Daily Quotes

[Tamrin]

2 of 2:

Doubt is the origin of wisdom


Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power


Although we very clearly see the sun, we ought not therefore to determine that it is only
of the size which our sense of sight presents; and we may very distinctly imagine the
head of a lion joined to the body of a goat, without being therefore shut up to the conclusion
that a chimaera exists; for it is not a dictate of reason that what we thus see or imagine is in
reality existent; but it plainly tells us that all our ideas or notions contain in them some truth


Whence then come my errors? They come from the sole fact that since the will is much wider
in its range and compass than the understanding, I do not restrain it within the same bounds,
but extend it also to things which I do not understand: and as the will is of itself indifferent to
these, it easily falls into error and sin, and chooses the evil for the good, or the false for the true


And, in fine, of false sciences I thought I knew the worth sufficiently to escape being deceived by
the professions of an alchemist, the predictions of an astrologer, the impostures of a magician, or
by the artifices and boasting of any of those who profess to know things of which they are ignorant


All Philosophy is like a tree, of which Metaphysics is the root, Physics the trunk, and all the other
sciences the branches that grow out of this trunk, which are reduced to three principal, namely,
Medicine, Mechanics, and Ethics. By the science of Morals, I understand the highest and
most perfect which, presupposing an entire knowledge of the other sciences, is the last degree of wisdom


To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as
keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them


René Descartes
(Born this day 1596)



Ex nihilo nihil fit
(“Nothing comes out of nothing”)

[Tamrin]

Who can foretell for what high cause this darling of the Gods was born?


Among the blind the one-eyed blinkard reigns


Earth cannot show so brave a sight, as when a single soul does fence
the batteries of alluring sense and Heaven views it with delight


Self-preservation, nature's first great law, all the creatures, except man, doth awe


Had we but world enough, and time, this coyness, Lady, were no crime


Gather the flowers, but spare the buds


But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near


Andrew Marvell
English parliamentarian and metaphysical poet
(Born this day 1621)



The grave's a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace

[Tamrin]

Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail


And new philosophy calls all in doubt, the element of fire is quite put out; the sun
is lost, and the earth, and no man’s wit can well direct him where to look for it


Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind;
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee


Breathes there a man with soul so dead who never
to himself hath said this is my own, my native land


No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent


Despair is the damp of hell, as joy is the serenity of heaven


Death comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes


John Donne
English metaphysical poet
(Died this day 1631)



Come live with me, and be my love, and we will some new pleasures prove,
of golden sands, and crystal brooks, with silken lines and silver hooks

[Tamrin]

I am who I am and that's who I am


What is stronger in us — passion or habit? Or are all the violent impulses, all
the whirl of our desires and turbulent passions, only the consequence of our
ardent age, and is it only through youth that they seem deep and shattering?


Always think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord


The longer and more carefully we look at a funny story, the sadder it becomes


Everywhere across whatever sorrows of which our
life is woven, some radiant joy will gaily flash past


But wise is the man who disdains no character, but with
searching glance explores him to the root and cause of all


Perfect nonsense goes on in the world. Sometimes there is no plausibility at all


Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer
(Born this day 1809)



The moon is made by some lame cooper, and you can see the idiot has no
idea about moons at all. He put in a creosoted rope and some wood oil; and
this has led to such a terrible stink all over the earth that you have to hold
your nose. Another reason the moon is such a tender globe it that people
just cannot live on it anymore, and all that's left alive there are noses.
This is also why we cannot see our own noses — they're all on the moon

(Diary of a Madman, 1835)

[Tamrin]

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it


Strange, is it not? That of the myriads who before us pass'd the door of Darkness
through, not one returns to tell us of the road which to discover we must travel too


Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?


If you can prove to me that one miracle took place, I will believe
he is a just God who damned us all because a woman ate an apple


There was the Door to which I found no key; There was the Veil through which I might see


I sent my soul through the Invisible, some letter of that After life to spell:
And by and by my Soul return'd to me, and answer'd "I Myself am Heav'n and Hell


Think then you are Today what Yesterday you were — Tomorrow you shall not be less


Bro. Edward FitzGerald
English writer and translator (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam)
(Born this day 1809)



I came like Water, and like Wind I go

[Tamrin]

The shadows are as important as the light


Love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter
of anxious concern for the wellbeing of one's companion


Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation


The human heart has hidden treasures, In secerts kept, in silence sealed, the thoughts,
the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, whose charms were broken if revealed


Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has
never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones


I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will


I would always rather be happy than dignified


Charlotte Brontë, English author
(Died this day 1855)



Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is
not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last

[Tamrin]

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two


Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every
culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life


Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition.
Man is the only being who knows he is alone


We are condemned to kill time, thus we die bit by bit


What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism


What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of
differences, their attractions and repulsions


Love is an attempt at penetrating another being,
but it can only succeed if the surrender is mutual


Octavio Paz
Mexican diplomat and poet (The Other Mexico, 1990 Nobel Prize)
(Born this day 1914



Deserve your dream

[Tamrin]

We all need each other


What we call the secret of happiness is no more
a secret than our willingness to choose life


It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time
for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them


Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong


I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love
is not hate — it's apathy. It's not giving a damn


Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations


Change is the end result of all true learning


Leo Buscaglia, "Dr Love", US psychologist
(Born this day 1924)



If I don't have wisdom, I can teach you only ignorance

[Tamrin]

There are only two races on this planet — the intelligent and the stupid


Duty largely consists of pretending that the trivial is critical


Men love war because it allows them to look serious.
Because it is the one thing that stops women laughing at them


In essence the Renaissance was simply the green end of one of civilization's hardest winters


Whatever sympathy I feel towards religions, whatever admiration for some of
their adherents, whatever historical or biological necessity I see in them,
whatever metaphorical truth, I cannot accept them as credible explanations of
reality; and they are incredible to me in proportion to the degree that they require
my belief in positive human attributes and intervenient powers in their divinities


The most important questions in life can never be answered by anyone except oneself


An answer is always a form of death


John Fowles
British novelist (French Lieutenant’s Woman)
(Born this day, England 1926)



There comes a time in each life like a point of fulcrum. At that time you must accept
yourself. It is not anymore what you will become. It is what you are and always will be

[Tamrin]

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and
prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to
include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own


Students must have initiative; they should not be mere imitators.
They must learn to think and act for themselves — and be free


If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat
with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart


Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducated the person who
has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress
the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours


In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence


Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak...
Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win


There is no such thing as defeat in non-violence


Cesar Chavez
US farm labor leader (United Farm Workers)
(Born this day 1927)



You are never strong enough that you don't need help