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A Man Who Listens Because He Has Nothing To Say Can Hardly Be A Source Of Inspiration. The Only Listening That Counts Is That Of The Talker Who Alternately Absorbs And Expresses Ideas.
-Agnes Repplier
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A Man Who Listens

Agnes Repplier
A Man Who Listens Because He Has Nothing To Say Can Hardly Be A Source Of Inspiration. The Only Listening That Counts Is That Of The Talker Who Alternately Absorbs And Expresses Ideas.
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Topic
Inspirational
Men
Ideas
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A Man Who Listens Because He Has Nothing To Say Can Hardly Be A Source Of Inspiration. The Only Listening That Counts Is That Of The Talker Who Alternately Absorbs And Expresses Ideas.
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Adults
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Example
Construction
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Giving
Mediocrity
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The Pessimist Is Seldom An Agitating Individual. His Creed Breeds Indifference To Others, And He Does Not Trouble Himself To Thrust His Views Upon The Unconvinced.
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Wit Is As Infinite As Love, And A Deal More Lasting In Its Qualities.
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Why Do So Many Ingenious Theorists Give Fresh Reasons Every Year For The Decline Of Letter Writing, And Why Do They Assume, In Derision Of Suffering Humanity, That It Has Declined? They Lament The Lack Of Leisure, The Lack Of Sentiment ... They Talk Of Telegrams, And Telephones, And Postal Cards, As If Any Discovery Of Science, Any Device Of Civilization, Could Eradicate From The Human Heart That Passion For Self-expression Which Is The Impelling Force Of Letters.
Passion
Writing
Heart
To Be Brave In Misfortune Is To Be Worthy Of Manhood; To Be Wise In Misfortune Is To Conquer Fate.
Wise
Fate
Brave
It Is Impossible To Withhold Education From The Receptive Mind, As It Is Impossible To Force It Upon The Unreasoning.
Inspirational
Inspiring
Mind
Now The Pessimist Proper Is The Most Modest Of Men. ... Under No Circumstances Does He Presume To Imagine That He, A Mere Unit Of Pain, Can In Any Degree Change Or Soften The Remorseless Words Of Fate.
Pain
Fate
Men
If We Go To Church We Are Confronted With A System Of Begging So Complicated And So Resolute That All Other Demands Sink Into Insignificance By Its Side.
Church
Sides
Demand
There Are People Who Balk At Small Civilities On Account Of Their Manifest Insincerity. ... It Is Better And More Logical To Accept All The Polite Phraseology Which Facilitates Intercourse, And Contributes To The Sweetness Of Life. If We Discarded The Formal Falsehoods Which Are The Currency Of Conversation, We Should Not Be One Step Nearer The Vital Things Of Truth.
Sweetness Of Life
People
Steps
The Tea-hour Is The Hour Of Peace ... Strife Is Lost In The Hissing Of The Kettle - A Tranquilizing Sound, Second Only To The Purring Of A Cat.
Cat
Tea
Sound
Where There Is No Temptation, There Is No Virtue.
Temptation
Virtue
Abroad It Is Our Habit To Regard All Other Travelers In The Light Of Personal And Unpardonable Grievances. They Are Intruders Into Our Chosen Realms Of Pleasure, They Jar Upon Our Sensibilities, They Lessen Our Meager Share Of Comforts, They Are Everywhere In Our Way, They Are Always An Unnecessary Feature In The Landscape.
Travel
Light
Landscape
It Is Unwise To Feel Too Much If We Think Too Little.
Thinking
Feelings
Littles
What Monstrous Absurdities And Paradoxes Have Resisted Whole Batteries Of Serious Arguments, And Then Crumbled Swiftly Into Dust Before The Ringing Death-knell Of A Laugh!
Laughter
Dust
Laughing
Guests Are The Delight Of Leisure, And The Solace Of Ennui.
Guests
Leisure
Delight
We Are Tethered To Our Kind, And May As Well Join Hands In The Struggle.
Peace
Struggle
Ubuntu
The Audience Is The Controlling Factor In The Actor's Life. It Is Practically Infallible, Since There Is No Appeal From Its Verdict. It Is A Little Like A Supreme Court Composed Of Irresponsible Minors.
