The Key Quotes

At first glance, the key and the lock it fits may seem very different," Sazed said. "Different in shape, different in function, different in design. The man who looks at them without knowledge of their true nature might think them opposites, for one is meant to open, and the other to keep closed. Yet, upon closer examination he might see that without one, the other becomes useless. The wise man then sees that both lock and key were created for the same purpose. ~ Brandon Sanderson

For neo-conservatism is a quintessentially Jewish project: a re-sanctification in everyday life of the core values of western civilisation, and the achievement of human potential through virtuous practice. The neo-cons' crucial insight is that public signals through law, custom and tradition are the key to getting people to behave well. And that is a Jewish insight. ~ Melanie Phillips

Surely we cannot take an open question like the supernatural and shut it with a bang, turning the key of the madhouse on all the mystics of history. You cannot take the region of the unknown and calmly say that, though you know nothing about it, you know all the gates are locked. We do not know enough about the unknown to know that it is unknowable. ~ G.K. Chesterton

I am responsible for what I see. I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. I could see peace instead of THIS. The past is over it can touch me not. This instant is the only time there is. Today I will judge nothing that occurs. I am not the victim of the world I see. I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. I am determined to see things differently. I am never upset for the reason I think. Forgiveness is the key to happiness. All that I give I give to myself. ~ Hugh Prather

It must be the top drawer," he reflected. "So she carries the keys in a pocket on the right. All in one bunch on a steel ring ... . And there's one key there, three times as big as all the others, with deep notches; that can't be the key of the chest of drawers ... then there must be some other chest or strong-box ... that's worth knowing. Strong-boxes always have keys like that ... but how degrading it all is. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Inequality is not necessarily bad in itself: the key question is to decide whether it is justified, whether there are reasons for it. ~ Thomas Piketty

It isn't enough to pick a path - you must go down it. By doing so, you see things you couldn't possibly see when you started out; you may not like what you see, some of it may be confusing, but at least you will have, as we like to say, "explored the neighborhood." The key point here is that even if you decide you're in the wrong place, there is still time to head toward the right place. ~ Ed Catmull

The strength to move forward when others stop, to keep going when others turn back, is the key to unlocking your greatest potential. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

And for my family, comedically, that was the key to a lot of the humor. ~ Damon Wayans

You don't need validation or approval from anyone but yourself. Even if the entire world goes against, disagrees with or attempts to crush you, stand up for what you believe in, and stand up alone if you have to! It's better to die while living your own truth than to live in the truth of another. Lord Krishna in the holy Bhagavad Gita pointed this out when he said;

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection."

Integrity is the key to freedom. It's only your own truth that can 'set you free.' It's perfectly fine if your truth doesn't match that of others because the experience of physical reality is a completely subjective one. It doesn't make either of you wrong, as long as you're both being true to yourselves, that's all that matters. ~ Craig Krishna

Solitude is one of our great superpowers ... Solitude is the key to being able to make effective decisions and then having the courage of convictions to stand behind those decisions. ~ Susan Cain

The key to a good meal is simplicity and the right seasoning. ~ Buddy Valastro

This is the key to life: the ability to reflect, the ability to know yourself, the ability to pause for a second before reacting automatically. If you can truly know yourself, you will begin the journey of transformation. ~ Deepak Chopra

The key to staying safe was knowing the rules of the situation. ~ Patrick Rothfuss

The key to skeleton is to find the line, and I think I spend most of training figuring out where that sweet spot is ... ~ Katie Uhlaender

Sometimes it feels like energy or electricity when it is moving in and through us, but spiritual power is really a distinctive kind of knowledge that is like the key that opens the door or the switch that starts the energy moving. ~ Frank Fools Crow

The key thing is to force yourself through the work, force the skills to come; that's the hardest phase. ~ Cal Newport

The key to high-quality communication is trust, and it's hard to trust somebody that you don't know. ~ Ben Horowitz

I look at the people's careers who I want to emulate, like Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters ... They've all found the key to longevity in this business, and that is diversifying, doing as many things as possible to keep yourself relevant, and so hopefully I'm on the same track as all those amazing women. ~ Megan Hilty

Children are the purest manifestation of love and divinity in the world; they care, they are considerate and they know more about humanity than the smartest adult. We must protect, guide and allow the children of our world to flourish because they are the key to heal this broken planet. ~ Sam Fuentes

