Best quotes by John Gray

John Gray

John Gray

English political philosopher and author

John Nicholas Gray (born 17 April 1948) is an English political philosopher and author with interests in analytic philosophy and the history of ideas. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray contributes regularly to The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman, where he is the lead book reviewer. He is an atheist.

Gray has written several influential books, including False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism (1998), which argues that free market globalization is an unstable Enlightenment project currently in the process of disintegration; Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals (2002), which attacks philosophical humanism, a worldview which Gray sees as originating in religions; and Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (2007), a critique of utopian thinking in the modern world.

Gray sees volition, and hence morality, as an illusion, and portrays humanity as a ravenous species engaged in wiping out other forms of life. Gray has written that "humans ... cannot destroy the Earth, but they can easily wreck the environment that sustains them."

John Gray quotes by category:

All CategoriesAbout successAbout happinessAbout lifeAbout summerAbout marriageAbout fear

SuccessHappinessMarriageIf I seek to fulfill my own needs at the expense of my partner, we are sure to experience unhappiness, resentment, and conflict. The secret of forming a successful relationship is for both partners to win.

HappinessFearIf we are to feel the positive feelings of love, happiness, trust, and gratitude, we periodically also have to feel anger, sadness, fear, and sorrow.

LifeSummerLife is filled with rhythms-day and night, hot and cold, summer and winter, spring and fall, cloudy and clear. Likewise in a relationship, men and women have their own rhythms and cycles.

To love someone is to acknowledge the goodness of who they are. Through loving a person we awaken their awareness of their own innate goodness. It is as though they cannot know how worthy they are until they look into the mirror of our love and see themselves.

Men are motivated when they feel needed while women are motivated when they feel cherished.

The number one way a man can succeed in fulfilling a woman's primary love needs is through communication. By learning to listen to a woman's feelings, a man can effectively shower a woman with caring, understanding, respect, devotion, validation, and reassurance.

A women under stress is not immediately concerned with finding solutions to her problems but rather seeks relief by expressing herself and being understood

Love brings up our unresolved feelings . One day we are feeling loved , and the next day we are suddenly afraid to trust love . The painful memories of being rejected begin to surface when we are faced with trusting and accepting our partner's love .

A woman's sense of self is defined through her feelings and the quality of her relationships.

We mistakenly assume that if our partners love us they will react and behave in certain ways - the ways we react and behave when we love someone.

A man's sense of self is defined through his ability to achieve results.

You may wish to be loving - you may even try with all your might - but your love will never be pure unless you are free from resentment. When we are free from resentment, loving is effortless. When we have to try hard to love, this is generally a sign that we are repressing our resentments.

when man and women are able to respect and accept there differences the love has a chance to blossom

Take time off to give to yourself, in a sense to fill yourself up to fullness, to where now you can overflow in giving.

When a man loves a woman, periodically he needs to pull away before he can get closer.

When a man can listen to a woman's feelings without getting angry and frustrated, he gives her a wonderful gift. He makes it safe for her to express herself. The more she is able to express herself, the more she feels heard and understood, and the more she is able to give a man the loving trust, acceptance, appreciation, admiration, approval, and encouragement that he needs.

Success lies in doing not what others consider to be great but what you consider to be right.

we are unique individuals with unique experiences

always thought of myself as a loving person. But she was right. I had been a fair-weather friend. As long as she was happy and nice, I loved back. But if she was unhappy or upset, I would feel blamed and then argue or distance myself

To offer a man unsolicited advice is to presume that he doesn't know what to do or that he can't do it on his own.

Our lives are more like fragmentary dreams than the enactments of conscious selves. We control very little of what we most care about; many of our most fateful decisions are made unbeknownst to ourselves. Yet we insist that mankind can achieve what we cannot: conscious mastery of its existence. This is the creed of those who have given up an irrational belief in God for an irrational faith in mankind.

Because she is afraid of not being supported, she unknowingly pushes away the support she needs.

Get the love you deserve and gave your partner the love and support he deserves

Today secular faith is ebbing, and it is the apostles of unbelief who are left stranded on the beach.

Just as a man is fulfilled through working out the intricate details of solving a problem, a woman is fulfilled through talking about the details of her problems.

I would love you all the day, every night we would kiss and play, if with me you'd fondly stray, over the hills and far away.

To grow in our ability to love ourselves we need to receive love as well.

As precious as knowledge itself is the learning. As precious as any reward is the earning.

That love motivates you to cooperate, respect, appreciate, cherish, and admire that person.

Find something that feels good, that resonates with your heart.

Anything that makes you feel good is always going to be drawing in more.