Impetus Quotes

“So early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.”
― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X [Japanese-Language Edition].

“While people argue with one another about the specifics of Freud's work and blame him for the prejudices of his time, they overlook the fundamental truth of his writing, his grand humility: that we frequently do not know our own motivations in life and are prisoners to what we cannot understand. We can recognize only a small fragment of our own, and an even smaller fragment of anyone else's, impetus.”
― Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

“Disgust with injustice may sharpen the desire for justice. Readers who don’t see this connection merely wish to be entertained, and I have neither skill nor desire to turn the agony of a people into entertainment.”
― Ayi Kwei Armah, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

“They tell me to be quiet
When I’d rather cause a riot
And have everyone screaming
Out their eccentric meaning.”
― Initially NO, Err and Grr

“...[I]f I don't get going soon, the whole impetus may die---and if that happens, well, I really shall consider a long, restful plunge into insanity. Sometimes the abyss yawns very attractively.”
― Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle

“The impetuous wind can ignite the fire or put it out.”
― Regina O'Melveny, The Book of Madness and Cures