Stagnation Quotes

“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Many times, the thought of fear itself is greater than what it is we fear.”
― Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

“When you stay too long in the same place, things and people go to pot on you, they rot and start stinking for your special benefit.”
― Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night

“What is the difference between a living thing and a dead thing? In the medical world, a clinical definition of death is a body that does not change. Change is life. Stagnation is death. If you don't change, you die. It's that simple. It's that scary.”
― Leonard Sweet

“Every man finds his limitations, Mr. Holmes, but at least it cures us of the weakness of self-satisfaction.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

“Imagination without clarity is fantasy; clarity without imagination is stagnation. Dreaming in the clear sky of our minds makes us live creatively, balancing wonder with wisdom, and inspiration with insight. (“With a dream in the clear sky of her mind”)”
― Erik Pevernagie

“Stagnation is self-abdication.”
― Ryan Talbot

“The poor man retains the prejudices of his forefathers without their faith, and their ignorance without their virtues; he has adopted the doctrine of self-interest as the rule of his actions, without understanding the science which puts it to use; and his selfishness is no less blind than was formerly his devotedness to others. If society is tranquil, it is not because it is conscious of its strength and its well-being, but because it fears its weakness and its infirmities; a single effort may cost it its life. Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure. The desires, the repinings, the sorrows, and the joys of the present time lead to no visible or permanent result, like the passions of old men, which terminate in impotence.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

“This malignant persistence since September 11th is the biggest surprise of all. In previous decades, sneak attacks, stock-market crashes, and other great crises became hinges on which American history swung in dramatically new directions. But events on the same scale, or nearly so, no longer seem to have that power; moneyed interests may have become too entrenched, elites too self-seeking, institutions too feeble, and the public too polarized and passive for the country to be shocked into fundamental change.”
― George Packer

“The most pious thing like water starts to stink once it stagnates.”
― Sandeep Sahajpal, The Twelfth Preamble: To all the authors to be!

“Making excuses only leads to continued stagnation.”
― Robin S. Baker

“All utopias are depressing because they leave no room for chance, for difference, for the 'miscellaneous'.”
― Georges Perec, Brief Notes on the Art and Manner of Arranging One's Books

“Your comfort zone isn't nourishing you anymore. What are you going to do about this?”
― Robin S. Baker

“The absurdity is that it doesn’t look like an absurdity. The absurdity is that you go out in the morning and find a bottle of milk on the doorstep and you are at peace because the same thing happened to you yesterday and will happen again tomorrow.”
― Julio Cortázar, Hopscotch

“MILTON! thou shouldst be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! Raise us up, return to us again,
And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power!”
― William Wordsworth, London, 1802

“The distorted concept of 'loving thyself' in our times is the root of all evil. It leads to egotistical and narcissistic behaviour, and loss of touch with reality. 'Loving' yourself more than anything and anyone else leaves you disabled. Half-human. You sacrifice your empathy, tact, communication skills and dare I say, intelligence. You willingly cease your own spiritual growth and development of character (because you keep repeating to yourself that you're perfect just the way you are). The consequences are stagnation and later on, decay. Ultimately, you lose your soul.”
― R.P. Heaven, Awakening Ignited

“Writing your thoughts down can bring clarity amid confusion and stagnancy.”
― Robin S. Baker

“Making excuses for yourself only leads to continued stagnation.”
― Robin S. Baker

“Yes, a mid-career crisis can be a hellish time. But it can also be a chance to introspect and reevaluate your values, behaviors, preferences, strengths, and weaknesses. It’s quite exciting when seen from that perspective. It’s like a second chance.”
― Binod Shankar, Let's Get Real: 42 Tips for the Stuck Manager

“The fact is that Planet Earth is overloaded with highly qualified and uber experienced folk who are rubbish in the triple wisdom- have a dim idea of who they are, can’t manage themselves well and are middling at managing others. They rose up the ranks powered by mostly technical skills but now that’s far less important. They have entered their comfort zones but what got them here most certainly won’t get them there and what will take them further are some tough behavioral changes.”
― Binod Shankar, Let's Get Real: 42 Tips for the Stuck Manager

“I am in love with change, growth, and making vast transformations. Even when it feels daunting at first. I'd take that over stagnancy any day.”
― Robin S. Baker

“Hope: not a beacon,
no spark in the darkness,
nothing so bright to give it away.
It waits in deep shadow,
dissolving in moonlight, watching,
patient, counting your days.”
― Rebecca Cuthbert, In Memory of Exoskeletons

“Free speech is the bedrock of any democratic society, an indispensable force that propels us forward by fostering an environment where ideas, no matter how controversial, can be expressed without fear of reprisal. It is not merely a right but a sacred duty to uphold the principles of open dialogue, ensuring that diverse voices contribute to the rich tapestry of human thought. In its absence, we risk descending into intellectual stagnation, where conformity replaces innovation, and progress becomes a casualty of silence.”
― James William Steven Parker

“The hesitant mind risks stagnation. Sometimes, the bravest step is the first one.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul

“But now that day had broken, nothing had changed, no one had rescued them, and the possibility that that was how it would be the whole day, whole night, and all the other days, and all the other nights, had started to eat away at him right there, in his chest, at that blue place where tears are born and hope dies.”
― Grégoire Courtois, The Laws of the Skies

“To make heritage out of consciousness
is to make garbage out of consciousness.
To make tradition out of stagnation
is to make fertilizer out of living veins.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Divine Refugee

“I stagnate in my very soul. My will, emotions and thought stop functioning, and this suspension last for days on end; only the vegetative life of my soul - words, gestures, habits - expresses me to others and, through them, to myself.
In these periods of shadowy subsistence, I'm unable to think, feel, or want.”
― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

“There's something in us that isolates us from ourselves, and the separating element is as stagnant as we are, a ditch of filthy water around our self-alienation.”
― Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

“Life thrives on change, not fixed routines. Too much order, whether in thought or belief, leads to stagnation. Growth comes when we dare to explore and embrace the unknown.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul

“A few more years." It's what you tell yourself when you're already sunk in the mud with spinning wheels. See, when you are in the middle of it, you don't realize that life and its myriad opportunities are slipping by. You keep waiting and dreaming, always believing there is a finish line to cross just beyond the horizon, where your struggles will conclude. Soon you will have enough money and time—you can feel it. When that time comes, you can put your plans into action.”
― Jackson Ellis, Black Days