For me, success is when I'm making a contribution and fully engaging all of my talents. In terms of the key quality, it's being willing to continue to believe in yourself even when other people don't, and being able to fail and to come back. ~ Melissa Harris-Perry

Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities. ~ Sonja Lyubomirsky

About the other one, which for the moment bears the code name Dedale 39, we know only what Ravel is willing to say about it one day to Manuael De Falla: it was supposed to be an airplane in the key of C. ~ Jean Echenoz

Serpine: Well, Skulduggery? Where is that tired old defiance - the taunting, the goading? Where are the endless heroic clinches? Aren't you going to look me in the eye and tell me to do my worst?
Skulduggery: Actually, I was going to ask that you go easy on me. I'm feeling kind of tender today
Serpine: This is your one chance. Tell me where the key is
Skulduggery:OK
Serpine: Really?
Skulduggery: No, only joking. Do your worst. ~ Derek Landy

Being able to tell the truth about our own lack of personal integrity has integrity to it. The key to being able to deal with and lighten up about our own humanity is to get wholly honest about our dishonesty. ~ Lauren Handel Zander

The important thing to understand," he reached across the table to touch her hand, "is that there are things about ourselves that we can change and things about ourselves that we can't change. The key is to know the difference. ~ Debra Holland

We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that at every level of society the key to a happier world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities. ~ Dalai Lama

For me context is the key - from that comes the understanding of everything. ~ Kenneth Noland

I think the key is never being satisfied with your skills and you have to constantly learn. I say this all the time, I sound like a broken record, but if you are not getting better in this sport you are getting worse ~ Kenny Florian

Be prepared to say "no" to some things. That is the key. When you say "yes" to every invitation, event and call, you will come back to meet you plans on the paper in the same state you left them. ~ Israelmore Ayivor

You are the key to ultimate power. ~ Gregory L. King Jr.

Internet exchanges and internet service providers - international fiber optic landing points - these are the key tools that governments go after in order to enable their programs of mass surveillance. If they want to be able to watch the entire population of a country instead of a single individual, you have to go after those bulk interchanges. ~ Edward Snowden

The American idea of sexuality appears to be rooted in the American idea of masculinity. Idea may not be the precise word, for the idea of one's sexuality can only with great violence be divorced or distanced from the idea of the self. Yet something resembling this rupture has certainly occurred (and is occurring) in American life, and violence has been the American daily bread since we have heard of America. This violence, furthermore, is not merely literal and actual but appears to be admired and lusted after, and the key to the American imagination.

All countries or groups make of their trials a legend or, as in the case of Europe, a dubious romance called 'history.' But no other country has ever made so successful and glamorous a romance out of genocide and slavery; therefore, perhaps, the word I am searching for is not idea, but ideal.

The American IDEAL, then, of sexuality appears to be rooted in the American IDEAL of masculinity. This ideal has created cowboys and Indians, good guys and bad guys, punks and studs, tough guys and softies, butch and f****t, black and white. It is an ideal so paralytically infantile that is is virtually forbidden - as an unpatriotic act - that the American boy evolve into the complexity of manhood. ~ James Baldwin

We can understand instrumental evil as the use of a particular set of means to pursue goals that, alternatively, might be pursued with acceptable means. The key question for understanding this form of evil then becomes: What makes people choose evil means rather than other, more acceptable ones? ~ Roy F. Baumeister

Here, however, is where his genius truly took off. Galois managed to associate with each equation a sort of "genetic code" of that equation-the Galois group of the equation-and to demonstrate that the properties of the Galois group determine whether the equation is solvable by a formula or not. Symmetry became the key concept, and the Galois group was a direct measure of the symmetry properties of an equation. ~ Mario Livio

They are the key components of our civilization. I want to show that inside these political, economic, legal and social black boxes are highly complex sets of interlocking institutions. Like the circuit boards inside your computer or your smartphone, it is these institutions that make the gadget work. And if it stops working, it is probably because of a defect in the institutional wiring. You cannot understand what is wrong just by looking at the shiny casing. You need to look inside. ~ Niall Ferguson

Redemption comes to those who wait, forgiveness is the key. ~ Tom Petty

My work is giving space - learning of its way and being in its service at the same time. We each have responsibility to express ourselves. And in this expression is the key to our healing. ~ Gabrielle Roth

Great sex is the key to the fountain of youth. ~ Tassa Desalada

Even the most misfitting child
Who's chanced upon the library's worth,
Sits with the genius of the Earth
And turns the key to the whole world.
Hear It Again ~ Ted Hughes

I believe that living out loud and not letting fear hold you back is the key to the fullest, most rewarding life possible ~ Robert Biswas-Diener

The key to a solid foundation in data structures and algorithms is not an exhaustive survey of every conceivable data structure and its subforms, with memorization of each's Big-O value and amortized cost. ~ Robert Love

The key to all fanatical beliefs is that they are self-confirming ... (some beliefs are) fanatical not because they are "false", but because they are expressed in such a way that they can never be shown to be false. ~ Neil Postman

Perhaps it is the key to the garden! ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett

If there's anything Breaking 2: Electric Boogaloo has taught me, it's that breakdancing is the key to financial solvency. ~ Richard M. Weiner

Nothing seems real anymore. Even the flames from the fire seem to beckon to me, drawing me into some great past life buried somewhere deep in my subconscious, if only I could find the key..if only..if only. Ever since my illness, my condition, I've been trying to find some logical way of passing my time, of justifying a means to an end. ~ Ian Curtis

The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't. If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny. ~ Abraham Verghese

There are many ways to make the most of your time on the planet, and propagation of the species is just one of them. If you're convinced that it's the key to your happiness, there are routes open to you, whether with the help of modern medical science, marrying into a readymade one, or through fostering and adoption. ~ Mariella Frostrup

If you give the same 200 frames to 200 different people, they'll all probably pick a different frame. The key is editing. Be intuitive enough to be shooting at the right moment, and when you're seeing the action happening just as you want it, shoot. And in the edit you have to go with your gut. ~ Russell James

I would say that the key doctrine of the Sanders administration would be no, we cannot continue to do it alone; we need to work in coalition. ~ Bernie Sanders

A world-class playboy once told me that the key to mesmerising women is to listen to them and look deeply into their eyes. ~ George Hamilton

Stem cell research is the key to developing cures for degenerative conditions like Parkinson's and motor neuron disease from which I and many others suffer. The fact that the cells may come from embryos is not an objection, because the embryos are going to die anyway. ~ Stephen Hawking

I think you also understand that one of the key things that's got to be done in Iraq is to build a mentality of understanding that the military needs to be subordinate to civilian control and respectful of its own people. ~ John Abizaid

The key may be to keep the bright light of public attention shining. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, the reported numbers of assaults increase an average of about 44 percent when campuses are under formal scrutiny. Afterward, though, they sink back to their original levels, indicating that some schools provide a more accurate picture of sexual assault only when forced to do so. ~ Peggy Orenstein

Opening up a newspaper is the key to looking classy and smart. Never mind the bronze-plated stuff about the role of the press in a democracy - a newspaper, kiddo, is about Style. ~ Garrison Keillor

Concentration is the key to success in anything in life. You need concentration to carry on a conversation, to raise children, to stay positive, to be able to communicate effectively, to succeed academically, to meditate, to succeed in business, to become good at sports, to achieve the goals you set for yourself, and the list can go on and on. ~ Gudjon Bergmann

I am living in hell from one day to the next. But there is nothing I can do to escape. I don't know where I would go if I did. I feel utterly powerless, and that feeling is my prision. I entered of my own free will, I locked the door, and I threw away the key. ~ Haruki Murakami

The noise you hear after people see something you do
whether it's a TV show or a movie
that always makes you see that thing slightly differently. Without question. The ability of a television series to make adjustments is something you've got to take advantage of. And test-screening a movie can be helpful too. But the part that can be dangerous is when you take those notes as gospel, instead of taking them with a grain of salt. The key is to use the response as one of the tools in your box, as opposed to using it to determine what you do. ~ J.J. Abrams

Repentance is the key that unlocks the door to all that God has for us, but it is not easy. ~ James MacDonald

By the time they passed Malindi in the early-afternoon hours, Munroe could feel the syntax, the grammar, the resonance of patterns of the country's lingua franca beginning to form, could feel the tension relaxing now that the key to the aural lock had been handed over, and soon enough, over time and of its own accord, her ability to speak would grow and she would rapidly become more and more fluent.

