“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognised wiser than oneself.” Marlene Dietrich
(or, I dare say, by someone recognised more famous than oneself)

Simplicity is the key to brilliance. Bruce Lee (with complexity being the usual way we favor seeking that simplicity)

Take each other for better or worse, but not for granted. Arlene Dahl (for it’s in those latter moments that we feel the devastating loneliness of being ignored)

Until we are all free, we are none of us free. Emma Lazarus (that will never happen, simply because each of us defines freedom differently)

The pleasure lies not in discovering truth, but in searching for it. Leo Tolstoy (or evidence that contradicts it)

It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view. George Eliot (provided different views are available)

Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it. Voltaire (since one’s truth can just be another’s falsehood)

Without an informed society, science is going to be considered an enemy. Stanford Robert Ovshinsky (the informed society will lie in wait for its opportunity to rise again)

Anyone can be a barbarian; it requires a terrible effort to remain a civilised man. Leonard Woolf (for our survival, it is absolutely necessary to train ourselves to remain civilized)

Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon. Charles M. Schulz (instead we seem to forget yesterday, which knowledge is a requirement for the rest)

In politics, being deceived is no excuse. Leszek Kolakowski (as deception is what makes politics work so well)

Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down with incredible swiftness. Faith Baldwin (most everything is slow to build and quick to be torn down, perhaps with the exception of fear and hubris)

If you rest, you rust. Helen Hayes (and we eventually will need, or be forced, to rest and rust)

The stupidity of men always invites the insolence of power. Ralph Waldo Emerson (and since we are basically stupid, we will continue to invite insolence, if only until power starts to show its own stupidity)

The metaphor is perhaps the most fruitful power of man. José Ortega y Gasset (which is to say that there is great power in making assumption and stating something that it isn’t)

Fewer visitors means a smaller audience to sell to advertisers, undermining the central business model of the internet. AI is filleting the best of the web. In doing so, it threatens its existence. The Economist (perhaps due to the blatant dishonesty which proliferates advertising and people’s desire to avoid it)

Architecture aims at eternity. Sir Christopher Wren (but the expense is so great that most opt for the opportunistic nature of short term cheapness)

Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (especially if all our electronic records are suddenly wiped out)

I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not a fool, which is a matter of no small difficulty. James A. Garfield (though judging which is usually the perview of the fool)

A great artist is always before his time or behind it. G. E. Moore (as are the great majority of us)

What the public criticises in you, cultivate. It is you. Jean Cocteau (we prefer to attack the critic instead)

Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech. Martin Tupper (but our timing is usually quite awful)

He who rejects change is the architect of decay. Harold Wilson (or has the wisdom to avoid changes with deleterious effects)

It was the mark of a barbarian to destroy something one could not understand. Arthur C. Clarke (today we just call them marks of the illiterates)

All the heroes of tomorrow are the heretics of today. Yip Harburg (though we also tend to turn many of the heroes of today into the heretics of tomorrow)

The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization. Frank Lloyd Wright (suggesting that the father art does not exist but as only its progeny)

He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know. Lao Tzu (sounds like the perfect description for a politician)

Beware the fury of a patient man. John Dryden (especially as he gets older and starts losing patience)

Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination. Jane Jacobs (not to mention guts)

Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. T.S. Eliot (and since everyone wants to be important, everyone is causing trouble)

The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see. Winston Churchill (and our tendency is to look no farther back than yesterday)

The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. Woodrow Wilson (unless he is blind)

We cannot create what we can’t imagine. Lucille Clifton (though we do it all the time by mere accident)

Honest people, mistakenly believing in the justice of their cause, are led to support injustice. Elihu Root (and we keep finding easier ways to lead to those mistakes)

Anything that consoles is fake. Iris Murdoch (basically trying to hide reality, I guess)

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. Auguste Rodin (but it may be wise to keep in mind how one’s wisdom can be another’s folly)

Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides. André Malraux (often without realizing what he has hidden)

Real power begins where secrecy begins. Hannah Arendt (where it is likely to also be the most vulnerable)

Worse than not realising the dreams of your youth would be to have been young and never dreamed at all. Jean Genet (but you can’t get away from either being young and dreaming, nor of not realizing dreams that, in adulthood, stand out from your youth)

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact. George Eliot (for he is rare indeed)

A man has cause for regret only when he sows and no one reaps. Charles Goodyear (regret that he fails to reap what he himself sows)

We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth. Lucretia Mott (as those in power have the bully pulpit at their disposal)

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. George Orwell (politics probably being the easiest way to seize it)

The world began without man, and it will complete itself without him. Claude Levi-Strauss (or at least with a variant of him)

Sometimes, the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest of moments. Stephen Crane (though we no longer seem to have time for them)

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw (but our perception of it makes us believe it)

Exactitude is not truth. Henri Matisse (and our concept of it changes over time)

We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory. Louise Glück (which is why we so quickly forget and neglect the views that helped form our biases about the world)

The way to combat noxious ideas is with other ideas. The way to combat falsehoods is with truth. William Douglas (except that we differ on what we consider both noxious ideas and truths)

Occupation of the mind is such a source of pleasure that it can relieve even the pain of a headache. Charles Babbage (only to return after such momentary pleasures)

It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end. Ursula Le Guin (every journey’s end requires a new journey)

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. Rosa Parks (but that depends on your view of what is right)

The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne. Geoffrey Chaucer (though we should never expect to really learn it)

It is unforgivable to do what one doesn’t love, especially if one succeeds. Christian Dior (though need handily tends to forgive it)

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi (but we prefer to savor victory without thinking about any possibility of defeat)

The rhetoric of hate is often most effective when couched in the idiom of love. Gore Vidal (or popularized by the unintelligent)

There is no improving the future without disturbing the present. Catherine Booth (nor disimprovit it)

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. Desmond Tutu (though darkness does not really seem to exist)

All I’ve done all my life is disobey. Edith Piaf (but that’s what we all do)

To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success. Henry J. Heinz (as long as you get noticed doing it)

The desire to reach for the sky runs very deep in the human psyche. César Pelli (but not the deep blue sea, except to exploit it)

We must use the wrath of nature as our teacher. Bhumibol Adulyadej (though our tendency is to run away from and discard it from our minds)

Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them. Laurence Peter (which is why we love to make shortcut assumptions about them)

In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it. Samuel Johnson (though they may be first learn how to recognize it)

There comes a point when a dream becomes reality and reality becomes a dream. Frances Farmer (the trick is to be aware of when and how that is happening)

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H.G. Wells (and that has probably been the dictum since the beginning of time, so it is easy to ignore)

Human kind cannot bear very much reality. T.S. Eliot (perhaps because our perception of it seems to change from one moment to the next)

It is far easier to make war than peace. Georges Clemenceau (because we are basically evolutionarily competitive)

Sometimes one likes foolish people for their folly, better than wise people for their wisdom. Elizabeth Gaskell (which explains why we prefer comedy and anything that takes us outside reality)

Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. Malcolm Forbes (though it seems we’re just filling it with distortion)

Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. Akira Kurosawa (but happy to let others think they are)

Never underestimate the stimulation of eccentricity. Neil Simon (which creates real struggles for fitting in)

Sophistry is only fit to make men more conceited in their ignorance. John Locke (and conceited we are!)

It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die. Steve Biko (yet most of us live for ideas that will die, though that’s not what we expect)

The most dangerous worldview is the view of those who have never looked at the world. Alexander von Humboldt (and most of us have never really looked at it, except superficially)

What’s behind you doesn’t matter. Enzo Ferrari (unless it’s someone wielding a knife threateningly)

With confidence, you have won before you have started. Marcus Garvey (especially if you’re good at getting others to believe your lies)

We first make our habits, and then our habits make us. John Dryden (or break us)

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. Chinese Proverb (so what happens to all the timid pupils?)

Everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. Kurt Vonnegut (apparently, this is a normal human characteristic.)

Doubt is one of the names of intelligence. Jorge Luis Borges (for it is a driver of development)

Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud. Hermann Hesse (as our slow speaking cannot match the pace of our rapid thought)

Words without actions are the assassins of idealism. Herbert Hoover (yet that’s what we do best)

Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth. Clifford D Simak (and our desire to leave suggests we don’t want to learn to live here)

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. Robert A. Heinlein (it’s what powers our world)

Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone. Gertrude Stein (but it does help to maintain doubt)

If every conceivable precaution is taken at first, one is often too discouraged to proceed at all. Archer John Porter Martin (so we just proceed in a direction that looks different)

You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know. William Wilberforce (but, by nature, we are very forgetful)

Every nation is selfish and every nation considers its selfishness sacred. Antoine de Saint Exupéry (and each nation only sees other nations as being selfish)

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. Simone Weil (though in its artificial form, marketing, it is mostly generous to the attention giver)

Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth. Lillian Hellman (and we all practice it regularly)

Politics have no relation to morals. Niccolo Machiavelli (but we make free use of morals in politics to win over voters)

We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done. Alan Turing (and perhaps even a shorter distance in the past)

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. Will Rogers (though we are unlikely to admit our rather frequent lapses of good judgment)

The truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is. Nadine Gordimer (especially as one or the other fades)

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. James Branch Cabell

One man is as good as another until he has written a book. Benjamin Jowett (or as bad)

People in their right minds never take pride in their talents. Harper Lee (even though encouraged by everyone else)

Truthfulness so often goes with ruthlessness. Dodie Smith (especially for those whose truths are self serving lies)

A house without books is like a room without windows. Horace Mann (windowless is the future of our homes)

Never be afraid to sit a while and think. Lorraine Hansberry (without the help of electronic devices)

Hate, emotionalism and frustration are not policies. Madeleine Albright (but they certainly inform the policy makers)

Life is a long lesson in humility. J. M. Barrie (that few of us learn)

You know more than you think you do. Benjamin Spock (so we tend to act on what we don’t really know)

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking. Henry Ford (and since everyone is now able to look, it is rarely done right)

Peace is never a perfect achievement. Kofi Annan (nor a permanent one)

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Kurt Vonnegut (yet we are rarely aware that we are pretending)

Those who would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin (so I take it none of us are so deserving)

A Conservative Government is an organised hypocrisy. Benjamin Disraeli (and so we may think, as it should be the legislative’s position to be progressive, and the executive’s to act conservatively according to the legislation)

We only do well the things we like doing. Colette (until we become bored with them)

Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory. Franklin P. Adams (and nothing has always been more common than a bad memory)

What the public wants is the image of passion, not passion itself. Roland Barthes (or they were think you are crazy)

Political questions are far too serious to When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Viktor Frankl (into attackers blaming others for what we cannot change)

To label any subject unsuitable for comedy is to admit defeat. Peter Sellers (we have not been advancing as much as retreating, though we may not wish to admit defeat)

We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom. Leo Tolstoy (which begs the riddle of how we can know that we don’t know)

We read books to find out who we are. Ursula Le Guin (or whom we think we were)

I believe we are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy, but that could change. Dan Quayle (and that is how a politician hedges their bets)

History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided. Konrad Adenauer (and that have been forgotten)

The great disease of mankind is ignorance. Sidney Poitier (and we’re not good at treating diseases that can’t be cured with pharmaceuticals)

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. William James (it is also the art of being unscrupulous)

Art is the only place you can do what you like. Paula Rego (and, like the rest of life, you are not always going to get away with it.)

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. Rudyard Kipling (and the biggest pushers are politicians and the media)

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. Mahatma Gandhi (the latter is pursued by the young, and the former by the old)

Children often have a much stronger concept of morality than adults. Nina Bawden (only when taught by their elders, who prefer precept over practice)

Since we humans have the better brain, isn’t it our responsibility to protect our fellow creatures from, oddly enough, ourselves? Joy Adamson (that does not suggest to me that we necessarily have the better brain)

It is only afterward that a new idea seems reasonable. To begin with, it usually seems unreasonable. Isaac Asimov (alas, it is those impulsive ones that feel reasonable at the onset that tend to create the most harm)

Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same. Audrey Hepburn (though it looks quite different before you reach it)

It is well that there is no one without a fault; for he would not have a friend in the world. William Hazlitt (interestingly, however, most of us boast of not having faults)

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. The Buddha (suggesting that we have all failed)

There are times when a leader must move ahead of his flock. Nelson Mandela (though such risk taking is generally anathema to the viability of one’s political future)

How strangely do we diminish a thing as soon as we try to express it in words. Maurice Maeterlinck (as it always sounded important and quite impressive in our mind)

Words are but the vague shadows of the volumes we mean. Theodore Dreiser (or but intentional disrupters)

Liberty of any kind is never lost all at once. David Hume (starting as soon as liberty is gained)

They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm. Dorothy Parker (of which we quickly sicken in pursuit one again of the calm)

Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking. Bernard Baruch (which is interesting, because we naturally seem to seek attention and immediate gratification, suggesting more talking and less listening)

You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done. Kofi Annan (suggesting that diplomacy is not likely to last without threats)

If you can’t be kind, at least be vague. Judith Martin (or just keep your mouth shut)

Every good artist paints what he is. Jackson Pollock (and that is what we all do in our own individual way)

NNot everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin (though in many cases changes will only happen quickly with intervention, everything changes over time)

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Thomas Gray (all paths lead to the grave)

Find things beautiful as much as you can, most people find too little beautiful. Vincent van Gogh (even when you think they are really ugly)

The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity. Amelia Earhart (though determination can often prove even more difficult)

The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. Ida B. Wells (though it is easier to just retaliate)

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul. Joseph Addison (for indoctrination purposes, of course)

Hate is the wrath of the weak. Alphonse Daudet (and the ignorant)

Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so. John Stuart Mill (suggesting that happiness is best found in ignorance)

Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands and buts. Amy Winehouse (then most people would relegated to remain silent and unthinking)

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Marie Sklodowska-Curie (but as imperfect beings with many learning difficulties, we are more than likely to continue fearing)

To care for those who once cared for us is one of the highest honors. Tia Walker (it does not seem right that what used to be normal in the family group until relatively recent times is now an honor.)

When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail. Pearl S. Buck (they never cease, but may just skip a generation or two)

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (always in chains, actually, from heavy reliance at birth to mother’s sustenance, to behavioral controls that last even past one’s lifetime)

Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure. Jack Lemmon (unless you get fired first)

Art has the ability to touch the deepest parts of our souls and transport us to worlds unknown. Julia Ward Howe (though many of us resist or refuse it, or limit it severely)

We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. Joseph Campbell (usually what awaits us happens long before we let go of our dream life)

Research has documented that there is a steady rise in happiness among people over 50, despite problems of illness and aging. Meg Selig, Psychology Today (perhaps more unhappy, ill, people die before they reach 50)

A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework. Thomas Edison (or stole it from others)

To oppose something is to maintain it. Ursula Le Guin (unless, perhaps, it is accompanied by proposals for something different)

Science is about letting the chips fall, and sometimes this means accepting that the truth is not simple, even if it would make our lives easier if it were. Naomi Oreskes (alas it is more common to skew select science only for political, self serving purposes)

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. Rosa Parks (and that goes for both sides of the coin)

We do not wish, nor are we able, to break the link between ourselves and our forefathers. Taha Hussein (though it does diminish in intensity with time and assimilation)

The time is always right to do what is right. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (and what usually prevents us from doing so is fear of the potential consequences)

Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (and when it does, the lazy do nothing with it)

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Kurt Vonnegut (difficult advice to use for an increasingly careless species like ours)

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well. Robert Louis Stevenson (which means getting others to believe you’re holding good cards)

A little credulity helps one on through life very smoothly. Elizabeth Gaskell (though it doesn’t have to be the truth that is credulous)

To create one’s own world takes courage. Georgia O’Keeffe (though perhaps not as much as to say them out loud)

Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation. Milton Friedman (though it involves our inability to control inflation)

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Niels Bohr (as most of it is just charlatanism)

Fame is something which must be won; honour is something which must not be lost. Arthur Schopenhauer (yet one might question how many actually won their fame through honor)

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? George Eliot (or, one would argue, to make life easier for oneself)

Truth is powerful and it prevails. Sojourner Truth (but it sure takes time for us to see and accept what it represents in our lives)

One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one’s capacity. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (but we do, which is often why we either rise or fall precipitously)

Curiosity is the lust of the mind. Thomas Hobbes (which, like sex, we tend to enforce limitations)

The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude. Thornton Wilder (though we quickly forget that for which we are grateful)

Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it. Bertolt Brecht (but only as it relates to the perception and interpretation by the artist)

You are who you choose to be. Ted Hughes (which is not necessarily whom you and others think and believe you are)

The only joy in the world is to begin. Cesare Pavese (because it does not take long to become tiresome or boring)

Liberty is the power that we have over ourselves. Hugo Grotius (yet we rarely take long to squander it)

The heart of history lies in interpretation of the facts. Anna Ella Carroll (or the current views on what counts as facts)

There are conditions of blindness so voluntary that they become complicity. Paul Bourget (every viewpoint included, from the furthest edges of right and left right down to the middle)

Form follows function. Louis Sullivan (thus creating new functions that will be followed by new forms.)

The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Milton Friedman (often with costs to future generations)

Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (and one should not wander too far from it, lest one be precluded from returning to care for it for the next generation)

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour. Truman Capote (perhaps because we tend to usually stop at the point of failure)

Human society must be regarded as one part of a continuous natural entity that includes all animals and plants. Kisho Kurokawa (and don’t forget minerals)

The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Oscar Wilde (yet we keep struggling to believe otherwise)

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung (and so we have become just a bunch of dreamers, unaware and ignorant of all else)

At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. Toni Morrison (usually often enough for us to stop noticing it)

Freedom in its essence is the acceptance of the chains which suit you and for which you are suited. Bronisław Malinowski (or with which you are suited, and without the know-how to break free of them)

There’s no greater gift than thinking that you had some impact on the world, for the better. Gloria Steinem (and we all believe we have at least some impact)

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. Ian Fleming (but it only matters if you’re still around to recognize it)

Do not destroy what you cannot create. Leo Szilard (though what one calls destruction another calls transformation)

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little. Sydney Smith (and it only usually takes an avid cheerleader to make you do more)

It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong. John Maynard Keynes (though that is determined by the consantly changing camps of right and wrong)

Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him. E. M. Forster (not to mention his ideas, which often die with the man)

Life is but a web spun of ghosts and dreams and illusions. Robert E. Howard (but that’s just because we respond better to adhering to fairy tales than to addressing reality)

I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking. Joan Rivers (… but afraid to be singled out by sying it)

The question is not whether we are able to change but whether we are changing fast enough. Angela Merkel (or too fast to even notice the mistakes we are making along the way)

Out-of-date theories are not in principle unscientific because they have been discarded. Thomas Kuhn (though many are still popular because they are ineffectively explained or are not updated in a timely manner)

The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings. Martin Buber (however it has been more difficult to do so of late)

A man who has good in him does not mind sometimes showing his worse nature. Maxim Gorky (though it does nothing to increase his popularity)

The greatest ideas are the simplest. William Golding (perhaps because most people do not understand anything that is not simple)

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. Niccolo Machiavelli (but that can be difficult, because they are well hidden, and most of us don’t know where or how to look for them)

Do it big, do it right, and do it with style. Fred Astaire (and you’ll be able to get away with just about anything)

Fall in love with yourself, with life and then with whoever you want. Frida Kahlo (we are in the habit of doing the last first, then maybe the others follow)

All that separates, whether of race, class, creed, or sex, is inhuman, and must be overcome. Kate Sheppard (au contraire, all that separates is the nature of everything as part of the evolutionary force)

I don’t play monsters. I play men besieged by fate and out for revenge. Vincent Price (which is probably why we see monsters in anyone who is seeking retribution for something we’ve done to them)

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it’s important. Eugene McCarthy (which is why politics is so fraught with ignorance)

There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments. Wangari Maathai (that’s where the prospects for change usually lie)

A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. Mahatma Gandhi (if only in his mind, which is what matters to him the most)

Wonder is the desire of knowledge. Thomas Aquinas (and easily squashed by religious fervor)

Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. Harriet Tubman (though unlikely, it still feels good to hear)

Life is not so much what you accomplish as what you overcome. Robin Roberts (as imagined by those who don’t think they’ve accomplished much)

Why not question everything? Lynn Conway (because it makes people uncomfortable)

Inaction breeds doubt and fear; action breeds confidence and courage. Dale Carnegie (…or idiocy)

Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple. Woody Guthrie (government is full of fools

It is only when we are no longer fearful that we begin to create.J. M. W. Turner (perhaps with the basis of those creations formed while we are in a fearful state)

Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience. Ibuka Masaru (a quality that likely becomes harder and harder as we age)

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect. Samuel Johnson (provided, perhaps, only when learned early in life)

The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. Helmut Schmidt (alas, it is often empty)

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. John Muir (and it should be reiterated that people are part of nature)

Of all things, I liked books best. Nikola Tesla (perhaps because he could not experience so much more, like we do today, through electronics)

Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history. John Dalberg-Acton (though how and by whoever determines what is Truth is paramount)

Don’t ever make decisions based on fear; make decisions based on hope and possibility. Michelle Obama (and thereby increase your chances for early death)

Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Martin Luther King Jr (which would likely not happen if your level of self confidence/worth is up to snuff)

The only interesting answers are those which destroy the questions. Susan Sontag (but they do have a tendency to resurface after some time has passed)

Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults. Benjamin Franklin (contrary to how the majority of us feel, undesirous of hearing about our faults from others)

Experience is what you get while looking for something else. Federico Fellini (if you don’t get distracted along the way, as we have a tendency to do)

The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it. George Orwell (of course, it depends on how we define as truths)

If you don’t want to be replaced by a machine, don’t try to act like one! Arno Allan Penzias (alas, in growing economies we are increasingly called upon to do exactly that)

If you do the right thing in the here and now, the future has a way of taking care of itself. Dolly Parton (but not necessarily to your benefit)

Ridicule is the only honourable weapon we have left. Muriel Spark (but perhaps that may be just because we fail, or prefer not, to consider alternatives)

Whenever one tries to suppress doubt, there is tyranny. Simone Weil (that suggests religious teachings and included)

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. Rosa Parks (provided you’re doing what your group deems to be right)

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. Adlai Stevenson (giving the underdog the excuse that the system is unfairly unsafe)

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. Michaelangelo (how about questioning reasons for the block of stone to hide it in the first place)

Invest in the human soul; who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough. Mary McLeod Bethune (or just a wasteful illusion)

The man who cannot visualise a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot. André Breton (and very unimaginative)

Nothing recedes like success. Walter Winchell (perhaps because we just forgot that failure often recedes in many of the same ways)

All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare. Baruch Spinoza (though they may be rare simply because we don’t take the time to notice them)

Art is anything you can get away with. Andy Warhol (but don’t say that in your sales pitch)

Hindsight is notably cleverer than foresight. Chester Nimitz (probably because it’s easier to spin it as the foresight that wasn’t)

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent. Victor Hugo (as do all forms of creative vehicles)

The best way to say anything is just to say it. Johnny Cash (then suffer the consequences)

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness. Frank Gehry (alas, today’s architectural works won’t last very long, just like much else that has been lost to poor materials, construction, and nature)

Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties.
Frédéric Chopin (even though we tend to constantly pursue complexities for solutions)

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (most of which is hidden from view or just neglected)

What comes after is not always progress. Alessandro Manzoni (in the long run we may realize that it is more setbacks than progress)

You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Alexander Graham Bell (contrary to what we are currently experiencing, as quick growth seems to be the key to quick successes, though they may not last very long)

Among all the diseases of the mind there is none more epidemical or more pernicious than the love of flattery. Richard Steele (well said by someone who obviously does not get enough of it)

Often the fear on one evil leads us into a worse. Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux (it may really be the usual, and not the occasional, reaction)

Words without actions are the assassins of idealism. Herbert Hoover (though actions without words will kill indifference)

Nobody’s free until everybody’s free. Fannie Lou Hamer (in which case nobody will ever be free)

Experience is the teacher of all things. Julius Caesar (especially the exerience gathered over years in the company of family of all ages)

History is a novel written by the people. Alfred de Vigny (and interpreted by those with the power to do so)

A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice. James Callaghan (as does a fool)

Better to be without logic than without feeling. Charlotte Brontë (better yet is to possess a balance between the two)

I intend to live life, not just exist. George Takei (that’s what we all say, and want to believe)

Where words fail, music speaks. Hans Christian Andersen (unless you’re deaf)

Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe. Galileo Galilei (so we would like to imagine in order to make sense of any or all of the above)

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison (or successes followed by failure)

Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it. George Orwell (suggesting we are stupid)

Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine. Lord Byron (there will always be something to cry about)

The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. B.F. Skinner (though no better than machines so far)

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. Albert Einstein (with their own difficulties)

I’ll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. Nina Simone (fear is a basic human trait, therefore we will never attain freedom)

Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been. David Bowie (and where you never thought you’d be)

Brevity is the soul of wit. William Shakespeare (suggesting most of us are either witless or dim witted)

Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. Lucy Maud Montgomery (there may be no limit to freshness in the future, just as with mistakes in the past)

Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity. Pope Francis (although we might note that what constitutes cruelty is subject to interpretation by the subject as well as by laws and even by another’s viewpoint)

Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher. Oprah Winfrey (but don’t be surprised when you find that those people don’t exist)

Nature provides exceptions to every rule. Margaret Fuller (even though we prefer a black-and-white view)

None of us can know what we are capable of until we are tested. Elizabeth Blackwell (so we do all we can to avoid the tests)

The secret to the fountain of youth is to think youthful thoughts. Josephine Baker (though by ignoring all else you’ll probably die young as well)

It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness. E. M. Forster (suggesting that we all have such a vice)

He who dares not offend cannot be honest. Thomas Paine (nor cannot be expected to hold down a job for very long)

Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace. Nelson Mandela (which is what anarchists are counting on to maintain power)

Justice and judgment lie often a world apart. Emmeline Pankhurst (the reality suggests it happens most of the time)

You don’t have to accept the world as it is. You can make it into the world as it should be and could be. Barack Obama (and that’s been the problem, having forgotten or ignored history)

Poor is the pupil that does not surpass his master. Leonardo da Vinci (and poor is the master who does not teach his pupils how to surpass him)

Every day sees humanity more victorious in the struggle with space and time. Guglielmo Marconi (and it sees its winnings more reasons to, often unknowingly, abuse our environment)

In order to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life, to doubt, as far as possible, of all things. René Descartes (an assuring thought that we will never find the truth)

Nothing on earth can make up for the loss of one who has loved you. Selma Lagerlöf (and we have a habit of learning that after the fact)

Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is. Mahatma Gandhi (though few would admit this fact)

Growth requires movement. And often, the only way forward is through an exit door. Alicia Keys (though we tend to see the exist only in an emergency)

If it is art, it is not for all, and if it is for all, it is not art. Arnold Schoenberg (though what is art to one might not be to another)

Between too early and too late, there is never more than a moment. Franz Werfel (gambling)

Everybody thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Leo Tolstoy (perhaps because we believe ourselves in the right and all else in the wrong)

I always in writing start with a name. Give me a name and it produces a story, not the other way about normally. J.R.R. Tolkein (that way we can let our biases color the story before we even hear it)

Tradition can, to be sure, participate in a creation, but it can no longer be creative itself. Tange Kenzo (perhaps because creativity only occurs at the beginning of a new tradition)

Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets. Napoleon Bonaparte (unless a bayonet is being aimed at your stomach, drawing your attention from the comics in the paper)

My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe. Stephen Hawking (as it is much harder to understand humankind)

Authors do not supply imaginations, they expect their readers to have their own, and to use it. Nella Larsen (perhaps quite unlike visual media)

Beauty and the devil are the same thing. Robert Mapplethorpe (though neither might be clearly evident, as both the devil and the beauty are in the details)

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. Victor Hugo (and when it doesn’t it means we’re probably dead)

People in their right minds never take pride in their talents. Harper Lee (so either they don’t know they’re talented or they’re not in their right minds)

Only stupid people don’t change their minds. Boutros Boutros-Ghali (suggesting that we are all stupid most of the time)

We die only once, and for such a long time! Molière (but only in our present form, thanks to the recycling of our evolutionary nature)

True democracy makes no enquiry about the color of the skin, or the place of nativity, or any other similar circumstance. Salmon P. Chase (thus democracy will always remain an elusive goal)

Life is like a book. One has to know when to turn the page. Hubert de Givenchy (and when to close the book)

Any knowledge that doesn’t lead to new questions quickly dies out: it fails to maintain the temperature required for sustaining life. Wislawa Szymborska (boring is the typical adjective for this type of knowledge)

The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people. Woodrow Wilson (though even the loudest bells won’t be heard by the deaf leader)

It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself. Betty Friedan (ergo the success of social media platforms)

Never play to the gallery. David Bowie (good advice for members of the gallery, but not if you’re on stage)

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?’ A. A. Milne (and that’s how we get stupid)

Being an intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers. Janis Joplin (therefore, anyone who thinks they have all the answers is not an intellectual)

Modern life demands, and is waiting for, a new kind of plan, both for the house and the city. Le Corbusier (and we are still waiting)

Some subjects are so serious that one can only joke about them. Niels Bohr (which is why our entertainment industry is flourishing)

Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes. J. R. R. Tolkein (and we just keep on making them)

We love without reason, and without reason we hate. Jean-François Regnard (then everyone with reason must be a cold stoic)

Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so. Philip Stanhope (lest they become wiser than you?)

Fair and softly goes far. Miguel de Cervantes (the lack thereof explains why we get stuck in one quagmire after another)

Every man’s ability may be strengthened or increased by culture. John Abbott (not only with the ability to help, but with the ability to hurt as well)

Our role is to widen the field of discussion, not to set limits in accord with the prevailing authority. Edward Said (contrary to the apparent role of government, which is to narrow the field)

The longer I live, the less I trust ideas, the more I trust emotions. Louis Malle (it sounds like most people around here have lived too long)

The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it. Laurence Sterne (not to mention the plague of ignorance)

He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave. Andrew Carnegie (and he that is surrounded by fools, bigots, and slaves will never learn to reason)

If it is not a fit place for women, it is unfit for men to be there. Sojourner Truth (and vice versa)

It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears. Louis Brandeis (though more often it enslaves men to fears)

Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors. Nikola Tesla (and one of those factors is that life is and will ever remain an equation capable of solution)

I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man. Alexander Hamilton (meaning that a perfect work does not exist)

No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. Isaac Newton (even though many such discoveries prove disastrous)

There are too many idiots in this world. And having said it, I have the burden of proving it. Frantz Fanon (and I’ll add myself first on the list)

Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid. William Faulkner (mostly, though, you were probably only momentarily startled)

In the fields of observation chance favours only the prepared mind. Louis Pasteur (suggesting that most of us are usually just out of our minds)

It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. Herman Melville (businesses with new ideas, on the other hand, fail, and it is the ones who imitate successful ones that tend to thrive)

When you put your hand to the plough, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row. Alice Paul (which would indicate that it is the rare person who puts their hand to the plough)

The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do. Amelia Earhart (and no one else is likely to notice)

Where there is a worker, there lies a nation. Eva Perón (a worker to be exploited, that is)

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 (of course they first learned that tiresomeness from their parents)

Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found. Anne Morrow Lindbergh (for when we focus on the future, we forget the insecurities of the moment)

If fate means you to lose, give him a good fight anyhow. William McFee (you never know when free choice might present itself)

The division of mankind threatens it with destruction. Andrei Sakharov (including the cultural distinctions we insist upon)

Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it. Salvador Dalí (which begs the question for why we strive so hard for it)

Intellect confuses intuition. Piet Mondrian (or is ignored)

Reason has always existed, but not always in a rational form. Karl Marx (especially as our interpretation of what is rational changes periodically)

I praise loudly. I blame softly. Catherine the Great (I guess she wasn’t much of a politician by today’s standards)

Science is organised knowledge. Wisdom is organised life. Immanuel Kant (though I have my doubts that anything is really organised)

If we are wounded by an ugly idea, we must count it as part of the cost of freedom. Kurt Vonnegut (unfortunately, most of us are easily wounded by ugly ideas, which we view as impingements and not costs worth suffering for any purpose)

The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. James Baldwin (about which one learns after it’s too late to back out)

In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. Andy Warhol (sorry, Andy, but as the population keeps growing it’s just not at all likely)

If a man never contradicts himself, the reason must be that he virtually never says anything at all. Erwin Schrödinger (and that’s where selective memory comes into play)

Any knowledge that doesn’t lead to new questions quickly dies out: it fails to maintain the temperature required for sustaining life. Wislawa Szymborska (and that describes the typical media cycle)

Some men work to maintain others who labour not. That is unjust. Leon MacLaren (but everyone labors, even if they work to effect the labor of others)

The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. Frederick Douglass (which explains why no nation lasts for very long)

For when the water is up to your neck you must be truly stubborn not to cry for help. Ludovico Ariosto (or you must be truly mute)

Fear is incomplete knowledge. Agatha Christie (and to many, knowledge is truly scary)

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. Friedrich Nietzsche (or, better yet, to love both his friends and his enemies)

We live in a world we ourselves create. Johann Gottfried Herder (if alteration is the same as creation, then we most certainly are creators)

To achieve great things we must be self-confined… mastery is revealed in limitation. Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (obviously not a goal for one who is a jack of all trades and master of none)

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (unless you don’t have access to books or can’t read)

Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical. Blaise Pascal (though justice can be tyrannical and force against it powerless)

Words without actions are the assassins of idealism. Herbert Hoover (however history may show that words without actions sometimes preclude the assassination of idealism)

The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power. Toni Morrison (sadly, most writers fail the test)

Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo. H.G. Wells (or a sign of ignorance)

The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer. Fridtjof Nansen (and the forget-about-it takes no time at all)

The day the peasants will be educated in the truth, tyrants and slaves will be impossible on earth. Giuseppe Garibaldi (but there will always be different version of the truth, which guarantees there will always be tyrants and slaves)

Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination. John Dewey (or from the appropriation of another’s imagination)

Too little liberty brings stagnation, and too much brings chaos. Bertrand Russell (and enough places in between bring confusion)

Man is free; but not unless he believes he is. Giacomo Casanova (but we are so wired to be dependents)

Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. Reinhold Niebuhr (it’s just a shame that something so necessary is still in its experimental stages)

The best revenge is massive success. Frank Sinatra (it worked for Hitler)

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. George Orwell (and for unwanted words to be quelled)

Since when was genius found respectable? Elizabeth Barrett Browning (much to our disadvantage we still consider technology geniuses respectable)

To see ourselves as others see us is a most salutary gift. Hardly less important is the capacity to see others as they see themselves. Aldous Huxley (though we usually think others should see us as we see ourselves and we should see others as we see fit)

Any subject can be made interesting, and therefore any subject can be made boring. Hilaire Belloc (and that goes for people as well)

The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant. Maximilien Robespierre (and those who find these to be secrets are ignorant)

Anticipation, I suppose, sometimes exceeds realisation. Amelia Earhart (I would venture to guess not just sometimes, but most of the time)

Truth is never ugly when one can find in it what one needs. Edgar Degas (even if one’s needs can be interpreted as being ugly)

Wherever there is great property, there is great inequality. Adam Smith (if anyone knows where one won’t find great property, let me know so I can go there)

We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers. Emmeline Pankurst (who someday will be confronted by others who will call themselves not law-breakers, but law-makers)

The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. Ida B. Wells-Barnett (too bad we often have trouble agreeing on what is right and what is wrong)

That’s all Folks! Mel Blanc (but it never ends there, does it?!)

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. William Faulkner (but first make sure you know learn how to swim)

Any truth is better than indefinite doubt. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (whether or not the truth later stands up to scrutiny)

There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say them. Jean Cocteau (or after you’re released from that torture chamber)

Curiosity is insubordination in its purest form. Vladimir Nabokov (which is why so much of it is not only misunderstood, but illegal as well)

My work is done. Why wait? George Eastman (because it’s not your turn)

Every failure is a step to success. William Whewell (and every success is a step to another failure)

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate. Thomas Watson (and if you want to fail, try doubling your success rate)

Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. Joseph Addison (and though each has the potential for good, they also have the potential for harm)

No thief, however skilful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire. L. Frank Baum (next to the wisdom of how to use it)

The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress. Joseph Joubert (but that’s usually only a dream)

Nothing is as dull as constant reality. Agnes Moorhead (or as addicting as constant fantasy)

The beginning is always today. Mary Wollstonecraft (or tomorrow)

The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. Harper Lee (which rarely has much, if any, effect on majority rule)

Education is what you get when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t. Pete Seeger (and buggered either way)

