leonard Baskin

They seek the edges, because it is the edges that ultimately lead us. A wise person does not fear the edges and fringes, but studies them. Indeed, he or she is often in them, working to make change happen. ~ Laurie Beth Jones

Now, as I look back on my life, I can honestly say I wouldn't change it. The pain and suffering have brought me psychological understanding and spiritual strength. I still feel the pain when I reflect on those experiences, but while once they would throw me deeper and deeper into anxious despair, now they feed my desire to keep growing. (3) ~ Marie Balter

Where people aren't as deeply reliant on fossil fuel as in the United States, it's far easier for them to imagine change on this scale. When you go to Europe, they're much more ready. They use half the amount of energy per capita that we use. They can imagine using less than that. They see the benefits. They're ready to go. ~ Bill McKibben

Times change; Hollywood is not the same as it was when I first entered the business. It felt to me like it was starting to narrow down and centralize itself around what would ... make money. ~ Robert Redford

There's likely a place in paradise for people who tried hard, but what really matters is succeeding. If that requires you to change, that's your mission. ~ Stanley McChrystal

Unless we change direction, models show that the profit of the entire consumer goods sector could be wiped out by 2050 ~ Paul Polman

Rosie: I know what it is. You just don't want me to be single because I'm a distraction to you. If I'm with a man then you think that perhaps you just might be able to keep your hands off me. I know deep down that's what this is all about. I've sussed you out, Alex Stewart. You love me. You want me to have your babies. You can't stand another day without me.
Alex: I ... don't no what to say ...
Rosie: Relax, I'm joking. What happened to make you change your mind about Bethany? ~ Cecelia Ahern