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
The wise man does no wrong in changing his habits with the times.
DIONYSIUS CATO
Disticha de Moribus
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
Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan.
EPICTETUS
Discourses
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
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"
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"
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
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
The more you adapt, the more interesting you are.
MARTHA STEWART
Good Housekeeping, 2007
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)"
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?
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
This world has cast us away
Some get swallowed down some adapt
I see it everyday
People fearlessly following other people
CANNAE
"Finest Minds"
You humans have a certain talent for adaptability--at least in the short term.
CARL SAGAN
Contact
Life persists if it can respond and adapt to its environment.
ABHIJIT NASKAR
Mission Reality