Logo - Feel The Words

Absence Quotes

On what's missing, proven, or left unsaid.

These absence quotes range from a paradox about happiness needing no active pursuit to a logical reminder that a lack of evidence isn't evidence of nonexistence, a point often raised in debates over Belief.

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.

Quotes by Zhuangzi

It is the maintenance of slavery by law in a state, not parallels of latitude, that makes its a southern state; and the absence of this, that makes it a northern state.

Quotes by William H. Seward

Absence of proof is not proof of absence.

Quotes by William Cowper

Absence of occupation is not rest; A mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.

Quotes by William Cowper

Ability Quotes

The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.

Quotes by Thomas Paine

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Quotes by Thomas Haynes Bayly

Life has become the ideology of its own absence.

Quotes by Theodor W. Adorno

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.

Quotes by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

There is nothing so unthinkable as thought, unless it be the entire absence of thought.

Quotes by Samuel Butler

Advantage Quotes

In the absence of full-fledged Congressional investigations, American policymakers rarely look back. They are bound by continuity and fealty across administrations and generations.

Quotes by Samantha Power

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?

Quotes by Saint Augustine

In the absence of a limitation on local enforcement powers, the states are bound by the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution to enforce violations of the federal immigration laws.

Quotes by Russell Pearce

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

Quotes by Ronald Reagan

Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

Quotes by Rollo May

Been Quotes

The EPA code needs to set forth a clear, regular, and rational system of penalties for violations of its code, with the amount of the penalty set in proportion to the amount of pollutant released by a given defendant, and...

Quotes by Robert Zubrin

While formal schooling is an important advantage, it is not a guarantee of success nor is its absence a fatal handicap.

Quotes by Ray Kroc

In the absence of a magnetic field the period of all these oscillations is the same. But as soon as the electron is exposed to the effect of a magnetic field, its motion changes.

Quotes by Pieter Zeeman

There is no surer mark of the absence of the highest moral and intellectual qualities than a cold reception of excellence.

Quotes by Philip James Bailey

The absence of Saddam is a huge weight off the Arab world.

Quotes by Paul Wolfowitz

Belief Quotes

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

Quotes by Orson Welles

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these quotes mean by "absence"?
These quotes use 'absence' in several ways—the lack of striving behind true happiness, the lack of proof as different from disproof, and even a historical description of what legally defined a southern versus a northern state before the Civil War.
Is the historical quote glorifying anything?
No, it simply describes a legal fact about the pre-Civil War era—that the presence or absence of slavery under state law, rather than geography, was what separated the two regions at the time.
Is there a quote about rest and idle time?
Yes, one quote argues that having nothing to occupy your mind isn't the same as true rest, since an empty mind can end up troubled rather than calm.
What's the quote about "absence of proof"?
It's a reminder that not finding evidence for something doesn't automatically mean that thing doesn't exist—a point often made in scientific and philosophical discussions.
Where can I find related quotes about belief or ability?
If this theme interests you, the Belief quotes page and the Ability quotes page explore adjacent ideas.

One historical line notes how the legal presence or absence of slavery once distinguished a northern state from a southern one, a fact worth remembering rather than glorifying. Read more in our Ability and Been quotes.