Work And Love

Freud's prescription for personal happiness as consisting of work and love must be taken with the proviso that the work has to be loved, and the love has to be worked at.

-- Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986), London-born American syndicated essayist and drama critic, Pieces of Eight (1982)

Kill Bad Bills

It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.

-- John Calvin Coolidge Jr. (4 July 1872 - 5 January 1933), 29th Vice President and 30th President of the United States, Letter (6 September 1910) to his father, John Coolidge, who had been elected to the Vermont State Senate

Something Better

He knew the truth and was looking for something better.

-- William Saroyan (1908-1981), Armenian American author, Jim Dandy: Fat Man in a Famine (1947)

Isn't Worth It

I can't hate for long.  It isn't worth it.

-- William Saroyan (1908-1981), Armenian American author, The Bicycle Rider In Beverly Hills (1952)

A Chance To Inquire

Instead of insight, maybe all a man gets is strength to wander for a while. Maybe the only gift is a chance to inquire, to know nothing for certain. An inheritance of wonder and nothing more.

-- William Least Heat-Moon (27 August 1939-), American travel writer and historian, Blue Highways, Part Six, Chapter 9 (1982)

"Just War"

The term "just war" contains an internal contradiction.  War is inherently unjust, and the great challenge of our time is how to deal with evil, tyranny, and oppression without killing huge numbers of people.

-- Howard Zinn (1924 - 2010), American historian, political scientist, playwright, and social activist, Terrorism and War (2002)

Silly Things

If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.

-- Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 - 1951), Austrian-born philosopher, Culture and Value (1980)

More To Life

There must be more to life than having everything.

-- Maurice Sendak (10 June 1928 - 8 May 2012), American illustrator and children's book author, Higglety Pigglety Pop! or, There Must Be More to Life (1967)

Today I received my copy of the new book "what if?  Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions", by physicist and ex-NASA robotics engineer Randall Munroe, the Internet cartoonist behind xkcd (http://www.xkcd.com).

From the back cover:

Humans can't digest the cellulose in paper, but if we could, eating this book would give you about 2300 calories (including the cover). ...

Hidden Feature: The inside of this book has words and pictures. It answers many other important questions, including whether you could jump from a plane with a helium tank and inflate balloons fast enough to slow your fall and survive (yes) and whether you could hide from a supersonic windstorm in Finland (yes, but it won't help).

I started reading the first question / answer, What would happen if the Earth and all terrestrial objects suddenly stopped spinning, but the atmosphere retained its velocity?

I am entertained.  I recommend the book (and the on-line comic).

Ordinary Business

The American public is expecting the Justice Department to hold the banks accountable for its misdeeds in the mortgage meltdown.  But these tax write-offs shift the burden back onto taxpayers and send the wrong message by treating parts of the settlement as an ordinary business expense.

-- Phineas Baxandall, analyst with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group, criticizing settlements between big banks and the federal government, New York Times, 22 August 2014

A Long Way

It's a long way from being closed.

-- General John F. Kelly, leader of the United States Southern Command, on the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which still houses 149 inmates, New York Times, 1 September 2014

The Biggest Risk

The biggest risk is not taking any risk ....  In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.

-- Mark Zuckerberg (14 May 1984-), Founder of Facebook, in a talk at Y Combinator's Startup School, 29 October 2011

Diplomats Tell Lies

How is the world ruled and how do wars start?  Diplomats tell lies to journalists and then believe what they read.

-- Karl Kraus (1874 - 1936), Austrian writer

The Trouble With Free Elections

The trouble with free elections is that you never know how they are going to turn out.

-- Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986), Soviet politician and diplomat, remark at the Berlin  Conference (1954)

Nothing More

There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people.

-- Unknown, generally misattributed to Thomas Jefferson

2018 Mindset List

Each August since 1998, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones and experiences that have shaped the worldview of students entering colleges and universities in the fall.

The College class of 2018, starting their first year on campus this fall, arrives with a grasp of their surroundings quite distinct from that of their mentors.  Born in 1996, they have always had The Daily Show to set them straight, always been able to secure immediate approval and endorsement for their ideas through "likes" on their Facebook pages, and have rarely heard the term "bi-partisan agreement".

1. During their initial weeks of kindergarten, they were upset by endlessly repeated images of planes blasting into the World Trade Center. ...

9. Ralph Nader has always been running for President of the U.S. ...

14. FOX News and MSNBC have always been duking it out for the hearts and minds of American viewers. ...

21. Nicotine has always been recognized as an addictive drug requiring FDA oversight. ...

23. Hello, Dolly ... cloning has always been a fact, not science fiction. ...

30. There has always been "TV" designed to be watched exclusively on the web. ...

37. Bill Gates has always been the richest man in the U.S. ...

54. Their collection of U.S. quarters has always celebrated the individual states. ....


http://themindsetlist.com/2014/08/beloit-college-mindset-list-class-2018/

Organized Money

Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32nd US President, Address at Madison Square Garden, New York City, 31 October 1936

Dominant Visual Aspect

[The Cato Institute's Walter] Olson added, "the dominant visual aspect of the story, however, has been the sight of overpowering police forces confronting unarmed protesters who are seen waving signs or just their hands."

