142 Intent Quotes
Short intent quotes
There is no reason why humanity cannot be served equally by weighty and trivial motives.
Eric HofferEric Hoffer quote #211 I think there is some methodology in my travels.
George W. BushGeorge W. Bush quote #44 I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.
George W. BushGeorge W. Bush quote #92 Really to sin you have to be serious about it.
Henrik IbsenHenrik Ibsen quote #5 Anybody can do anything, it's up to themselves. All it takes is the right intentions.
Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix quote #48 I don't intend for this to take on a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs.
Nancy ReaganNancy Reagan quote #3 I would still invade Iraq even if Iraq never existed.
George W. BushGeorge W. Bush quote #291 A person usually has two reasons for doing something: a good reason and the real reason.
Thomas CarlyleThomas Carlyle quote #96
More intent quotes
Every program has two purposes: The one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.
Alan PerlisAlan Perlis quote #7 Towards the avoidance of a piece of verbal confusion: What is intended to be actively destroyed must first of all have been firmly grasped; what crumbles away crumbles away, but cannot be destroyed.
Franz KafkaFranz Kafka quote #52 If you strike a child, take care that you strike it in anger, even at the risk of maiming it for life. A blow in cold blood neither can nor should be forgiven.
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw quote #116 If a man consults whether he is to fight, when he has the power in his own hands, it is certain that his opinion is against fighting.
Horatio NelsonHoratio Nelson quote #13 Let us distinguish between acting intentionally and acting deliberately or on purpose, as far as this can be done by attending to what language can teach us.
J. L. AustinJ. L. Austin quote #16 My aim in helping the patient was not to cause death. My aim was to end suffering. It's got to be decriminalized.
Jack KevorkianJack Kevorkian quote #3 The growth of one blesses all. I am commited to grow in love. All that I touch, I leave in love. I move through this world consciously and creatively.
Julia CameronJulia Cameron quote #10 There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally. ... As nearly as we can, we must put ourselves in the place of those who uttered the words, and try to divine how they would have dealt with the unforeseen situation; and, although their words are by far the most decisive evidence of what they would have done, they are by no means final.
Learned HandLearned Hand quote #21 The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.
Miyamoto MusashiMiyamoto Musashi quote #36 If you look at the world with parted lips and a pure heart, and will the good, won't that make a true and beautiful poem? One's heart tells one that it will; and one's heart is wrong. There is no direct road to Parnassus.
Randall JarrellRandall Jarrell quote #47 When you cook it should be an act of love. To put a frozen bag in the microwave for your child is an act of hate.
Raymond BlancRaymond Blanc quote #1 I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot.
Steve MartinSteve Martin quote #20 The writer probably knows what he meant when he wrote a book, but he should immediately forget what he meant when he's written it.
William GoldingWilliam Golding quote #5 It seems to me certain that more people are killed out of righteous stupidity than out of wickedness.
Karl PopperKarl Popper quote #42 Forgive me, giver, if I destroy the gift. It is so nearly what would please me I cannot but perfect it.
Laura RidingLaura Riding quote #2 The hand that rounded Peter's dome, And groined the aisles of Christian Rome, Wrought in a sad sincerity, Himself from God he could not free; He builded better than he knew, The conscious stone to beauty grew.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson quote #162 What did Doctor Doom really want? He wanted to rule the world. Now, think about this. You could walk across the street against a traffic light and get a summons for jaywalking, but you could walk up to a police officer and say 'I want to rule the world,' and there's nothing he can do about it, that is not a crime. Anybody can want to rule the world. So, even though he was the Fantastic Four's greatest menace, in my mind, he was never a criminal!
Stan LeeStan Lee quote #6 A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent.
William BlakeWilliam Blake quote #129 The wicked are wicked, no doubt, and they go astray and they fall, and they come by their deserts: but who can tell the mischief which the very virtuous do?
William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray quote #5 The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done.
Agnes Gonxha (Mother Teresa) BojaxhiAgnes Gonxha (Mother Teresa) Bojaxhi quote #23 The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding. On the whole men are more good than bad; that, however, isn't the real point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance which fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. There can be no true goodness, nor true love, without the utmost clear-sightedness.
Albert CamusAlbert Camus quote #78 I have always loved truth so passionately that I have often resorted to lying as a way of first introducing it into minds which were ignorant of its charms.
Giacomo CasanovaGiacomo Casanova quote #20 If I gave it all up immediately, I'd lose my immortality. I've put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality.
James JoyceJames Joyce quote #19 Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.
Linus TorvaldsLinus Torvalds quote #28 I think it's a problem that people are considered immoral if they're not religious. That's just not true. This might earn me some enemies, but in some ways they may be even more moral. If you do something for a religious reason, you do it because you'll be rewarded in an afterlife or in this world. That's not quite as good as something you do for purely generous reasons.
Lisa RandallLisa Randall quote #12 No-one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions; he had money as well.
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher quote #15 Chance and chance alone has a message for us... Only chance can speak to us.
Milan KunderaMilan Kundera quote #22 It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.
Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhi)Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhi) quote #12 Overlook our deeds, since you know that crime was absent from our inclination.
