Backgrounds Quotes

One's mind has a way of making itself up in the background, and it suddenly becomes clear what one means to do.

The discipline of desire is the background of character.

Bluegrass is really a big part of my background.

Nature, in her most dazzling aspects or stupendous parts, is but the background and theater of the tragedy of man.

For too long, we have focused on our differences - in our politics and backgrounds, in our race and beliefs - rather than cherishing the unity and pride that binds us together.

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion or ethnic background, is that we all believe we are above-average drivers.

One of the strengths I derive from my class background is that I am accustomed to contempt.

Bias has to be taught. If you hear your parents downgrading women or people of different backgrounds, why, you are going to do that.

I can get a better grasp of what is going on in the world from one good Washington dinner party than from all the background information NBC piles on my desk.

My background playing soccer gave me a natural advantage over many of the American-born players.

I grew up on food stamps. I come from a very humble background. And I've had many friends that have been destitute - you know, running into trouble - and places like The Midnight Mission have given them hope and have fed them and gotten them back on the right path.

I come from a modest background. I put myself through college and law school and a postdoctorate program in tax law.

I really appreciate the sport background because the structure and the discipline that that gives a person is incredible, and it just carries with you wherever you go.

I'm not the least bit polished, I come from a blue collar background and I never thought I could feel comfortable around the English.

I have a lot of endurance and I have a good background right now in my training and it's time to get ready.

The business of the advertiser is to see that we go about our business with some magic spell or tune or slogan throbbing quietly in the background of our minds.

I just hope that our fans are people who are inspired by music, and just use our music as a background or inspiration for whatever it is they do.

Both parents were very encouraging - especially my father.

My father thought the sun rose and set with me. Neither one had a musical background or any musical talent. They liked classical music, but neither could carry a tune.

A good short-story writer has an instinct for sketching in just enough background to ground the specific story.

Man's unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself.

Very early in my life I took the question of the relation of art to truth seriously: even now I stand in holy dread in the face of this discordance. My first book was devoted to it. The Birth of Tragedy believes in art on the background of another belief

I was an only child. I lost both my parents. By the time I was twenty I was bald. I'm homosexual. In the way of circumstances and background to transcend I had everything an artist could possibly want. It was practically a blueprint. I was programmed to be a novelist or a playwright. But I'm not.

Without the meditative background that is criticism, works become isolated gestures, historical accidents, soon forgotten.

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colors of life in all their purity.

In the true sense one's native land, with its background of tradition, early impressions, reminiscences and other things dear to one, is not enough to make sensitive human beings feel at home.

Every philosophy is tinged with the coloring of some secret imaginative background, which never emerges explicitly into its train of reasoning.

Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.

From a pragmatic point of view, the difference between living against a background of foreigness (an indifferent Universe) and one of intimacy (a benevolent Universe) means the difference between a general habit of wariness and one of trust.

Looked after children - fostered, adopted or orphaned - [often] grow into their adult lives in fear of speaking of their background, as if it may somehow weaken their standing in the foreground.

You have to utilize who you are in your work.

Nobody else can do that: nobody else can pull from your background, from your parents, your upbringing, your whole life experience.

Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say.

Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background.

He just didn't know he was a novelist. All those damn psychiatrists after him, they didn't know he was a novelist either.

News is so often a report of conflict, an account of problems, a thing of the day and even of the minute, that sometimes I think we make the background darker and the shadows deeper than they actually are.

In the initial season of a show, you're figuring out your character and their life and their background and you're putting together all the chapters of the book.

I have a strong dance background. I danced from age five until 18, and that helps a lot. Doing a fight routine is like doing a dance routine.

I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences.

Surely the President can agree with us, that theft from government is not good.

I know it's bold. It's out on the edge. I know from a Chicago-Springfield background it's hard to fully grasp that honesty could be part of government.

And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us - no matter what our age or background or walk of life - each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.

We had people of all backgrounds coming together - all races, all creeds, all colors, all status in life. And coming together there was a kind of quiet dignity and a kind of sense of caring and a feeling of joint responsibility.

It's really important to say this. Often the faith schools were founded before the state provided education. I want good education in this country so I'm not going to slag off faith schools. I think that it's important that people of different backgrounds and different faiths go to school together and many faith schools do that.

I guess everything having to do with your background has some influence on how you tell stories but it's hard to parse how growing up in a Jewish community in Minnesota really affected it.

We've got very large freshman class, it's historic in its size, so there's people that are extremely diverse in their backgrounds and their viewpoints. I think that we're going to see a conservative group of people coming together, focused on some real ideals that are going to be extremely important.

When I was trying to impress Kate I was trying to cook these amazing fancy dinners and what would happen was I would burn something, something would overspill, something would catch on fire and she would be sitting in the background trying to help, and basically taking control of the whole situation, so I was quite glad she was there at the time.

In a lot of films, they're showing more complete, developed characters of diverse ethnic backgrounds. The larger concern is to be able to tastefully explore the stereotypes, and still move past them to see the core of people.

We believe a renewed commitment to limited government will unshackle our economy and create millions of new jobs and opportunities for all people, of every background, to succeed and prosper. Under this approach, the spirit of initiative - not political clout - determines who succeeds.

I was the worst extra, I was 'that' guy.

I was the guy on the phone trying to get the Oscar for best extra - for best background performance.

I believe that there are certain things that could be taken care of that you don't need a strong political background in.

I'm a Catholic by background. I was raised in Goa, a part of India that was visited by Portuguese missionaries a few hundred years ago, which explains my last name.

You see, as Americans we're not defined by class, and we will never be told our place. What makes our nation exceptional is that anyone, from any background, can climb the highest of heights.

I love fashion, but I don't come from a background of loving clothes, and I remember feeling badly dressed from a young age.