Quotation Explorer - 'Former'

The real church is comprised of a long list of "formers" who collectively work together for world reform. - Johnnie Dent Jr.
In life there are heads and there are tails however when one starts to excrete thoughts out of the latter and proceed to relieve yourself out of the former then you've become too full of yourself. - Ryan Cayne
Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic. - Thomas Szasz
Every great man is an idol, an oracle of inquiry. Don't aspire to know the former, but aspire to know the diety in his soul. - Michael Bassey Johnson
A nation aimlessly drifting away from God is a nation for which prayer is a rudder and praise is a sail. And it is the man or woman on their knees that builds the former and gives wind to the latter. - Craig D. Lounsbrough
The continuation of man’s life is more attributable to his fear of death than it is to his desire to live. As a matter of fact, in countless cases, it is attributable to only the former. - Mokokoma Mokhonoana
This view, as a rounded whole and in all its essential elements, has very recently disappeared from science. It died a royal death with Agassiz.[It had formerly been held that there were no genetic connections among species.] - Asa Gray
So death, the most terrifying of ills, is nothing to us, since so long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist. It does not then concern either the living or the dead, since for the former it is not, and the latter are no more. - Epicurus
Prefer loss to the wealth of dishonest gain; the former vexes you for a time; the latter will bring you lasting remorse. - Chilo
Either we are running ‘from’ what we fear or running ‘to’ what we fear. The former is a choice controlled by fear, the latter is an action inspired by it. - Craig D. Lounsbrough
There is a great difference between enlightenment and education. The former is a discerned vital knowledge without guidance while the latter is imparting any knowledge. - Uzoma Nnadi
Discerning the difference between a dictator and a leader is quite easy. The former cannot help but see ‘leading’ and ‘serving’ as stark contradictions that by their very nature are utterly incompatible. The latter can’t tell the difference - Craig D. Lounsbrough
Even in climes/without snow/one cannot go/foward sometimes./Things test you./You are part of/the Donners or/part of the rescue:/a muleteer in/earflaps; a/formerly hearty/Midwestern farmer/perhaps. Both/parties trapped/within sight/of the pass. - Kay Ryan
I find that I spend a tremendous amount of time chasing the praises of men rather than sitting with the praises of God. The former is something I attempt to catch, the latter catches me. - Craig D. Lounsbrough
Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. We lose as much to life as we do to death. - Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
Love is an alliance of friendship and animalism; if the former predominates it is passion exalted and refined; if the latter, gross and sensual.
Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge. - Cicero
While writing is like a joyful release, editing is a prison where the bars are my former intentions and the abusive warden my own neuroticism. - Tiffany Madison
The difference between real life and a story is that life has significance, while a story must have meaning.The former is not always apparent, while the latter always has to be, before the end. - Vera Nazarian
OWE, v. To have (and to hold) a debt. The word formerly signified not indebtedness, but possession; it meant "own," and in the minds of debtors there is still a good deal of confusion between assets and liabilities. - Ambrose Bierce
Self-reflection is a kind of self-judgment. The difference is just this the former is positive and the latter is negative. - Balroop Singh
In life there are heads and there are tails however when one starts to excrete thoughts out of the latter and proceed to relieve yourself out of the former than you've become too full of yourself. - Ryan Cayne
Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter. - Paxton Hood
The slanderer and the assassin differ only in the weapon they use; with the one it is the dagger, with the other the tongue. The former is worse that the latter, for the last only kills the body, while the other murders the reputation.
MILLENNIUM, n. The period of a thousand years when the lid is to be screwed down, with all reformers on the under side. - Ambrose Bierce
You can either wonder or worry. It is better to choice the former. - Lailah Gifty Akita
In marriage, each partner is to be an encourager rather than a critic; a forgiver rather than a collector of hurts; an enabler rather than a reformer. - H. Norman Wright
Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence. - Democritus
We sensible often resist intrusive love and its chaos practically, employing measures to prevent the former for fear of the latter. But for all our wit and work, that desperation for control also prevents the pure, transcendental freedom more often delivered by both. - Tiffany Madison
Narrative secrets are not the same as human mysteries, a lesson that novelists seem fates to forget, again and again; the former quickly confess themselves, and fall silent, while the true mysteries go on speaking. - James Wood
As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.
