Jacobs Quotes & Sayings

Objections to Christianity ... are phrased in words, but that does not mean that they are really a matter of language and analysis and argument. Words are tokens of the will. If something stronger than language were available then we would use it. But by the same token, words in defense of Christianity miss the mark as well: they are a translation into the dispassionate language of argument of something that resides far deeper in the caverns of volition, of commitment. Perhaps this is why Saint Francis, so the story goes, instructed his followers to "preach the Gospel always, using words if necessary." It is not simply and straightforwardly wrong to make arguments in the defense of the Christian faith, but it is a relatively superficial activity: it fails to address the core issues. — Alan Jacobs

I was ordered to go for flowers, that my mistress's house might be decorated for an evening party. I spent the day gathering flowers and weaving them into festoons, while the dead body of my father was lying within a mile of me. What cared my owners for that? he was merely a piece of property. Moreover, they thought he had spoiled his children, by teaching them to feel that they were human beings. This was blasphemous doctrine for a slave to teach; presumptuous in him, and dangerous to the masters. — Harriet Ann Jacobs

Makeup is the finishing touch, the final accessory. — Marc Jacobs

Hell...chickens,' Jack groused. It was the snickering that really woke me. And the sound of... Elder Jacobs.... muttering, 'Chickens?' 'Kill 'em... bastards,' Jack snorted. — Scarlett Dawn

While you are looking, you might as well also listen, linger and think about what you see. — Jane Jacobs

You can't prescribe decently for something you hate. It will always come out wrong. You can't prescribe decently for something you despair in. If you despair of humankind, you're not going to have good policies for nurturing human beings. I think people ought to give prescriptions who have ideas for improving things, ought to concentrate on the things that they love and that they want to nurture. — Jane Jacobs

You know it's a good show when you involve fire and dolls and unitards. — Gillian Jacobs

I mentioned early in this book the kind of rereading distinctive of a fan
the Tolkien addict, say, or the devotee of Jane Austen or Trollope or the Harry Potter books. The return to such books is often motivated by a desire to dwell for a time in a self-contained fictional universe, with its own boundaries and its own rules. (It is a moot question whether Austen and Trollope's first readers were drawn to their novels for these reasons, but their readers today often are.) Such rereading is not purely a matter of escapism, even though that is one reason for its attraction: we should note that it's not what readers are escaping from but that they are escaping into that counts most. Most of us do not find fictional worlds appealing because we find our own lives despicable, though censorious people often make that assumption. Auden once wrote that "there must always be ... escape-art, for man needs escape as he needs food and deep sleep." The sleeper does not disdain consciousness. — Alan Jacobs

...'beard' isn't really a superpower. — Amy Leigh Strickland

Play on lively, diversified sidewalks differs from virtually all other daily incidental play offered American children today: It is play not conducted in a matriarchy.
Most city architectural designers and planners are men. Curiously, they design and plan to exclude men as part of normal, daytime life wherever people live. In planning residential life, they aim at filling the presumed daily needs of impossibly vacuous housewives and preschool tots. They plan, in short, strictly for matriarchal societies. — Jane Jacobs

Like, I'm hyper-conscious about going to bed on time, and doing my seven-step skin care routine at night. — Gillian Jacobs

What's exciting about the Bay Area, is that people are not waiting for permission from the industry to make movies - unlike Los Angeles or New York, where you can get stuck into that desire of raising a big budget, or working with the studios. — Matthew Jacobs

I had no idea what effect something blockbustering would have. To me, it was just a job that I was trying to do the best I could. We had shot the first five shows before it went on the air. Then, it was this firecracker hit, and people were recognizing me, so it was just nuts. It was overwhelming, insane, wonderful and scary all at the same time. It's really peculiar that people see you on television and then think they have a personal relationship with you. So, they want to touch you, and grab you, and sit down and have lunch with you. It's strange, and you never get used to that. — Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs

As far back as I can remember, I had an interest in fashion. I used to go to sleepaway camp, and they'd provide a list of things that you had to bring, and I always wanted to be a bit more creative than the list allowed. Like, if they required chinos, I wanted to hand-paint them. — Marc Jacobs

Sometimes movies that I'm in that I have a leading role don't necessarily get the biggest release, so it's a difficult thing between balancing indies that have uncertain futures and maybe larger films that have guaranteed releases that you have a smaller part in. — Gillian Jacobs

I don't like yelling insults at someone who's never done anything to me. — Gillian Jacobs

The first two crusades brought the flower of European chivalry to Constantinople and restored that spiritual union between Eastern and Western Christendom that had been interrupted by the great schism of the Greek and Roman Churches. — Joseph Jacobs

