To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“In Front of Your Nose,” Tribune (22 Mar. 1946)
Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.
Willis Whitney (1887-1958) American industrial researcher
(Attributed)
We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well. We must summon such detachment and intellectual integrity to our task that this trial will commend itself to posterity as fulfilling humanity’s aspirations to do justice.
Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941-54), lawyer, jurist, politician
Nuremberg Trials, Opening remarks at trial of Hermann Goering (1946)
If oxen and horses and lions had hands and were able to draw with their hands and do the same things as men, horses would draw the shapes of gods to look like horses and oxen would draw them to look like oxen, and each would make the gods bodies have the same shape as they themselves had.
Xenophanes (c. 570–478 BC) Greek philosopher, poet.
In Fragmente der Vorsokratiker 21B15, by Diels-Kranz
Administrivia: Open Beta!
I’m throwing this open to an “open beta” amongs the folks who read my blog. Please comment below.
I’m most interested in structural/site issues: menu options that go to strange places, things that don’t seem to be working quite right (or at all), stuff like that.
Aesthetic notes (“Ew! Where did you get those colors?!”) are welcome, too.
Feel free to offer up favorite quotes, too, but I’d rather you hold onto those for post-go-live.
Administrivia: WIST v2 Notes
The new version of WIST makes full use of Movable Type as a database to make it a lot easier to search, comment, edit, and add to the quotation database.
Essentially, each quotation is an entry/post; the title is the citation, and the extended entry field is used for source material or other notes. Each author is a category (using the Category Description for the long author citation), with a couple of special categories for Administrivia, “other” authors, and sig lines.
Finding just the right combo of fields that I could search on, display when needed, etc., was a bit of a trick. I talk about it much greater length on my regular blog (especially here), and random vagueries of my schedule made it a much longer process than anticipated. But … I think things are just about ready to release to beta.
Good things about this arrangement
- I can easily add new entries and have them show up immediately.
- I can update/edit/revise or even delete entries and have it immediately show up.
- It’s a database. A real database. All sorts of possibilities there.
- Relational database (Categories to Posts, i.e., Authors to Quotes). Nice.
- Search by text is much easier.
- I can get comments. (And trackbacks, though that’s unlikely.)
Not-so-good things about this arrangement:
- Search by author isn’t organic; it requires going to the author page and doing a browser search there (or doing it via Google). That’s just kind of awkward.
- The huge number of categories (authors) is pushing the speed limits of MT, especially when I go in to edit them (e.g., add new authors, update biographical data). It also means I can use most MT external clients.
- Some difficulties in managing different types of archive displays (and links thereto). Admin posts are substantively different from quotation posts, and should display differently. I’ve finally bashed that into shape, I think, but there are likely ‘behind the scenes” bits that will be more difficult to maintain because of it.
- Weird visual oddities from the post “Titles” being the citations — the vast majority of which are “(Attributed),” but even where there is a cite, it doesn’t include the author name.
- Some of the hiccups between MT’s dynamic and static arrangements meant I had to make more pages static than I wanted, requiring more rebuilds.
Most of the “not-nice” bits are more inconvenience and extra work in setting it up than in what the visitor will see. I hope. 🙂
Administrivia: Slouching toward Beta
I’m pretty close to having the site ready for an “open beta” — announce it on my normal blog (nofollow) and let folks come check it out and try to break it. The dancing around between multiple category archives is causing me problems, but I think I have all the labeling finished.
I’m not happy about the resolution of author searches — directing folks to the All Authors pages and telling them to search there — but it’s workable. The only alternative is using Google for searching (which may yet happen).
Things still to do:
- Going through each page.
- Doing a FireFox vs IE6 comparison.
- Create a Favicon (this can happen during Beta)
- Modify the default search template: Include the category (author), delete the blog author (me)
- Modify the default search template: Mention / link to the All Authors page.
Post go-live:
- Google Analytics
- Feedburner
Like I said — close.
I love God. It’s His fan club I can’t stand.
Sig Lines
~
There are two kinds of light — the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American cartoonist and writer
Lanterns and Lances (1961)
Sometimes misquoted: "... the glow that illuminates ..."
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Luke 9:51-56 (NIV)
In films murders are always very clean. I show how difficult it is and what a messy thing it is to kill a man.
Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) English film director
(Attributed)
Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” Unpopular Essays (1950)
Also in "Atheism and Agnosticism," Essays in Skepticism (1962).
Everyone is as God has made him, and oftentimes a great deal worse.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Spanish novelist
Don Quixote, 11.5
The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
(Attributed)
For it is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits; it is evidently equally foolish to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician and to demand from a rhetorician scientific proofs.
[πεπαιδευμένου γάρ ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον τἀκριβὲς ἐπιζητεῖν καθ᾽ ἕκαστον γένος, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἡ τοῦ πράγματος φύσις ἐπιδέχεται: παραπλήσιον γὰρ φαίνεται μαθηματικοῦ τε πιθανολογοῦντος ἀποδέχεσθαι καὶ ῥητορικὸν ἀποδείξεις ἀπαιτεῖν.]
Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 1, ch. 3 (1.3.4) / 1094b.24ff (c. 325 BC) [tr. Ross (1908)]
(Source)
Possibly the source of this spurious Aristotle quote. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
For the man of education will seek exactness so far in each subject as the nature of the thing admits, it being plainly much the same absurdity to put up with a mathematician who tries to persuade instead of proving, and to demand strict demonstrative reasoning of a Rhetorician.
[tr. Chase (1847), ch. 1]
It is the mark of an instructed mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible.
[Source (1852) - earliest version of this frequent translation I found.]
A man who has been well trained will not in any case look for more accuracy than the nature of the matter allows; for to expect exact demonstration from a rhetorician is as absurd as to accept from a mathematician a statement only probable.
[tr. Williams (1869)]
For an educated person will expect accuracy in each subject only so far as the nature of the subject allows; he might as well accept probable reasoning from a mathematician as require demonstrative proofs from a rhetorician.
[tr. Welldon (1892), ch. 2]
For it is the mark of an educated man to require, in each kind of inquiry, just so much exactness as the subject admits of: it is equally absurd to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician, and to demand scientific proof from an orator.
[tr. Peters (1893)]
For it is the mark of an educated mind to expect that amount of exactness in each kind which the nature of the particular subject admits. It is equally unreasonable to accept merely probable conclusions from a mathematician and to demand strict demonstration from an orator.
[tr. Rackham (1934)]
For it is characteristic of a well-educated person to look for the degree of exactness in each kind of investigation that the nature of the subject itself allows. For it is evident that accepting persuasive arguments from a mathematician is like demanding demonstrations from a rhetorician.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]
For a well-schooled man is one who searches for that degree of precision in each kind of study which the nature of the subject at hand admits: it is obviously just as foolish to accept arguments of probability from a mathematician as to demand strict demonstrations from an orator.
[tr. Ostwald (1962)]
For it is the mark of an educated man to seek as much precision in things of a given genus as their nature allows, for to accept persuasive arguments from a mathematician appears to be [as improper as] to demand demonstrations from a rhetorician.
[tr. Apostle (1975)]
For it is the mark of the trained mind never to expect more precision in the treatment of any subject than the nature of that subject permits; for demanding logical demonstrates from a teacher of rhetoric is clearly about as reasonable as accepting mere plausibility from a mathematician.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]
Since it is the mark of an educated person to look in each area for only that degree of accuracy that the nature of the subject permits. Accepting persuasive arguments from a mathematician is like demanding demonstrations from a rhetorician.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]
For it is the mark of an educated person to search for the same kind of clarity in each topic to the extent that the nature of the matter accepts it. For it is similar to expect a mathematician to speak persuasively or for an orator to furnish clear proofs!
[tr. @sentantiq (2018)]
For it belongs to an educated person to seek out precision in each genus to the extent that the nature of the matter allows: to accept persuasive speech from a skilled mathematician appears comparable to demanding demonstrations from a skilled rhetorician.
[tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]
There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
Quote Magazine (21 Mar 1965)
The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
(Attributed)
What others think of us would be of little moment did it not, when known, so deeply tinge what we think of ourselves.
Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic, author, polymath
(Attributed)
Q. What are you against?
A. Narrow-mindedness. I’m against people taking the Bible absolutely literally, rather than letting some of it be real fantasy, like Jonah. You know, the whole story of David is a novel … Faith is best expressed in story.