This same poisonous gift - this savant like ability to visualize the way the words configured into shapes - had defined her life and turned her into what she was now. Without language, there would have been no gunrunning, without gunrunning no nights in the jungle fighting off the worst of human predators, without the nights, no instinct of self-preservation and the speed and the need to kill that had marked her every moment, waking and sleeping, since. ~ Taylor Stevens

It is a key keeper's right to bestow a copy of his key on anyone he wishes. But this practice―a phenomenal rite―is hardly ever performed. To receive a copy of the key means to have its imprint seared into your hand. Holding that branded replica over the front lock miraculously parts the gates to Dreamland. It works just as effectively as inserting the genuine key. Staggering to think about, isn't it? You might consider clenching your fists when you dream. ~ Richelle E. Goodrich

I have come to believe that forgiveness is the key to survival. It does no good to see everything as a struggle between opposing factions. Few things are that simple. ~ Elliott Holt

God is its author, and not man; he laid
The key-note of all harmonies; he planned
All perfect combinations, and he made
Us so that we could hear and understand. ~ John Gardiner Calkins Brainard

The key to a long and healthy marriage is that, honestly, there's nothing worth fighting about. ~ Jay Leno

The importance of falling in love lies not in how it feels, but in what it perceives. And as always with our feelings, the key moral issue is how truthful the perception is ... Falling in love is a sign that this might be someone with whom you could make a good marriage. Still, it's not enough, because the feeling is not always as perceptive as it should be ... So falling in love is not the basis for a good marriage. It's not even a requirement. Marriage does not depend on falling in love; it depends on the promises you make to each other in your wedding vows and then spend a lifetime keeping. As many people have pointed out, you can't promise how you'll feel. But you can promise to cultivate a virtue, such as the virtue of love. ~ Phillip Cary

All of us make mistakes. The key is to acknowledge them, learn, and move on. The real sin is ignoring mistakes, or worse, seeking to hide them. ~ Robert Zoellick

The key thing to keep in mind is that people do change, but they do it in their own time, for their own reasons. That's why you can hope for change, you can encourage change, you can communicate that you want change, but there are never any guarantees that it will happen. ~ John Hawkins

Communication is the key for any global business. ~ Anita Roddick

Fabulous. Toleration is the key word. It's a pity few people understand this. ~ Cristiane Serruya

Love is the key that opens every heart. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

All things are created twice; first mentally; then physically. The key to creativity is to begin with the end in mind, with a vision and a blue print of the desired result. ~ Stephen Covey

Every leader will hit a series of plateaus in their lives. The key is not to say there, because settling on a plateau can easily lead to an elongated season of comfort. Being comfortable is one of the leader's worst enemies ~ Gary Rohrmayer

The key to lasting happiness is to stop looking for it, and to know that you already have it. ~ Deepak Chopra

On the most basic levels, I desire fullness, and fleshly lusts seduce me by attaching themselves to this basic desire. They exploit the empty spaces in me, and they promise that fulness will be mine if I give in to their demands. When my soul sits empty and is aching for something to fill it, such deceptive promises are extremely difficult to resist.

Consequently, the key to mortifying fleshly lusts is to eliminate the emptiness within me and replace it with fullness; and I accomplish this by feasting on the gospel. Indeed, it is in the gospel that I experience a God who glorifies Himself by filling me with His fullness. . . . This is the God of the gospel, a God who is satisfied with nothing less than my experience of fullness in Him! . . .

Indeed, as I perpetually feast on Christ and all His blessings found in the gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal. Hence, to the degree that I am full, I am free. Eyes do not rove, nor do fleshly lusts rule, when the heart is fat with the love of Jesus! ~ Milton Vincent

In Ayurveda our body type or Dosha provides the key to understanding what we are, allowing us to examine and fine-tune our diets and lifestyles to create health, strength and energy for life. We ~ Linda Bretherton

Embrace your individuality by embracing your authentic self. Go deeper to develop a relationship with yourself. Accept who you are; because self-love requires discipline. Create a life that you know is yours - the key to a better you is perseverance. ~ Charlena E. Jackson

The key to making things understandable is to understand what it's like not to understand. ~ Richard Saul Wurman

The main thing to remember when making friends is to genuinely be interested in the other person and their life. 'Curiosity is the key'. ~ Megan Street

People loved to suffer, as long as the suffering made sense. Everybody suffered. The key was to choose the form of your suffering. ~ Chad Harbach