Probably the most important element in intricacy is centering. Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the center - at the very least a main crossroads and pausing point, a climax. — Jane Jacobs

Does anyone suppose that, in real life, answers to any of the great questions that worry us today are going to come out of homogeneous settlements? — Jane Jacobs

Whenever you are crying, I will hold you. Whatever you are doing, I'll defend you. — Chloe Jacobs

I create the concept, which for me is about deciding upon the right girl and the right 'spirit', and thinking of all the things that visually describe her. It's just like putting together a fashion show; for me, that starts with the spirit and the girls as well. — Marc Jacobs

Dr. Flint had sworn that he would make me suffer, to my last day, for this new crime against him, as he called it; and as long as he had me in his power he kept his word. — Harriet Ann Jacobs

I love the gym, but I still want to look a bit awkward at it. I don't want to look too on top of it, you know? — Marc Jacobs

Until the arrival of Spanish troops in 1920, Chefchaouen had been visited by just three Westerners. Two were missionary explorers: Charles de Foucauld, a Frenchman who spent just an hour in the town in 1883, disguised as a Jewish rabbi, and William Summers, an American who was poisoned by the townsfolk here in 1892. The third, in 1889, was the British journalist Walter Harris, whose main impulse, as described in his book, Land of an African Sultan, was "the very fact that there existed within thirty hours' ride of Tangier a city in which it was considered an utter impossibility for a Christian to enter". Thankfully, Chefchaouen today is more welcoming towards outsiders, and a number of the Medina's newer guesthouses now include owners hailing from Britain, Italy and the former Christian enemy, Spain. — Daniel Jacobs

I can be mean. Not dirty. But very mean. — Brandon Jacobs

Your tongue may speak lies, but your eyes know the truth. — Amber Jacobs

My favorite designers are, Chloe, D&G, Christian Louboutin and Marc Jacobs. I change my style from day to day, so I have many favorites. — Candice Swanepoel

Sex is always good, isn't it? Well, actually it's not always good, but it's always a good thing. — Marc Jacobs

He grew vexed and asked if poverty and hardships with freedom, were not preferable to our treatment in slavery ... No, I will not stay. Let them bring me back. We don't die but once. — Harriet Jacobs

The whole bible is the working out of the relationship between God and man. God is not a dictator barking out orders and demanding silent obedience. Were it so, there would be no relationship at all. No real relationship goes just one way. There are always two active parties. We must have reverence and awe for God, and honor for the chain of tradition. But that doesn't mean we can't use new information to help us read the holy texts in new ways. — A. J. Jacobs

When we deal with cities we are dealing with life at its most complex and intense. Planners are guided by principles derived from the behaviour and appearance of suburbs, tuberculosis sanatoria, fairs and imaginary dream cities - from anything but cities themselves. — Jane Jacobs

I always say I lived my life with my grandmother. She was emotionally stable, and she was very encouraging to me. — Marc Jacobs

I think there is something about luxury - it's not something people need, but it's what they want. It really pulls at their heart. — Marc Jacobs

I don't believe that prayers actually change God's mind - if there is a God - but I liked praying for people in need. It was like moral weightlifting. I tend to be self-obsessed, and it was nice to get out of my brain once in a while. — A. J. Jacobs

If my former self and my current self met for coffee, they'd get along OK, but they'd both probably walk out of the Starbucks shaking their heads and saying to themselves, "That guy is kinda delusional." — A. J. Jacobs

Barry L. Jacobs and colleagues from the neuroscience program at Princeton University showed that when mice ran every day on an exercise wheel, they developed more brain cells and they learned faster than sedentary controls. I believe in mice. — Bernd Heinrich

I interned with Marc Jacobs in college, then worked at J. Crew. I learned a lot about how to fit clothes and what kinds of things sell and why. — Chris Benz

'The New Yorker's fiction podcast I like a lot, where they have authors pick short stories by other authors that appeared in 'The New Yorker.' — Gillian Jacobs

I WAS born a slave; but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood had passed away. — Harriet Ann Jacobs

Design is people. — Jane Jacobs

And I have to credit David Jacobs with the opportunities he gave me. He was totally into sharing the creation of characters. David put together a show that told the story of people over many years' time and that was greatly enjoyable. Though nowadays that is frowned upon. — William Devane

I'd never really done comedy before 'Community,' so getting to work day in and day out with all these great people, directors, writers, and actors, I feel like I've learned a lot. — Gillian Jacobs

As educators, we are only as effective as what we know. If we have no working knowledge of what students studied in previous years, how can we build on their learning? If we have no insight into the curriculum in later grades, how can we prepare learners for future classes? — Heidi Hayes Jacobs

