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Don DeLillo
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Lincoln
The beloved son of Abraham Lincoln did not come away from his childhood and young adulthood without picking up a thing or two from his old man.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“Now, as then, there can be but one supreme issue, that between right and wrong. In our country there are no ruling classes. The right to direct public affairs according to his might and ( Read more... ) -
Hobbes
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Hume
David Hume argues that morality does not depend on a god or faith or religion. On the other side, it also could be said that even priestliness is no guarantor of good manners and sound morality.
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Houellebecq
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Obama
“Our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly irreconcilable truths: that war is sometimes necessary, and war at some level is an expression of human folly.”
-- President Barack H. Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize (2009)
[Source: Mark Landler, “Alter Egos: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Twilight Struggle Over American Power”] -
Chess Zen
"An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard."
-- Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956)
[Source: Irving Chernev, "Logical Chess: Move by Move"] -
Your 5 Best Friends
"Recent research suggests that only about half of perceived friendships are mutual."
-- NY Times headline blurb
Et tu, Brute? If you have the money, I have the time. Well, what do you want? undying love? Enjoy the good times and learn from the bad times.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“There is a limited amount of time and emotional capital we can distribute ( Read more... ) -
William Blake
“Without Unceasing Practice nothing can be done. Practice is Art. If you leave off you are Lost.”
-- William Blake
The idea that artistic virtuosity requires a lot of work and practice is a familiar insight, but I love the way that Mr. Frye puts it in explicating Blake’s idea.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<“We are all born in dependence upon an outer world ( Read more... ) -
Dilettante
I still struggle over the issue whether I should try to write more seriously. Lately, because of our little dialogues here, I have been wondering if I should work on a serious dialogue. However, as I cannot even fix on a subject, I come back to the old conclusion that there are so many beautiful and glorious and powerful things written that I ( Read more... )