Reflectively Quotes & Sayings

I've been wondering," Isabelle commented reflectively over dessert, "if it is foolish to make new memories when you know you are going to lose them. — Erica Bauermeister

The likelihood that your acts of resistance cannot stop the injustice does not exempt you from acting in what you sincerely and reflectively hold to be the best interests of your community. — Susan Sontag

Somebody is always reflectively monkeying with some of the parts of an infinite universe - monkeying as distinct from aping. — Willis R. Whitney

He wondered reflectively what would happen if you asked a nun where the Gents was. Probably the Pope sent you a sharp note or something. — Neil Gaiman

I don't believe Old Nick can be so very ugly,' said Aunt Jamesina reflectively. 'He wouldn't do so much harm if he was. I always think of him as a rather handsome gentleman. — L.M. Montgomery

I just realized, sometime early on in college, that I wanted to be a philosopher. I basically decided that I wanted to spend my life thinking as deeply and carefully and reflectively as I could about the nature of reality and our human engagement with it, and that taking a philosophical approach was the best way to go about doing this. — L.A. Paul

Well, I think I laid down my sunshade first,'said Mrs. Twining reflectively. 'Ah, that doesn't interest you. I told Finch that I wanted to tidy my hair (a euphemism for "powder my nose", of course), and would show myself out on to the terrace.'
'And you did in fact powder your nose, Mrs. Twining, at the mirror over the fireplace?'
'Most thoroughly,' she agreed.
'How long did that take you?'
She looked rather amused. 'When a woman powders her nose, Inspector, she loses count of time. My own estimate would be a moment or two; almost any man, I feel, would probably say, ages.'
'Were you as long, perhaps, as five minutes?'
'I hope not. Let us say three - without prejudice. — Georgette Heyer

What are you going to say if she tells you that she had a row with Winterborne?" Cassandra asked. "I'll tell her to have more of them," Kathleen said. "One can't allow a man to have his way all the time." She paused reflectively. "Once Lord Berwick told me that when a horse pulls at the reins, one should never pull back. Instead, loosen them. But never more than an inch. — Lisa Kleypas

That
ing zombie is going to end up on the end of a couple of
ing handy and versatile kebab skewers,' said Mr Tulip. 'An' then I'm gonna put an edge on this
ing spatula. An' then ... then I'm gonna get medieval on his arse.'
There were more pressing problems, but this one intrigued Mr Pin.
'How, exactly?' he said.
'I thought maybe a maypole,' said Mr Tulip reflectively. 'An' then a display of country dancing, land tillage under the three-filed system, several plagues and, if my
ing hand ain't too tired, the invention of the
ing horse collar. — Terry Pratchett

Tack studied him before he remarked, "You think I'm whipped."
Joker made no reply. He wouldn't disrespect a brother like that, especially not Tack.
But he did think that.
Absolutely.
Tack grinned and took a pull from his beer.
After he dropped it, he said reflectively, still grinning. "Maybe I am. Though, the way I am and the woman holds that whip, it's a good thing to be. — Kristen Ashley

The boy heaved a sigh. "I would ask to go with you," he said, " but I have to finish my lessons. I so look forward to the day when I know everything. Then I won't have to read any more books or do any more counting."
Beatrix smiled. "I don't wish to be discouraging, Rye, but it's not possible to know everything."
"Mama does." Rye paused reflectively. "At least, Papa says we mus t pretend she does, because it makes her happy."
"Your father," Beatrix informed him with a laugh, " is one of the wisest men I've ever known. — Lisa Kleypas

The first cause worked automatically like a somnambulist, and not reflectively like a sage. — Thomas Hardy

So, like I said, these are a bunch of really sweet guys, but you wouldn't want to share a Galaxy with them, not if they're just gonna keep at it, not if they're not gonna learn to relax a little. I mean it's just gonna be continual nervous time, isn't it, right? Pow, pow, pow, when are they next coming at us? Peaceful coexistence is just right out, right? Get me some water somebody, thank you."

He sat back and sipped reflectively.

OK," he said, "hear me, hear me. It's, like, these guys, you know, are entitled to their own view of the Universe. And according to their view, which the Universe forced on them, right, they did right. Sounds crazy, but I think you'll agree. They believe in ..."

He consulted a piece of paper which he found in the back pocket of his Judicial jeans.