That's the thing about being a former fat camp champ: when asked if I'd change my past if I could, I always answer no. The pain of being an overweight kid, the humiliation, make you think twice before ever cutting anyone else down. - Stephanie Klein
Knowing that an asteroid is going to hit the earth is not really useful if you are not planning to launch missiles to knock it out of the sky. You have to work massively overtime on the belief that innovation or massive change is going to happen.' Tom Martin, former VP of marketing - Heather Simmons
The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it withing his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter. - Norman Cousins
You have two voices: the one you speak with and the one you think with. While the former is the one others hear, of greater importance is the one you hear. - Stephen Richards
...first thing is that I love you. And the second thing is that as much as I honor your former profession, I don’t think your geese care much for your betrothed and I hope they hadn’t any plans on sharing our bed. - Shannon Hale
Setbacks are common enemies of both achievers and people whose dream cut short. The difference is that the former persist against continual setbacks while the latter quit. - Assegid Habtewold
Jails and prisons are the complement of schools; so many less as you have of the latter, so many more must you have of the former. - Horace Mann
In comparing various authors with one another, I have discovered that some of the gravest and latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making acknowledgment. - Pliny the Elder
The headline reads, "Docs say patients make them prescribe useless antibiotics." This puts a physician in roughly the same predicament as a serial killer. The latter says, "Stop me before I kill again, while the former says, "Stop me before I prescribe again."
Threatening a current or former partner isn't passion, or love, or heartache. It's violence, it's abuse and it's a crime. - Miya Yamanouchi
A woman has but two loves in life: the one who broke her heart and the one she spends the rest of her life with."- Carolyn Chase, former Broadcast Journalist and heroine Kate Theodore's mother - Liz Newman
Good can exist without evil,but evil cannot exist without good.The former is eternal,the latter is temporal. - Matshona Dhliwayo
I look myself in the mirror and see what I am inside. In a glimpse, I find the perfection in the imperfect evidence of the former existence. - Katia M. S.
La littérature est un théâtre à ciel ouvert qui permet de transformer les êtres les plus simples en héros universels, loin des parterres présomptueux.Conrad, Le Voyageur de l'inquiétude - Olivier Weber
Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults. - Thomas Szasz
About Superman and Batman: the former is how America views itself, the latter, darker character is how the rest of the world views America.
Life is nothing but a drama and you are the performer and the audience; enjoy the show. - Debasish Mridha
It is so easy to differentiate between a lion and a wolf under a lion's clothing, as the former is often spotted alone whereas the latter remains seen often in a crowd. - Anuj Somany
Economic recession is a time that differentiates between ordinary and extraordinary firms; the former will fire while the latter will hire for it has a vision to build a sustainable business empire. - Anuj Somany
Two centuries ago, a former European colony decided to catch up with Europe. It succeeded so well that the United States of America became a monster, in which the taints, the sickness and the inhumanity of Europe have grown to appalling dimensions - Frantz Fanon
If one Godfather offers you an opportunity and another Godfather offers you an advantage, go with the former. - Amit Kalantri
PAINTING, n. The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic. Formerly, painting and sculpture were combined in the same work: the ancients painted their statues. The only present alliance between the two arts is that the modern painter chisels his patrons. - Ambrose Bierce
I must look at the 'nature' of God, not the 'nature' of the challenge. For the former means everything and the latter means nothing. - Craig D. Lounsbrough
We distinguish the excellent man from the common man by saying that the former is the one who makes great demands upon himself, and the latter who makes no demands on himself. - Jose Ortega y Gasset
LAUREL, n. The _laurus_, a vegetable dedicated to Apollo, and formerly defoliated to wreathe the brows of victors and such poets as had influence at court. (_Vide supra._) - Ambrose Bierce
Ladies and gentlemen, when you paint your lips, eyes, nails, hair, side-beards, or whatever, to look beautiful or handsome, don't forget your up stairs, if you don't go up there to put things in order, then, consider the former attributes null and void. - Michael Bassey Johnson
Would the mountain cherry blossoms return my affection for there is no one else out here. /もろともに あはれと思へ 山桜 花よりほかに 知る人もなし - Former Chief Abbot Gyoson
If you do not grasp, intellectually or spiritually, the 'One' in All, you would've lived and died as your former self - ape, et all. - Fakeer Ishavardas
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Wife: a former sweetheart. - H. L. Mencken
The ethics of psychiatric therapy is the very negation of the ethics of political liberty. The former embraces absolute power, provided it is used to protect and promote the patient's mental health. The latter rejects absolute power, regardless of its aim or use. - Thomas Szasz
The artist must forget the audience, forget the critics, forget the technique, forget everything but love for the music.Then, the music speaks through the performance,and the performer and the listener will walk togetherwith the soul of the composer, and withGod. - Mstislav Rostropovich