I love it when the Bible gives Emily Post-like tips that are both wise and easy to follow. — A. J. Jacobs

His aim was the creation of self sufficient small towns,really very nice towns if you were docile and had no plans of your own and did not mind spending your life with others with no plans of their own. As in all Utopias, the right to have plans of any significance belonged only to the planner in charge.
- discussing Ebenezer Howards' Garden City — Jane Jacobs

And we find at the end of a perfect day, The soul of a friend we've made. — Carrie Jacobs-Bond

I think if I was in over 250 films, the world would get pretty sick of me. I would probably never get put in anything ever again. — Gillian Jacobs

I'm not sure how to react to this information. Mostly, I'm thinking that if the revolution comes, this fact alone will make it hard to fault the insurrection. "Well, I don't approve of mass executions of the ruling class," we'll have to admit. "But on the other hand, there's that trend of plastic surgery to upgrade our farts. We really were asking for it. — A. J. Jacobs

Innovation is an evolutionary process, so it's not necessary to be radical all the time. — Marc Jacobs

I'm not a yogi, but I know the sun salutation. — Marc Jacobs

It's a big change for a country boy like me, to be in the limelight in New York City. It was most definitely a tough adjustment. — Brandon Jacobs

I'm a very boring person in my real life so I got to act out misbehaving fantasies was really fun. — Gillian Jacobs

The fountain of youth is like the monkey's paw in the W. W. Jacobs story. It never ends well. — Sarah Monette

Jane Jacobs work wouldnt have been complete if it hadn't inspired others to carry it on, and evolve Jane's groundbreaking accomplishments so that the essential kernel of thought remains relevant for future generations. The essayists in What We See have built on those essential footholds that people who have never heard of Jane Jacobs will benefit from for decades. — Majora Carter

Part of the talent of any company is to surround yourself with people who have good spirit and help you do more and more things. — Marc Jacobs

I've always wanted to work with Elizabeth Banks. She's so talented and funny, and she's become this force of nature - directing, producing. Being around her is kind of inspiring. — Gillian Jacobs

I am short, so even if there are things that I like, or like on other people, I have to be aware that sometimes that won't work on me because I'm not 5'10. It has to have a shape for my body; otherwise, I look like I am two inches tall. I have to wear things that skim my body more closely than a runway model would. — Gillian Jacobs

Some who are fortunate enough to have communities still do fight to keep them, but they have seldom prevailed. While people possess a community, they usually understand that they can't afford to lose it; but after it is lost, gradually even the memory of what was lost is lost. — Jane Jacobs

Now, what's my name?" says he. "What, is that Bill?" says she. "Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail. "Is that Ned?" says she. "Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail. "Well, is that Mark?" says she. "Noo, that ain't," says he, and he — Joseph Jacobs

I love discovering new young brands and watching these fashion lines take off, like Peter Pilotto, Christopher Kane, and Clover Canyon. — Gillian Jacobs

Patternicity is the idea that humans are really talented at finding nonexistent patterns in random noise. — A. J. Jacobs

I'm a Bravoholic, and I love 'RuPaul's Drag Race.' — Gillian Jacobs

Art critics are like every other critic. — Marc Jacobs

Hand and wrist aches are more common than ever ... Wikipedia lists ... my favorite, Raver's Thumb, which you can get from repeatedly waving a glow stick in the air (see, kids, ecstasy really is bad for you). — A. J. Jacobs

Candy corn. For Halloween that is my favorite candy, but it doesn't come around that often and I like that. — Daniel Jacobs

It's a different way of looking at the world. Your life isn't about rights. It's about responsibilities.
Mr Bill Berkowitz — A. J. Jacobs

mouth," says Jack, as sharp as a needle. — Joseph Jacobs

Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities. — Harriet Ann Jacobs

It's amazing how a strip of sticky plastic will make my kids' pain vanish. Lucas will be howling about a stepped-on finger, but as soon as the SpongeBob Band-Aid touches his pinkie, he's all smiles. My sons are so convinced of the magical healing powers of Band-Aids, they think they can solve almost any problem. A couple of years ago, when out Sony TV blew a fuse, Jasper stuck a Band-Aid on the screen hoping to revive it. — A. J. Jacobs

There is a widespread belief that americans hate cities. I think it is probable that Americans hate city failure, but, from the evidence, we certainly do not hate successful and vital city areas. On the contrary, so many people want to make use of such places, so many people want to work in them or live in them or visit in them, that municipal self-destruction ensues. In killing successful diversity combinations with money, we are employing perhaps our nearest equivalent to killing with kindness. — Jane Jacobs