Q. If the Bible is not literally true, does that mean we don’t need to take it seriously?
A. Oh no, you do, because it’s truth, not fact, and you have to take truth seriously even when it expands beyond the facts.Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
“I Dare You,” Newsweek (interview) (7 May 2003)
Source article
It takes a lot of intellect to have faith, which is why so many people only have religiosity.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
“I Dare You,” Newsweek (interview) (7 May 2003)
Source article
The difference between a Democracy and a Dictatorship is that in a Democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a Dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting.
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) German-American author, poet
Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and Tales of Ordinary Madness (1972)
(Source)
But a new danger appears in the excess of influence of the great man. His attractions warp us from our place. We have become underlings and intellectual suicides. Ah! yonder in the horizon is our help; — other great men, new qualities, counterweights and checks on each other. We cloy of the honey of each peculiar greatness. Every hero becomes a bore at last.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)
(Source)
Administrivia: Working on WIST
I’ve been making great strides toward getting the new version of WIST into shape. I made a breakthrough on the category listings — doing the author categories subsidiary to the alphabet-letter categories, etc. Slowly filling in the sidebar info. Things left to do (of substance) include:
1. Figure out what’s on the front page.
2. How the ~~Admin stuff will be displayed.
3. How the Miscellaneous and Sig Line archives will work.
I really want to get this finished, both because of the improvement it will provide to everyone and so that I can get back to entering stuff into it. 🙂
If books were sold as software and online recordings are, they would have this legalese up front:
The content of this book is distributed on an ‘as is’ basis, without warranty as to accuracy of content, quality of writing, punctuation, usefulness of the ideas presented, merchantability, correctness or readability of formulae, charts, and figures, or correspondence of (a) the table of contents with the actual contents, (2) page references in the index (if any) with the actual page numbering (if present), and (iii) any illustration with its adjacent caption. Illustrations may have been printed reversed or inverted, the publisher accepts no responsibility for orientation or chirality. Any resemblance of the author or his or her likeness or name to any person, living or dead, or their heirs or assigns, is coincidental; all references to people, places, or events have been or should have been fictionalized and may or may not have any factual basis, even if reported as factual. Similarities to existing works of art, literature, song, or television or movie scripts is pure happenstance. References have been chosen at random from our own catalog. Neither the author(s) nor the publisher shall have any liability whatever to any person, corporation, animal whether feral or domesticated, or other corporeal or incorporeal entity with respect to any loss, damage, misunderstanding, or death from choking with laughter or apoplexy at or due to, respectively, the contents; that is caused or is alleged to be caused by any party, whether directly or indirectly due to the information or lack of information that may or may not be found in this alleged work. No representation is made as to the correctness of the ISBN or date of publication as our typist isn’t good with numbers and errors of spelling and usage are attributable solely to bugs in the spelling and grammar checker in Microsoft Word. If sold without a cover, this book will be thinner than those sold with a cover. You do not own this book, but have acquired only a revocable non-exclusive license to read the material contained herein. You may not read it aloud to any third party. This disclaimer is a copyrighted work of Jef Raskin, first published in 2004, and is distributed ‘as is’, without warranty as to quality of humor, incisiveness of commentary, sharpness of taunt, or aptness of jibe.
Jef Raskin (1943-2005) American computer scientist, writer
“If Books Were Sold as Software,” NewsScan.com (18 Aug 2004)
(Source)
Administrivia: Doing the Numbers, 2/2007
To update the above, as of the Feb. 2007 upload of data, here are the current WIST stats:
| How many of … | Feb-07 | Aug-03 | Feb-02 | Nov-00 |
| Miscellaneous Quotations? | 475 | 457 | 446 | 400 |
| Non-Miscellaneous Quotations? | 4,610 | 4,233 | 3,869 | 3,208 |
| Total Quotations? | 5,085 | 4,690 | 4,315 | 3,608 |
| Cited Authors? | 1,672 | 1,632 | 1,556 | 1,396 |
As noted in the News section, this update didn’t add a lot to the system (mostly sourcing clarifications), but it did add some.
