Behavior Quotes

If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

We considered behaving, but it's against our nature.

~ O.r. Melling

It is a sin to believe evil of others but it is seldom a mistake.

~ Garrison Keillor

The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

Lady Bracknell. Good afternoon, dear Algernon, I hope you are behaving very well.Algernon. I’m feeling very well, Aunt Augusta.Lady Bracknell. That’s not quite the same thing. In fact the two things rarely go together.

~ Oscar Wilde

I can see patterns in events, and behaviors; in mathematics, I follow slower

~ Jacqueline Carey

The weirder you're going to behave, the more normal you should look. It works in reverse, too. When I see a kid with three or four rings in his nose, I know there is absolutely nothing extraordinary about that person.

~ P.j. O'rourke

Excessive interest in pathological behavior was itself pathological

~ Arthur C. Clarke

The level of shyness has gone up dramatically in the last decade. I think shyness is an index of social pathology rather than a pathology of the individual.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

Human behavior is incredibly pliable, plastic.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

You only had to choose which me to talk to, for, you know, we all change our manners, depending on who has come to chat. One doesn’t behave at all the same way to a grandfather as to a bosom friend, to a professor as to a curious niece.

~ Catherynne M. Valente

I've always been a poor sport and a sore loser...any other behavior might encourage a repeat performance

~ Josh Stern

Time perspective is one of the most powerful influences on all of human behavior. We're trying to show how people become biased to being exclusively past-, present- or future-oriented.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

Situational variables can exert powerful influences over human behavior, more so that we recognize or acknowledge.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

One can't live mindfully without being enmeshed in psychological processes that are around us.

~ Philip G. Zimbardo

The fixity of a habit is generally in direct proportion to its absurdity.

~ Marcel Proust

A veteran, calm and assured, he pauses for a well-measured moment in the doorway of the office and then, boldly, clearly, with the subtly modulated British intonation which his public demands of him, speaks his opening line, 'Good mor

~ Christopher Isherwood

Religious beliefs...should never be an excuse to treat people badly.

~ Zach Wahls

The porpoises and whale themselves, in their quests for entertainment, often created problems. One summer a fashion developed in the training tanks (I think Keiki started it) for leaning out over the tank wall and seeing how far you could balance without falling out. Several animals might be teetering on the tank edge at one time, and sometimes one or another did fall out. Nothing much happened to them, except maybe a cut or a scrape from the gravel around the tanks; but of course we had to run and pick them up and put them back in. Not a serious problem, if the animal that fell out was small, but if it was a 400-pound adult bottlenose, you had to find four strong people to get him back, and when it happened over and over again, the people got cross. We feared too, that some animal would fall out at night or when no one was around and dry out, overheat, and die. We yelled at the porpoises, and rushed over and pushed them back in when we saw them teetering, but that just seemed to add to the enjoyment of what I'm sure the porpoises thoguht of as a hilariously funny game. Fortunately they eventually tired of it by themselves.

~ Karen Pryor

Clever talk, ingratiating looks, fawning reverence: Tso-ch’iu Ming found that shameful, and so do I. Friendly while harboring resentment: Tso-ch’iu Ming found that shameful, too, and so do I.

~ Confucius

what sinks of iniquity these little villages can be

~ M.c. Beaton

Behavior slays the dragon of illusion and reveals the truth.

~ Steve Maraboli

...insisting that you control the topic of behavioral conversation ensures accountability by students...

~ Doug Lemov

How can there ever be any serious expectation of living in paradise, if one cannot behave appropriately, or be trusted to respect and honour all life?

~ Mango Wodzak

If I want to deprive you of your watch, I shall certainly have to fight for it; if I want to buy your watch, I shall have to pay for it; and if I want a gift, I shall have to plead for it; and, according to the means I employ, the watch is stolen property, my own property, or a donation. Thus we see three different results from three different means. Will you still say that the means do not matter?

~ Mahatma Gandhi

It took me a long time to realize that when someone is not sorry for their behavior, that's their problem, not mine... I'll forgive them anyway, for me. Sometimes forgiveness is loving yourself enough to move on.

~ Steve Maraboli

I share your feeling that such behavior is, in some sense, unwise or erroneous, but this does not mean that it does not occur,' Amos wrote to an American economist who complained about the description of human nature implied by 'Value Theory.' 'A theory of vision cannot be faulted for predicting optical illusions. Similarly, a descriptive theory of choice cannot be rejected on the grounds that it predicts 'irrational behavior' if the behavior in question is in fact observed.

~ Michael Lewis

Pay attention, behavior speaks… While preacher are telling you to pray for abundance, they’re passing around a basket.

~ Steve Maraboli

Behavior has consequences, and stupid behavior often has terrible consequences.

~ James C. Dobson

How do you behave when you win? When your enemies are at your mercy and your power has become absolute: what then?

~ Salman Rushdie

Behavior speaks... I need not listen to someone's apology, I'll watch for it. I've learned not to let someone's words blind me from their behavior.

~ Steve Maraboli

If we conform our behavior to God’s ancient moral prescription, we are entitled to the sweet benefits of life. But if we defy its imperatives, then death is the inevitable consequence. AIDS is only one avenue by which sickness and death befall those who play Russian roulette with God’s eternal moral law.

~ James C. Dobson

Cheaters often accuse you of cheating. Liars often accuse you of lying. Insecure people often crumble your security. Behavior speaks... How someone treats you may have nothing to do with you, but can be a reflection of who they are.

~ Steve Maraboli

You're lucky I'm drawn to things that are sick and weird. Makes it so I can actually still like you.

~ Molly Ringle

Behavior speaks… If you’re chasing them, it means they’re running from you. Save your energy.

~ Steve Maraboli

The us versus them mindset coupled with our social nature implies that we have an innate need to belong to clearly defined in-groups.

~ Gad Saad

Habits aren’t destiny. Habits can be ignored, changed, or replaced. But the reason the discovery of the habit loop is so important is that it reveals a basic truth: When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit—unless you find new routines—the pattern will unfold automatically.

~ Charles Duhigg

Using information about animal behavior to justify social or political ideology is wrong . . . People need to be able to make decisions about their lives without having to worry about keeping up with the bonobos.

~ Marlene Zuk

So sad Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior the series ended open and it was made in 2011 and it ended in 2011!

~ Deyth Banger