221 Commitment Quotes

You can't build marriage on a foundation of selfish hedonism, because that would be to promise people only roses, and marriage is also thorns.

The closer a man approaches tragedy the more intense is his concentration of emotion upon the fixed point of his commitment, which is to say the closer he approaches what in life we call fanaticism.

We're here to re-dedicate you to The Power, The Passion, The Mystery, and The Ministry of Rock and Roll.

I think marriage is all about timing. Getting married is insanity; I mean, it's a risk - who knows if you're going to be together forever? But you both say, 'We're going to take this chance, in the same spirit.

If finding an apartment is like falling in love, buying one is like proposing on your first date and agreeing not to see each other until the wedding.

I've written only two novels, but they're both long ones, and they each took a decade to write.

Commitment becomes hysterical when those who have nothing to give advocate generosity, and those who have nothing to give up preach renunciation.

Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.

If you're going to have centralization, why not have it!

I refuse to stand up in front of a rabbi and my friends and the woman I love - who I will tell you I can love with all my heart - and promise she will be the only one I will ever have until the day I die. That's a lie.

[Matrimony] is the grave of love.

The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole Life to reading my works.

A positive engagement to marry a certain person at a certain time, at all haps and hazards, I have always considered the most ridiculous thing on earth.

I really want to love somebody. I do. I just don't know if it's possible forever and ever.

I'll tell you one thing: I will always play the sh** out of my guitar.

The value of a sentiment is the amount of sacrifice you are prepared to make for it.

I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.

Love is not a mere impulse, it must contain truth, which is law.

People wonder if I'll always be a part of this family and the answer is yes. My family has a lot of good energy going in one direction and because of it, we get a lot of things done. That's why I'll always spend a lot of time at Camp Phoenix.

It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.

The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the great enterprises and ideals of American society.

The acorn becomes an oak by means of automatic growth; no commitment is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day by day. These decisions require courage.

The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt.

A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.

So our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do.

Hasty resolutions are of the nature of vows, and to be equally avoided.

Marriage? That's for life! It's like cement!

A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided.

You might say, what if I screw up? Then screw up big! Go for it! Do a big screwup!

I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret.

There's no abiding success without commitment.

Marriage is like paying an endless visit in your worst clothes.

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

We've been together now for forty years, An' it don't seem a day too much, There ain't a lady livin' in the land As I'd 'swop' for my dear old Dutch.

We have no right to dodge responsibility for the country. There are no facts of deviation from principles proclaimed together with the president. On the contrary, we have overcome the difficulties together, and have become masters of our promises.

'I settled everything with Mrs. Grey, while you were putting on your bonnet,' replied he. 'She said I might have her consent, if I could obtain yours; and I asked her, in case I should be so happy, to come and live with us - for I was sure you would like it better. But she refused, saying she could now afford to employ an assistant, and would continue the school till she could purchase an annuity sufficient to maintain her in comfortable lodgings; and, meantime, she would spend her vacations alternately with us and your sister, and should be quite contented if you were happy. And so now I have overruled your objections on her account. Have you any other?' 'No - none.' 'You love me then?' said be, fervently pressing my hand. 'Yes.'

My engagements were always idealistic.

'Fools!' said the man, stamping his foot with rage. 'That is the sort of talk that brought me here, and I'd better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say? This is where dreams - dreams, do you understand - come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.' (ch. 12)

Whenever a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.

I'm anxious to have a really terrific act. Whatever it takes, it takes.

Because we have suffered, and we are not afraid to suffer in order to survive, we are ready to give up everything - even our lives - in our struggle for justice.

Being of service is not enough. You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return.

Non-violence exacts a very high price from one who practices it. But once you are able to meet that demand then you can do most things.

Self dedication is a spiritual experience.

The picket line is the best place to train organizers. One day on the picket line is where a man makes his commitment. The longer on the picket line, the stronger the commitment. A lot of workers think they make their commitment by walking off the job when nobody sees them. But you get a guy to walk off the field when his boss is watching and, in front of the other guys, throw down his tools and march right to the picket line, that is the guy who makes our strike. The picket line is a beautiful thing because it makes a man more human.

The thing that we have going for us is that people are willing to sacrifice themselves.

There are many reasons for why a man does what de does. To be himself he must be able to give it all. If a leader cannot give it all he cannot expect his people to give anything.

We are involved in a just cause. We know that most likely we are not going to do anything else in the rest of our life except this. We know that if we weren't doing this we wouldn't be doing anything else we would like to do more than this. We know really there is nowhere else to go and although we would like to see victory come soon we are willing to wait.

