Angst And Hormones

I can be a bit grumpy.  I'm full of angst, and hormones.

-- Nicholas Hoult (1989-), English actor, interview in The Mirror, 2 February 2012

Fear Only One Person

Everybody should fear only one person, and that person should be himself.      
 
-- Philip José Farmer (1918-2009), American author, The Magic Labyrinth (1980), opening lines

Irrational

There's a feedback between financial markets and the economy.  You might think markets are irrational, but even if they are, that spills over into the real economy.

-- Andrew T. Levin, former adviser to Fed chairwoman Janet L. Yellen, on how the decline of oil prices is causing other problems, too, New York Times, 22 January 2016

Aim Of An Argument

The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.

-- Joseph Joubert (1754 - 1824), French moralist and essayist, The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)

Hero By Mistake

The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.  If it had been possible he would have settled the matter otherwise, and without bloodshed.  He doesn't boast of his own death or of others'.  But he does not repent.  He suffers and keeps his mouth shut; if anything, others then exploit him, making him a myth, while he, the man worthy of esteem, was only a poor creature who reacted with dignity and courage in an event bigger than he was.

-- Umberto Eco (1932-), Italian philosopher, semiotician, and novelist, "Why Are They Laughing In Those Cages?", in Travels in Hyperreality: Essays (1986), Ch. III: The Gods of the Underworld, p. 122

Conspiracy Theory

You simply cannot invent any conspiracy theory so ridiculous and obviously satirical that some people somewhere don't already believe it.

-- Robert Anton Wilson (1932 - 2007), American novelist, essayist, and absurdist philosopher, Everything Is Under Control: Conspiracies, Cults, and Cover-Ups (1998), Introduction, p. 16

Not Moving

If you're stationary, you're not moving.

-- Ray Spooner, rayslittleride.com, 17 November 2015

Grab You By The Tail

To fear is one thing.  To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.

-- Katherine Paterson (1932-), American author of children's novels, Jacob Have I Loved (1980)