The key to the Hercules Method is to focus your mind, body and spirit towards one goal. By bringing all three into alignment, the physical enthusiast can bring all of them under conscious control. Such control is the key to change. ~ Justin Jordan

From the poorest of countries to the richest of nations, education is the key to moving forward in any society. ~ Nelson Mandela

And I know someone who's
perfect for her. He works in my lab. He's smart. He's funny. His name is Bert."
Bert?
Is she fucking kidding me? What kind of sick son of a bitch names his kid Bert in this day and
age? That's just cruel.
"He'll show Kate a good time. I plan on setting them up this weekend."
And I plan on handcuffing myself to Kate's ankle and eating the key. Let's see what kind of good
time Bert can show Kate when she's dragging me around behind her like a Siamese twin. ~ Emma Chase

There are companies with management and companies with money. You can always find money. Management is the key to success in any business. ~ Husnu Ozyegin

This is your heart. Keep it locked until the chap turns up who has the key. ~ Jean Webster

Human stories are practically always about one thing, really, aren't they? Death. The inevitability of death ...
... (quoting an obituary) 'There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that ever happens to man is natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it he would sense to it an unjustifiable violation.' Well, you may agree with the words or not, but those are the key spring of The Lord Of The Rings ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Plants are our food, oxygen, and medicine. Some even say they are one of the most pleasurable experiences on earth! From the flowers to the trees and the seas filled with coral dreams; the earth's natural flora has inspired and enhanced humans for as long as time can tell. That's why the power of plants is the key to unlocking our enjoyment of life. ~ Natasha Potter

When positivity is the key
You'll find peace in a cup of tea ~ Munia Khan

Today, I will understand that I hold the key to my freedom. I will stop participating in my oppression and victimization. I will take responsibility for myself, and let others do as they may. ~ Melody Beattie

Until the mind is open, the heart stays closed. The open mind is the key to the open heart. ~ Byron Katie

Travel had seemed the key to the kingdom, back then. One dreamed of a life that would enable travel. Howard looked through his window at a lamp-post buried to its waist in show supporting two chained-up, frozen bikes, identifiable only by the tips of their handlebars. He imagined waking up this morning and digging his bike out of the snow and riding to a proper job, the kind Belseys had had for generations, and found he couldn't imagine it. This interested Howard, for a moment: the idea that he could no longer gauge the luxuries of his own life. ~ Zadie Smith

The past is a cupboard full of light and all you have to do is find the key that opens the door. ~ Kate Atkinson

The key to most start-up successes is seeing a need and filling it. ~ Ziad K. Abdelnour

During the ice age, many animals died of cold, so the porcupines decided to band together to provide one another with warmth and protection. But their spines or quills kept sticking into their surrounding companions, precisely those who provided most warmth. And so they drifted apart again. And again many of them died of cold. They had to make a choice: either risk extinction or accept their fellow porcupines' spines. Very wisely, they decided to huddle together again. They learned to live with the minor wounds inflicted by their relatives, because the key to their survival was that shared warmth. ~ Paulo Coelho

I almost wish that I could replace their hideous flok dolls, as a gesture of my gratitude. Could you, perhaps, have one of the local women fashion a crude poppet out of, say, a wooden spool and some scraps of wool? Nothing fancy. Aesthetic standars for this particular collection were not high, believe me. "Ugly" and "ill-crafted" seem to be part of the key criteria. ~ Beth Fantaskey

I think no matter what you look like, the key is to first of all be happy with yourself. And then you know if you want to try to improve things that you don't like about yourself, then do it after your appreciate yourself. ~ Adele

When I was young and full of grace
And spirited - a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honor not to tell

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there's the key,
Your adventure for today, what do you do
Between the horns of the day?

(chorus)
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honor, on your honor
Trust in your calling, make sure your calling's true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule golden words make, practice, practice makes perfect,
Perfect is a fault, and fault lines change

I believe my humor's wearing thin
And change is what I believe in
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

(repeat chorus)

When I was young and full of grace
As spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honor, on your honor
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key

I believe my humor's wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shifting ~ Michael Stipe

First begin between selves, set a definite time, at each at that time put down what the other is doing. Do this 20 days. You shall find you have the key to telepathy. ~ Edgar Cayce

Happiness is a state of mind. The key to happiness is being able to disconnect your life from your perceptions. If you saw things as they really were, you would be happy automatically. ~ Frederick Lenz

Music, you see, is the key. ~ Morrissey