Dehaene even allows himself a few moments of (justifiable) annoyance at the way that "childhood reading experts" continue their debates about the best strategies for teaching reading to children in complete ignorance of a large and growing body of work on how the human brain processes written language. — Alan Jacobs

I have come to the conclusion that a goodly number of the fables that pass under the name of the Samian slave, Aesop, were derived from India, probably from the same source whence the same tales were utilised in the Jatakas, or Birth-stories of Buddha. — Joseph Jacobs

In our American cities, we need all kinds of diversity. — Jane Jacobs

The first glimpse that we have of the notions which the Greeks possessed of the shape and the inhabitants of the earth is afforded by the poems passing under the name of Homer. — Joseph Jacobs

What does the leopard teach us? Not to be intimidated by animals that outweigh him. To be fearless and daring. It — J.D. Jacobs

I resolved not to be conquered again. — Harriet Jacobs

No one ever said 'no' to me about anything. No one ever told me anything was wrong. Never. No one ever said, 'You can't be a fashion designer.' No one ever said, 'You're a boy and you can't take tap-dancing lessons.' No one ever said, 'You're a boy and you can't have long hair.' — Marc Jacobs

I like the 'Moth' podcast a lot. I listen to that. — Gillian Jacobs

If life deals you prunes, make pastries! They are surprisingly delicious, but most won't even take the time to learn this. — Miriam L. Jacobs

The older I got the more I appreciated the role of travel as a stimulus to memories, and the way in which journeys even to new places were somehow always awakening memories of places seen in an ever-receding past. — Michael Jacobs

Erosion of cities or attrition of automobiles? — Jane Jacobs

You can't rely on bringing people downtown, you have to put them there. — Jane Jacobs

To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting it into a disciplined work of art, is to make the mistake of attempting to substitute art for life. The results of such profound confusion between art and life are neither life nor art. They are taxidermy. — Jane Jacobs

Without question, students need to practice, review, and drill skills, but they should do so only in the spirit of working toward more complex mastery of those skills. Redundant drill of skills is inherently boring and insulting to the learner, and it is one of the most effective methods for turning students off to learning. — Heidi Hayes Jacobs

The Bible is so strange, so utterly bizarre, no human brain could have come up with it. — A. J. Jacobs

I know that you should eat a lot of the Indian spice turmeric, as it fights cancer. Also that you should avoid the Indian spice turmeric, as it might contain dangerous levels of lead. One or the other. — A. J. Jacobs

A sellout is putting your name on any piece of crap and then expecting people to buy it because it's got your name on it. That's what a sellout is to me. — Marc Jacobs

I always find beauty in things that are odd & imperfect - they are much more interesting. — Marc Jacobs

Ebenezer Howard's vision of the Garden City would seem almost feudal to us. He seems to have thought that members of the industrial working classes would stay neatly in their class, and even at the same job within their class; that agricultural workers would stay in agriculture; that businessmen (the enemy) would hardly exist as a significant force in his Utopia; and that planners could go about their good and lofty work, unhampered by rude nay-saying from the untrained. It was the very fluidity of the new nineteenth-century industrial and metropolitan society, with its profound shiftings of power, people and money, that agitated Howard so deeply — Jane Jacobs

Would that I had more ability! But my heart is so full, and my pen is so weak! — Harriet Jacobs

I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance. — A. J. Jacobs

Lorraine once told me, smile big when you're sad. Smile big when you're happy. Smile big when you're bored. Because regardless how you feel, your face could use a stretch. — Marley Jacobs

After decimating several vegetables, I decide juicing is my favorite form of food preparation. There's something perversely appealing about subjecting an innocent plant to that much violence. — A. J. Jacobs

I'd like to be invisible. To be anonymous and see things for what they really are. The truth may be painful but it's probably useful! — Marc Jacobs

This is something everyone knows: A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe. — Jane Jacobs

So the books are waiting. Of this you may be confident: they'll be ready when the whim strikes you. — Alan Jacobs

Acting by yourself is pretty darn hard, especially having to do physical comedy. — Gillian Jacobs

I can be in the NFL as long as any other back. I went late in the draft because no one thought I could do it. — Brandon Jacobs

I went to college and got my degree in acting, but because it was all theater, I really consider my first couple years on 'Mad Men' as amazing training for working in television and for acting on-camera. — Gillian Jacobs

My inners are not organs. They're actually mechanics, so I have a hole in my back, wind me up like the movie 'Hugo,' and then just say, 'Act,' you know? — Gillian Jacobs