I sometimes sense the world is changing almost too fast for its inhabitants, at least for us older ones. Elizabeth II October 1997
And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success, than to set up as a leader in the introduction of changes. For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new. This lukewarm temper arises partly from the fear of adversaries who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who will never admit the merit of anything new, until they have seen it proved by the event. Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince ch III
And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past are certain to miss the future. John F Kennedy, June 1963
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. John F Kennedy
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. Apple Inc
To exist is to change; to change is to mature; to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. Henri Bergson
A change is as good as a rest. Late 19th century proverb
We live in a world of relentless change. Huge migrations of people to new megacities ... the population is still growing? Should we be worried? Professor Hans Rosling, Don't Panic – The Truth About Population, BBC 2013
It is fitting to consider what is impermanent, painful, and subject to change as, ‘This is mine, this am I, this is my self.’ Pali Tipitaka
People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines ... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters. Bill Gates
Once America stands for opposition for change we are lost. America will become the most hated nation in the world. Henry Wallace
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. Andy Warhol
And I for one will join in with anyone – I don’t care what colour you are – as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this Earth. Malcolm X
There has got to be a change. The people in power have misused it. Malcolm X
Change comes from a degree of discomfort that allows for and spurs thought and action. William Blum
The more things change the more they are the same. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, French novelist and journalist
Change is inevitable in a progressive county. Change is constant. Benjamin Disraeli
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. Ellen Glasgow
If there is to be change, it will come from below. It won’t come from people who have a lot to lose, it will come from people who will have everything to gain. Ken Loach
Nothing is going to change with the systems that are in place. Gerald Celente
What man that sees the ever-whirling wheel
Of Change, the which all mortal things doth sway,
But that thereby doth find, and plainly feel,
How Mutability in them doth play
Her cruel sports, to many men’s decay? Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen
Oh what happened to you?
Whatever happened to me?
What became of the people we used to be?
Tomorrow’s almost over, today went by so fast
It’s the only thing to look forward to, the past. Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, TV series theme
The first vows sworn by two creatures of flesh and blood were made at the foot of a rock that was crumbling to dust; they called as witness to their constancy a heaven which never stays the same for one moment; everything within them and around them was changing, and they thought their hearts were exempt from vicissitudes. Children! Denis Diderot, 1713-84, French philosopher
Most of the change we think we see in life
Is due to truths being in and out of favour. Robert Frost, The Black Cottage
These dispositions that of late transform you. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear I iv 216, Gonoril
... but not acquainted
With shifting change as is false women’s fashion. William Shakespeare, Sonnet 20
There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse ... It is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place. Washington Irvine, Tales of a Traveller, 1824
Change is one thing, progress is another. ‘Change’ is scientific, ‘progress is ethical’; ‘change’ is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy. Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays
Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worst to better. Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language
If the changes we fear be thus irresistible, what remains but to acquiesce with silence, as in the other insurmountable distresses of humanity? It remains that we retard what we cannot repel, that we palliate what we cannot cure. ibid.
Our tastes greatly alter. The lad does not care for the child’s rattle, and the old man does not care for the young man’s whore. Samuel Johnson
When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, 1915
If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change. Giuseppe di Lampedusa, The Leopard, 1957
Everyone is involved in the business of change. James Burke, Connections s1e1: The Trigger Effect, BBC 1978
At no time in the past did anybody who had anything to do with the business of inventing or changing things ever know what the full effect of his actions would be ... That’s how change comes about. And it’s like a detective story. James Burke, Connections s1e2: Death in the Morning
It’s because we can communicate so easily that change happened so fast. James Burke, Connections s1e3: Distant Voices
Edison invented inventing here at the world’s first industrial laboratory. And he laid down precise rules for it: is there a market for the invention? Get financial backing before you start. Publicise the whole thing in advance so that when it comes up the consumers are ready to pay for it. And plough every penny you make back into making more inventions. James Burke, Connections s1e9: Countdown
Change is nothing new in man’s life. When he first appeared on the planet the world around him changed constantly. But it was the regular repeated change of the seasons. James Burke, Connections s1e10: Yesterday, Tomorrow & You
Every one of man’s inventions acts like a trigger to cause change. ibid.
This was the first great trigger of change: the plough. ibid.
You’ve been taught as I was for example that things happen in a straight forward line. ibid.
None of these guys did anything by themselves; they borrowed from other people’s work. And how could you ever when a golden age of anything started and stopped? ibid.
A lot of really big things happen by accident. ibid.
Edison tried six thousand different materials before settling on the right one for that filament. ibid.