OvidOvid quote #76 Having heard, or more probably read somewhere, in the days when I thought I would be well advised to educate myself, or amuse myself, or stupefy myself, or kill time, that when a man in a forest thinks he is going forward in a straight line, in reality he is going in a circle, I did my best to go in a circle, hoping in this way to go in a straight line. For I stopped being half-witted and became sly, whenever I took the trouble: and if I did not go in a rigorously straight line, with my system of going in a circle, at least I did not go in a circle, and that was something.
Samuel BeckettSamuel Beckett quote #56 Veracity does not consist in saying, but in the intention of communicating truth.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge quote #104 I wrote a few children's books...not on purpose.
Steven WrightSteven Wright quote #102 Vote Guy Fawkes - The Only Man Ever To Enter Parliament With Honest Intentions
Guy FawkesGuy Fawkes quote #5 Naturally! That is the whole point of robbery: to acquire the victim's valuables! - Long Liam the Barber
Jack VanceJack Vance quote #32 That's me insane to the root Not insane. Driven by a sense of purpose that is frightening
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #74 He fears his own murderous heart so much that he won't let himself think of his whole plan openly
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #370 Wanting to is the whole lesson; all the rest is practice
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #490 Am I a liar, or is he mistaken? I am the only fit judge of what is in my heart, I think
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #580 She knew exactly what she had done to him. And yet she couldn't quite believe that she was jerking him around
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #628 You as stupid as they come. Of course, I say this with your best interests at heart. Most people are stupid. I don't hold it against them
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #664 Please open your mind to the possibility that I might be an honest man who was himself deceived
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #965 Doon is the devil, isn't he? Was. He's dead now. At least, he promised me that he'd die But was he? The devil? Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of god. The undoer. The destroyer. Yes. He definitely was. But he meant well
Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card quote #1006 Let me then ask your next question: Well, why is this a leak investigation that doesn't result in a charge? I've been trying to think about how to explain this, so let me try. I know baseball analogies are the fad these days. Let me try something. If you saw a baseball game and you saw a pitcher wind up and throw a fastball and hit a batter right smack in the head, and it really, really hurt them, you'd want to know why the pitcher did that. And you'd wonder whether or not the person just reared back and decided, 'I've got bad blood with this batter. He hit two home runs off me. I'm just going to hit him in the head as hard as I can.' You also might wonder whether or not the pitcher just let go of the ball or his foot slipped, and he had no idea to throw the ball anywhere near the batter's head. And there's lots of shades of gray in between. You might learn that you wanted to hit the batter in the back and it hit him in the head because he moved. You might want to throw it under his chin, but it ended up hitting him on the head. And what you'd want to do is have as much information as you could. You'd want to know: What happened in the dugout? Was this guy complaining about the person he threw at? Did he talk to anyone else? What was he thinking? How does he react? All those things you'd want to know. And then you'd make a decision as to whether this person should be banned from baseball, whether they should be suspended, whether you should do nothing at all and just say, 'Hey, the person threw a bad pitch. Get over it.' In this case, it's a lot more serious than baseball. And the damage wasn't to one person. It wasn't just Valerie Wilson. It was done to all of us. And as you sit back, you want to learn: Why was this information going out? Why were people taking this information about Valerie Wilson and giving it to reporters? Why did Mr. Libby say what he did? Why did he tell Judith Miller three times? Why did he tell the press secretary on Monday? Why did he tell Mr. Cooper? And was this something where he intended to cause whatever damage was caused? Or did they intend to do something else and where are the shades of gray? And what we have when someone charges obstruction of justice, the umpire gets sand thrown in his eyes. He's trying to figure what happened and somebody blocked their view.
Patrick FitzgeraldPatrick Fitzgerald quote #8 ...it is widely but wrongly believed that Beavis and Butt-Head celebrates its characters, and applauds their sublime lack of values, taste and intelligence. I've never thought so. I believe Mike Judge would rather die than share a taxi ride to the airport with his characters--that for him, B&B function like Dilbert's co-workers in the Scott Adams universe. They are a target for his anger against the rising tide of stupidity.
Roger EbertRoger Ebert quote #62 'I want a divorce!'
Vince McMahonVince McMahon quote #96 In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens you can bet it was planned that way.
Franklin Delano RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt quote #71 Quantas intencoes viciosas ha assim que embarcam, a meio caminho, numa frase inocente e pura! Chega a fazer suspeitar que a mentira e muita vez tao involuntaria como a transpiracao.
Joaquim Maria Machado de AssisJoaquim Maria Machado de Assis quote #7 'I am simply stating a fact and it was not meant to be racist' - reaction to subsequent calls for an apology.
Adi Asenaca CaucauAdi Asenaca Caucau quote #2 Intent is not a thought, or an object, or a wish. Intent is what can make a man succeed when his thoughts tell him that he is defeated. It operates in spite of the warrior's indulgence. Intent is what makes him invulnerable. Intent is what sends a shaman through a wall, through space, to infinity.
Carlos CastanedaCarlos Castaneda quote #31 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.