As to the current “most popular”:
| Who? | Rank | Count |
| William Shakespeare | 1 | 98 |
| C.S. Lewis | 2 | 61 |
| Mark Twain | 3 | 54 |
| Ralph Waldo Emerson | 4 | 51 |
| Bill Watterson | 5 | 49 |
| George Bernard Shaw | 6 | 44 |
| Dave Barry | 7 | 39 |
| Ambrose Bierce | 8 | 37 |
| Abraham Lincoln | 9 | 36 |
| G. K. Chesterton | 10 | 34 |
Alas, FastCounter is no longer functioning here. I have SiteMeter running, but no idea of the “since when” it’s counting. It shows, though a current total number of visits of 73,185. eXTReMe Tracking says the number of unique visitors since Aug. 2003 is 77,459. So I’ll take that number, and add it to the below tally to get:
September 2001: 8,400
Februrary 2002: 12,859
August 2003: 46,958
February 2007: 124,417.
Of those, 71% are from North America (14% from Europe, Finland making up half of that, interestingly), 81% use Windows, 61% are on IE (22% on FireFox), 60% get here from a search engine (half that from web sites, including cross-reference, the Atomz search, and web rings); Google has half the search pie there.
I’m resetting the Extreme search for its new version, so (for my future reference) it will be zeroed out at this point.
Administrivia: It’s alive! Alive!
After about three-plus years of (apparently) lying fallow, I’ve posted an update to the WIST data.
Why so long?
Well, aside from having a day job and eleventy-dozen other projects going on, WIST as it presently stands takes the better part of a day to fully upload. That means I don’t do it trivially. So I was waiting until I finished my next pass on the database, consisting of trying to source a lot more of the quotations. I’ve done a good job of that (and added a few besides), but had only gotten up to Robert E. Lee last check.
So I’ve not finished that sourcing, and there are some new quote authors I’ve not doubled back on for bio info, and I’m sure all sorts of other little glitches are in there. Consider it (as always) a work in progress, with recommendations or problems always welcome to be reported.
I really want to get this into an online database, for searching purposes as well as for ease of updating. Does anyone know of a good package that runs on Apache/MySQL that would do the trick?
At any rate, thanks for your patience and support.
Administrivia: Authors
The following are the folks who are currently quoted in WIST, along with a count of how many quotes there are for each.
(The links to the author names should eventually zero in to the first quote on the appropriate page, but for the moment only goes to the appropriate page itself.)
UPDATE: (17-Jul-07) This list as been removed, as there is now a whole page devoted to that (albeit without a quotation count).
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
(Attributed)
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Attributed)
A modest little person, with much to be modest about.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
(Attributed)
Power-worship blurs political judgement because it leads, almost unavoidably, to the belief that present trends will continue.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
(1946)
When religion becomes a mere artificial façade to justify a social or economic system — when religion hands over its rites and language completely to the political propagandist, and when prayer becomes the vehicle for a purely secular ideological program, then religion does tend to become an opiate. It deadens the spirit enough to permit the substitution of a superficial fiction and mythology for the truth of life. And this brings about the alienation of the believer, so that his religious zeal becomes political fanaticism. His faith in God, while preserving its traditional formulas, becomes in fact faith in his own nation, class or race. His ethic ceases to be the law of God and love, and becomes the law of might-makes-right: established privilege justifies everything. God is the status quo.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
Contemplative Prayer
You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, so you will sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.
Bono (b. 1960) Irish musician, philanthropist [b. Paul David Hewson]
Interview by Michka Assayas, Christianity Today (8 Aug2005)
(Source)
WALLY: One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Scott Adams (b. 1957) American cartoonist
Dilbert (18-Oct-2006)
The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
The Kingdom of God Is Within You, ch. 3 (1894)
I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
What Is Art?, ch. 14 (1896)
Quoted by Joseph Ford, Chaotic Dynamics and Fractals (1985) [ed. Barnsley and Demko] Alt. trans.: "I know that most men — not only those considered clever, but even those who are very clever and capable of understanding most difficult scientific, mathematical, or philosophic, problems — can seldom discern even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as obliges them to admit the falsity of conclusions they have formed, perhaps with much difficulty — conclusions of which they are proud, which they have taught to others, and on which they have built their lives." [tr. Maude (1930)]
Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders, than from the arguments of its opposers.
William Penn (1644-1718) English writer, philosopher, politician, statesman
Fruits of Solitude #142 (1682)
Source text
BOB: The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born.
CHARLOTTE: Nobody ever tells you that.