This is an inevitable and easily recognizable stage in every revolutionary movement: reformers must expect to be disowned by those who are only too happy to enjoy what has been won for them. - Doris Lessing
Darkness well ahead is better than darkness close by, because you can find a way to avoid the former! Search the horizons to see the storms ahead. - Mehmet Murat ildan
As his former student Alastair Fowler once remarked, "Lewis seemed always on the verge of hilarity -- between a chuckle and a roar. - Greg Cootsona
Her two outstanding characteristics were self-confidence and candor. The latter sometimes got her into hot water Durrance later told Charlotte, but the former kept it from scalding her. - Olive Higgins Prouty
There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance. - Hippocrates
The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self. - Whitney Young
There's a big difference on being wise and being crafty. The former is the attribute of God, and the latter is that of Satan. - Michael Bassey Johnson
There are two types of people in this world- those who pull out of bed each morning at the thought of breakfast and those who are driven by ambition. The former succeed in satisfying hunger pangs and the latter accomplish their life goals. - Roopleen
. . . there are two types of fighters, the former strike all over the place hoping one would land, the latter, assured of their prowess and capabilities, hit once and destroy the opponent's desire to continue the fight - Soke Behzad Ahmadi
The Reformer is always right about what's wrong. However, he's often wrong about what is right. - G.K. Chesterton
A person who says his expertise lies in selling only a particular product, but for other products some else of their team has the capability to makes sales; is actually playing office politics in spite of the management considering him consistently the star performer in the organisation. - Anuj Somany
You speak of the good conduct of your ancestors. As your own conduct is under discussion, and not theirs, I cannot see how their former good character can at all serve your present purpose. Fortunately for our country, every man stands upon his own merit. - Stephen Decatur
MINSTREL, adj. Formerly a poet, singer or musician; now a nigger with a color less than skin deep and a humor more than flesh and blood can bear. - Ambrose Bierce
All Reformers, however strict their social conscience, live in houses just as big as they can pay for. - Logan Pearsall Smith
I am now a faded image of my former being,I let that persona go.I like myself for who I am and I choose to be, me. - Tina J. Richardson
The technology is the independent variable, the social system the dependent variable. Social, systems are therefore determined by systems of technology; as the latter change, so do the former. - Leslie White
Science is interesting, and if you don't agree you can fuck off.Note: Dawkins was quoting a former editor of New Scientist Magazine, who is as yet unidentified (possibly Jeremy Webb) - Richard Dawkins
The noble man is chiefly concerned with wisdom and friendship; of these, the former is a mortal good, the latter and immortal one. - Epicurus
But that which fanaticism formerly promised to the elect, science now accomplishes for all men. - Gustave Flaubert
GNOSTICS, n. A sect of philosophers who tried to engineer a fusion between the early Christians and the Platonists. The former would not go into the caucus and the combination failed, greatly to the chagrin of the fusion managers. - Ambrose Bierce
What a time experiences as evil, is usually an untimely echo of what was formerly experienced as good--the atavism of a more ancient ideal. - Friedrich Nietzsche
No need to look to see if your former home has vanished yet into the humdrum gray behind you; you'll be able to feel it, the sudden eclipse of the tractor beam the house puts out. Of its forcefield of sadness. - Garth Risk Hallberg
Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as the latter. - Paxton Hood
Life may be lived with a veil vainly attempting to hide its truth. The Painted Veil, as Somerset Maugham called it, does fade with time, if not raised earlier. If anything is more pathetic than its former self, it is the faded veil. - R. N. Prasher
RACK, n. An argumentative implement formerly much used in persuading devotees of a false faith to embrace the living truth. As a call to the unconverted the rack never had any particular efficacy, and is now held in light popular esteem. - Ambrose Bierce
Almost all reformers, however strict their social conscience, live in houses just as big as they can pay for. - Logan Pearsall Smith
Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog. - Doug Larson
Like every true performer, she was intoxicated by the mere feel of the notes: they were fingers caressing her own; and by touch, not by sound alone, did she come to her desire. - E.M. Forster
A person who can feel the pain of the underprivileged people can always be a true, stand-up comedian; most performers do not stand up to this standard and yet, surprisingly, many are popular. - Anuj Somany
What’s the point of having beliefs and values if we don't stand up for the former and live by the latter? - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
A new and valid idea is worth more than a regiment and fewer men can furnish the former than command the latter. - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world, for he knows how to introduce the former at fit place in conversation. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There is a wide world out there, my friend, full of pain, but filled with joy as well. The former keeps you on the path of growth, and the latter makes the journey tolerable.