I said, to the people of the Philippines whence I came, I shall return. Tonight, I repeat those words: I shall return!

No sacrifice is lost for a great ideal! (p. 135)

Faithful to the word given and the idea had. / All else is up to God!

I'll give up this sort of touring madness certainly, but music-everything is based on music. No, I'll never stop my music.

This is an issue couples have to be straight on and agree on before they walk down that aisle; otherwise there is no way their marriage will survive.

I don't know where it's going, but I'm sticking with it!

The sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through all eternity.

All Kings, and all their favorites, All glory of honors, beauties, wits The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass, Is elder by a year, now, than it was When thou and I first one another saw: All other things, to their destruction draw, Only our love hath no decay; This, no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday, Running, it never runs from us away, But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.

Licence my roving hands, and let them go Before, behind, between, above, below. O, my America, my Newfoundland My kingdom, safest when with one man mann'd, My mine of precious stones, my empery; How am I blest in thus discovering thee ! To enter in these bonds, is to be free ; Then, where my hand is set, my soul shall be.'

No retreat. No retreat. They must conquer or die who've no retreat.

Archie Rice: Let me know where you're working tomorrow night and I'll come and see you.

For all intents and purposes, we are married. We have two kids together, and she's the woman of my life. If she ever said, 'Hey, lets get hitched,' I would do it in a second. We'll do it if the kids want us to, or maybe when the kids are old enough to enjoy it with us. (2004)

Vanessa and I have considered ourselves husband and wife since the day we moved in together. It's not a big issue for us because we know what we feel for each other and that kind of connection is what's going to keep us together for a very long time. Marriage would just be a formality. (2004)

'We welcome constructive criticism and will abide by our commitment to address the concern of the community at large on the issue.'

If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for the criticism of one, go ahead, get married.

We are 12 billion light-years from the edge. That's a guess - no-one can ever say it's true, but I know that I will always be with you.

We are really on top of one another at the moment and I think it is amazing how we stay so close. Maybe that's the test. Why not totally put yourself together, rather than always wonder whether you actually like each other?

We have lasted this long close together, so we must have something going for each other.

We think we want to do something and when it comes to it, we don't. We don't like to commit.

'To Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar, Kutiyattam was more than art, it was life itself' - Mani Madhava Chakkyar: The Master at Work (film) - Kavalam N. Panickar[17]

If you start to take Vienna - take Vienna.

Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win - essential to success.

The battle is all over except the 'shouting' when one knows what is wanted and has made up his mind to get it, whatever the price may be.

We're going to bolt it home.

If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.

Fear... can make you do more wrong than hate or jealousy. If you're afraid you don't commit yourself to life completely; fear makes you always, always hold something back.

My true love hath my heart, and I have his, By just exchange, one for the other given.

I love being married, I do. It's so great to find that one special person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life.

Two such as you with such a master speed Cannot be parted nor be swept away From one another once you are agreed That life is only life forevermore Together wing to wing and oar to oar.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

A true marriage is a natural concord and agreement of souls, a harmony in which discord is not even imagined; it is a mingling so perfect that only one seems to exist; all other considerations are lost; the present seems to be eternal. In this supreme moment there is no shadow - or the shadow is as luminous as light. And when two beings thus love, thus unite, this is the true marriage of soul and soul. That which is said before the altar, or minister, or magistrate, or in the presence of witnesses, is only the outward evidence of that which has already happened within; it simply testifies to a union that has already taken place - to the uniting of two mornings of hope to reach the night together.

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Every consession gives rise to further concessions, we cannot back down, because behind us there is only an abyss, we must keep our promises and demand that they be kept.

To settle this matter (heresy), I am determined to use my kingdoms and dominions, my friends, my body, my blood, my life and my soul.

Before Paul and I started the company, we had been involved in some large-scale software projects that were real disasters. They just kept pouring people in, and nobody knew how they were going to stabilize the project. We swore to ourselves that we would do better

'Those whom God hath joined together let no one put asunder.' To Anne Hewlett Fuller on this, our 63rd Wedding Anniversary and my 85 Birthday---July 12, 1980

Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling... Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go... But, of course, ceasing to be 'in love' need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense - love as distinct from 'being in love' - is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God... 'Being in love' first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

Communism, my friend, is more than Marxism, just as Catholicism ... is more than the Roman Curia. There is a mystique as well as a politique....Catholics and communists have commited great crimes, but at least they have not stood aside, like an established society, and been indifferent. I would rather have blood on my hands than water like Pilate...if you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask?