Life Is Very Simple

Life is very simple ...  It merely consists in learning how to accept the impossible, how to do without the indispensable, how to endure the insufferable.  What could be easier?

-- Kathleen Norris (1880-1966), American novelist, Foolish Virgin, a Novel (1927), p 178

Happyness

A new post, Minister of State for Happiness, will align and drive government policy to create social good and satisfaction.

-- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, on a new office established amid a sweeping government reorganization, New York Times, 10 February 2016

No Earthly Idea

I am truly, completely undecided.  I have no earthly idea what I'm going to do at the end of the day.

-- Barbara Wilson, 64, an undecided voter in Henniker, N.H., who said she likes Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio,  New York Times, 9 February 2016

Please Clap

Please clap.

-- Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush during a speech to a New Hampshire audience that didn't respond to an applause line, 2 February 2016

Now, Less So

Trump has been looking good mainly because the sane vote has been so broken up, so fractured.  Now, less so.

-- Gordon Humphrey (1940-), former US Senator from New Hampshire, New York Times, 2 February 2016

The Groundhog Is Jesus

Michael Bronski, a film critic for The Forward who teaches a course in Jewish film history at Dartmouth, said he sees strong elements of not only Jewish but also Christian theology.  "The groundhog is clearly the resurrected Christ, the ever hopeful renewal of life at springtime, at a time of pagan-Christian holidays," he said, adding: "And when I say that the groundhog is Jesus, I say that with great respect."

-- Alex Kuczynski, on diverse interpretations of Groundhog Day (1993 film), in "Groundhog Almighty", New York Times, 7 December 2003

Real Liberty

Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.

-- Alexander Hamilton (1755?-1804), American politician, Debates of the Federal Convention, 26 June 1787

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)

Don's Detour

Those who wish to follow along can visit my other blog at

http://donsdetour.blogspot.com/

Don's Detour

Trvth will take a brief hiatus while I attend to some medical issues.  I'm sure you'll hear from me again before Christmas.

Comfortable Conviction

Insurance -- an ingenious modern game of chance in which the player is permitted to enjoy the comfortable conviction that he is beating the man who keeps the table.

-- Ambrose Bierce (1842-1913?), American satirist and author, in: The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary, University of Georgia Press (2001) p. 133

Habit Rules

Habit rules the unreflecting herd.

-- William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English poet, Ecclesiastical Sonnets, Part II, No. 28 (1821)

Just Kidding

The only difference between me and most people is that I'm perfectly aware that all my important decisions are made for me by my subconscious. My frontal lobes are just kidding themselves that they decide anything at all. All they do is think up reasons for the decisions that are already made.      

-- Rex Stout (1886-1975), American author of detective novels, "Author Rex Stout Vs. The FBI" in Life Magazine (10 December 1965)