We only have one story. All novels, all poetry are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. — John Steinbeck
Literature provides us with the opportunity to escape into fictional worlds that are ultimately rooted in human universals shaped by common biological forces. — Gad Saad
If you take different mythologies from different cultures, the names may change and the story lines may vary but there is always something in common. — Maynard James Keenan
A picture can express a universal humanism, or simply reveal a delicate and poignant truth by exposing a slice of life that might otherwise pass unnoticed. — Steve McCurry
the universe and its beings are a complementarity of empty infinity, intimate interrelationships, and total uniqueness of each and every being. — Matsuo Basho
Courage and kindness, loyalty, truth, and helpfulness are always the same and always needed. — Laura Ingalls Wilder
Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries. — Jimmy Carter
The message is that all things are connected. We have animal aspects, anthropological aspects, plant-animal aspects. — John Dee
Faith, hope, love, and insight are the highest achievements of human effort. They are found-given-by experience. — Carl Jung
The human comedy is always tragic, but since its ingredients are always the same - dupe, fox, straight, like burlesque skits - the repetition through the ages is comedy. — Dawn Powell
Fundamentally, all writing is about the same thing; it's about dying, about the brief flicker of time we have here, and the frustration that it creates. — Mordecai Richler
Short Universal Themes Quotes
All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. — Leo Tolstoy
Great stories like the Mahabharata don't belong to any one culture, they belong to the world. — Sharad Devarajan
Human nature is the same all the world over. — American Proverbs
Our common humanity is more important than all the things that divide us. — Mairead Corrigan
All human beings have an innate need to hear and tell stories and to have a story to live by. . . . — Harvey Cox
I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
Theme Quotes
One of the recurring themes in Marcus' handbook is leadership's responsibility to work intelligently with what it is given and not waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices. — Marcus Aurelius
Right, wrong, good, bad, heaven, hell. I think that is the theme of my life. I think you have to know both in order to honestly choose one. So I'm familiar with both sides of the fence. — DMX
Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through fog and filthy air. — William Shakespeare
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
Africa, your sufferings have been the theme that has arrested & engaged my heart. — William Wilberforce
It's about giving the people what they want. So many people have told me that they've made love to my records so what I've delivered this time is an album about sex. Pretty much every song has that theme. Straight no chasers, it's booty music! — Tyrese Gibson
Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. — Og Mandino
Believe you deserve it and the universe will serve it.
And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined. — J. R. R. Tolkien
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand! Oh, oh, oh! — William Shakespeare
O God, I could be bound in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space – were it not that I have bad dreams. — William Shakespeare
Any theology that is indifferent to the theme of liberation is not Christian theology. — James H. Cone
University Quotes
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us. — Bill Watterson
Everything in the universe is whithin you. Ask all from yourself.
Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts which simply do not make evolutionary sense. — Richard Dawkins
The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. — Galileo Galilei
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. — Steve Jobs
In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Be confident. Be compassionate. Be intelligent. Be humble. Be generous. The universe returns to you what you put out. — Lauren Jauregui
Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it. — Unknown Author
The universe consists of 5% protons, 5% neutrons, 5% electrons and 85% morons. — Frank Zappa
Universe Quotes
The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six. — Maria Montessori
In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act. — George Orwell
Don't lose faith. Promise yourself that you will be a success story, and I promise you that all the forces of the universe will unite to come to your aid; you might not feel today or for a while, but the longer you wait the bigger the prize. — George Bernard Shaw
Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else!
You say that you are just a body, but inside of you is something greater than the Universe. — Al-Shafi‘i
We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. — Maria Montessori
Shiva and Shakti are indistinguishable. They are one. They are the universe. Shiva isn't masculine. Shakti isn't feminine. At the core of their mutual penetration the supreme consciousness opens. — Daniel Odier
There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.
If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. — Nikola Tesla
Do you know what you are? You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter. You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that. — Rumi
Going To University Quotes
To be spiritual is not by praying and going to church. Spiritualism is the understanding of the universe so that it can be a better place to live in. — Fela Kuti
It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss. — Francis Chan
The only dependable law of life - everything is always worse than you thought it was going to be. — Dorothy Parker
Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars.
Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone — Margaret J. Wheatley
The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? — Stephen Hawking
The attorney general would call at 5 o'clock in the evening and say: 'Tomorrow morning we are going to try to integrate the University of Mississippi. Get us a memo on what we're likely to do, and what we can do if the governor sends the National Guard there.' — Harold H. Greene
Follow your dreams and the universe will open doors where there we only walls.
We are only the temporary custodians of the particles which we are made of. They will go on to lead a future existence in the enormous universe that made them — Stephen Hawking
Voyeurism, watching people go about their daily lives, is universally funny, no matter the culture, no matter the anything, it's just always funny to watch people. — James Murray
You can take a school like the University of Colorado, with a selective admission standard. It has a better caliber student going in, so you ought to have a better caliber coming out. — Roy Romer
The world is a university and everyone in it is a teacher. Make sure when you wake up in the morning you go to school. — T. D. Jakes
There is something universal in the theme of a man trying to save his family in the midst of the most terrible circumstances. It is not limited to Sierra Leone. This story could apply to any number of places where ordinary people have been caught up in political events beyond their control. — Edward Zwick
I always think back to the original movies and to those quieter moments where Luke is out in A New Hope, and there are the two suns setting. It is the equivalent, basically, of a farm boy dying to get out of his small town and do something bigger. It's those kinds of universal themes that ground this whole thing in space. — Adam Driver
Living in the limelight: the universal dream for those who wish to SEEM. Those who wish to BE, must put aside the alienation, get on with the fascination, the real relation, the underlying theme. — Neil Peart
When a man no longer confuses himself with the definition of himself that others have given him, he is at once universal and unique.
Since man, fragment of the universe, is governed by the same laws that preside over the heavens, it is by no means absurd to search there above for the themes of our lives, for those frigid sympathies that participate in our achievements as well as our blunderings. — Marguerite Yourcenar
Sex, love and death are universal and timeless dramatic themes. — Julia Ormond
If there is any sense of order to the universe, acting is what I am meant to do. I'm not manufactured. I know acting isn't real, that it's temporary. If there is any theme to the roles I play, it is emotional vulnerability and availability. — DJ Qualls
You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
It is absolutely the central theme in my design philosophy - that life is erotic, period. The female body is one of the most extraordinary designs ever done in this universe. — Luigi Colani
This is love: You stop bothering about the universal, the general, get sucked instead into the local and particular: When will I see her again? What shall we do today? Do you like these shoes? Theory and reflection are delicate old uncles bustled out of the way by the boisterous nephews action and desire. Themes evaporate, only plot remains. — Glen Duncan
There is one universal truth: All women, all over the world, want to look beautiful. That is always the theme of my designs. — Prabal Gurung
The themes Poe used were universal and timeless. As long as the English language exists at all, we will be able to appreciate what he did. It will not age! It will not become dated! — John Astin
I think the themes of belonging and parentage and love are obviously universal. — Christopher Eccleston
And of course Marc Cherry heightens it and makes it hilarious. But there's so many universal themes in the show, and he made it so funny. We knew he was onto something if he could keep it up and, thankfully, he did. — James Denton
Baltimore holds a lot of mystery for me still, despite the fact I've lived there most of my life. I think its shares a lot of issues and dominant themes with other second-tier post-industrial cities in the U.S. It has a universal resonance. — Matthew Porterfield
I don't think that the universal themes of love, compassion, and forgiveness (are present). (You're) searching constantly for the next step, the next level and consciousness in your spirituality, who you are as a human being and what you contribute to society or what God means to you is always a course everyone goes on. — Tim McGraw
The music in the movie [Everybody Loves Somebody] is very much hand-picked specifically because it's our history and our traditions. The themes are universal. — Karla Souza
I think the universal theme would be love and relationships and how if you really want to live and be alive that that's proven through the amount of love you give and receive. — Boti Bliss
In my first class at the University of Kentucky, my American Literature professor came in, and the first sentence out of his mouth was "The central theme of American Literature is an attempt to reconcile what we've done to the New World." wrote that down in my notebook, and thought, "What is he talking about?" But that's what I think about now. The New World and what we've done to it. — Sam Abell
The thing I like about the sci-fi genre is that you get to examine universal themes and polarizing moral choices. The characters have a lot on their shoulders and are often trying to survive in some very difficult and hostile environments. — Jaime Murray
