Opposition

Sunday, February 17, 2013 – Opposition

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. ~ Albert Einstein

Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds. ~ Orison Swett Marden

Aggression is inherently destructive of relationships. People and ideologies are pitted against each other, believing that in order to survive, they must destroy the opposition. ~ Margaret J. Wheatley

I have spent many years of my life in opposition, and I rather like the role. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

To you I’m an atheist; to God, I’m the Loyal Opposition. ~ Woody Allen

No Government can be long secure without a formidable Opposition. ~ Benjamin Disraeli

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it. ~ Edward R. Murrow

An intelligent and conscientious opposition is a part of loyalty to country. ~ Bainbridge Colby

Many a man’s strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use. ~ Francis Bacon

Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution. ~ George Eliot

Opposition is true friendship. ~ William Blake

He who is silent must be agreed with, for what shall the wings of opposition thresh upon, without the winds of conversation to shoulder them. ~ Bryant H. McGill

Opposition is not necessarily enmity; it is merely misused and made an occasion for enmity. ~ Sigmund Freud

Opposition always inflames the enthusiast, never converts him. ~ Friedrich Schiller

I don’t judge a regime by the damning criticism of the opposition, but by the ingenuous praise of the partisan. ~ Jean Rostand

Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony. ~ Heraclitus

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind. ~ Lewis Mumford

In Cleveland there is legislation moving forward to ban people from wearing pants that fit too low. However, there is lots of opposition from the plumber’ union. ~ Conan O’Brien

Ah, but it’s nice to be in the opposition, nice to be a bone in somebody’s throat. ~ Jack Levine

There is one rule for politicians all over the world: Don’t say in Power what you say in opposition; if you do, you only have to carry out what the other fellows have found impossible. ~ John Galsworthy

Elinor agreed with it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition. ~ Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

When someone finds himself quite unjustly attacked and hated on all sides, there is no need for such a person to feel dismayed by misfortune. See how Fortune, who has harmed many a one, is so inconstant, for God, Who opposes all wrong deeds, raises up those in whom hope dwells. ~ Christine de Pizan, Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc

There is no one force, no group, and no class that is the preserver of liberty. Liberty is preserved by those who are against the existing chief power. Oppositions which do not express genuine social forces are as trivial, in relation to entrenched power, as the old court jesters. ~ James Burnham, The Machiavellians, Defenders of Freedom

What is peculiar in the life of a man consists not in his obedience, but his opposition, to his instincts. In one direction or another he strives to live a supernatural life. ~ Henry David Thoreau

There has been opposition to every innovation in the history of man, with the possible exception of the sword. ~ Benjamin Dana

Anger and humor are like the left and right arm. They complement each other. Anger empowers the poor to declare their uncompromising opposition to oppression, and humor prevents them from being consumed by their fury. ~ James Cone

To excite opposition and inflame malevolence is the unhappy privilege of courage made arrogant by consciousness of strength. ~ Samuel Johnson

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This amicable conflict with difficulty helps us to an intimate acquaintance with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial. ~ Edmund Burke

No government can be long secure without a formidable opposition. It reduces their supporters to that tractable number which can be managed by the joint influences of fruition and hope. It offers vengeance to the discontented, and distinction to the ambitious; and employs the energies of aspiring spirits, who otherwise may prove traitors in a division or assassins in a debate. ~ Benjamin Disraeli

I respect only those who resist me; but I cannot tolerate them. ~ Charles De Gaulle

But most of us are apt to settle within ourselves that the man who blocks our way is odious, and not to mind causing him a little of the disgust which his personality excites in ourselves. ~ George Eliot