A Great Aptitude

Genius is nothing else than a great aptitude for patience.

-- Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707 - 1788), French naturalist, mathematician, cosmologist, and author, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

In-Between Moments

I do a lot of my best thinking in those kind of in-between moments that people now fill with online activity.

-- Christopher Nolan CBE (1970 -), British-American film director, producer, and screenwriter, "Christopher Nolan explains why he doesn't have a smartphone" at People.com (15 July 2023)

Nobody Ever Made

Nobody ever made a grammatical error in a non-literate society. 

-- Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980), Canadian philosopher, futurist, and communications theorist, The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) p. 271

Basic Truths

Basic truths cannot change and once a man of insight expresses one of them it is never necessary, no matter how much the world changes, to reformulate them.  This is immutable, true everywhere, throughout all time, for all men and all nations.

-- Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988), popular and influential author of science fiction, Starship Troopers (1959)

Man Knows Much More

Man knows much more than he understands.

-- Alfred Adler (1870 - 1937), Austrian medical doctor and psychologist, quoted in Harold H. Mosak and Michael P. Maniacci, A Primer of Adlerian Psychology: The Analytic-Behavioural-Cognitive Psychology of Alfred Adler (1999)

Worth The Struggle

To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals -- this alone is worth the struggle.

-- Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (1849 - 1919), Canadian physician, Sir William Osler : Aphorisms (1950) p. 89, aphorism 178

Not Quite By Chance

Nothing happens quite by chance.  It's a question of accretion of information and experience.

-- Jonas Salk (1914 - 1995), medical researcher and author, inventor of the Salk vaccine against Polio, and founder of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, as quoted in Breakthrough : The Saga of Jonas Salk (1966) by Richard Carter

Our Misfortunes

Even our misfortunes are a part of our belongings.

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900 - 1944), French writer, poet, and aviator, Vol de Nuit (1931) (translated into English as Night Flight)

Tiresome

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900 - 1944), French writer, poet and aviator, The Little Prince (1943)

Safe For The Summer

[O]nly Supreme Court Justices and schoolchildren are expected to and do take the entire summer off. ...  [With] the adjournment of the Court in July, we know that the Constitution is safe for the summer.

-- Now-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, writing as a lawyer in the Reagan White House (19 April 1983)

Climate.us

Climate.us today launched the full version of its new independent, nonprofit climate information website, creating a public-backed home for trusted climate science at a time when access to federal climate resources has become increasingly vulnerable to disruption.

Built by former members of the team behind the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's popular Climate.gov website, Climate.us will keep climate information accurate, accessible, scientifically rigorous, and useful for the people who rely on it, including educators, students, journalists, scientists, community leaders, local and state decision-makers, and members of the public.

The website features Climate.gov's 15-year collection of climate news and stories, expert blogs, visual status reports on key climate indicators, maps and data pathways, climate literacy resources, classroom materials, and restored access to the Fifth National Climate Assessment.

-- Launch announcement from Climate.us, a non-profit created to host information formerly available at Climate.gov (23 June 2026)

MagnificaHumanitas

We cannot consider #AI to be morally neutral.  In reality, every technical tool embodies choices and priorities through what it measures, ignores, and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations.  Ethical discernment cannot be limited to asking whether we are using a system for good or bad purposes.  It must also examine how that system is designed and what vision of the human person and society is embedded in the data and models that guide it.  #MagnificaHumanitas

For AI to respect human dignity and truly serve the common good, responsibility must be clearly defined at every stage: from those who design and develop these systems to those who use them and rely on them for concrete decisions.  It must be possible to identify who must "account" for decisions, justify them, monitor them, and, when necessary, challenge them and remedy any harm caused.

-- Pope Leo XIV, posting as @Pontifex (25 June 2026)

Wind Through The Shutters

Nobody has ever thought himself to death.  The chief danger confronting us is not age.  It is laziness, sloth, routine, stupidity, -- forcing their way in like wind through the shutters, seeping into the cellar like swamp water.

-- Gilbert Arthur Highet (1906 - 1978), Scottish-American classicist, writer, and literary historian, The Immortal Profession: The Joys of Teaching and Learning (1976)

Leisure Moments

Leisure moments: each life well regulated has some such intervals, and he who cannot make way for them does not know how to live.

-- Marguerite Cleenewerck de Crayencour (1903 - 1987), Belgian-born French novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Marguerite Yourcenar, Memoirs of Hadrian (1951) p. 43

First Generation

This past Saturday we held our very first Gumdo (Korean sword) Black belt test at HMD Academy.  Five students successfully tested for Black belt in Gumdo, demonstrating 12 different cuts, special sword handling sequences, 8 forms (like poomsae or kata), and offensive and defensive partner work. 

These students signed up when we started our Gumdo program in March 2024.  All five benefited from their Taekwondo experience where they were already Black belts or Black belt candidates.  Three of the five were my students who train in Monticello, including David, previously mentioned here as a Taekwondo student and currently 2nd degree Black belt in Taekwondo.

These students will continue to advance their training.  We instructors are very proud of their accomplishments.  Haidong!

Greatest Of All

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little.

-- Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845), English clergyman, critic, philosopher, and wit, Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849) Lecture XIX : On the Conduct of the Understanding, Part II

What Is Left Behind

A memory is what is left behind when something happens and does not completely unhappen.

-- Edward de Bono (1933 - 2021), British physician, author, inventor, and consultant, The Mechanism of Mind (1969), Ch. 5

Maturation

In Taekwondo, higher belt ranks require more time before testing because students need a period of maturation.  As techniques mature, so does the student's thinking.  The deeper understanding gained through training and reflection allows philosophy to become a meaningful part of personal growth.  Therefore, advancement is measured not only by technical skill but also by the development of character, judgement, and wisdom.

-- Taekwondo Grandmaster Namsoo Hyong (1955-) of HMD Academy, explaining the need to achieve more than technical skill to level up in martial arts, June 2026

Buzzword Sandwich

[This decision] aligns with N.S.F.'s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure.

-- Michael England, spokesman for the National Science Foundation, justifying the decision to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $368 million network of more than 900 deep-sea instruments collecting data in both the Atlantic and Pacific that has been critical to climate and ocean research, NY Times (1 June 2026)

Grandkid Grad Plus One

In an echo of Monday's post, a hearty congratulations to my eldest granddaughter, Saiya Schwartz, on her graduation from high school in the class of 2026.  This afternoon she and her classmates were awarded diplomas in Urbana, Illinois.  She has grown into a fine young lady, and I look forward to watching her make her impact on the world.

That's all the graduates for this year.