#motive

He is the best sailor who can steer within fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power out of the greatest obstacles. ↗

— Walter Scott

#exact #fewest #greatest #motive #obstacles

Few men could explain why they enlisted, and if they attempted they might only prove that they had done as a politician said the electorate does, the right thing from the wrong motive. ↗

— Patrick MacGill

#could #does #done #electorate #enlisted

Never trust a species that grins all the time. It’s up to something. ↗

— Terry Pratchett

#humour #ulterior-motive #motivational

Self-defense was an accepted motive for murder. ↗

— Farrah Naseem

#motive #murder #sacred #self-defence #motivational

A man may plant a tree for a number of reasons. Perhaps he likes trees. Perhaps he wants shelter. Or perhaps he knows that someday he may need the firewood. ↗

— Joanne Harris

#motive #planning #purpose #strategy #motivational

You don't just have people who wake up in the morning and say, "What evil things can I do today, because I'm Mr. Evil?" People do things for what they think are justified reasons. Everybody is the hero of their own story, and you have to keep that in mind. If you read a lot of history, as I do, even the worst and most monstrous people thought they were the good guys. We're all very tangled knots. ↗

— George R.R. Martin

#good #intentions #motives #people #motivational

It did not seem as if a prop were withdrawn, but rather as if a motive were gone: it was not the power to be tranquil which had failed me, but the reason for tranquility was no more. ↗

— Charlotte Brontë

#motivational

Finding this, she was much perplexed as to Henchard's motives in opening the matter at all; for in such cases we attribute to an enemy a power of consistent action which we never find in ourselves or or in our friends... ↗

— Thomas Hardy

#motives #motivational

I thought my heart was pure. We do like to have such good opinions of our own motives when we're about to do something harmful, to someone else. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#revenge #motivational

...our monsters walk the dark pathways of secret motives... ↗

— John Geddes

#motives #secrets #motivational