Actors
Littles
Theater
The Thinkers Of The World Should By Rights Be Guardians Of The World's Mirth.
Rights
World
Mirth
Our Dogs Will Love And Admire The Meanest Of Us, And Feed Our Colossal Vanity With Their Uncritical Homage.
Friendship
Dog
Animal
History Is, And Has Always Been Trameled By Facts. It May Ignore Some And Deny Others; But It Cannot Accommodate Itself Unreservedly To Theories; It Cannot Be Stripped Of Things Evidenced In Favor Of Things Surmised.
History
May
Facts
Those Persons Are Happiest In This Restless And Mutable World Who Are In Love With Change, Who Delight In What Is New Simply Because It Differs From What Is Old; Who Rejoice In Every Innovation, And Find A Strange Alert Pleasure In All That Is, And That Has Never Been Before.
Change
Innovation
Delight
The Cat Dwells Within The Circle Of Her Own Secret Thoughts.
Cat
Circles
Secret
A Kitten Is The Most Irresistible Comedian In The World. Its Wide-open Eyes Gleam With Wonder And Mirth. It Darts Madly At Nothing At All, And Then, As Though Suddenly Checked In The Pursuit, Prances Sideways On Its Hind Legs With Ridiculous Agility And Zeal.
Cat
Eye
Animal
The Dog Is Guided By Kindly Instinct To The Man Or Woman Whose Heart Is Open To His Advances. The Cat Often Leaves The Friend Who Courts Her, To Honor, Or To Harass, The Unfortunate Mortal Who Shudders At Her Unwelcome Caresses.
Dog
Heart
Cat
Letter-writing On The Part Of A Busy Man Or Woman Is The Quintessence Of Generosity.
Writing
Men
Generosity
What Puzzles Most Of Us Are The Things Which Have Been Left In The Movies Rather Than The Things Which Have Been Taken Out.
Taken
Cinema
Has Beens
I Wonder What Especial Sanctity Attaches Itself To Fifteen Minutes. It Is Always The Maximum And The Minimum Of Time Which Will Enable Us To Acquire Languages, Etiquette, Personality, Oratory ... One Gathers That Twelve Minutes A Day Would Be Hopelessly Inadequate, And Twenty Minutes A Wasteful And Ridiculous Excess.
Learning
Personality
Twenties
Woman Is Quick To Revere Genius, But In Her Secret Soul She Seldom Loves It.
Women
Soul
Secret
Love Is A Malady, The Common Symptoms Of Which Are The Same In All Patients.
Love Is
Patient
Common
It Is Impossible For A Lover Of Cats To Banish These Alert, Gentle, And Discriminating Friends, Who Give Us Just Enough Of Their Regard And Complaisance To Make Us Hunger For More.
Cat
Giving
Pet
Tea Had Come As A Deliverer To A Land That Called For Deliverance; A Land Of Beef And Ale, Of Heavy Eating And Abundant Drunkenness; Of Gray Skies And Harsh Winds; Of Strong-nerved, Stout-purposed, Slow-thinking Men And Women. Above All, A Land Of Sheltered Homes And Warm Firesides - Firesides That Were Waiting - Waiting For The Bubbling Kettle And The Fragrant Breath Of Tea.
Strong
Home
Men
Who That Has Plodded On To Middle Age Would Take Back Upon His Shoulders Ten Of The Vanished Years, With Their Mingled Pleasures And Pains? Who Would Return To The Youth He Is Forever Pretending To Regret?
Pain
Regret
Years
It Takes Time And Trouble To Persuade Ourselves That The Things We Want To Do Are The Things We Ought To Do.
Choices
Want
Trouble
Conversation Between Adam And Eve Must Have Been Difficult At Times, Because They Had Nobody To Talk About.
Adam
Conversation
Difficult
Books That Children Read But Once Are Of Scant Service To Them; Those That Have Really Helped To Warm Our Imaginations And To Train Our Faculties Are The Few Old Friends We Know So Well That They Have Become A Portion Of Our Thinking Selves.
