This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Peter F. Drucker, fully Peter Ferdinand Drucker
The center of gravity of the work force is shifting from the manual worker to the knowledge worker.
Pete Seeger, born Peter Seeger
Down through the centuries, this trick has been tried by various establishments throughout the world. They force people to get involved in the kind of examination that has only one aim and that is to stamp out dissent.
Generally speaking, the significance of the indirect results may very often be of more importance than the significance of direct ones. And since we are able to trace how the energy of love transforms itself into instincts, ideas, creative forces on different planes of life; into symbols of art, song, music, poetry; so can we easily imagine how the same energy may transform itself into a higher order of intuition, into a higher consciousness which will reveal to us a marvelous and mysterious world. In all living nature (and perhaps also in that which we consider as dead) love is the motive force which drives the creative activity in the most diverse directions.
Consciousness | Energy | Force | Love | Nature | Order | Will |
Peter L. Berger, fully Peter Ludwig Berger
There are times in history when the dark drums of God can barely be heard amid the noises of this world. Then it is only in moments of silence, which are rare and brief, that their beat can be faintly discerned. There are other times. These are the times when God is heard in rolling thunder, when the earth trembles and the treetops bend under the force of [God’s] voice. It is not given to men [and women] to make God speak. It is only given to them to live and to think in such a way that, if God’s thunder should come, they will not have stopped their ears.
Peter Kropotkin, fully Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin
Harmony thus appears as a temporary adjustment, established among all forces acting upon a given spot — a provisory adaptation; and that adjustment will only last under one condition: that of being continually modified; of representing every moment the resultant of all conflicting actions. Let but one of those forces be hampered in its action for some time and harmony disappears. Force will accumulate its effect; it must come to light, it must exercise its action, and if other forces hinder its manifestation it will not be annihilated by that, but will end by upsetting the present adjustment, by destroying harmony, in order to find a new form of equilibrium and to work to form a new adaptation. Such is the eruption of a volcano, whose imprisoned force ends by breaking the petrified lavas which hindered them to pour forth the gases, the molten lavas, and the incandescent ashes. Such, also, are the revolutions of mankind.
Action | Ends | Force | Harmony | Order | Present | Time | Will | Work |
Peter Senge, fully Peter Michael Senge
Becoming a force of nature doesn’t mean that all of our aspirations must be grand. First steps are often small, and initial visions that focus energy effectively often address immediate problems. What matters is engagement in the service of a larger purpose rather than lofty aspirations that paralyze action. Indeed, it’s a dangerous trap to believe that we can pursue only great visions. [Seeds Are Small.]
Energy | Focus | Force | Nature | Purpose | Purpose | Service | Engagement |
One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests.
In all living nature (and perhaps also in that which we consider as dead) love is the motive force which drives the creative activity in the most diverse directions.
Peter Kropotkin, fully Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin
There are periods in the life of human society when revolution becomes an imperative necessity, when it proclaims itself as inevitable. New ideas germinate everywhere, seeking to force their way into the light, to find an application in life; everywhere they are opposed by the inertia of those whose interest it is to maintain the old order; they suffocate in the stifling atmosphere of prejudice and traditions.
Force | Ideas | Life | Life | Prejudice | Revolution | Society | Society | Inertia | Old |
Peter Senge, fully Peter Michael Senge
A shared vision is not an idea... it is rather, a force in people’s hearts... at its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question. ‘What do we want to create?’
Peter Kropotkin, fully Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin
The whole aspect of the universe changes with this new conception. The idea of force governing the world, of pre-established law, preconceived harmony, disappears to make room for the harmony that Fourier had caught a glimpse of: the one which results from the disorderly and incoherent movements of numberless hosts of matter, each of which goes its own way and all of which hold each other in equilibrium.
Force | Harmony | Incoherent | Universe |
Peter Senge, fully Peter Michael Senge
You cannot force commitment, what you can do… You nudge a little here, inspire a little there, and provide a role model. Your primary influence is the environment you create.
Petra Kelly, fully Petra Karin Kelley
The vision I see is not only a movement of direct democracy, of self- and co-determination and non-violence, but a movement in which politics means the power to love and the power to feel united on the spaceship Earth... In a world struggling in violence and dishonesty, the further development of non-violence - not only as a philosophy but as a way of life, as a force on the streets, in the market squares, outside the missile bases, inside the chemical plants and inside the war industry - becomes one of the most urgent priorities.
Force | Industry | Love | Means | Philosophy | Politics | Power | Vision | War | World |
We, that would be known the father of our people, in our study, and vigilance for their safety, must not change their ploughshares into swords, and force them from the secure shade of their own vines, to be scorched with the flames of war.
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Do not force people to listen to you, because if people do not want to listen to you, it's better to shut up.
I. L. Peretz, fully Isaac Leib Peretz, aka Yitskhok Leybush Pertez
They are all so-called Christian nations, but... this superimposed religion... does not penetrate into the core of their souls. It has no relation to their daily experience... It is a key to open a heaven after death and not a key with which to force open the portals of this life.
Blessed be you, mighty matter, irresistible march of evolution, reality ever newborn; you who, by constantly shattering our mental categories, force us to go ever further and further in our pursuit of the truth.