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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:36:05 GMT 10
A favor well bestowed is almost as great an honor to him who confers it as to him who receives it
When you fall into a man's conversation, the first thing you should consider is, whether he has a greater inclination to hear you, or that you should hear him
No man was ever so completely skilled in the conduct of life, as not to receive new information from age and experience
Age in a virtuous person, of either sex, carries in it an authority which makes it preferable to all the pleasures of youth
Whenever you commend, add a compelling reason for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and the admiration of fools
Among all the diseases of the mind there is not one more epidemical or more pernicious than the love of flattery
Fire and swords are slow engines of destruction, compared to the tongue of a GossipSir Richard SteeleAnglo-Irish writer ( The Tatler and The Spectator) (Baptised this day 1672) Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:37:20 GMT 10
Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few
He who says there is no such thing as an honest man, you may be sure is himself a knave
Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it; but the free-thinker alone is truly free
The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense
That thing of hell and eternal punishment is the most absurd, as well as the most disagreeable thought that ever entered into the head of mortal man
All the choir of heaven and furniture of earth - in a word, all those bodies which compose the frame of the world - have not any subsistence without a mind
What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mindGeorge BerkeleyAnglo-Irish philosopher and bishop of Cloyne (Born this day 1685 & died this day 1753) From my own being, and from the dependency I find in myself and my ideas, I do, by an act of reason, necessarily infer the existence of a God, and of all created things in the mind of God
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:37:59 GMT 10
Geology holds the keys of one of the kingdoms of nature; and it cannot be said that a science which extends our Knowledge, and by consequence our Power, over a third part of nature, holds a low place among intellectual employments
Life to each individual is a scene of continued feasting in a region of plenty; and when unexpected death arrests its course, it repays with small interest the large debt which it has contracted to the common fund of animal nutrition, from whence the materials of its body have been derived
Thus the great drama of universal life is perpetually sustained; and though the individual actors undergo continual change, the same parts are filled by another and another generation; renewing the face of the earth and the bosom of the deep with endless successions of life and happiness
In all these various formations our Coprolites form records of warfare, waged by success- ive generations of inhabitants of our planet on one another: the imperishable phosphate of lime, derived from their digested skeletons, has become embalmed in the substance and foundations of the everlasting hills; and the general law of Nature which bids all to eat and be eaten in their turn, is shown to have been co-extensive with animal existence on our globe; the Carnivora in each period of the world's history fulfilling their destined office, — to check excess in the progress of life, and maintain the balance of creation
The myriads of petrified Remains which are disclosed by the researches of Geology all tend to prove that our Planet has been occupied in times preceding the Creation of the Human Race, by extinct species of Animals and Vegetables, made up, like living Organic Bodies, of 'Clusters of Contrivances,' which demonstrate the exercise of stupendous Intelligence and Power
They further show that these extinct forms of Organic Life were so closely allied, by Unity in the principles of their construction, to Classes, Orders, and Families, which make up the existing Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms, that they not only afford an argument of surpassing force, against the doctrines of the Atheist and Poly- theist; but supply a chain of connected evidence, amounting to demonstration, of the continuous Being, and of many of the highest Attributes of the One Living and True God
Geology has shared the fate of other infant sciences, in being for a while considered hostile to revealed religion; so like them, when fully understood, it will be found a potent and consistent auxiliary to it, exalting our conviction of the Power, and Wisdom, and Goodness of the CreatorDr. William BucklandEnglish geologist, paleontologist and Dean of Westminster (Born this day 1784) The taste of mole was the most repulsive I knew until I tasted a bluebottle [fly]
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:38:40 GMT 10
And now dear little children, who may this story read, to idle, silly flatter- ing words, I pray you ne'er give heed: Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye, and take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly
“I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high; Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly. "There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin, And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!" Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said, They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”
He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower
Yes, in the poor man's garden grow far more than herbs and flowers — Kind thoughts, contentment, peace of mind, and joy for weary hours
Old England is our home, and Englishmen are we; Our tongue is known in every clime, our flag in every sea
The wild sea roars and lashes the granite cliffs below, and round the misty islets the loud strong tempests blow
God sends children for another purpose than merely to keep up the race — to enlarge our hearts, to make us unselfish, and full of kindly sympathies and affectionsMary HowittEnglish poet ( The Spider and the Fly) (Born this day 1799) "Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly. "‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy"
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:39:18 GMT 10
The process of philosophic and scientific enlightenment has shaken the stability of beliefs held explicitly as articles of faith
Human beings exercise responsibilities within a social setting and a framework of obligations which transcend the principle of intelligence
Man is one of the few animals who continue to play throughout adult life. Men have also at all times gone out in search of adventure and enjoyed tales of adventure. We all appreciate feats of craftiness, or the solving of puzzles, and enjoy in innumerable ways the sudden relaxation of a tension in which we have become involved, whether by actual participation or merely in imagination
Science is a community of inquirers held together by a common faith and consists in a discipline imposed by scientists on themselves in the interests of discovering an objective, impersonal truth
The first thing to make clear is that scientists, freely making their own choice of problems and pursuing them in the light of their own personal judgment, are in fact co-operating as members of a closely knit organization
So long as we use a certain language, all questions that we can ask will have to be formulated in it and will thereby confirm the theory of the universe which is implied in the vocabulary and structure of the language
Of course language manifests a belief only if we use its words with the implied acceptance of their appositenessMichael Polanyi, FRSHungarian-English chemist, economist and sociologist (Born this day 1891) I know more than I can tell
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:45:49 GMT 10
Time flames like a paraffin stove and what burns are the minutes I live
If poetry is like an orgasm, an academic can be likened to someone who studies the passion-stains on the bedsheets
We’ll mark the butterflies disappearing over the hedge with tiny wrist- watches on their wings: our fingers touching the earth, like two Buddhas
When you argue with your inferiors, you convince them of only one thing: they are as clever as you
My neighbour doesn't want to be loved as much as he wants to be envied
God is indeed dead. He died of self-horror when He saw the creature He had made in His own image
Canadians look down on the United States and consider it Hell. They are right to do so. Canada is to the United States what, in Dante's scheme, Limbo is to HellIrving Layton, OC (born Israel Lazarovitch)Romanian-born Canadian poet (Born this day 1912) Since I no longer expect anything from mankind except madness, meanness, and mendacity; egotism, cowardice, and self-delusion, I have stopped being a misanthrope
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:46:28 GMT 10
I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars...
