Jacques Derrida
Philosopher, Linguist
"I say things that contradict each other, that are in real tension with each other, that compose me, that make me live, and that will make me die."
Tension quotes
Tension
73 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Kanye West
Rapper, Producer, Fashion Designer
"Let the music defuse all the tension."
Carl Jung
Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
"The greater the tension, the greater is the potential."
Esther Perel
Psychotherapist, Author
"The attraction of dating is that you don't take yes for granted - - you're fully engaged, there's seductiveness, tension."
James Taylor
Singer-Songwriter
"Music is like a huge release of tension."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside tension — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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Tension quotes (page 1 of 4)
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"When you have no intention then you have no tension! Be flexible."
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"The true genius shudders at incompleteness."
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"As a general rule, no one should ever be allowed to say there is no history of racial tension here, because that sentence has never been true anywhere on Earth."
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"Happiness is the relief after extreme tension"
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"We exhaust ourselves more from the tension and the consequences of internal disharmony than from hard, unremitting work."
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"I am not afraid of the word tension."
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"One lives one's life under constant tension, until it's time to go for good"
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"There is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth"
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"I like energy. I like to feel it cracklin', I like sexual energy in a room, and I like tension."
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"I have always consistently opposed high-tension and alternating systems of electric lighting...not only on account of danger, but because of their general unreliability and unsuitability for any general system of distribution."
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"Great work is the result of seeking out tension, not avoiding it."
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"The photographer hopes, in brief, to discover a tension so exact that it is peace."
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"It takes confidence and guts to intentionally create tension."
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"When something explosive is kept hidden away, a tension builds within that must ultimately be released."
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"Hollywood doesn't trust me, and we don't really mix. When a movie has stars, everything in the budget goes up, even the catering costs. I just don't like the process of having Suits all around, so I prefer casting unknowns. It adds another level of tension - you don't quite know what to expect from them. My movies don't even need that much money."
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"Full of thrills and tension - but smart and human too."
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"Each increase of tension has produced an increase of arms; each increase of arms has produced an increase of tension."
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