Ideas Quotes

"Why do we call all our generous ideas illusions, and the mean ones truths?" ~ The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton "Ah, good conversation—there's nothing like it, is there? The air of ideas is the only air worth breathing." ~ The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton Great and strange ideas transcending experience often have less effect upon men and women than smaller, more tangible considerations. ~ The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. ~ East of Eden by John Steinbeck "And what, incidentally, do you think integrity is? The ability not to pick a watch out of your neighbor's pocket? No, it's not as easy as that. If that were all, I'd say ninety-five percent of humanity were honest, upright men. Only, as you can see, they aren't. Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea. That presupposes the ability to think. Thinking is something one doesn't borrow or pawn." ~ The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand His life has been spent in devotion to ideas. The passions of his brain have consumed the passions of his body. ~ The Triumph of the Egg (Seeds) by Sherwood Anderson In the world of ideas everything was clear; in life all was obscure, embroiled. ~ Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley Being a man of very few ideas, he cherished those he had with an exaggerated care. ~ Northern Lights by Gilbert Parker "And people laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven't you?" ~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery "Is it not? Is it not? Breadth of view, my dear Mr. Mac, is one of the essentials of our profession. The interplay of ideas and the oblique uses of knowledge are often of extraordinary interest." ~ The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle