ADAPTATION QUOTES II

quotations about adaptability

Conform thyself to thy present fortune, and cut they coat according to thy cloth.

ROBERT BURTON

Anatomy of Melancholy


A man is worked upon by what he works on. He may carve out his circumstances, but his circumstances will carve him out as well.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS

The Portable Frederick Douglass


We must adapt to fresh encounters with the peripheral world. Variation in our external domain brings about shocking revolutions of our internal realm of thoughts and emotions.

KILROY J. OLDSTER

Dead Toad Scrolls


When the world changes faster than species can adapt, many fall out. This is the case whether the agent drops from the sky in a fiery streak or drives to work in a Honda.

ELIZABETH KOLBERT

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History


The wise man does no wrong in changing his habits with the times.

DIONYSIUS CATO

Disticha de Moribus


It won't take long to learn
The new smile
You have to adapt
Or you'll be out of style
It's always the same
You're jumping someone else's train

THE CURE

"Jumping Someone Else's Train"


Perhaps I struggle dialing into a meaning for life because living entails adapting to a constant state of chaos. Can I harmonize the noisy commotion and distracting clutter in my life? I need to overcome personal inertia by learning to become comfortable with these changing times.

KILROY J. OLDSTER

Dead Toad Scrolls


There's no renaissance in bleeding
No I've flown a million minds black in despair
The liquids of uncertainty spit into their eyes
Our flesh embedded in counters of iniquity
It seems like we are all just merchandise
Not civilized
No words
We adapt in our silence
Paralyzed to changes
Erasing the last denial lines
Attitudes crucified
Still we're going on
Crawling toward submissive suicide

MESHUGGAH

"Humiliative"


Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan.

EPICTETUS

Discourses


Change is inevitable but progress is not. It is strange how often attempts are made to change without any change being made. We understand, or some of us understand, that a particular transformation is vital, urgent, important, and desirable but somehow it is avoided. Too often there are changes made, perhaps hugely disruptive, expensive changes without moving forward. No better place is reached; no better game is played, so much so that the time and energy expended can appear worse than doing nothing.

MAX MCKEOWN

Adaptability: The Art of Winning in an Age of Uncertainty


By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.

ROBERT GREENE

The 48 Laws of Power


The more you adapt, the more interesting you are.

MARTHA STEWART

Good Housekeeping, 2007


Adaptability enforces creativity, and creativity is adaptability.

PEARL ZHU

100 Creativity Ingredients


People tend to be more tofu-like, able to absorb whatever environment they're dropped into. But where does the adaptability end and your actual personality begin?

SLOANE CROSLEY

How Did You Get This Number?


Take in every detail of your environment and adapt.

CARLOS WALLACE

The Other 99 T.Y.M.E.S.


I'm so adaptable to you
Anything you want me to
I'm so adaptable to you
Was untrappable 'til you

ALICE COOPER

"Adaptable (Anything for You)"


You humans have a certain talent for adaptability--at least in the short term.

CARL SAGAN

Contact


This world has cast us away
Some get swallowed down some adapt
I see it everyday
People fearlessly following other people

CANNAE

"Finest Minds"


The sword doesn't change. So you have to adapt to the sword. You can't change your surroundings. They only change once you have changed.

BJORN ARIS

The Cutting Edge


Time is central to adaptability so that often the difference between success and failure is how quickly we recognize the need for change and how deeply we understand--and do--what is necessary.

MAX MCKEOWN

Adaptability: The Art of Winning in an Age of Uncertainty