Quotes About Progress

The cycle of the machine is now coming to an end. Man has learned much in the hard discipline and the shrewd, unflinching grasp of practical possibilities that the machine has provided in the last three centuries: but we can no more continue to live in the world of the machine than we could live successfully on the barren surface of the moon.

The vast material displacements the machine has made in our physical environment are perhaps in the long run less important than its spiritual contributions to our culture.

By remaining non-specialized, man opened up a thousand fresh paths for his own further development.

Let us not forget that the same demands for accurate artillery fire resulted in the invention of the modern computer.

Perhaps the best definition for the inhabitants of an early city is that they are a permanently captive farm population.

The New World vision seemed to enlarge and exalt every human possibility, even though the explorers and pioneers, in turning their backs on the Old World, did not in fact leave the 'cruel sword' or the 'ignominious plague' behind them, for their smallpox, measles, and tuberculosis decimated those natives whom their guns did not exterminate.

Only now that village ways are rapidly disappearing throughout the world can we estimate all that the city owes to them for the vital energy and loving nature that made possible man's further development.

What was atrocious was the fact that, like every other building in the new towns, they were dumped almost at random; the leakage of escaping gas scented the so-called gas-house districts, and not surprisingly these districts frequently became among the most degraded sections of the city. Towering above the town, polluting its air, the gas tanks symbolized the dominance of 'practical' interests over life-needs.

To become a full human being is nothing less than a lifetime's task.

The toughest thing about performing here is, where do you go from here? Next week, I'm at the Fort Lauderdale Performing Arts Center.

It is easy to find oneself so wrapped up in the end result that one pays too little attention to the small steps it takes to arrive there.

The life expectancy at the turn of the century was forty-five; now it is eighty. Living into one's eighties, nineties, and even past one hundred is a real possibility today, one that makes your fifties and sixties a time not for winding down but for gearing up—though for what, we may not be sure.

Writing is a strange and solitary activity. There are dispiriting times when you start working on the first few pages of a novel. Every day, you have the feeling you are on the wrong track. This creates a strong urge to go back and follow a different path. It is important not to give in to this urge but to keep going.

And our big theme has been, you have made so much progress, we urge you on with the openings and market openings that have occurred. They clearly work and continuing on that path will produce further growth and further opportunities for the Indian people.

The urge to miniaturize electronics did not exist before the space program. I mean our grandparents had radios that was furniture in the living room. Nobody at the time was saying, 'Gee, I want to carry that in my pocket.' Which is a non-thought.

I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers.

I urge the senior members of the political system to form as broad a government as possible that would unite the moderate forces from the Left and Right so that we will be able to bring about real change in the State of Israel.

For Arkansas, I think the sky is the limit, but I think we are going to have to fight the urge to avoid risks. We need to look first at where we are as a state. I think, as a state, we have made progress over the years, but there are two kinds of progress: absolute progress and relative progress.

I urge the Department of Education not to settle for half-measures when it comes to students.

At different times in life, I've felt like it's time to say goodbye from some form of myself that's been hanging around for a while - you just feel this urge to move on, like a herd of antelope. They're just standing there in a field eating grass. You feel like that as a person sometimes. Where's it's just time to move on.

I would urge Rachel Notley to be more like Peter Lougheed. Lougheed had a sensible plan for the oil sands, which involved ancillary infrastructure like upgraders and refineries.

In our urge to automate, in our eagerness to adopt the latest innovations, we appear to have developed a habit of unthinkingly handing over power to machines.

When historians write the last pages of their books, and the producers of history documentaries sit down to edit the final minutes of their programmes, there is often a strong urge to look to the future and emphasise the positive.

If necessity is the mother of invention, urgency is the uncle of change. Without it, progress slows and then stops and then reverses.