Carlos CastanedaCarlos Castaneda quote #61 Anything can happen someday, even that an act conforming to honour and honesty can end up, at the end of the line, as a good political decision.
Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle quote #25 It's like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something.
Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington quote #3 There is no art when one does something without intention.
Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington quote #29 You never can tell when you do an act Just what the result will be; But with every deed you are sowing a seed, Though the harvest you may not see. Each kindly act is an acorn dropped In God's productive soil; You may not know, yet the tree shall grow And shelter the brows that toil. You never can tell what your thoughts will do In bringing you hate or love; For thoughts are things, and their airy wings Are swifter than carrier doves. They follow the law of the universe- Each thing must create its kind; And they speed o'er the track to bring you back Whatever went out from your mind.
Ella Wheeler WilcoxElla Wheeler Wilcox quote #7 Faithful to the word given and the idea had. / All else is up to God!
Fernando PessoaFernando Pessoa quote #6 L'homme croit souvent se conduire lorsqu'il est conduit; et pendant que par son esprit il tend a un but, son coeur l'entraine insensiblement a un autre.
Francois de La RochefoucauldFrancois de La Rochefoucauld quote #18 But Hitler didn't strive for the annihilation of the Jews - he stressed that fact in public life and in the newspapers. Hitler merely said at the beginning that Jewish influence was too great, that of all the lawyers in Berlin, eighty percent were Jewish. Hitler thought that a small percentage of the people, the Jews, should not be allowed to control the theater, cinema, radio, et cetera.
Franz von PapenFranz von Papen quote #1 If we had not been taught how to interpret the story of the Passion, would we have been able to say from their actions alone whether it was jealous Judas or the cowardly Peter who loved Christ?
Graham GreeneGraham Greene quote #35 In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.
Immanuel KantImmanuel Kant quote #54 My drawings have been described as pre-intentionalist, meaning that they were finished before the ideas for them had occurred to me. I shall not argue the point.
James ThurberJames Thurber quote #55 The ceremonial (hot or cold) as opposed to the haphazard (lukewarm) characterizes piety. (p. 127)
Ludwig WittgensteinLudwig Wittgenstein quote #97 I believe that producing pictures, as I do, is almost solely a question of wanting so very much to do it well.
M. C. EscherM. C. Escher quote #16 I think I have never yet done any work with the aim of symbolizing a particular idea, but the fact that a symbol is sometimes discovered or remarked upon is valuable for me because it makes it easier to accept the inexplicable nature of my hobbies, which constantly preoccupy me.
M. C. EscherM. C. Escher quote #27 I never meant 'Come up and see me some time' to be sexy.
Mae WestMae West quote #26 No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Michel de MontaigneMichel de Montaigne quote #103 All bad art is the result of good intentions.
Oscar WildeOscar Wilde quote #53 I didn't think anything we did was spectacular. I remember we thought, 'Let's just write some scary music.'
Ozzy OsbourneOzzy Osbourne quote #77 When we discovered Cubism, we did not have the aim of discovering Cubism. We only wanted to express that which was within us.
Pablo PicassoPablo Picasso quote #40 He who is bent on doing evil can never want occasion.
Publilius SyrusPublilius Syrus quote #25 I don't know whether I like it, but it's what I meant.
Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams quote #6 You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.
Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. Heinlein quote #4 'Tis not what man Does which exalts him, but what man Would do!
Robert BrowningRobert Browning quote #25 Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down.
Robert FrostRobert Frost quote #93 A culture-bearing book, like a mule, bears the culture on its back. No one should sit down to write one deliberately. Culture-bearing books occur almost accidentally, like a sudden change in the stock market. There are books of high quality that are an part of the culture, but that is not the same. They are a part of it. They aren't carrying it anywhere. They may talk about insanity sympathetically, for example, because that's the standard cultural attitude. But they don't carry any suggestion that insanity might be something other than sickness or degeneracy.
Robert M. PirsigRobert M. Pirsig quote #79 I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.
Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair quote #30 I believe that during the intervention of NATO in Kosovo exists one consideration no one doubts: the reason for the air attacks, the bombing is not a material interest. The reason is purely humanitarian.
Vaclav HavelVaclav Havel quote #19 All the several pleas and excuses, which protect the committer of a forbidden act from the punishment which is otherwise annexed thereto, may be reduced to this single consideration, the want or defect of will. An involuntary act, as it has no claim to merit, so neither can it induce any guilt: the concurrence of the will, when it has its choice either to do or to avoid the fact in question, being the only thing that renders human actions either praiseworthy or culpable. Indeed, to make a complete crime, cognizable by human laws, there must be both a will and an act.
William BlackstoneWilliam Blackstone quote #9 Lord, for the erring thought Not into evil wrought: Lord, for the wicked will Betrayed and baffled still: For the heart from itself kept, Our thanksgiving accept.
William Dean HowellsWilliam Dean Howells quote #2 We did not think that [Egyptian President] Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent to Sinai on May 14 would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive against Israel. He knew it and we knew it.
Yitzhak RabinYitzhak Rabin quote #1 Clear in thinking, and clear in feeling, / and clear in wanting
Fernando PessoaFernando Pessoa quote #5