Myths about the dire effects of genetically modified foods on health and the environment abound, but they have not held up to scientific scrutiny. And, although many concerns have been expressed about the potential for unexpected consequences, the unexpected effects that have been observed so far have been benign.
No pleasure is simpler, no luxury cheaper, no consciousness-altering substance more benign.
Biocides, for example, are designed to kill bacteria—it's not a benign material.
A doctor recently described to me "benign positional vertigo": it means you get dizzy in certain positions, but you can get over it without necessarily changing the position. Change "vertigo" to "anxiety," and you've summed up the neurotic's plight.
The plausible outcomes range from the gradual and benign to the more precipitous and damaging.
Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don't deserve. . . . . . . benign good will. unprovoked compassion. the unearnable gift
For people who live their lives in classical music the Three Tenors is a kind of benign tumor: unsightly but not life threatening.
There are times when telling lies are not a bad thing. It can be a compassionate thing. But to make it benign, you have to be aware of your compassionate reasons for telling that lie.
Even when there are banalities, they're usually kind of benign banalities.
In England, the system is benign and the people are hostile. In America, the people are friendlyand the system is brutal!
The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent.
The pure and benign light of revelation has had a meliorating influence on mankind.
How come foreign accents are so sexy? If I say, 'I'm going to the store,' it sounds boring, benign and rudimentary. But if it's said with an accent, it sounds fundamentally cool.
Dynamic benign neglect.
Whatever your religious persuasion, if you believe that the universe is governed by benign forces, at some point you have to explain why there is so much suffering, misfortune and misery in the world.
The issue of race could benefit from a period of benign neglect.
Personally I find the democratic chaos of the Internet fascinating, and for the most part really benign.
I wish for a moment that time would lift me out of this day, and into some more benign one. But then I feel guilty for wanting to avoid the sadness; dead people need us to remember them, even if it eats us, even if all we can do is say "I'm sorry" until it is as meaningless air.
Orders can be benign or malign, but the habit of obeying them can become ingrained.
All things considered, the internet seems fairly environmentally benign to me. The last stats I saw showed you could do 1,000 Google searches for the gas it took to drive six-tenths of a mile. But the internet can't substitute for real connection and community.
