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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 9:53:56 GMT 10
Not the children of the rich or of the powerful only, but of all alike, boys and girls, both noble and ignoble, rich and poor, in all cities and towns, villages and hamlets, should be sent to school
The proper education of the young does not consist in stuffing their heads with a mass of words, sentences, and ideas dragged together out of various authors, but in opening up their understanding to the outer world, so that a living stream may flow from their own minds, just as leaves, flowers, and fruit spring from the bud on a tree
Who is there that does not always desire to see, hear, or handle something new? To whom is it not a pleasure to go to some new place daily, to converse with someone, to narrate something, or have some fresh experience? In a word, the eyes, the ears, the sense of touch, the mind itself, are, in their search for food, ever carried beyond themselves; for to an active nature nothing is so intolerable as sloth
Aristotle compared the mind of man to a blank tablet on which nothing was written, but on which all things could be engraved. There is, however, this difference, that on the tablet the writing is limited by space, while in the case of the mind, you may continually go on writing and engraving without finding any boundary, because, as has already been shown, the mind is without limit
If, in each hour, a man could learn a single fragment of some branch of knowledge, a single rule of some mechanical art, a single pleasing story or proverb (the acquisition of which would require no effort), what a vast stock of learning he might lay by
We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood. To hate a man because he was born in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view on this subject or that, is a great folly. Desist, I implore you, for we are all equally human.... Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in considerations of language, nationality, or religion
If we examine ourselves, we see that our faculties grow in such a manner that what goes before paves the way for what comes afterJohn ComeniusMoravian educational reformer (Born this day 1592) Much can be learned in play that will afterwards be of use when the circumstances demand it
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 9:55:08 GMT 10
When mankind first saw the necessity of government, it is probable that many had conceived the desire of ruling
It appears first, that liberty is a natural, and government an adventitious right, because all men were originally free
Most of the slaves, who were thus unconditionally freed, returned without any solicitation to their former masters, to serve them, at stated wages; as free men. The work, which they now did, was found to better done than before
We cannot suppose therefore that God has made an order of beings, with such mental qualities and powers, for the sole purpose of being used as beasts, or instruments of labour
Neither can men, by the same principles, be considered as lands, goods, or houses, among possessions. It is necessary that all property should be inferiour to its possessor. But how does the slave differ from his master, but by chance?
Should slavery be abolished there, (and it is an event, which, from these circumstances, we may reasonably expect to be produced in time) let it be remembered, that the Quakers will have had the merit of its abolition
Mankind have their local attachments. They have a particular regard for the spot, in which they were born and nurturedThomas ClarksonEnglish abolitionist (Negro Emancipation) (Born this day 1760) There are few retreats, that can escape the penetrating eye of avarice
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 9:56:04 GMT 10
Every new time will give its law
You can't do without philosophy, since everything has its hidden meaning which we must know
Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is
When one loves somebody everything is clear — where to go, what to do — it all takes care of itself and one doesn't have to ask anybody about anything
One has to be able to count if only so that at fifty one doesn't marry a girl of twenty
Be good, be kind, be humane, and charitable; love your fellows; console the afflicted; pardon those who have done you wrong
When everything is easy one quickly gets stupidBro. Maxim Gorky(his first wife, Peshkova, was also a Freemason) Russian author and activist (Born this day 1868) The most beautiful words in the English language are 'not guilty'
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 9:57:09 GMT 10
If you feel you belong to things as they are, you won’t hold up anyone in the alley no matter how hungry you may get. And you won’t write anything that anyone will read a second time either
You don't write a novel out of sheer pity any more than you blow a safe out of a vague longing to be rich. A certain ruthlessness and a sense of alienation from society is as essential to creative writing as it is to armed robbery
Literature is made upon any occasion that a challenge is put to the legal apparatus by conscience in touch with humanity
The hard necessity of bringing the judge on the bench down into the dock has been the peculiar responsibility of the writer in all ages of man
My feeling was although the Nazis had to be beaten, because of what they stood for, this didn't necessarily mean that we believed in exactly the opposite, that, if we won the war, then everything was going to be as it should be
Our myths are so many, our vision so dim, our self-deception so deep and our smugness so gross that scarcely any way now remains of reporting the American Century except from behind the billboards
Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never play cards with a man named Doc. And never lay down with a woman who's got more troubles than youNelson AlgrenAmerican writer ( A Walk on the Wild Side) (Born this day 1909) If Jesus Christ treated me like you do, I’d drive in the nails myself
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 10:00:30 GMT 10
Ordinary language blinkers the already feeble imagination
However well-equipped our language, it can never be forearmed against all possible cases that may arise and call for description: fact is richer than diction
Faced with the nonsense question 'What is the meaning of a word?' and perhaps dimly recognizing it to be nonsense, we are nevertheless not inclined to give it up
Words are not (except in their own little corner) facts or things: we need therefore to prise them off the world, to hold them apart from and against it, so that we can realize their inadequacies and arbitrariness, and can relook at the world without blinkers
But suppose we take the noun 'truth': here is a case where the disagree- ments between different theorists have largely turned on whether they interpreted this as a name of a substance, of a quality, or of a relation
We become obsessed with 'truth' when discussing statements, just as we become obsessed with 'freedom' when discussing conduct ... Like freedom, truth is a bare minimum or an illusory ideal
Like 'real', 'free' is only used to rule out the suggestion of some or all of its recognized antitheses. As 'truth' is not a name of a characteristic of assertions, so 'freedom' is not a name for a characteristic of actions, but the name of a dimension in which actions are assessedJ.L. AustinEnglish philosopher of language and speech theorist (Born this day 1911) It may justly be urged that, properly speaking, what alone has meaning is a sentence
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 10:01:25 GMT 10
We have a large public that is very ignorant about world affairs and very susceptible to simplistic slogans by candidates who appear out of nowhere, have no track record, but mouth appealing slogans
