Rarest And Purest

L’attention est la forme la plus rare et la plus pure de la générosité.

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

-- Simone Weil (1909 - 1943), French social and religious philosopher, 13 April 1942 letter to poet Joë Bousquet, published in their collected correspondence (Correspondance [Lausanne: Editions l'Age d'Homme, 1982], p. 18)

Set Apart And Observe

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.  To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.  I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

-- President Abraham Lincoln, in his Thanksgiving Proclamation (3 October 1863)

AI Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving upon us, it's a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the many blessings in our lives.  I'm truly grateful for the countless small and big moments that have shaped me into who I am today.  From the love and support of my family and friends to the simple joys of a warm meal and a cozy night in, I'm filled with gratitude.

I'm also thankful for the opportunity to connect with others, learn new things, and make a positive impact on the world.  May this Thanksgiving be a time of peace, love, and reflection for all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-- Google AI Gemini (since this is the modern world), when prompted with "Give me 20 to 30 words of gratitude appropriate to Thanksgiving", and then asked to make its original response longer (27 November 2024)

That's Not It

That's not it.  That's not it at all.  You always have a tendency to add.  But one must be able to subtract too.  It's not enough to integrate, you must also disintegrate.  That's the way life is.  That's philosophy.  That's science.  That's progress, civilization.

-- Eugène Ionesco (26 November 1909 - 29 March 1994), Romanian playwright and dramatist, The Professor in The Lesson (1951)

Perhaps As Many

We have a great many politicians in the country, perhaps as many as the country requires.  I should not wish to ask for a larger supply of these; but there is a wide difference between the politician and the statesman.  A politician, for example, is a man who thinks of the next election; while the statesman thinks of the next generation.  The politician thinks of the success of his party, the statesman of the good of his country.

-- James Freeman Clarke (1810 - 1888), American theologian and author, "Wanted, a Statesman", Old and New magazine (December 1870)

Compromise

[C]ompromise with evil doesn't mean only compromise with one's opponent; to compromise one's ideals or morals is another way to spend one's own worth in lieu of striving.

-- Don Appleman, Trvth, as an editorial aside to the post "Win Your Peace Or Buy It" (25 January 2006)

All Political Lives

All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.

-- John Enoch Powell (1912 - 1998), British politician, scholar, and author, Joseph Chamberlain (1977), p. 151

An Attempt

Kunst war nie ein mittel, die welt zu verändern, aber immer ein versuch sie zu uberleben.

Art was never a means to change the world, but always an attempt to survive it.

-- Thomas Brasch (19 February 1945 – 3 November 2001), German author, poet and film director, Vor den Vätern sterben die Söhne (Before the Fathers Die The Sons) (1977)

The Function Of Perfection

If thou shouldst say, "It is enough, I have reached perfection," all is lost.  For it is the function of perfection to make one know one's imperfection.

-- St. Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430), Christian theologian, rhetor, Doctor of the Catholic Church, saint, and philosopher, quoted by Aldous Huxley, in The Perennial Philosophy (1945)

Kicking And Screaming

Has it ever occurred to you ... that parents are nothing but overgrown kids until their children drag them into adulthood? Usually kicking and screaming?

-- Stephen King (1947 -), American author and screenwriter, Christine (1983) Pt. 1, Ch. 3

Break Things

Move fast and break things.  Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.

-- Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, to his developers and team, as quoted in Business Insider, 14 October 2010

America's Finest News Source

Chicago, IL -- November 14, 2024 - The Onion, America's Finest News Source, today announced it has acquired the assets of Infowars, with the support of Sandy Hook families who secured a $1.4 billion defamation verdict in Connecticut against Alex Jones, the founder of Infowars and parent company, Free Speech Systems, LLC.  The Onion also announced its exclusive launch advertiser in this new venture will be Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country.

The Onion's goal with the acquisition is to end Infowars' relentless barrage of disinformation for the sake of selling supplements and replace it with The Onion's relentless barrage of humor for good.  "The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site's users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash," said The Onion's CEO Ben Collins.  "Or Bitcoin.  We will also accept Bitcoin."

The Onion's acquisition comes after the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee overseeing the Free Speech Systems bankruptcy proceedings selected the news outlet's bid.  That process was the direct result of a years-long effort by several Sandy Hook families to hold Alex Jones accountable for the immense pain he caused and from which he profited.

-- Press release from The Onion on their acquisition of the Infowars website, product inventory, customers lists, social media accounts, and intellectual property, to partially settle a judgement against Alex Jones & Co., 14 November 2024

The Fairy Tale Provides

Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey.  What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey.  The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination.  What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.

-- Gilbert Keith (G. K.) Chesterton (1874 - 1936) British writer of philosophy, ontology, poetry, and fiction, Tremendous Trifles (1909) Ch. XVII: "The Red Angel"

Whose Dreams?

My brother got his doctorate in 1938, I think.  If he had gone to work in Germany after that, he would have been helping to make Hitler's dreams come true.  If he had gone to work in Italy, he would have been helping to make Mussolini's dreams come true.  If he had gone to work in Japan, he would have been helping to make Tojo's dreams come true.  If he had gone to work in the Soviet Union, he would have been helping to make Stalin's dreams come true.  He went to work for a bottle manufacturer in Butler, Pennsylvania, instead.  It can make quite a difference not just to you but to humanity: the sort of boss you choose, whose dreams you help come true.

-- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (11 November 1922 – 11 April 2007), American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, Speech at MIT (1985), referring to his brother Bernard Vonnegut, and the choices available to scientists and the intelligent, to serve humanity, or to betray it, as published in Fates Worse Than Death (1991), Ch. 12

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.  Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
  In Flanders fields.
    
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
  In Flanders fields.

-- Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD (1872 - 1918), Canadian poet, physician, and soldier during World War I, "In Flanders Fields", In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems (1918) [h/t Josh Paley]

An Optimist

For myself I am an optimist -- it does not seem to be much use being anything else.

-- Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), British politician and statesman, speech at the Lord Mayor's banquet, London (9 November 1954)

Democracy

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

-- Henry Louis (H. L.) Mencken (1880 - 1956), journalist, satirist, social critic, and freethinker, A Little Book in C Major (1916), p. 19

Stay Engaged

Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.

A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny. And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States, and loyalty to our conscience and to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign—the fight: the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people.

And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square. And we will also wage it in quieter ways: in how we live our lives by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up, to fight for the dignity that all people deserve. 

And so to everyone who is watching, do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize, and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.

-- Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (20 October 1964 -), in her speech conceding the 2024 election to president-elect Donald Trump, 6 November 2024

Rock The Vote

Rock the vote, people!

Haidong Gumdo 1st Dan

This weekend I had another 3-day Korean sword seminar with Grandmaster JeongWoo Kim, Chief of Education for the World Haidong Gumdo Federation.  At the end of the seminar I successfully tested for Black Belt in Gumdo along with four other HMD Academy instructors.

Our academy was the first stop of Master Kim's 2024 Pan American Haidong Gumdo Masters Training Seminar, in which he is conducting six 3-day seminars in six different United States during November before returning to Korea.

I look forward to continuing to train with Master Kim whenever possible, and I'm pleased to have a better understanding of Gumdo to share with my students.

해동  HaiDong!

I Voted

I voted.

I parked near the courthouse and went in to vote in person.  It was quick and easy, with no waiting.

Plan your vote today.  You can literally google "How to vote".  Then vote today, if you can and you're ready.

Don't forget to vote.