Like so many empires before it, the Soviet Union eventually imploded and fragmented, falling victim not so much to a direct military defeat as to disintegration accelerated by economic and social strains. Zbigniew Brzezinski
A man who strains himself on the stage is bound, if he is any good, to strain all the people sitting in the stalls. Bertolt Brecht
Where the environment is too soft and luxurious and no strife is required for survival, not only are weak strains and individuals allowed to survive and encouraged to breed but the strong types also grow fat mentally and physically. Madison Grant
Oh, where is man- That mortal god, that hath no mortal kin Or like on earth? Shall Nature's orator- The interpreter of all her mystic strains - Shall he be mute in Nature's jubilee? Hartley Coleridge
Hail to thee, blithe spirit Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Percy Bysshe Shelley
Let architects sing of aesthetics that bring Rich clients in hordes to their knees; Just give me a home, in a great circle dome Where stresses and strains are at ease. Buckminster Fuller