Compared with lesbians, gays seem to be more unapologetic about their sexual orientation. The former must not have balls. - Mokokoma Mokhonoana
We may never be able to forget what has happened. We may harbor the sadness from it in our hearts forever. The former of these is unavoidable. - Brian Pickens
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
There are two modes of establishing our reputation: to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by rogues. It is best, however, to secure the former, because it will invariably be accompanied by the latter. - Charles Caleb Colton
When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained. - Edward R. Murrow
Either we are running ‘from’ what we fear, or running ‘to’ what we fear. The former is a choice driven by fear, the latter is an action inspired by it. - Craig D. Lounsbrough
Success flourishes only in perseverance--ceaseless, restless perseverance. (1892-1918); Former Fighter Pilot - Baron Manfred von Richthofen
There isn't much difference between "giving" and "leaving". While the former will ALWAYS come back to you, the latter will only do if it was meant to be yours in the first place. - Olaotan Fawehinmi
REFORM, v. A thing that mostly satisfies reformers opposed to reformation. - Ambrose Bierce
Where God is like the sun, the Devil is like a raindrop. There is no 'God vs. Satan' because they aren't even that close in power and authority. The former is very patient; the latter is at mercy. - Criss Jami
There is a very great difference between older and old, the former being desirable and the latter being inevitable. - Michelle Franklin
He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatness of the soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported without the latter. - Henry Fielding
PANDEMONIUM, n. Literally, the Place of All the Demons. Most of them have escaped into politics and finance, and the place is now used as a lecture hall by the Audible Reformer. When disturbed by his voice the ancient echoes clamor appropriate responses most gratifying to his pride of distinction. - Ambrose Bierce
PORTABLE, adj. Exposed to a mutable ownership through vicissitudes of possession. His light estate, if neither he did make it Nor yet its former guardian forsake it, Is portable improperly, I take it. Worgum Slupsky - Ambrose Bierce
. . . human beings . . . [are] divided into "book benders" and "non-book benders." The former are happier. - Fausto Brizzi
Judge a person not by how he treats you, but how he treats others. The former reflects what he wants you to think of him, the latter truly reflects who he is. - Betty Jamie Chung
Give and receive with gratitude. Do the former, without expectation of, the latter. - Jaeda DeWalt
From a genuine performers heart comes passion, to get there, he must first love his audience above himself. - Illusionist Scott Wolf
There's no shame compared to being beautiful with nothing in your brain, an ugly devil with wits is much better that the former. - Michael Bassey Johnson
Once machines performed all the servile functions formerly performed by the lower classes, the population immediately achieved equality, ending over ten thousand years of class systems. - Charles Edward Stoll
Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages. - H. L. Mencken
DAY, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent. This period is divided into two parts, the day proper and the night, or day improper -- the former devoted to sins of business, the latter consecrated to the other sort. These two kinds of social activity overlap. - Ambrose Bierce
As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly. - Samuel Johnson
Even as one heat another heat expels, or as one nail by strength drives out another, so the remembrance of my former love is by a newer object quite forgotten. - William Shakespeare
The world needs more dreamers, more peak performers, more people who aren’t content settling for mediocre. It’s time to stand up and create the future and life you love. - Michelle McCullough
There can be no fairer spectacle than that of a man, who combines the possession of moral beauty in his soul with outward beauty of form, corresponding and harmonizing with the former, because the same great pattern enters both. - Plato
Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown. - Chinese Proverb
It's always easier to clean up the mess that we make than to come to terms with the mess that we are. But unless we find ourselves doing the latter, we will forever find ourselves doing the former. - Taiki Matsuura
If you are a musician,sing to one as if you were singing to a million.If you are a dancer,dance to one as if you were dancing to a million.If you are a performer,perform to one as if you were performing to a million. - Matshona Dhliwayo
I'd rather know a man's sincerity than his love. Whereas I have never needed the latter, one can always count on the former. - Donna Lynn Hope
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