I've often had the fortune to work on projects with a small theme I find very interesting enough to pursue and to be passionate about in the context of the story, then it may turn out there's a universality about my character which still resonates with many people as well. — Chiwetel Ejiofor
People have taken advantage of the very well-trodden pathways that divide science and faith on other issues, such as creation, evolution, and the age of the universe, to pigeonhole climate change as yet another variant on the same theme. — Katharine Hayhoe
Not a specific song. What I do maybe love above all about Nick Cave is how he's created this universe, this world, where there are all these characters and songs and themes. It's very unique, and I appreciate it. It's very hard to say that I have a specific favourite; I just actually love everything that he does. — Mirel Wagner
I love big ensemble shows where there are a lot of things going on and you have to really pay attention because there's a lot of nuanced work and universal themes are being explored. — Janina Gavankar
It's exciting to me that Ride Along is a movie that has two African American leads, but it's even more exciting to me that it's not a movie about two African American leads. They just happen to be African American. It's a universal story. It's a story about a guy in love with a girl, and he's gotta get the approval of the overbearing, mean brother. That's a universal theme. — Will Packer
I mean these are universal themes. I try not to preach, for sure. I don't enjoy movies that preach - so I don't want to preach myself when I tell stories because I just feel all of these themes are built into us in terms of redemption and mercy and love and compassion and all these things. And the negative sides, as well. — Michael Landon, Jr.
Above these universal themes Truth Will Set U Free is also a song composed for those who were born gay. I am a straight man so I do not profess to understand or know what a LGBT person experiences but I do recognize injustice when I see it. — Corey Hart
It's the universal feeling that we all are alone - that we're all different. I think the movie's one resounding theme is that everybody feels the same, and we're all alone together. Some people come up to me on the street and thank me for helping them get through their teen years. — Molly Ringwald
Southern writing is regional: it includes dialect, settings, and cultural traditions from that region. However the themes and story conflicts are universal. My challenge is to write regional fiction without falling into the trap of nostalgia. There are important issues facing the south that I believe should be raised in the stories to make them contemporary, believable, and relevant to today's readers. — Mary Alice Monroe
Whatever is being investigated, created or produced now, in movies or TV, needs to consider the context in which it is being distributed. It's not a vacuum. There are certain universal themes of love, conflict, loyalty or family that are everlasting and that need to be presented in a way that makes it feel relevant, even if it's a period piece. You need to consider what context that film, that story and those characters are being seen in. — J. J. Abrams
My major preoccupation is the question, 'What is reality ?' Many of my stories and novels deal with psychotic states or drug-induced states by which I can present the concept of a multiverse rather than a universe. Music and sociology are themes in my novels, also radical political trends; in particular I've written about fascism and my fear of it. — Philip K. Dick
Love is the key-note of the universe-- The theme, the melody. — Henry Abbey
Siphonophores do not convey the message a favorite theme of unthinking romanticism that nature is but one gigantic whole, all its parts intimately connected and interacting in some higher, ineffable harmony. Nature revels in boundaries and distinctions; we inhabit a universe of structure. But since our universe of structure has evolved historically, it must present us with fuzzy boundaries, where one kind of thing grades into another. — Stephen Jay Gould
My book had a universal theme. It's not a "racial" novel. It portrays an aspect of civilization, not necessarily Southern civilization. — Harper Lee
The one theme of the Vedanta philosophy is the search after unity. The Hindu mind does not care for the particular; it is always after the general, nay, the universal. "what is it that by knowing which everything else is to be known." That is the one search. — Swami Vivekananda
Most of the time when "universal" is used, it's just a euphamism for "white"; white themes, white significance, white culture. — Merle Woo
Such movies are always a danger...falling in love is something most adults have actually experienced...The theme is universal and encourages...unhealthy comparisons...why can't our lives be like that? It's a box left unopened, and its avoidance explains the continued popularity of vampire epics and martial-arts extravaganzas. — David Sedaris
I didn't want to tell the story of what makes two people come together, although that's a theme of great power and universality. I wanted to find out what it takes for two people to stay together for fifty years -- or more. I wanted to tell not the story of courtship, but the story of marriage. — Diana Gabaldon
In Conclusion
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