Sunday, August 13, 2017 – The Stubborn Man
To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture. ~ Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Stubbornness is a positive quality of presidential leadership – if you’re right about what you’re stubborn about. ~ Douglas Brinkley
Man is not logical and his intellectual history is a record of mental reserves and compromises. He hangs on to what he can in his old beliefs even when he is compelled to surrender their logical basis. ~ John Dewey
Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Stubborn and ardent clinging to one’s opinion is the best proof of stupidity. ~ Michel de Montaigne
Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable. ~ Mark Twain
Stubborn isn’t a word I would use to describe myself; pigheaded is more appropriate. ~ Michael Bloomberg
Some people would rather die in their pride than live in their humility. ~ Anthony Liccione
To revenge reasonable incredulity by refusing evidence, is a degree of insolence with which the world is not yet acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt. ~ Samuel Johnson
Obstinacy is will asserting itself without being able to justify itself. It is persistence without a reasonable motive. It is the tenacity of self-love substituted for that of reason and conscience. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel
It is a disaster that wisdom forbids you to be satisfied with yourself and always sends you away dissatisfied and fearful, whereas stubbornness and foolhardiness fill their hosts with joy and assurance. ~ Michel de Montaigne
When I find that stubbornness continually overrides common sense regardless of the logic of my argument, it seems that the only effective solution is to tell them to go ahead and stick their finger in the socket. And what I find is that what my argument failed to solve, electricity does quite nicely. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough
And yet, will we ever come to an end of discussion and talk if we think we must always reply to replies? For replies come from those who either cannot understand what is said to them, or are so stubborn and contentious that they refuse to give in even if they do understand. ~ Augustine of Hippo, City of God
Stubbornness does have its helpful features. You always know what you’re going to be thinking tomorrow. ~ Glen Beaman
In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to overcome, stubbornness is stupid. ~ Simone de Beauvoir
Obstinacy in opinions holds the dogmatist in the chains of error, without hope of emancipation. ~ John C. Granville
Stubbornness is the strength of the weak. ~ Johann Kaspar Lavater
Ignorance is stubborn and prejudice is hard. ~ Adlai E. Stevenson
Bondage is the life of personality, and for bondage the personal self will fight with tireless resourcefulness and the most stubborn cunning. ~ Aldous Huxley
One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to the total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying. ~ Morris West
A stubborn mind conduces as little to wisdom or even to knowledge, as a stubborn temper to happiness. ~ Robert Southey
Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one’s mind. ~ W. Somerset Maugham
Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
A man will do more for his stubbornness than for his religion or his country. ~ E. W. Howe
There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me. ~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
To those waiting with bated breath for that favorite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only this to say, “You turn if you want; the lady’s not for turning.” ~ Margaret Thatcher
Time has a way of demonstrating that the most stubborn are the most intelligent. ~ Yevgeny Yevtushenko
The fundamental qualities for good execution of a plan is first; intelligence; then discernment and judgment, which enable one to recognize the best method as to attain it; the singleness of purpose; and, lastly, what is most essential of all, will – stubborn will. ~ Marshal Ferdinand Foch
There is nothing in the world more stubborn than a corpse: you can hit it, you can knock it to pieces, but you cannot convince it. ~ Alexander Herzen
Never try to outstubborn a cat. ~ Robert A. Heinlein
Just Above Sunset 