... When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury -- national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture -- we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands.

Given these developments, it is almost impossible for many Americans not to feel like their government is targeting them.  Given the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them.

-- Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), in a Time Magazine editorial, 14 August 2014

True Peace

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.

-- Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968), Baptist minister, civil rights activist, 1964 Nobel Peace laureate, in a 1955 response to an accusation that he was "disturbing the peace" by his activism during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, as quoted in Let the Trumpet Sound : A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr (1982) by Stephen B. Oates

Strangest

Isn't life the strangest thing you've ever seen?

-- Patricia Rozema (20 August 1958-), Canadian film director and screenwriter, lines written for "Polly Vandersma", in I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)

Our Own House

In our anger, we have to make sure that we don't burn down our own house.

-- Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ronald S. Johnson, talking to residents of Ferguson, MO after days of unrest over the fatal shooting of a teenager by a police officer, 16 August 2014

Accelerando

The nude woman turns toward him.  She's the spitting image of Amber's mother, except for the chelipeds she has in place of hands.  She hisses, "Equity!" and takes a wobbly step toward him, pincers clacking.

-- Charles Stross, in his science fiction novel Accelerando (2005) about the impending technological singularity

--

When I read this paragraph in Accelerando, I stopped to wonder whether that was the weirdest paragraph ever that still fit within the story line.

Sapere Aude!

Enlightenment is man's leaving his self-caused immaturity.  Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another. Such immaturity is self-caused if it is not caused by lack of intelligence, but by lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another.  Sapere Aude! Have the courage to use your own intelligence! is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.

-- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), German philosopher, What is Enlightenment? (1784)

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells.  And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age.  Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world.  It's more than just a matter of laughing.  If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack.

-- Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel (1904-1991), American writer and cartoonist, as quoted in "Author Isn't Just a Cat in the Hat" by Miles Corwin, Los Angeles Times (27 November 1983)

Life Isn't Fair

Life isn't fair.  It's just fairer than death, that's all.

-- William Goldman (1931-), American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, "The Princess Bride" (1973)

Cathartic

Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma.

-- Robin McLaurim Williams (21 July 1951 - 11 August 2014), American actor and comedian, Robin Williams on Returning to TV, Getting Sober, and Downsizing in His 60s", Parade (12 September 2013)

That's Why

My fellow Americans, the world is confronted by many challenges.  And while America has never been able to right every wrong, America has made the world a more secure and prosperous place.  And our leadership is necessary to underwrite the global security and prosperity that our children and our grandchildren will depend upon.  We do so by adhering to a set of core principles.  We do whatever is necessary to protect our people.  We support our allies when they're in danger.  We lead coalitions of countries to uphold international norms.  And we strive to stay true to the fundamental values -- the desire to live with basic freedom and dignity -- that is common to human beings wherever they are.  That's why people all over the world look to the United States of America to lead.  And that's why we do it.

-- President Obama, announcing limited military action in Iraq against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), 7 August 2014

Epoxy

Bureaucracy is the epoxy that greases the wheels of progress.

-- James H. Boren (1925-2010), American humorist and writer, When in Doubt, Mumble: A Bureaucrat's Handbook (1972)

Pretend

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.

-- Sacha Guitry (1885-1957), French stage actor, film actor, director, and screenwriter, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, 27 July 1986

Every ZIP Code

I've been to places where there is a poet laureate for every ZIP code.  The country is crawling with them.  I think it's out of control.

-- Billy Collins, former United States and New York State poet laureate, on the proliferation of the official wordsmiths, NY Times, 28 July 2014

Turkey Run

I took my youngest (she'll be 16 next month) to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana this afternoon for a long hike.  I like that park.  Good times.

Your Message, Your Words, Your Voice

Yelling silences your message.  Speak quietly so your children can hear your words instead of just your voice.

-- L R Knost, American author, Effective Parenting 101

Puzzles, Enigmas, And Allegories

There's something in the human personality which resents things that are clear, and conversely, something which is attracted to puzzles, enigmas, and allegories.

-- Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), American film director, quoted by Thomas Allen Nelson, in Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze (2000) p 10

Who's Doing It?

We are not powerless.  We have tremendous potential for good or ill.  How we choose to use that power is up to us; but first we must choose to use it.  We're told every day, "You can't change the world." But the world is changing every day.  Only question is -- who's doing it?  You or somebody else?