They believe in 'peace, justice, morality, culture, sport, family life, and the obliteration of all other life forms'. — Douglas Adams

You must have loved her awfully," I said, realizing even as I spoke that I made it sound as if Fenella were already dead. "Yes, sometimes very much," Porcelain said reflectively, "-and sometimes not at all." She must have seen my startled reaction. "Love's not some big river that flows on and on forever, and if you believe it is, you're a bloody fool. It can be dammed up until nothing's left but a trickle ... " "Or stopped completely, I added. — Alan Bradley

Are you sure he's all right, Susie?" Susan smiled a little defensively. "Sure, I'm sure. He looks like ... oh, I don't know - a college instructor or something." "They say the Mad Bomber looked like a gardener," Mrs Norton said reflectively. "Moose shit," Susan said cheerfully. It was an epithet that never failed to irritate her mother. — Stephen King

Olson sat up. He put his hands against his belly and stared calmly at the poised soldiers on the deck of the squat vehicle. the soldiers stared back. 'You bastards!' McVries sobbed. 'You bloody bastards!' Olson began to get up. Another volley of bullets drove him flat again. Now there was a sound from behind Garraty. He didn't have to turn his head to know it was Stebbins. Stebbins was laughing softly. Olson sat up again. The guns were still trained on him, but the soldiers did not shoot. Their silhouettes on the halftrack seemed almost to indicate curiosity. Slowly, reflectively, Olson gained his feet, hands crossed on his belly. He seemed to sniff the air for direction, turned slowly in the direction of the Walk, and began to stagger along. — Richard Bachman

Have you ever noticed," asked Anne reflectively, "that when people say it is their duty to tell you a certain thing you may prepare for something disagreeable? Why is it that they never seem to think it a duty to tell you the pleasant things they hear about you? — L.M. Montgomery

Ethics as formation, then, is the venture of speaking about the form of Christ taking form in our world neither abstractly nor casuistically, neither programmatically nor purely reflectively. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

When you arrive in the afterlife, you find that Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley sits on a throne. She is cared for and protected by a covey of angels.
After some questioning, you find out that God's favorite book is Shelley's Frankenstein. He sits up at night with a worn copy of the book clutched in his mighty hands, alternately reading the book and staring reflectively at the night sky. — David Eagleman

They are very good odds. And I know that my scientific brain believes them, if not my panic-ridden, maternal one. Those odds should have made a difference to my reaction. I should have been able to take the diagnosis calmly, intelligently, reflectively. But that would be to assign rationality to this phenomenon. The trouble with abject fear - with searing, lurid metaphor - is that it is not rational. And the myths that spring out of fear that deep are certainly not. They are the stuff of nightmares. They are tenacious. — Alanna Mitchell

You can teach students to develop the ability to think reflectively, and you can help them understand what this means, but if they are not inclined to do so they never will. — John Dewey

Mrs. Casey, do you love Christmas?
Well you know, she answered reflectively, Christmas can be a sad time for people too. It's a remembering time for us older ones. We remember the people who are gone.
Oh, I never thought of that, I told her in surprise.
Well that's youth for you, she said; you don't start to look back over your shoulder until there is something to look back at, and around Christmas I tend to think of the Christmases past and the people gone with them. — Alice Taylor

You know,' he said, sitting back, reflectively, 'it's at times like this that you kind of wonder if it's worth worrying about the fabric of space-time and the causal integrity of the multidimensional probability matrix and the potential collapse of all waveforms in the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash and all that sort of stuff that's been bugging me. — Douglas Adams

I suppose ... " she said reflectively, "I could make more of an effort to overcome my shyness."
"Do as you please. But when you're with Rohan or any other man, you had better keep in mind that you belong completely to me."
Trying to interpret the comment, Evie stared at him with astonishment. "Are you ... is it possible ... you're jealous?"
Sudden bafflement flickered across his features. "Yes," he said gruffly. "It would seem so." And throwing Evie a glance of bewildered annoyance, he left the room. — Lisa Kleypas

This takes a bit of getting used to," he said. "All this smiling and good spirits. You've never been one of those lighthearted fellows."
"I'm not lighthearted, I'm . . . wholehearted."
Severin smiled reflectively as they stood to shake hands. "It must be nice," he mused, "to be any kind of hearted. — Lisa Kleypas