The tyrant dies and his rule is over; the martyr dies and his rule begins. Soren Kierkegaard (whether or not the tyrant is also the martyr)

There is no cure for birth and death, save to enjoy the interval. George Santayana (and death is a well known cure for the interval)

None but ourselves can free our minds. Bob Marley (sometimes with the help of a hallucinogenic or two)

Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better. Florence Nightingale (different might be a more accurate word than better)

History is not merely what happened. It is what happened in the context of what might have happened. Hugh Trevor-Roper (or what we make up, or want others to believe, that happened)

America doesn’t respect anything but money. Madam C. J. Walker (yet money has no respect for America)

True virtue is genius. Friedrich Schlegel (though it’s not likely we can find enough with such virtue to prove the point)

I would rather die of passion than of boredom. Vincent van Gogh (though many might prefer to die of boredom in old age than to be the victim of a crime involving passion at any age)

Change can come, but you cannot do it alone. Addie Wyatt (nevertheless it only takes one to start it)

Conventionality is not morality. Charlotte Brontë (try explaining that to religious conservatives)

We shall be judged by what we do, not by how we felt while we were doing it. Kenneth Tynan (it’s more like we are judged by how others feel about what we do, no matter our intentions)

One should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds. Moses Maimonides (the trick is to know if you are actually hearing the truth or just some marketing ploy)

Lay in the weeds and wait, and when you get your chance to say something, say something good. Merle Haggard (but the right words just never seem to come when you need them most)

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. William Ellery Channing (or be killed by it)

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. Pablo Picasso (but they also create more riches for the rich, extra work and expense for the poor, and toxic waste for us all)

Punctuality is the virtue of the bored. Evelyn Waugh (as is seeking faults in others)

We consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm. Franklin Roosevelt (though we shouldn’t discount the possibility of an evolutionary advantage to the worms)

Self-knowledge is no guarantee of happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it. Simone de Beauvoir (my bets are on self-delusion)

“Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow.” Thornton Wilder (it’s also dirty like manure)

If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time. Dorothy Height (but not too ripe or it will rot)

Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination. Immanuel Kant (and reason is an ideal of the imagination)

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. William Wordsworth (and our means of sustenance)

All men would be tyrants if they could. Daniel Defoe (and women pacifiers?)

Always do something different from the others. Michele Ferrero (but really, you can only imagine yourself being different)

I can be on guard against my enemies, but God deliver me from my friends! Charlotte Brontë (but it can be baffling when your enemies turn out to be your friends)

The lot of critics is to be remembered by what they failed to understand. George Moore (though they will never know it)

A wrong that cannot be repaired must be transcended. Ursula Le Guin (but it will more likely be forgotten)

An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted. Arthur Miller (and we certainly had a good share of such eras in the 20th century)

A great many people seem to delight most in what they least understand. William Hogarth (so they can at least feel smart)

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them. Abigail Adams (however we should really watch out for the too many actions that correspond with a few high sounding words)

Solidarity can grow only in inverse ratio to personality. Emile Durkheim (but you must have personality to create solidarity)

One way of looking at speech is to say that it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness. Harold Pinter (and thus at clothing, that it stifles speech)

All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes. William Ewart Gladstone (though I don’t believe the U.S. Congress would ever look at it this way, they would, indubitably, just say it to get public opinion on their side)

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Isaac Asimov (which suggests that the competent live in violence)

Live to the point of tears. Albert Camus (then die?)

A man loses contact with reality if he is not surrounded by his books. François Mitterrand (unless they are fiction)

Reality has come to seem more and more like what we are shown by cameras. Susan Sontag (but only by cameras that show what we want to see)

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice. Martin Luther King Jr (unfortunately, justice is very elusive)

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty. John Ruskin (they may be nobler, but we mostly pay attention to strength and beauty)

The measure of a country’s greatness is its ability to retain compassion in time of crisis. Thurgood Marshall (but this is just a theory, as there is yet a country which has shown it for very long)

I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed. Marco Polo (as might have said the Bible writers if God had given them anthropological details before Adam and Eve)

When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation. Alexander Hamilton (so let’s hope the sword spends most of its time in the sheath)

You can never plan the future by the past. Edmund Burke (but it sure helps to have studied the past)

Any idiot can face a crisis; it’s the day-to-day living that wears you out. Anton Chekhov (and it’s how an idiot handles a crisis that determines how they go about day-to-day, which then determines whether or not they wear out evenly or in jumps and starts)

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. René Descartes (which suggests, wrongly I think, that we know what is a good mind)

Failure is success if we learn from it. Malcolm Forbes (so if it’s success, then why do we call it failure?)

More noise occurs from a single man shouting than a hundred thousand who are quiet. José de San Martín (but does a man really make noise if there is no one to hear him?)

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues. Elizabeth Taylor (so virtues can feel like vices, and vice versa as well)

Women’s freedom is the sign of social freedom. Rosa Luxemburg (but only if everyone else is also free)

Politics is not an exact science. Otto von Bismarck (it might be if politicians were not its most relentless manipulators)

Man has the hardest job of all, the job of making decisions on incomplete data. Henry Kuttner (actually we have become very comfortable with incomplete data, and very good at using it for our own ends)

The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power. Francis Bacon (but we still strive for power more often that for wit)

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. Corrie ten Boom (I often worried about that)

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett (and we each want to be the first to fill those minds with our own convictions)

What is beautiful is moral, that is all there is to it. Gustave Flaubert (and because beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so is what is moral)

Stones grow; plants grow and live; animals grow, live and feel. Carl Linnaeus (but for stones and plants these are still assumptions based on our rather limited knowledge)

The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances. Martha Washington (ergo ignorance is bliss)

It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar. Jerome K. Jerome (or a politician)

Can we all get along? Rodney King (sorry, Rodney; that’s not in our nature)

Men are to be estimated, not from what they know, but from what they are able to perform. Adam Ferguson (so what does that say about philosophers?)