Children
Book
Thinking
This Is The Sphinx Of The Hearthstone, The Little God Of Domesticity, Whose Presence Turns A House Into A Home.
Home
Heart
House
Wit Is Artificial; Humor Is Natural. Wit Is Accidental; Humor Is Inevitable. Wit Is Born Of Conscious Effort; Humor, Of The Allotted Ironies Of Fate. Wit Can Be Expressed Only In Language; Humor Can Be Developed Sufficiently In Situation.
Humor
Fate
Effort
Science May Carry Us To Mars, But It Will Leave The Earth Peopled As Ever By The Inept.
Mars
Earth
May
It Is The Steady And Merciless Increase Of Occupations, The Augmented Speed At Which We Are Always Trying To Live, The Crowding Of Each Day With More Work Than It Can Profitably Hold, Which Has Cost Us, Among Other Things, The Undisturbed Enjoyment Of Friends. Friendship Takes Time, And We Have No Time To Give It.
Friendship
Always Trying
Giving
America Has Invested Her Religion As Well As Her Morality In Sound Income-paying Securities. She Has Adopted The Unassailable Position Of A Nation Blessed Because It Deserves To Be Blessed; And Her Sons, Whatever Other Theologies They May Affect Or Disregard, Subscribe Unreservedly To This National Creed.
Blessed
Son
America
Fair Play Is Less Characteristic Of Groups Than Of Individuals.
Play
Groups
Fairness
Too Much Rigidity On The Part Of Teachers Should Be Followed By A Brisk Spirit Of Insubordination On The Part Of The Taught.
Teacher
Too Much
Taught
There Is A Natural Limit To The Success We Wish Our Friends, Even When We Have Spurred Them On Their Way.
Envy
Wish
Way
Next To The Joy Of The Egotist Is The Joy Of The Detractor.
Joy
Criticism
Next
We May Fail Of Our Happiness, Strive We Ever So Bravely; But We Are Less Likely To Fail If We Measure With Judgement Our Chances And Our Capabilities.
Failure
Judgement
May
Our Belief In Education Is Unbounded, Our Reverence For It Is Unfaltering, Our Loyalty To It Is Unshaken By Reverses. Our Passionate Desire, Not So Much To Acquire It As To Bestow It, Is The Most Animated Of American Traits.
Loyalty
Passionate Desire
Belief
The Worst In Life, We Are Told, Is Compatible With The Best In Art. So Too The Worst In Life Is Compatible With The Best In Humour.
Art
Life Is
Humour
If Everybody Floated With The Tide Of Talk, Placidity Would Soon End In Stagnation. It Is The Strong Backward Stroke Which Stirs The Ripples, And Gives Animation And Variety.
Strong
Giving
Tides
The Earliest Voice Listened To By The Nations In Their Infancy Was The Voice Of The Storyteller.
Voice
Storytelling
Infancy
Humor Brings Insight And Tolerance. Irony Brings A Deeper And Less Friendly Understanding.
Funny
Patience
Humor
Democracy Forever Teases Us With The Contrast Between Its Ideals And Its Realities, Between Its Heroic Possibilities And Its Sorry Achievements.
Sorry
Reality
Achievement
Bargaining Is Essential To The Life Of The World; But Nobody Has Ever Claimed That It Is An Ennobling Process.
Shopping
Essentials
World
To Have Given Pleasure To One Human Being Is A Recollection That Sweetens Life.
Pleasure
Given
Recollection
The Labors Of The True Critic Are More Essential To The Author, Even, Than To The Reader.
Essentials
Critics
Reader
The English Possess Too Many Agreeable Traits To Permit Them To Be As Much Disliked As They Think And Hope They Are.
Thinking
England
Permit
Economics And Ethics Have Little In Common.
Littles
Ethics
Common
Lovers Of The Town Have Been Content, For The Most Part, To Say They Loved It. They Do Not Brag About Its Uplifting Qualities. They Have None Of The Infernal Smugness Which Makes The Lover Of The Country Insupportable.
Uplifting
Country
Cities
The Human Race May Be Divided Into People Who Love Cats And People Who Hate Them; The Neutrals Being Few In Numbers, And, For Intellectual And Moral Reasons, Not Worth Considering.