Mankind is like dogs, not gods — as long as you don't get mad they'll bite you — but stay mad and you'll never be bitten. Dogs don't respect humility and sorrow
Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life
I'm not a beatnik, I'm a Catholic
All things are like visions beyond the reach of the human mind
The fact was I had the vision ... I think everyone has ... what we lack is the methodJack KerouacAmerican beat novelist and poet ( The Dharma Bums) (Born this day 1922) I want to work in revelations, not just spin silly tales for money. I want to fish as deep down as possible into my own subconscious in the belief that once that far down, everyone will understand because they are the same that far down
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:47:23 GMT 10
Every day should be unwrapped as a gift
Each of us has only this one brief experience with the bright light of con- sciousness in that endless dark night of eternity and must make the most of it. Doing this means we must respect the existence of everyone else and the most criminal act imaginable is the terminating of one of these conscious existences
What are you trying to hide with this semantic confusion? Your real reasons? I can't blame you for being ashamed of them — I would be. Why don't you just come out and say you are keeping the war going because you enjoy killing? Seeing things die makes you and your murderers happy, and you want to make them happier still!
For the first time in my life I find myself with more than one answer to the same question. "Congratulations," he said. "It's a sign of growing up"
Just because you know a thing is true in theory, doesn't make it true in fact. The barbaric religions of primitive worlds hold not a germ of scientific fact, though they claim to explain all. Yet if one of these savages has all the logical ground for his beliefs taken away — he doesn't stop believing. He then calls his mistaken beliefs 'faith' because he knows they are right. And he knows they are right because he has faith. This is an unbreakable circle of false logic that can't be touched
We must be as stealthy as rats in the wainscoting of their society. It was easier in the old days, of course, and society had more rats when the rules were looser, just as old wooden buildings have more rats than concrete buildings. But there are rats in the building now as well. Now that society is all ferrocrete and stain- less steel there are fewer gaps in the joints. It takes a very smart rat indeed to find these openings. Only a stainless steel rat can be at home in this environment
The military is always out to get you. And they're very cruel and heartless with good reason, too. They want to break you down in basic training. They want you to die in combat. For a civilian, it's a heartless regime. From the military point of view, it's a wonderful way to get guys out there and kill peopleHarry Harrison (H.M. Dempsey) US science fiction author ( Stainless Steel Rat) (Born this day 1925) The principles we live by, in business and in social life, are the most important part of happiness
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:48:07 GMT 10
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve
A play is fiction-and fiction is fact distilled into truth
I think there are perhaps four playwrights of the 20th century that we could not have done without: Chekhov, Pirandello, Brecht and Beckett. If you've got those four, you've got the century covered
The difference between critics and audiences is that one is a group of humans and one is not
You gotta have swine to show you where the truffles are
Sometimes a person has to go a very long distance out of his way to come back a short distance correctlyEdward Albee IIIAmerican playwright ( Zoo Story; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf) (Born this day 1928) The thing that makes a creative person is to be creative and that is all there is to it
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 12, 2014 8:48:39 GMT 10
We rise in glory as we sink in pride
Wishing, of all strategies, is the worst
It is a blessing to die for a cause, because you can so easily die for nothing
In a world where change is inevitable and continuous, the need to achieve that change without violence is essential for survival
Influence is like a savings account. The less you use it, the more you've got
The question is, how do you fight poverty with high wages or low prices? The answer is both
Nothing is illegal if a hundred businessmen decide to do itBro. Rev. Andrew YoungUS civil rights activist, politician, ambassador to the UN (Born this day 1932) You have to expect that if you cuss out the world, the world is going to cuss back
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