-- J. Michael Straczynski (1954-), American writer and producer of television series, author, "At The Midpoint (Spoilers For Everything)" (1995)

Tour de France 2014

Props to the winner(s) of this year's 101st Tour de France.

Vincenzo Nibali won, with a margin of 7 minutes, 37 seconds, the widest margin since at least 1999.  He is 29, and has now won all 3 grand tours, Italy 2013, Spain 2010, and now France.

Peter Sagan won the best sprinter's Green jersey, his third in a row, and he's just 24 years old.  He won the jersey despite never winning a stage in this year's Tour.

Poland's Rafal Majka, another 24 year old, won the best climber's Polka Dot jersey, and provided quite a show in winning stage 17.

The first two Frenchman to finish on the podium since 1997, in 2nd and 3rd place, were 37 year old Jean-Christophe Peraud and 24 year old Thibaut Pinot, who also won the White jersey as best young rider.

The best placed American was Tejay van Garderen, who is 25, and finished 5th.  I expect we'll be hearing a lot about all the 25 and under's in this note for years to come.  This should be fun to watch.

Training

Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000.  No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him.  Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?

-- Thomas J. Watson (1874-1956), industrialist, president of IBM

Given Freely

Advice is given freely because so much of it is worthless.

-- James Geary, American aphorist and journalist; quote from James Geary website (2009)

Nets

When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight.  You talk to me of nationality, language, religion.  I shall try to fly by those nets.

-- James Joyce (1882-1941), Irish novelist and poet, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, Chapter 5 (1916)

Valor Was Everywhere That Day

Valor was everywhere that day, and the real heroes are the nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could return home.  It is their names, not mine, that I want everyone to know.

Spc. Sergio Abad, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers, Cpl. Jason Bogar, 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, Sgt. Israel Garcia, Cpl. Jason Hovater, Cpl. Matthew Phillips, Cpl. Pruitt Rainey, and Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling.  The Chosen Few.

-- Former Army staff sergeant Ryan M. Pitts, after receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions during combat in Afghanistan, 21 July 2014

Secrets Of Literature

One of the secrets of literature that every writer knows is that any life will do.  It's not necessary to go bathe one's feet in the Ganges and travel around the world and work on a steamer to be a poet.  Meaning is in small things.

-- Marvin Bell (1937-). American poet

Political Capacity

We must either breed political capacity or be ruined by Democracy, which was forced on us by the failure of the older alternatives.  Yet if Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.

-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish playwright, Nobel laureate in Literature, Man and Superman, Epistle Dedicatory (1903)

Border Crisis

I don't feel like we have to solve the border crisis for a terrified child to be shown some compassion.

-- Dallas County, Texas Judge Clay Jenkins, who is leading efforts to house 2,000 immigrant children in the county, New York Times, 17 July 2014

I'm Joe Biden

I probably shouldn't say this, but then again I'm Joe Biden.  No one ever doubts I mean what I say, but the problem is I sometimes say all that I mean.

-- Vice President Joe Biden, joking about his reputation for making gaffes, at the National Governors Association, 11 July 2014

Diminishment

In light of the constitutional debates, we have concluded that the provision was aimed at protecting the right to receive the promised retirement benefits, not the adequacy of funding to pay for them.

-- 6-1 Majority decision of the Illinois Supreme Court, ruling that the state constitution's pension protection clause bars any diminishment of health care benefits for retired state employees, 3 July 2014

#selfie

Standing in the middle of the road with your back turned while 200 cyclists come at you, just to take a selfie.  #think #TDF2014

-- American cyclist Tejay van Garderen (@tejay_van), complaining about self-indulgent fans at this year's Tour de France, 6 July 2014

Practical Reason For Freedom

The practical reason for freedom is that freedom seems to be the only condition under which any kind of substantial moral fiber can be developed -- we have tried law, compulsion, and authoritarianism of various kinds, and the result is nothing to be proud of.

-- Albert Jay Nock (1873-1945), American author, social critic, and libertarian conservative, "On Doing the Right Thing", in The American Mercury (1925)

Obviously Wrong

I do not envy people who think they have a complete explanation of the world, for the simple reason that they are obviously wrong.

-- Salman Rushdie (1947-), Indian-born British author, Salman Rushdie -- Talking with David Frost (1993)

All We Have Of Freedom

All we have of freedom, all we use or know --
This our fathers bought for us, long and long ago.

-- Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), British author and poet, "The Old Issue" (1899)

Just Don't Want To

If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

-- Stephen Colbert (1964-), American political satirist, "Jesus is a Liberal Democrat", The Colbert Report, 16 December 2010

Suck It Up

Quantum mechanics is just counterintuitive and we just have to suck it up.

-- Seth Lloyd, quantum physicist at MIT, quoted in "Fluid Tests Hint at Concrete Quantum Reality", Natalie Wolchover, Quanta Magazine, 24 June 2014