BOB: Your life, as you know it — is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk — and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life.Sophia Coppola (b. 1971) American actress, screenwriter, producer
Lost in Translation (2003)
It’s asking a great deal that things should appeal to your reason as well as your sense of the aesthetic.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English novelist and playwright [William Somerset Maugham]
Of Human Bondage (1915)
Implicit in the term “national defense” is the notion of defending those values and ideas which set this Nation apart. … It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of … those liberties … which makes the defense of the Nation worthwhile.
Earl Warren (1891-1974) American jurist and politician; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953-69)
US v. Robel, 389 US 258 (1967)
It is contended by many that ours is a Christian government, founded upon the Bible, and that all who look upon the book as false or foolish are destroying the foundation of our country. The truth is, our government is not founded upon the rights of gods, but upon the rights of men. Our Constitution was framed, not to declare and uphold the deity of Christ, but the sacredness of humanity. Ours is the first government made by the people and for the people. It is the only nation with which the gods have had nothing to do. And yet there are some judges dishonest and cowardly enough to solemnly decide that this is a Christian country, and that our free institutions are based upon the infamous laws of Jehovah.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Individuality” (1873)
For whatsoever some people boast of the antiquity of places and names, or of the pomp of their outward worship; others, of the reformation of their discipline; all, of the orthodoxy of their faith — for everyone is orthodox to himself — these things, and all others of this nature, are much rather marks of men striving for power and empire over one another than of the Church of Christ. Let anyone have never so true a claim to all these things, yet if he be destitute of charity, meekness, and good-will in general towards all mankind, even to those that are not Christians, he is certainly yet short of being a true Christian himself.
John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher
Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
http://www.constitution.org/jl/tolerati.htm
If any man err from the right way, it is his own misfortune, no injury to thee; nor therefore art thou to punish him in the things of this life because thou supposest he will be miserable in that which is to come. Nobody, therefore, in fine, neither single persons nor churches, nay, nor even commonwealths, have any just title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of each other upon pretence of religion.
John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher
Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)
CHROME DOME: Bah. Warm, fuzzy nice-nice! What good is science if nobody gets hurt!?
Ben Edlund (b. 1968) American cartoonist, writer, producer
The Tick, “The Tick vs. Science”
You will find that State is the kind of organization which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly, too.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Conversation with author, Charles Frankel, High on Foggy Bottom (1969)
Referring to the US State Department.
All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Age of Uncertainty, ch. 3 “The Massive Dissent of Karl Marx” (1977)
It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Affluent Society, ch. 11, sec. 4 (1958)
That’s stupid. And stupid is like kudzu. Once it gets a foothold, it just grows wild.
Leonard Pitts, Jr. (b. 1957) American commentator, journalist, novelist
Miami Herald, column (9 Apr. 2006)
Liberals treat judgment the way conservatives treat sex: forbid it, except when you’re doing it.
William Saletan (b. 1964) American political essayist
“My Secret Burden,” Slate (9 Mar 2006)
Full text.
A period of silence on your part would be welcome.
Harold Wilson (1916-1995) British Prime Minister (1964-70)
(Attributed)
to Harold Laski
We have gone a long way toward civilization and religious tolerance, and we have a good example in this country. Here the many Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church do not seek to destroy one another in physical violence just because they do not interpret every verse of the Bible in exactly the same way. Here we now have the freedom of all religions, and I hope that never again will we have a repetition of religious bigotry, as we have had in certain periods of our own history. There is no room for that kind of foolishness here.
Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)
Mr. Citizen (1960)
People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don’t put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.
Jamie Raskin (b. 1962) American constitutional scholar, politician
Maryland State Senate testimony (1 Mar 2006)
Baltmore Sun
You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
Anne Lamott (b. 1954) American novelist and non-fiction writer
Bird by Bird (1995)
She attributes the quote to "my priest friend Tom"
It really doesn’t matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on.
Gordon Atkinson (contemp.) American minister, writer [a.k.a. Real Live Preacher]
Real Live Preacher
People yearn for love … It is similar to a dog’s relationship to the car. First, they cry because they want to get in the car. Then, as soon as the car starts to move, they cry because they want to get out. And of course, as soon as they get out, all they want to do is get back in as soon as possible. Good thing for us, dogs aren’t especially musical or just imagine all the annoying songs there’d be about cars.
Merrill Markoe (b. 1948) American author, screenwriter, comedian
(Attributed)