Refusal Quotes

Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra. (Fran Lebowitz)
The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all. View quote
John Updike
When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him. View quote
Bayard Rustin
You can understand why a system would seek information - but why in hell does it offer information? Why do we strive to be understood? Why is a refusal to accept communication so painful? View quote
James Tiptree, Jr
A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice. View quote
François de La Rochefoucauld
The failure of the system to deal quickly was attributable to Nixon's lying, stonewalling and refusal to come clean. So it took 26 months for the final truth to be known. View quote
Bob Woodward
Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd. View quote
Annie Besant
In its relation to the reality of daily life, the high culture of the past was many things-opposition and adornment, outcry and resignation. But it was also the appearance of the realm of freedom: the refusal to behave. View quote
Herbert Marcuse
Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself. View quote
Søren Kierkegaard
It's not the cheating. It's the hunger for an alternative. The refusal to accept unhappiness. View quote
Tom Perrotta
It is impossible, in my mind, to distinguish between the refusal to receive a petition, or its summary rejection by some general order, and the denial of the right of petition. (Caleb Cushing)
The refusal of the British and Russian peoples to accept what appeared to be inevitable defeat was the great factor in the salvage of our civilization. View quote
George C. Marshall
One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised. View quote
Chinua Achebe
All logical arguments can be defeated by the simple refusal to reason logically. View quote
Steven Weinberg
To joke in the face of danger is the supreme politeness, a delicate refusal to cast oneself as a tragic hero. View quote
Edmond Rostand
If you give way, you will instantly have to meet some greater demand, as having been frightened into obedience in the first instance; while a firm refusal will make them clearly understand that they must treat you more as equals. View quote
Thucydides
While the Jeffersonian did not flatly deny the Creator's power to perform miracles, he admired His refusal to do so. View quote
Daniel J. Boorstin
Just as the creative artist is not allowed to choose, neither is he permitted to turn his back on anything: a single refusal, and he is cast out of the state of grace and becomes sinful all the way through. View quote
Rainer Maria Rilke
When the empirical investigator glories in his refusal to go beyond the specialized observation dictated by the traditions of his discipline, be they ever so inclusive, he is making a virtue out of a defense mechanism which insures him against questioning his presuppositions. View quote
Karl Mannheim
When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of 'No answer.' It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, 'Peace, child; you don't understand.' View quote
C. S. Lewis
As long as this deliberate refusal to understand things from above, even where such understanding is possible, continues, it is idle to talk of any final victory over materialism. (C. S. Lewis)
[W]e only become what we are by the radical and deep-seated refusal of that which others have made of us. View quote
Jean-Paul Sartre
Time and time again, the obstinate refusal of the tsarist regime to concede reforms turned what should have been a political problem into a revolutionary crisis... the tsarist regime's downfall was not inevitable; but its own stupidity made it so. View quote
Orlando Figes
Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this is at the bottom of most bad economic thinking. View quote
P. J. O'Rourke
I am your Prince and you will marry me," Humperdinck said. Buttercup whispered, "I am your servant and I refuse." "I am you Prince and you cannot refuse." "I am your loyal servant and I just did." "Refusal means death." "Kill me then. View quote
William Goldman