Variety Quotes

“The modern mind is forced towards the future by a certain sense of fatigue, not unmixed with terror, with which it regards the past. It is propelled towards the coming time; it is, in the exact words of the popular phrase, knocked into the middle of next week. And the goad which drives it on thus eagerly is not an affectation for futurity Futurity does not exist, because it is still future. Rather it is a fear of the past; a fear not merely of the evil in the past, but of the good in the past also. The brain breaks down under the unbearable virtue of mankind. There have been so many flaming faiths that we cannot hold; so many harsh heroisms that we cannot imitate; so many great efforts of monumental building or of military glory which seem to us at once sublime and pathetic. The future is a refuge from the fierce competition of our forefathers. The older generation, not the younger, is knocking at our door. It is agreeable to escape, as Henley said, into the Street of By-and-Bye, where stands the Hostelry of Never. It is pleasant to play with children, especially unborn children. The future is a blank wall on which every man can write his own name as large as he likes; the past I find already covered with illegible scribbles, such as Plato, Isaiah, Shakespeare, Michael Angelo, Napoleon. I can make the future as narrow as myself; the past is obliged to be as broad and turbulent as humanity. And the upshot of this modern attitude is really this: that men invent new ideals because they dare not attempt old ideals. They look forward with enthusiasm, because they are afraid to look back.”
― G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World

“I know now that a writer cannot afford to give in to feelings of rage, disgust, or contempt. Did you answer someone in a temper? If so, you didn't hear him out and lost track of his system of opinions. You avoided someone out of disgust—and a completely unknown personality slipped out of your ken—precisely the type you would have needed someday. But, however tardily, I nonetheless caught myself and realized I had always devoted my time and attention to people who fascinated me and were pleasant, who engaged my sympathy, and that as a result I was seeing society like the Moon, always from one side.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books III-IV

“But I don't doubt it will be essentially the same type of crime. The details may be different, but the essentials underlying them will be the same. It's odd, but a criminal gives himself away every time by that. Man is an unoriginal animal," said Hercule Poirot.
"Women," said Mrs. Oliver, " are capable of infinite variation. I should never commit the same type of murder twice running."
"Don't you ever write the same plot twice running?" asked Battle.”
― Agatha Christie, Cards on the Table

“Nature repeats herself more than one would imagine. The sea has infinitely more variety.”
― Agatha Christie, Murder in the Mews

“They tell us variety is the spice of life - and yet diversity terrifies them.”
― Christina Engela, Loderunner

“Routine ruins the life, variety vitalise the life.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“The more you get set into your own world, the smaller your world becomes.”
― J.R. Rim

“Each time Vesuvius erupted, it covered its slopes with a deep layer of a remarkable natural fertilizer called potash, and as a result the mountain supported dozens of species of fruit and vegetables which grew nowhere else in all Italy, a culinary advantage which more than compensated for the area's occasional dangers. In the case of apricots, the varieties included the firm-fleshed Cafona, the juicy Palummella, the bittersweet Boccuccia liscia, the peachlike Pellecchiella and the spiky-skinned but incomparably succulent Spinosa.”
― Anthony Capella, The Wedding Officer

“Ihr glaubt, ihr seid dazu verpflichtet -
ja, das wolln wir aber gar nicht - ja, das wolln wir aber gar nicht!
Auch ohne Liebe sind wir manchmal glücklich und froh -
es geht auch ohne das - es geht auch so!
Es geht auch ohne das - es geht auch so!”
― Kurt Tucholsky, Seifenblasen

“Differences between nations, so long as they do not lead to hostility, are by no means to be deplored. Living for a time in a foreign country makes us aware of merits in which our own country is deficient, and this is true whichever country our own may be. The same thing holds of differences between different regions within one country, and of the differing types produced by different professions. Uniformity of character and uniformity of culture are to be regretted. Biological evolution has depended upon inborn differences between individuals or tribes, and cultural evolution depends upon acquired differences. When these disappear, there is no longer any material for selection. In the modern world, there is a real danger of too great similarity between one region and another in cultural respects. One of the best ways of minimising this evil is an increase in the autonomy of different groups.”
― Bertrand Russell, Authority and the Individual

“Like fashion, torture comes in a variety of styles.”
― James Marshall Smith, Silent Source

“The critical nature of 'choices' -- [the] timing will prove to be an asset or liability; it will reward wisdom or expose stupidity. Either way, we learn from the path of suffering or satisfaction… by choice or by design.”
― T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph over Death and Conscious Encounters With the Divine Presence

“Welcome to Planet Earth, the destination of fragmented wisdom.”
― Talismanist Giebra, Talismanist: Fragments of the Ancient Fire. Philosophy of Fragmentism Series.

“The only way for existence to survive is to create different forms of existence because same things will have same talents and different things will have different talents!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“The great cheeses of Europe were born during the Middle Ages- Cheddar in southern England in the twelfth century, Gouda in the Netherlands not long after; Parmigiano-Reggiano, the king of Italian cheeses, emerged as a staple of the cuisine of Emilia in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. From there, cheese began its inexorable march toward diversification, from sharp, funky blue cheeses aged in caves to unpasteurized triple creams to tangy pucks of goat cheese rolled in lavender and fennel pollen. By some estimates, more than four thousand varieties of cheeses are produced today- a thousand in France alone- made from a dozen different kinds of milk: cow, sheep, yak, reindeer, even human.”
― Matt Goulding, Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture

“We almost always want variety from the food we eat, but almost never from the people with whom we eat.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Reader of dead words who would live deeds, this is the flowering of my logic: I dream of a world of infinitive and valuable variety; not in the laws of gravity or atomic weights, but in human variety in height and weight, color and skin, hair and nose and lip. But more especially and far above and beyond this, is a realm of true freedom: in thought and dream, fantasy and imagination; in gift, aptitude, and genius—all possible manner of difference, topped with freedom of soul to do and be, and freedom of thought to give to a world and build into it, all wealth of inborn individuality. Each effort to stop this freedom of being is a blow at democracy—that real democracy which is reservoir and opportunity . . . There can be no perfect democracy curtailed by color, race, or poverty. But with all we accomplish all, even Peace.”
― W.E.B. Du Bois

“Trees emit a wide variety of electromagentic radiation and it is regarded as healthy to live in a natural area that is surrounded by trees due to these beneficial emissions to human health.”
― Steven Magee

“Our differences will also show up from time to time, underscoring the uniqueness of our personal endowments, the variety of our experiences, and the creativity of our sovereign God.”
― J. Grant Howard, Balancing Life's Demands: A New Perspective on Priorities

“I realized that day that blessings come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes.”
― Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working

“The critical nature of 'choices' -- [the] timing will prove to be an asset or liability; it will reward wisdom or expose stupidity. Either way, we learn from the path of suffering or satisfaction… by choice and by design.”
― T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph over Death and Conscious Encounters With the Divine Presence

“No matter where you float in the sea of love, it is important to see all the love around you. The universe is brimming and swimming with all shapes, colors and sizes of love - A beautiful coral reef of variety that's yours for the sharing. An open heart is seldom lonely.”
― Margot Datz, A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids

“La variété des manifestations de la vie suffit à l'éblouissement. Il n’y a qu'à jeter l’oeil, comme on lance un filet, pour pêcher des images.”
― Sylvain Tesson, Petit traité sur l'immensité du monde

“Variety is precious when it expresses nature more richly by developing various aspects of it; but the variety that consists in producing cripples and abortions instead of normal human beings has nothing to commend it to the lover of mankind.”
― Antonin Sertillanges, The Church

“At first glance, the main display case at Dicecca today looks like a selection you'll find in any cheese shop in Puglia: tubs of milky water covering hunks of mozzarella in its many guises; strings of swollen scamorze dangling from the ceiling, bronzed by their stopover in the cold smoker; small plastic containers of creamy ricotta ready to be stuffed or eaten straight with a spoon. But look closer and you'll see some unfamiliar faces staring back at you through the glass: a large bucket brimming with ricotta spiked with ribbons of blue cheese and toasted almonds, served by the scoop; a wooden serving board paved with melting slabs of goat cheese weaponized with a cloak of bright red chili flakes; a hulking wheel of pecorino, stained shamrock green by a puree of basil and spinach. These are the signs of a caseificio in the grips of an evolution, one that started more than a decade ago when the brothers took the reins from their parents and began to expand the definition of a small, family-run cheese shop.”
― Matt Goulding, Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy's Food Culture

“We routinely worked with a variety of solvents at very high altitude atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.”
― Steven Magee

“Does the variety that spice up life include suicide bombing?”
― Vincent Okay Nwachukwu, Weighty 'n' Worthy African Proverbs - Volume 1

“Asking the question ‘What are the trees doing?’ may well lead to a variety of profound discoveries.”
― Steven Magee

“Remember when I used to be dumb? Well I'm better now. [Stan Laurel - 'Pack Up Your Troubles."]”
― A.J. Marriot, Laurel & Hardy - The British Tours

“Look how you're dressed. Your suit is blue, your shirt is blue, your tie is blue. That's what's wrong with your writing.”
― Sol Stein, Stein on Writing