Hate
Cat
Race
Every True American Likes To Think In Terms Of Thousands And Millions. The Word 'million' Is Probably The Most Pleasure-giving Vocable In The Language.
Thinking
Giving
Likes
Just As We Are Often Moved To Merriment For No Other Reason Than That The Occasion Calls For Seriousness, So We Are Correspondingly Serious When Invited Too Freely To Be Amused.
Laughter
Serious
Reason
Erudition, Like A Bloodhound, Is A Charming Thing When Held Firmly In Leash, But It Is Not So Attractive When Turned Loose Upon A Defenseless And Unerudite Public.
Knowledge
Learning
Charming
Life Is So Full Of Miseries, Minor And Major; They Press So Close Upon Us At Every Step Of The Way, That It Is Hardly Worthwhile To Call One Another's Attention To Their Presence.
Attention
Way
Steps
It Is Not Every Tourist Who Bubbles Over With Mirth, And That Unquenchable Spirit Of Humor Which Turns A Trial Into A Blessing.
Travel
Blessing
Trials
For Indeed All That We Think So New To-day Has Been Acted Over And Over Again, A Shifting Comedy, By The Women Of Every Century.
Thinking
Shifting
Comedy
The Comfortable Thing About The Study Of History Is That It Inclines Us To Think Hopefully Of Our Own Times.
Thinking
History
Study
Sensuality, Too, Which Used To Show Itself Course, Smiling, Unmasked, And Unmistakable, Is Now Serious, Analytic, And So Burdened With A Sense Of Its Responsibilities That It Passes Muster Half The Time As A New Type Of Asceticism.
Responsibility
Vices
Half
Innovations To Which We Are Not Committed Are Illuminating Things.
Innovation
Committed
Illuminating
Neatness Of Phrase Is So Closely Akin To Wit That It Is Often Accepted As Its Substitute.
Speech
Phrases
Accepted
People Who Cannot Recognize A Palpable Absurdity Are Very Much In The Way Of Civilization.
Civilization
People
Way
It Has Been Well Said That Tea Is Suggestive Of A Thousand Wants, From Which Spring The Decencies And Luxuries Of Civilization.
Spring
Civilization
Luxury
There Is No Liberal Education For The Under-languaged.
Education
Language
Liberal Education
It Is Not What We Learn In Conversation That Enriches Us. It Is The Elation That Comes Of Swift Contact With Tingling Currents Of Thought.
Women
Elation
Currents
A World Of Vested Interests Is Not A World Which Welcomes The Disruptive Force Of Candor.
Peace
Ubuntu
World
We Owe To One Another All The Wit And Good Humour We Can Command; And Nothing So Clears Our Mental Vistas As Sympathetic And Intelligent Conversation.
Intelligent
Conversation
Vistas
We Cannot Learn To Love Other Tourists,-the Laws Of Nature Forbid It,-but, Meditating Soberly On The Impossibility Of Their Loving Us, We May Reach Some Common Platform Of Tolerance, Some Common Exchange Of Recognition And Amenity.
Travel
Law
Tolerance
When The Contemplative Mind Is A French Mind, It Is Content, For The Most Part, To Contemplate France. When The Contemplative Mind Is An English Mind, It Is Liable To Be Seized At Any Moment By An Importunate Desire To Contemplate Morocco Or Labrador.
Travel
Mind
Desire
It Is Not Easy To Find Happiness In Ourselves, And It Is Not Possible To Find It Elsewhere.
Happiness
Happy
Women
He Is Your Friend, Your Partner, Your Defender, Your Dog. You Are His Life, His Love, His Leader. He Will Be Yours, Faithful And True, To The Last Beat Of His Heart. You Owe It To Him To Be Worthy Of Such Devotion. Our Dogs Will Love And Admire The Meanest Of Us, And Feed Our Colossal Vanity With Their Uncritical Homage.
Dog
Heart
Animal
There Is A Secret And Wholesome Conviction In The Heart Of Every Man Or Woman Who Has Written A Book That It Should Be No Easy Matter For An Intelligent Reader To Lay Down That Book Unfinished. There Is A Pardonable Impression Among Reviewers That Half An Hour In Its Company Is Sufficient.
