08.13.08
Cervantes on Attaining The Impossible
“In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.” – Miguel de Cervantes
Edward Bulwer-Lytton on Genius
“Talent does what it can, Genius does what it must.” — Edward Bulwer-Lytton
03.23.08
Need an Anecdote?
Just discovered this great site, Anecdotage.com.
Anecdotes are organized by category, or you can just get a random one.
In later life Mark Twain suffered from various ailments, among them arthritis and bronchitis. Whenever a newspaper reported that he was ill again, Twain would receive a flood of remedies, prescriptions, nostrums, and miscellaneous cures promising to effect a speedy recovery.
By way of reply, he would send the following form letter: “Dear Sir (or Madam), I try every remedy sent to me. I am now on No. 87. Yours is 2,653. I am looking forward to its beneficial results.”
03.21.08
Lorraine Hansberry on Exceptionality
“The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely.” – Lorraine Hansberry
03.15.08
Hunter Thompson on Objective Journalism
“So much for Objective Journalism. Don’t bother to look for it here — not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.” – Hunter S. Thompson, excerpted from Fear and Loathing: On The Campaign Trail ‘72
11.22.07
The 2nd Bill of Rights
I recently re-read some of Franklin Roosevelt’s speeches.
His 1936 acceptance speech is powerful — and very relevant for today’s America.
An old English judge once said: “Necessitous men are not free men.” Liberty requires opportunity to make a living—a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.
Link (to FDR 1936 Acceptance Speech)
And his 1944 State of The Union Address includes an “Economic Bill of Rights”:
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among those rights he mentions are “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.”
11.07.07
Quote: Kurt Vonnegut On Prime Movers
“The two prime movers in the Universe are Time and Luck.”
– Kurt Vonnegut
10.30.07
Quote: Lin Yutang on Patriotism
“What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?”
– Lin Yutang
10.26.07
Quote: Howard Aiken on Ideas
“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”
– Howard Aiken
