Top 293 Descent Quotes & Sayings

My individual, psychological descent coincided, ironically, with my ascent into the public eye.

Facilis decensus averni. The descent into hell is easy.

The descent beckons as the ascent beckoned

I'm very proud of the fact that I am of Hispanic descent.

The descent into the depths always seems to precede the ascent.

No one should deny the danger of the descent, but it can be risked. No one need risk it, but it is certain that someone will. And let those who go down the sunset way do so with open eyes, for it is a sacrifice which daunts even the gods. Yet every descent is followed by an ascent.

The descent into Hades is much the same from whatever place we start.

I am of an African-Jamaican descent.

The descent to hell is easy and those who begin by worshipping power, soon worship evil.

My mother was from upstate New York; she's of Irish and German descent. My father was from Ghana.

In many ways the rise of the state was the descent of the world from freedom to slavery

Perhaps no man is an island, but every man and woman is a nation unto herself. I actually had to look up the definition of "nation"; this is how awkward my relation is to this concept. And it is defined as, "a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory." Perhaps if you replace "descent" with "dissent" the definition becomes more meaningful.

If the descent is thus sometimes performed in sorrow, it can also take place in joy.

The descent to the infernal regions is easy enough, but to retrace one's steps, and reach the air above, there's the rub.

Happy in all that ragged, loose collapse of water, the fountain, its effortless descent and flatteries of spray.

My life has been one long descent into respectability.

I was born and raised in New York, but my family on both sides is of Italian descent.

Americanism is a question of principle, of idealism, of character. It is not a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent.

In general, watching children's television is a dark and surreal descent into madness where the characters on the screen talk directly to you.

We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God - which is another way of saying that all our seeking will fall short unless God starts and finishes the search. The decisive part of our seeking is not our human ascent to God, but His descent to us. Without God's descent there is no human ascent. The secret of the quest lies not in our brilliance but in His grace.

Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.

I would say to you that Americans of Hispanic descent want desperately to give their children the chances they never had.

It is really laughable to see what different ideas are prominent in various naturalists' minds, when they speak of 'species'; in some, resemblance is everything and descent of little weight-in some, resemblance seems to go for nothing, and Creation the reigning idea-in some, descent is the key,-in some, sterility an unfailing test, with others it is not worth a farthing. It all comes, I believe, from trying to define the undefinable.

When we say Afro American, we include everyone in the Western Hemisphere of African descent. South America is America. Central America is America. South America has many people in it of African descent.

When I do an Asian character or an Asian voice I'm doing one because that's my heritage and my family and where I come from. My family is of Korean descent and specifically North Korean descent. So it makes sense for me to talk about that issue because it's the only weapon I have to somehow avenge my family and my history.

My dad is from Japanese descent, my mom is from Swedish descent and, through marriages and divorces, a pretty multicultural family - a lot of Spanish speakers in the family.

If the ascent of women has been much exaggerated, so has the descent of men.

I'm often mistaken for Spanish or Latin descent.

The descent to Hades is the same from every place.

Women of African descent, since the beginning of time, have altered their hair, decorated it and used it to designate status.

The descent is often as much (or more of) a challenge as the climb.

Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others.

Though born in Nova Scotia, I am of almost pure New England descent.

I'm of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent, and was raised on Hawaii.

He who boasts of his descent, praises the deed of another.

I am not sure that any sight or sound on earth is as exquisite as the hushed descent of a sky full of snow.

The Workers Party rose to power when the Western Left began its descent.

The descent into matter must be complete before the ascent to spirit can commence.

I love writing for other actors, women of African descent and people who are generally underrepresented.

Only the descent into the hell of self-knowledge can pave the way to godliness.

My grandfather is Portuguese. He betrayed what was expected of him and married my grandmother of African descent on my father's side.

I want women and girls of African descent and of color to be able to not have to keep searching for stories about themselves.

In the West we are constantly hit with music of Middle Eastern descent signifying terror, intrigue or sorrow.

Our Lord's descent from the holy heights of the Mount of Transfiguration was more than a physical return from greater to lesser altitudes; it was a passing from sunshine into shadow, from the effulgent glory of heaven to the mists of worldly passions and human unbelief; it was the beginning of His rapid descent into the valley of humiliation.

It's hard to be a minority. People look at you a different way, like you don't belong, and I don't think many people realize just how difficult it is to live as a minority. Where I come from, we learn to tolerate one another. Whether one is of Chinese descent or Malay descent, what matters is we're part of the same country, the same world.

The United Nations and the Organization of American States have named 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent. This is an opportunity for all of us around the globe to celebrate the diversity of our societies and to honor the contributions that our fellow citizens of African descent make every day to the economic, social and political fabrics of our communities.

Death was not to be a leap: it was to be a long descent under thickening shadows.

A trip to the hospital is always a descent into the macabre. I have never trusted a place with shiny floors.

Of great interest to students and teachers of immigrant history as well as to those of Polish descent.

You've seen my descent, now watch my rising.

I live for books that produce a mood of gathering creepy fascination, a true descent in the Weird.

High descent and meritorious deeds, unless united to wealth, are as useless as seaweed.

Crossing the Penobscot, one found a visible descent in the scale of humanity.

I want to see women of African descent shine.

Genealogy, n. An account of one's descent from a man who did not particularly care to trace his own.

We as Americans of Latin descent are just as American as anyone else of any other descent.

His descent was like nightfall.

Noble descent and worth, unless united with wealth, are esteemed no more than seaweed.

I am of Irish, Italian, and French Canadian descent.

For what we cannot accomplish, what is denied to love, what we have lost in the anticipation a descent follows, endless and indestructible.