Book
Heart
Men
Believers In Political Faith-healing Enjoy A Supreme Immunity From Doubt.
Healing
Political
Doubt
In Those Happy Days When Leisure Was Held To Be No Sin, Men And Women Wrote Journals Whose Copiousness Both Delights And Dismays Us.
Men
Diaries
Delight
Humor Distorts Nothing, And Only False Gods Are Laughed Off Their Earthly Pedestals.
Funny
Women
Humor
The Cure-alls Of The Present Day Are Infinitely Various And Infinitely Obliging. Applied Psychology, Autosuggestion, And Royal Roads To Learning Or To Wealth Are Urged Upon Us By Kindly, If Not Altogether Disinterested, Reformers. Simple And Easy Systems For The Dissolution Of Discord And Strife; Simple And Easy Systems For The Development Of Personality And Power. Booklets Of Counsel On 'how To Get What We Want,' Which Is Impossible; Booklets On 'visualization,' Warranted To Make Us Want What We Get, Which Is Ignoble.
Simple
Thinking
Personality
The Friendships Of Nations, Built On Common Interests, Cannot Survive The Mutability Of Those Interests.
Common
Relation
Interest
Everybody Is Now So Busy Teaching That Nobody Has Any Time To Learn.
Teaching
Learning
Busy
It Is Claimed That The United States Gets The Cleanest And Purest Tea In The Market, And Certainly It Is Too Good To Warrant The Nervous Apprehension Which Strains And Dilutes It Into Nothingness. The English Do Not Strain Their Tea In The Fervid Fashion We Do. They Like To See A Few Leaves Dawdling About The Cup. They Like To Know What They Are Drinking.
Fashion
Drinking
Tea
There Is Nothing In The World So Enjoyable As A Thorough-going Monomania.
World
Thorough
Enjoyable
A Kitten Is Chiefly Remarkable For Rushing About Like Mad At Nothing Whatever And Generally Stopping Before It Gets There.
Cat
Rushing
Mad
If A Man Be Discreet Enough To Take To Hard Drinking In His Youth, Before His General Emptiness Is Ascertained, His Friends Invariably Credit Him With A Host Of Shining Qualities Which, We Are Given To Understand, Lie Balked And Frustrated By His One Unfortunate Weakness.
Lying
Drinking
Men
The Clear-sighted Do Not Rule The World, But They Sustain And Console It.
Perception
World
Clear
Need Drives Men To Envy As Fullness Drives Them To Selfishness.
Men
Envy
Selfishness
It Is In His Pleasure That A Man Really Lives.
Men
Enjoy Life
Leisure
People With Theories Of Life Are, Perhaps, The Most Relentless Of Their Kind, For No Time Or Place Is Sacred From Their Devastating Elucidations.
Talking
People
Sacred
We Know When We Have Had Enough Of A Friend, And We Know When A Friend Has Had Enough Of Us. The First Truth Is No More Palatable Than The Second.
Friendship
Had Enough
Firsts
There Is Always A Secret Irritation About A Laugh In Which We Cannot Join
Irritation
Laughing
Secret
No Man Pursues What He Has At Hand. No Man Recognizes The Need Of Pursuit Until That Which He Desires Has Escaped Him.
Men
Hands
Desire
The Tourist May Complain Of Other Tourists, But He Would Be Lost Without Them.
Inspirational
Memorable
Tourists
Friendship Takes Time.
Take Time
The Universality Of A Custom Is Pledge Of Its Worth.
Universality
Pledge
Customs
Letters Form A By-path Of Literature, A Charming, But Occasional, Retreat For People Of Cultivated Leisure.
People
Letters
Leisure
But Self-satisfaction, If As Buoyant As Gas, Has An Ugly Trick Of Collapsing When Full Blown, And Facts Are Stony Things That Refuse To Melt Away In The Sunshine Of A Smile.
Sunshine
Self
Ugly
Traveling Is, And Has Always Been, More Popular Than The Traveler.
Travel
Traveler
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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