Richard Dawkins - Christopher Hitchens - Jim Rohn - Sebastian Barry - Christopher Fowler - Patrick Dixon - George Eliot - Knight Bruce LJ - Mahatma Gandhi - Manhunter 1986 -
There are would-be murderers all round the world who want to kill you and me and themselves because they’re motivated by what they think is the highest ideal ... The elephant in the room: an elephant called Religion. The suicide bomber is convinced that in killing for his God, he will be fast-tracked to a special martyr’s heaven. Professor Richard Dawkins, The Root of All Evil? The God Delusion, Channel 4 2006
Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you. Christopher Hitchens
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. Jim Rohn
The world is not full of betrayers, it is full of people with decent motives and a full desire to do right by those who know them and love them. This is a little-known truth, but I think it is a truth nonetheless. Empirically, from all the years of my work, I would attest to that. I know it is a miraculous conclusion, but there it is. We like to make strangers of everyone. We are not wolves, but lambs astonished in the margins of the fields by sunlight and summer. Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
Statistics show that the nature of English crime is reverting to its oldest habits. In a country where so many desire status and wealth, petty annoyances can spark disproportionately violent behaviour. We become frustrated because we feel powerless, invisible, unheard. We crave celebrity, but that’s not easy to come by, so we settle for notoriety. Envy and bitterness drive a new breed of lawbreakers, replacing the old motives of poverty and the need for escape. But how do you solve crimes which no longer have traditional motives? Christopher Fowler, Ten Second Staircase
Motivation is a battle for the heart, not just an appeal to the mind. Passion is always an expression of the soul. Patrick Dixon, Building a Better Business 2005
What makes life dreary is the want of motive. George Eliot, Daniel Deronda 1876
Motives are very often immaterial with reference to the manner of disposing of a suit. It has been said by an eminent Judge, that if you were to look into motives of suitors, Courts of justice would not sit above a month in the year, and would have little to do. Of course there are, in numerous instances, motives for litigation which, if they could be looked into, would prevent a Court of justice from interfering. But generally I agree that it is not the rule so to regard them. Knight Bruce L J, Attorney-General v Sheffield Gas Consumers Co 1853 3 D M & G 311
The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted. Mahatma Gandhi
His motive? His act fuels his fantasy. Manhunter 1986 starring William Petersen & Kim Greist & Dennis Farina & Joan Allen & Brian Cox & Stephen Lang & Tom Noonan & David Seaman & Benjamin Hendrickson & Michael Talbott et al, director Michael Mann, manhunter