Paradox Quotes

It is one of the paradoxes of journalism: The more servile a reporter is toward his sources, the more authoritative he can appear in print.

In a critical sense, doing nothing can mean doing something. Inaction can be action and embracing this paradox can save your life.

The paradox of simplicity is that making things simpler is hard work.

It is not so difficult a task to plant new truths, as to root out old errors; for there is this paradox in men, they run after that which is new, but are prejudiced in favor of that which is old.

A city like London was always going to be a paradox, the best of it so very riddled with the opposite, so Swiss-cheesed with moral holes.

It is a paradox. Life is that way. God designed it that way. I believe I met him once. He was full of mischief.

The paradox of race in America is that our common destiny is more pronounced and imperiled precisely when our divisions are deeper.

It's the good old paradox of democracy. We are individually pretty small drops in the bucket, but collectively we are all powerful.

Usually there is a paradox in what a character wants. A conflict is built deeply within them. And then you put them in motion, throw everything at them until they reveal themselves further.

It is a paradox of Life that all species breed past mere replacement. Any paradise of plenty soon fills to become paradise no more.

One paradox of professional writing is that books written solely for money and/or acclaim will almost never be good enough to garner either.

There's a weird kind of paradox that the more expensive the vacation is, the more potentially anxiety-producing it is.

We were an extraordinary paradox. We are finite creatures made for the infinite.

There’s obviously a lot of tragedy in comedy; I really enjoy the paradox of what a really good comedy is.

Tragic paradox of freedom: the mediocre men who alone make its exercise possible cannot guarantee its duration.

The paradox of publicity is that even as we do it, we know it's killing off the chance of another reader happening across our book in the ideal state of innocence.

It is a paradox that in our time of drastic rapid change, when the future is in our midst devouring the present before our eyes, we have never been less certain about what is ahead of us.

As with the onset of sudden celebrity, for the newly rich, the world often becomes a darker, narrower, less generous place; a paradox that elicits scant sympathy, but is nonetheless true.

Thanks to the discoveries of astronomers in the twentieth century, we now know that the heat death is a myth. The heat death can never happen, and there is no paradox.

Resilience is based on the ability to embrace the extremes -- while no becoming an extremist. ... **Most companies don't do paradox very well.** (emphasis by author) [2002] p.25f

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life, not life to years.

[Paradox is] truth standing on its head to gain attention.

The hands that had made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle. Upon this paradox, we might almost say upon this jest, all the literature of our faith is founded.

To speak of the impotence of power is no longer a witty paradox.

I like the idea of paradox, between the authentic fabrics and sophisticated shapes and between masculine and feminine. I'm not so much for sportswear. I think it's over.

One of the ideals [Margaret Thatcher] grew up with was self-denial and postponement of gratification, and yet she went about to create a greedy, short-term society. It is a paradox.

The paradox of knowledge is not confined to the small, atomic scale; on the contrary, it is as cogent on the scale of man, and even of the stars.

The problem is that groups are only smart when the people in them are as independent as possible. This is the paradox of the wisdom of crowds.

It is a strange paradox: Humans drown in the water, fish drown in the land.

I consider myself pretty lazy, but I look back and check out the stuff I've done, and I say, 'God, that's a lot of stuff for a lazy guy.' It's a paradox, I suppose, being both things.

Many things are linked to being able to live with uncertainty, ...with paradoxes. But this can be a strength of an organisation and a situation.

Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.

That one individual should awaken in another memories that belong to still a third is an obvious paradox.

The grand paradox of our society is this: we magnify man’s right but we minimize his capacities.

Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that we have failed to see it.

There is not a greater paradox in nature,--than that so good a religion [as Christianity] should be no better recommended by its professors.

The paradox of acceptance: When our mind becomes less attached and dependent on things being a certain way our happiness in life dramatically improves.

The paradox is the seed of truth. This germ just needs a fertile ground to flourish and bear fruit.

It's the "Success Paradox." When a set of behaviors has gotten you somewhere, you keep doing them even though the circumstances have changed.

I don't believe in objectivity. I observe the observer's paradox every moment I'm filming. Your presence is changing everything; there's no mistaking it. And you have a responsibility.

the translator, a lonely sort of acrobat, becomes confused in a labyrinth of paradox, or climbs a pyramid of dependent clauses and has to invent a way down from it in his own language.

The only way I can access all my strength is to relax. ... The paradox is that you must learn to be relaxed while using all your power.

Holland is a land of intense paradox. It is quite impossible, but it is there.

The deeper and richer a personality is, the more full it is of paradox and contradiction. It is only a shallow character who offers us no problems of contrast.

By our very nature, we are a human paradox. We are a human being. The being is infinite and the human is very finite. We walk around like lightening in a bottle.

The paradox of American democracy has been that its slogan of equal opportunity has meant, often, equal opportunity to get power over your fellows.

Paradox implies that stating a contradiction disposes of it.

That's the paradox. Since we can spend as long as we want, we worked so much faster than we used to. I think that when you don't have the pressure anymore, the ideas come faster.

This is the Democratic paradox: You want so much to run America and yet you seem not so fond of Americans.

Rather than waste precious time arguing, I went up and started serving my "sentence" without delay. It was usually about an hour for epigrams; somewhat longer for a paradox.