We Do Not Need

We do not need presidents who are bigger than the country, but rather ones who speak for it and support it.

-- Eugene McCarthy (1916 - 2005) American politician, poet, and 22-year member of the US Congress (D-MN), The New York Times (11 December 2005)

Limitless

We are not just guides; we are trailblazers.  Let this be a call to every Sherpa to see the dignity in our work, the power in our heritage, and the limitless possibilities in our future.

-- Nima Rinji Sherpa, 18, standing atop Tibet's Mount Shishapangma as the youngest person to have scaled all 14 mountains that the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises as more than 8,000 metres above sea level, 9 October 2024.  The previous record holder is Mingma Gyabu 'David' Sherpa, who achieved it at the age of 30 in 2019

Forgive Me My Nonsense

Forgive me my nonsense as I also forgive the nonsense of those who think they talk sense.

-- Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), American poet and winner of four Pulitzer Prizes, Letter to Louis Untermeyer (7 August 1915)

Underlying Purpose

The underlying purpose of AI is to allow wealth to access skill while removing from the skilled the ability to access wealth.

-- Joseph Browning via Facebook (10 July 2024) cited by jeffowski on Mastodon & Twitter

Early Autumn

It was autumn, and he always liked autumn.  Something about early autumn, when the leaves began to flee before a northern breeze and the days shortened, gave an extra edge to existence.

-- Brian Aldiss (1925 - 2017), English writer of general fiction and science fiction, "Steppenpferd", Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine (February 2000)

Your Experience Of Me

I see you, and you see me.  I experience you, and you experience me.  I see your behaviour.  You see my behaviour.  But I do not and never have and never will see your experience of me.  Just as you cannot "see" my experience of you.

-- Ronald David (R.D.) Laing (7 October 1927 - 23 August 1989), Scottish psychiatrist who wrote on mental illness and the experience of psychosis, The Politics of Experience (1967) Chapter 1 : Experience as evidence

All The Colors Of Poetry

All the colours of poetry, however splendid, can never paint natural objects in such a manner as to make the description be taken for a real landscape.  The most lively thought is still inferior to the dullest sensation.

-- David Hume (1711 - 1776), Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)