A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

A soft refusal is not always taken, but a rude one is immediately believed.
Alexander Chase

A widow's refusal of a lover is seldom so explicit as to exclude hope.
Samuel Richardson

Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself.
Soren Kierkegaard

Elegance is innate. It has nothing to do with being well dressed. Elegance is refusal.
Diana Vreeland

Elegance is refusal.
Coco Chanel

In some circumstances, the refusal to be defeated is a refusal to be educated.
Margaret Halsey

In the relations of a weak Government and a rebellious people there comes a time when every act of the authorities exasperates the masses, and every refusal to act excites their contempt.
John Reed

In view of the meaning given to this honor in the community to which I belong, I should abstain from the undeserved prize that has been awarded to me. Do not meet my voluntary refusal with ill will.
Boris Pasternak

It is impossible, in my mind, to distinguish between the refusal to receive a petition, or its summary rejection by some general order, and the denial of the right of petition.
Caleb Cushing

My characters aren't losers. They're rebels. They win by their refusal to play by everyone else's rules.
Harold Ramis

Now, what produces a want of demand? A refusal to take from other countries the commodities which they produce.
Joseph Hume

One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.
Chinua Achebe

People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouth.
Raoul Vaneigem

Perhaps the surest test of an individual's integrity is his refusal to do or say anything that would damage his self-respect.
Thomas S. Monson

Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.
Annie Besant

Science is the refusal to believe on the basis of hope.
Carrie P. Snow

Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.
Fran Lebowitz

The failure of the system to deal quickly was attributable to Nixon's lying, stonewalling and refusal to come clean. So it took 26 months for the final truth to be known.
Bob Woodward

The refusal to acknowledge the scientific value of embryonic stem cell research is one more tragic misstep.
Lois Capps