[S]cience has contributed a great deal to war and violence, and people well trained in science are sometimes not entirely rational and are even dogmatic. We have to find a way to teach reflectively, not just scientifically. — Nel Noddings

It's funny," she said reflectively, "but I always used to think that if only I was slimmer everything in my life would be all right. I didn't realize until it happened that it would just open up a whole new set of problems." ~Maxine — W. Soliman

God is so cruel," she murmured reflectively, as though answering him.
"Yes," he admitted, from the vantage point of going blind. "Though maybe people are kinder if He made them that way."
"You've run with a different crowd. Rich people are nicer to rich people."
"Sure. Yes. That's why I've washed up here. Rich people couldn't have been nicer to me. — Edward Hoagland

"The first awareness of the child comes with his ego. He becomes aware of the "I", not of the Self. Really, he becomes aware first of the "thou". The child first becomes aware of his mother. Then, reflectively, he becomes aware of himself. First he becomes aware of objects around him. Then, by and by, he begins to feel that he is separate. This feeling of separation gives the feeling of ego, and because the child first becomes aware of the ego, ego becomes a covering on the Self. " — Rajneesh

The Dean leaned toward an ear.
"I was saying," he said loudly, "that we didn't know the meaning of the word 'sex' when we were young."
"That's true. That's very true," said Poons. He stared reflectively at the flames. "Did we ever, mm, find out, do you remember? — Terry Pratchett

Will raised both eyebrows. 'Well, you learn a new thing everyday,' he said reflectively.
'In your case, that's no exaggeration,' Halt said, completely straight-faced. — John Flanagan

I've always wanted to know what it was like to fuck a cult figure,' the Royal Porcupine said reflectively. He was lying on his mattress, watching me as I scrubbed the dog blood off my belly with a corner of his shirt, dipped in the toilet. He didn't have a sink. 'Well, — Margaret Atwood

You are one woman in an endless line of women who were chosen to love more passionately than others, be committed to justice more fervently than others, and seek our Maker's higher expressions more reflectively than others. — Mandy Nachampassack-Maloney

At first I wasn't all that tempted by him, but then he killed the spider. Which was a huge point in his favor."
"Absolutely. I love men who kill bugs."
"And then when I was freaking out and couldn't breathe, he was so ... gentle." Zoe sighed and colored, remembering. "He was holding me, and talking to me in that voice ... you know, sort of low and rough around the edges ... "
"All the Nolans sound like that," Justine said reflectively. "Like they've got a mild case of bronchitis. Totally hot. — Lisa Kleypas

Cognitive neuroscience, and social theorists from Weber to Bourdieu, have recognized that humans act, most of the time, habitually, not reflectively. Both at intrastate and inter-states levels, habits play critical roles in mitigating uncertainty, providing a sense of order, and entrench patterns of cooperation or enmity. — Nayef Al-Rodhan

You know," he added reflectively, "we've got a much easier job now than we should have had fifty years ago. If we'd had to modernise a country then it would have meant constitutional monarchy, bicameral legislature, proportional representation, women's suffrage, independent judicature, freedom of the press, referendums ... "
"What is all that?" asked the Emperor.
"Just a few ideas that have ceased to be modern. — Evelyn Waugh

Consciousness does not know its own character
unless in determining itself reflectively from the standpoint of another's point of view. It exists its character in pure distinction non-thematically and non-thetically in the proof which it effects of its own contingency and in the nihilation by which it recognizes and surpasses its facticity. This is why pure introspective self-description does not give us character. Proust's hero 'does not have' a directly apprehensible character; he is presented first as being conscious of himself as an ensemble of general reactions common to all men ... in which each man can recognise himself. This is because these reactions belong to the general 'nature' of the psychic. — Jean-Paul Sartre

There's a great deal of difference between thinking reflectively about moral issues and achieving higher standards of ethical behavior. — Derek Bok

The human mind is a strange and wonderful thing," he said reflectively, "but I'm not sure it will ever figure itself out. Everything else, maybe - from sub-atomic particles to the universe - except itself. — Jack Finney

When you stand in front of me and look at me, what do you know of the griefs that are in me and what do I know of yours? And if I were to cast myself down before you and weep and tell you, what more would you know about me than you know about Hell when someone tells you it is hot and dreadful? For that reason alone we human beings ought to stand before one another as reverently, as reflectively, as lovingly, as we would before the entrance to Hell. — Franz Kafka