Elizabeth Janeway Quotes

Giving a phenomenon a label does not explain it.

The wise see knowledge and action as one.

When I get the point, I often don't know what to do with it.

Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.

This is what I tell my students: step outside of your tiny little world. Step inside of the tiny little world of somebody else. And then do it again and do it again and do it again. And suddenly, all these tiny little worlds, they come together in this complex web. And they build a big, complex world.

A book is like a piece of rope; it takes on meaning only in connection with the things it holds together.

I was one of those kids who always thought that we should know how the world works around us.

Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile.

The problem with the bronco is to get on and stay on. This is the problem with the Golden Rule-to understand and apply.

'How' is a great thing to know. 'Why' is the ultimate. I'm the 'why' coach. Why are we doing this? Why are we not doing that? Why is this not working? Those are the things I want to know.

We talk on principal, but act on motivation.

I can no more separate my serious concerns about the world from my cockeyed way of seeing it than I can keep apart my personal and professional selves.

I can never say 'why' about anything I do. I suppose I can say 'how' and 'when' and 'what.' But 'why' is impenetrable to me.

Everything we do, I'd imagine, influences everything we will do.

I don't pay attention to definitions or titles or try to fit within them.

It is true that one has to think first and then to act - but it's also true that if one has no possibility of acting, one's thinking kind of becomes empty and stupid.

I try to give'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason.

Knowing and knowing what to do about it were two different things.

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives.

Science is concerned with what is possible while engineering is concerned with choosing, from among the many possible ways, one that meets a number of often poorly stated economic and practical objectives.

Eventually, I decided that thinking was not getting me very far and it was time to try building.

You may not see it now," said the Princess of Pure Reason, looking knowingly at Milo's puzzled face, "but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way.

We must carry things beyond conversation to conclusion.

The way to do some things is to do them.