#arbitrary

But if it not be true, the myth itself requires to be explained, and every principle of philosophy and common sense demand that the explanation be sought, not in arbitrary allegorical categories, but in the actual facts of ritual or religious custom to which the myth attaches. ↗

— William Robertson Smith

#allegorical #arbitrary #attaches #be true #categories

The love of domination and an uncontrolled lust of arbitrary power have prevailed among all nations and perhaps in proportion to the degrees of civilization. ↗

— Mercy Otis Warren

#among #arbitrary #arbitrary power #civilization #degrees

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. ↗

— George Washington

#arbitrary power #easily #established #liberty #licentiousness

I didn't want to write a biographie romancee especially since I already write novels, nor did I want to challenge the rules of the biography game, arbitrary as those rules might be. ↗

— Edmund White

#arbitrary #biography #challenge #did #especially

Usually I am on a work for a long stretch, until a moment arrives when the air of the arbitrary vanishes, and the paint falls into positions that feel destined. ↗

— Philip Guston

#am #arbitrary #arrives #destined #falls