Nation state as a fundamental unit of man's organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state
It is also a fact that America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America's power, especially its capacity for military intimid- ation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy
But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization
The most immediate task is to make certain that no state or combination of states gains the capacity to expel the United States from Eurasia or even to diminish significantly its decisive arbitration role
To put it in a terminology that hearkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tribut- aries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together
[G.W. Bush] has a vision which can be described with two other words: Manichaean paranoia... the notion that he is leading the forces of good against the empire of evil, that in that setting, the fact that we are morally superior justifies us committing immoral acts. And that is a very dangerous posture for the country that is the number one global power. ... The fact is he squandered our credibility, our legitimacy, and even respect for our powerZbigniew BrzezinskiPolish-American political scientist and statesman (Born this day 1928) History is much more the product of chaos than of conspiracy
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 10:02:14 GMT 10
Environmental scientists have been saying for some time that the global economy is being slowly undermined by environmental trends of human origin, including shrinking forests, expanding deserts, falling water tables, eroding soils, collapsing fish- eries, rising temperatures, melting ice, rising seas and increasingly destructive storms
Humanity's collective demands have exceeded the earth's regenerative capacity by 26 percent. It is fearful that there are still large numbers of people dreaming the 'American dream', hoping to consume like the Americans
The challenge is to build a new economy and to do it at wartime speed before we miss so many of the nature's deadlines that the economic system begins to unravel
The question facing governments is whether they can respond quickly enough to prevent threats from becoming catastrophes....We need a national political leader to step forward, an environmental Churchill, to rally the world around this effort
The fossil-fuel based, auto-centered economy of the United States threatens not only the world energy supply, but also the climate
The transition from a world of expanding oil to one of shrinking oil will be a shift of seismic proportions. Oil prices may climb higher than any we can readily imagine
As Americans are filing their income taxes, many of their counterparts in several European countries are benefiting from a steady decline in income taxes as govern- ments lower taxes on income and raise taxes on environmentally destructive activitiesLester BrownAmerican environmental analyst (Worldwatch Institute, Earth Policy Institute) (Born this day 1934) Our global civilization today is on an economic path that is environmentally unsus- tainable, a path that is leading us toward economic decline and eventual collapse
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 10:03:09 GMT 10
Memory is a snare, pure and simple; it alters, it subtly rearranges the past to fit the present
Since it is impossible to know what's really happening, we Peruvians lie, invent, dream and take refuge in illusion. Because of these strange circumstances, Peruvian life, a life in which so few actually do read, has become literary
You cannot teach creativity — how to become a good writer. But you can help a young writer discover within himself what kind of writer he would like to be
Eroticism has its own moral justification because it says that pleasure is enough for me; it is a statement of the individual's sovereignty
Prosperity or egalitarianism — you have to choose. I favour freedom — you never achieve real equality anyway: you simply sacrifice prosperity for an illusion
It isn't true that convicts live like animals: animals have more room to move around
Science is still only a candle faintly glimmering in a great pitch-dark cavernMario Vargas LlosaPeruvian author and politician (Born this day 1936) If you are killed because you are a writer, that's the maximum expression of respect, you know
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 10:04:20 GMT 10
The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself
If you insist upon fighting to protect me, or 'our' country, let it be understood soberly and rationally between us that you are fighting to gratify a sex instinct which I cannot share; to procure benefits where I have not shared and probably will not share
One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them
It's not catastrophes, murders, deaths, diseases, that age and kill us; it's the way people look and laugh, and run up the steps of omnibuses
Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it, and a lethargy steals over all the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. She becomes all outer show and inward emptiness; dull, callous, and indifferent
Mental fight means thinking against the current, not with it. It is our business to puncture gas bags and discover the seeds of truth
It is far harder to kill a phantom than a realityVirginia WoolfEnglish author (To Lighthouse) (Died this day 1941) I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on longer in these terrible times. I hear voices and cannot concentrate on my work. I have fought against it but cannot fight any longer. I owe all my happiness to you but cannot go on and spoil your life (note left for her husband, Leonard)
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Post by Tamrin on Mar 28, 2014 10:09:02 GMT 10
1 of 2:Words are memes that can be pronounced
What you can imagine depends on what you know. Philosophers who know only philosophy consign themselves to a janitorial role in the great enterprises of exploration that are illuminating the mysteries of our lives
There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without examination
To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the variety of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant — inexcusably ignorant, in a world where three out of four people have learned to read and write
We live in a world that is subjectively open. And we are designed by evolution to be "infor- mavores", epistemically hungry seekers of information, in an endless quest to improve our purchase on the world, the better to make decisions about our subjectively open future
I should emphasize this, to keep well-meaning but misguided multiculturalists at bay: the theoretical entities in which these tribal people frankly believe — the gods and other spirits — don't exist. These people are mistaken, and you know it as well as I do. It is possible for highly intelligent people to have a very useful but mistaken theory, and we don't have to pretend otherwise in order to show respect for these people and their ways
Is this Tree of Life a God one could worship? Pray to? Fear? Probably not. But it did make the ivy twine and the sky so blue, so perhaps the song I love tells a truth after all. The Tree of Life is neither perfect nor infinite in space or time, but it is actual, and if it is not Anselm's "Being greater than which nothing can be conceived," it is surely a being that is greater than anything any of us will ever conceive of in detail worthy of its detail. Is something sacred? Yes, say I with Nietzsche. I could not pray to it, but I can stand in affirmation of its magnificence. This world is sacredDaniel Clement "Dan" Dennett III American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist (evolutionary biology and cognitive science) (Born this day 1942) Not a single one of the cells that compose you knows who you are, or cares
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