Famous quotes containing the word arbitrary:
“It is not an arbitrary “decree of God,” but in the nature of man, that a veil shuts down on the facts of to-morrow; for the soul will not have us read any other cipher than that of cause and effect. By this veil, which curtains events, it instructs the children of men to live in to-day.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“If you should rise from Nowhere up to Somewhere,
From being No one up to being Someone,
Be sure to keep repeating to yourself
You owe it to an arbitrary god....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“You can’t be arbitrary about imposing your will when these people’s lives are at stake. Don’t you realize that? You speak as calmly as if you were saying “Pass the salt.” Aren’t you human? Are you made of ice?”
—Kurt Neumann (1906–1958)