About:
I like quotes. They are crystals that precipitate thoughts.In no particular order:
“Each day is a journey, and the journey itself home.”
Matsuo Basho, Narrow Road to a Far Province (Oku no Hosomichi)
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Unknown Coasts
Three and a half centuries before Americans were debating their voyage to the moon, William Bradford reported how the Pilgrims, having taken temporary refuge in Holland, debated their voyage to America.
"... it raised many variable opinions amongst men, and caused many fears and doubts amongst them selves. Some, from their reasons and hops conceived, laboured to stirr up and incourage the rest to undertake and prosecute the same; others, againe, out of their fears, objected against it, and sought to diverte from it, aledging many things, and those neither unreasonable nor unprobable.
"As that it was a greate designe, and subjected to many unconceivable perills and dangers; as, besids the casulties of the seas (which none can be freed from) the length of the vioage was such, as the weake bodys of women and other persons worne out with age and traville (as many of them were) could never be able to endure. And yet if they should, the miseries of the land which they should be exposed unto, would be hard to be borne; and lickly, some, or all of them togeither, to consume and utterly to ruinate them. For ther they should be liable to famine, and nakednes, and the wante, in a maner, of all things.
"The chang of aire, diate, and drinking of water, would infecte their bodies with sore sickneses, and greevous diseases. And also those which should escape or overcome these difficulties, should yett be in continuall danger of the salvage people, who are cruell, barbarous, and most trecherous, being most furious in their rage, and merciles wher they overcome; not being contente only to kill, and take away life, but delight to tormente men in the most bloodie manner that may be; fleaing some alive with the shells of fishes, cutting the members and joynts of others by peesmeale, and broiling on the coles, eate the collops of thier flesh in their sight whilst they live; and other cruelties horrible to be related.
"And surely it could not be thought but the very hearing of these things could not but move the very bowels of men to grate within them, and make the weake to quake and tremble. It was furder objected, that it would require greater summes of money to furnish such a voiage, and to fitt them with necessaries, then their consumed estats would amounte too; and yett they must as well looke to be seconded with supplies, as presently to be transported. Also many presidents of ill success, and lamentable misseries befalne others in the like designes, were easie to be found, and not forgotten to be aledged . . .
"It was answered, that all great, and honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages. It was granted the dangers were great, but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible. For though their were many of them likly, yet they were not cartaine; it might be sundrie of the things feared might never befale; others by providente care and the use of good means, might in a great measure be prevented; and all of them, through the help of God, by fortitude and patience, might either be borne, or overcome.
"True it was, that such atempts were not to be made and undertaken without good ground and reason; not rashly or lightly as many have done for curiositie or hope of gaine, etc. But their condition was not ordinarie; their ends were good and honourable; their calling lawfull, and urgente; and therefore they might expecte the blessing of God in their proceding. Yea, though they should loose their lives in this action, yet might they have comforte in the same, and their endeavors would be honourable. . . . "
William Bradford
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“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
Mark Twain
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“For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice. But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall put him out of reckoning.”
J.R.R Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
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“Failure to understand the architecture of our civilization can lead to a failure in maintaining it.”
anon30, comment on the article ‘Exclusive sneak peek at Ch. 19 from The Book of Genesis Illustrated, by R. Crumb’ at BoingBoing.net
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“Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.”
Francis Bacon, Of Studies, 1605
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“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”
Thomas Jefferson
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“The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.”
Kendall Hailey, The Day I Became an Autodidact
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“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
George W Bush, 2008
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“We are at a time when humanism is coming to its natural conclusion in morals, in values, and in law. All that society has today are relativistic values based upon statistical averages, or the arbitrary decisions of those who hold legal and political power.”
Francis Schaeffer, 1984
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“As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
Donald Rumsfeld, Department of Defense News Briefing, 2002
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“In the end, man is not entirely guilty - he did not start history. Nor is he wholly innocent - he continues it.”
Albert Camus
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“Adesso (or ora) vi faccio vedere come muore un italiano.” – “Now I will show you how an Italian dies.”
Fabrizio Quattrocchi just before he was shot in the neck by Jihadi kidnappers.
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“There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.”
Winston Churchhill