The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends. Max Beerbohm (until an antagonistic document sees the light of day)

Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself. Friedrich Nietzsche (followed by the universality of leisure in death)

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Mother Teresa (but that’s only for when they leave you, as things tend to return to their normal state before long)

All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas (what happened to strike while the iron is hot)

No man ought to be condemned to live in a place where a rose cannot grow. George Cadbury (exactly how I felt when I migrated from the country to the city)

The mind is like an umbrella—it functions best when open. Walter Gropius (and like an umbrella when closed, a mind can wreak havoc in the hands of its possessor)

If you don’t throw yourself into something, you’ll never know what you could have had. Amy Winehouse (unless perhaps you throw yourself to your death)

Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things. Russell Baker (except that what is done is mostly labeled as a necessary good thing and rarely labeled as terrible)

You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects. Will Rogers (funny how we tend to think that people in the limelight know everything; on the other hand, you know everybody is ignorant except you)

What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork. Pearl Bailey (however don’t hesitate to put your love on paper)

Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem. Brian Aldiss (which will eventually become a problem looking for new creativity to resolve it)

Truth is the foundation of all knowledge, and the cement of all societies. John Dryden (funny thing is that the truth is not necessarily what is but simply what people believe)

The way you get a better world is, you don’t put up with substandard anything. Joe Strummer (so it doesn’t look like we’re gonna get a better world anytime soon)

Poetry is an affair of sanity, of seeing things as they are. Philip Larkin (even if through rose-colored glasses)

Truth is the daughter of time, and I feel no shame in being her midwife. Johannes Kepler (can most people really say that, withtout wincing a bit and holdings a bit back?)

Honest work is much better than a mansion. Leo Tolstoy (perhaps more satisfying in many ways, however honest isn’t necessarily better than shelter)

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Oscar Wilde (so when was that any different?)

There is something worthwhile to be gained from a deliberate renunciation of ‘race’ as the basis for belonging to one another and acting in concert. Paul Gilroy, Against Race (yet attaching oneself to a “race” is often the easiest way to belong to a group)

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. John Steinbeck (yes, in order to appreciate one thing, it seems very important that we also experience the opposite)

Helplessness induces hopelessness, and history attests that loss of hope and not loss of lives is what decides the issue of war. B.H. Liddell Hart (though the loss of the life belonging to the planner can certainly end the war)

One can find time for everything if one is never in a hurry. Mikhail Bulgakov (alas, we’re always in a hurry)

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead (nevertheless big groups are always striven for)

A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world. John Le Carré (yet that’s how most of us do it)

It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones. George Washington (the larger the workforce in a company or students in a school, the more indifference we will always find)

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible. Jonathan Swift (and seeing through visions is an invisible art)

One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others. Simone de Beauvoir (still holds no matter that the value might be positive or negative)

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin (perhaps they deserve help in understanding the history and ramifications of their choice)

Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo. H. G. Wells (or the outward response of they who fear being identified as the odd man out)

The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel. Horace Walpole (everyone else is dead)

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Desmond Tutu (as have the silent)

If one is anxious to write about God, one ought to be anxious to write well. Charles Williams (though one could not say that about the biblical writers)

Égalité is an expression of envy. It means… ‘No one shall be better off than I am.’ Alexis de Tocqueville (as we point our noses in the air so we don’t see those below)

Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real. Love, and so art and morals, is the discovery of reality. Iris Murdoch (but we usually prefer to live in the surreal)

You can look out of your life like a train and see what you’re heading for, but you can’t stop the train. Philip Larkin (still, we are willing to pay a steep price for access to the conductor)

Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know. William Wilberforce (so we look for all kinds of ways to forget)

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. Mother Teresa (in others, one is invisible and the other one we ignore)

Truth lies within a little and certain compass, but error is immense. Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (which is why it’s usually easy to disguise error)

Old questions are solved by disappearing, evaporating, while new questions corresponding to the changed attitude of endeavor and preference take their place. John Dewey (and that explains the news cycle)

life’s not a paragraph, And death i think is no parenthesis. E.E. Cummings (some do leave their lives in a paragraph for others to read after their death, while for the rest of us life fits inside parentheses that years shrink until the space between brackets empties)

The past is never dead. It’s not even past. William Faulkner (the simple act of recalling the past brings it to the present)

There is in gardens a plant which one ought to leave dry, although most people water it. It is the weed called envy. Cosimo de’ Medici (yet by its dry nature it automatically sucks moisture, and we happen to be mostly water)

Heaven must be in me before I can be in heaven. Charles Villiers Stanford (heaven, increasingly subject to individual interpretation, has become reachable by more than ever before)

In politics there is no revenge, but there are consequences. Pyotr Stolypin (though the consequences can feel like revenge)

Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act. Annie Besant (but just the acts of remaining silent or trying not to think)

The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it. Peter Medawar (but new ideas are really only rehashes of old ones, and the mind is bound to eventually accept them)

Ill habits gather by unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas. John Dryden (and we are as blind to them as the water is blind to the pollution it picks up and spreads along the way)

Works of art make rules but rules do not make works of art. Achille-Claude Debussy (breaking rules is often required for works to be considered art)

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. Mary Wortley Montagu (and so every author wants you to believe)

A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him. Man Ray (just like a leader only needs one follower)

You really only know when you know little. Doubt grows with nowledge. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (so people with the strongest opinions are the most ignorant)

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. Warren Buffett (even when there’s no substance behind aspersions)

Each man must grant himself the emotions that he needs and the morality that suits him. Rémy de Gourmont (and must accept the associated risks of being commited or imprisoned)

One of the few certainties in life is that persons of certainty should certainly be avoided. Willy Russell (how certain of that are you)

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. Isaac Asimov (Izzy must really be annoying)

In politics evils should be remedied not revenged. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (good advice that hasn’t happened yet)

Tyranny is always better organised than freedom. Charles Péguy (and freedom always finds a way to disorganize tyranny)

It is not freedom that Conservatives want; what they want is the sort of freedom that will maintain existing inequalities or restore lost ones. Maurice Cowling (after all, freedom is what one thinks it is, not what others think)

We believe in free trade because we believe in the capacity of our countrymen. Henry Campbell-Bannerman (to make us rich)

The strongest of all warriors are these two: Time and Patience. Leo Tolstoy (’til death does them part)

The obvious only becomes visible when forces reach a certain level of disparateness. Me (though I feel certain someone else has already said this)

Between too early and too late, there is never more than a moment. Franz Werfel (too bad for believers in carpe diem)

A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men. Roald Dahl (unfortunately, many we think of as wise are among the most nonsensical)