Poetry Heals

Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.

-- Baron Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772 - 1801), author, philosopher and poet of early German Romanticism most commonly known by the pseudonym Novalis, as quoted in Quote, Unquote‎ (1989) by Jonathan Williams, p. 136

The Greatest Blessing

Upon the whole, a contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.

-- Joseph Addison (1672 - 1719), English politician and writer, The Spectator No. 574 (30 July 1714)

Positioned Correctly

He was appalled at the ease with which the truth so easily turned into something that was almost a lie, just by being positioned correctly.

-- Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE (1948 - 2015), English humorist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, Discworld, The Truth (2000) pg 117

I Seek The Truth

If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed.  Harmed is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance.

-- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 - 180), Roman emperor from 161 to 180, and Stoic philosopher, Meditations (c. AD 121-180) Book VI, 21

A Line

Art is a line around your thoughts. 

-- Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918), Austrian symbolist painter, as quoted by Dani Cavallaro in "Gustav Klimt - A Critical Reappraisal" (2018) (h/t Roberto Sabas)

Landmines

Our memories are full of landmines.  Do not time travel.  If you do time travel, be careful where you stop.

-- Don Appleman (2024), regarding the things one should not contemplate when trying to fall asleep at night

Facts Nonetheless

These facts are relative facts, but facts nonetheless.

-- Nick Zangwill (1957 -), British philosopher, Fashion Philosophy For Everyone (2011), edited by Jessica Wolfendale and Jeanette Kennett, Chapter 2 "Fashion, Illusion, And Alienation" pg 31 (h/t Roberto Sabas)

Souvenir Memories

This Sunday I watched the St Louis Cardinals lose a baseball game to the Chicago White Sox 5-1 in St Louis.  I was accompanied by my good friend Mark Trott and by my youngest daughter, Alyssa, who sprang for the tickets as a gift for my 65th birthday that day.  The weather was pretty great.

We had bleacher seats in fair territory, 10 rows back in deep right center field.  My daughter brought her glove, and there were a few chances at souvenirs as a couple of balls in play came our way.  About halfway through the game Cardinals center fielder Dylan Carlson threw a ball into the stands that my daughter came away with, and I now have that ball as a souvenir.

Good times.

Deception

All warfare is based on deception.  Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

-- Sun Tzu (c. 6th century BC), Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher, The Art of War, Chapter 1, Detail Assessment and Planning

Contagion

Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.

-- Thornton Niven Wilder (1897 - 1975), Pulitzer prize winning American author and playwright, The Matchmaker (1954), later adapted into the musical Hello, Dolly

By Yourself

Teachers open the door.  You enter by yourself.

-- Chinese proverb