Unable To Recognize Truth

A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others.  When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest form of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal in satisfying his vices.  And it all comes from lying -- to others and to yourself.

-- Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881), Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and philosopher, The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880)

Easy And Safe

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

-- William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 - 1891), US Army general during the American Civil War, Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (1875) Chapter XXV "Conclusion--Military Lessons Of The War" 

No Occupation

"You're a gentleman," they used to say to him.  "You shouldn't have gone murdering people with a hatchet; that's no occupation for a gentleman."

-- Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881), Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and philosopher, Crime and Punishment (1866)

A Comedy In Long-shot

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

-- Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (1889 - 1977), British comedic actor and director, as quoted in his obituary in The Guardian (28 December 1977)

A Precursor

I believe that faith is a precursor of all our ideas.  Without faith, there never could have evolved hypothesis, theory, science or mathematics.  I believe that faith is an extension of the mind.  It is the key that negates the impossible.  To deny faith is to refute oneself and the spirit that generates all our creative forces.  My faith is in the unknown, in all that we do not understand by reason; I believe that what is beyond our comprehension is a simple fact in other dimensions, and that in the realm of the unknown there is an infinite power for good.

-- Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (1889 - 1977), British comedic actor and director, My Autobiography (1964), p. 291

Unless It Is First Known

The acquisition of any knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good.  For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known.

-- Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519), Italian Renaissance painter, architect, inventor, scientist, and sculptor, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883) XIX Philosophical Maxims.  Morals.  Polemics and Speculations

RIP Ted Turner

If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect.

-- Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (19 November 1938 - 6 May 2026), American media mogul and philanthropist, known as founder of the Cable News Network more popularly known as CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel, and for his $1 billion gift to support the United Nations, as quoted in "At Long Last, He's Citizen Ted", Forbes (30 January 2003)