Science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion … The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Paper, Symposium on Science, Philosophy and Religion, New York (9 Sep. 1940)
You didn’t have a choice about the parents you inherited, but you do have a choice about the kind of parent you will be.
Marian Wright Edelman (b. 1939) American social reformer, lawyer, author
The Measure of Our Success, ch. IV (1992)
Lest Arab governments be tempted out of sheer routine to rush into impulsive rejection, let me suggest that tragedy is not what men suffer but what they miss.
Abba Eban (1915-2002) Israeli politician and diplomat [b. Aubrey Solomon Eban]
Speech, UN General Assembly (9 Oct. 1968)
We recognize that there are no trivial occurrences in life if we get the right focus on them.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1 (2010)
(Source)
Consensus is what many people say in chorus but do not believe as individuals.
Abba Eban (1915-2002) Israeli politician and diplomat [b. Aubrey Solomon Eban]
(Attributed)
Quoted in "The New Yorker" (April 23, 1990); http://www.bartleby.com/66/92/18392.html
I used to believe that marriage would diminish me, reduce my options. That you had to be someone less to live with someone else when, of course, you have to be someone more.
Candice Bergen (b. 1946) American actress
Knock Wood (1985)
Administrivia: Updates to A-D
Finally got the “D” page updated, and so uploaded the most recent “A-C” pages as well (since, as I go, sometimes things get added).
Most interesting feature of “D” (that I can recall over four months) was discovering there were two Will Durants I was quoting.
Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry, and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.
William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
Quoted in Jim Hicks, “Spry Old Team Does It Again,” Life (18 Oct 1963)
(Source)
Durant says this is what he came up with when asked to sum up civilization in a half-hour ("I did it in less than a minute, this way").
This source is Durant recounting the passage in a Life magazine interview, which is often mis-cited as the origin. The quote is also sometimes vaguely attributed to his and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization, their 11-volume work (1935-75) (the Life article was on the publication of Vol. 8, The Age of Louis XIV (1963)), but I cannot find it in any of the volumes to that date.
In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order.
William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
Time (13 Aug. 1965)
When people ask me to compare the 20th century to older civilizations, I always say the same thing: “The situation is normal.”
William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
New York Times (7 May 1968)
On winning the Pullitzer Prize
The soul of a civilization is its religion, and it dies with its faith.
William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
The Age of Reason Begins (1961)
(with Ariel Durant)
The reverse side has also its reverse side.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Japanese proverb
No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Zen proverb
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Tao te Ching
De gustibus non disputandum.
[There’s no accounting for taste.](Other Authors and Sources)
Latin maxim
There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Chinese proverb
“Don’t worry — it’s only kinky the first time.”
Sig Lines
~
BART: Why do we need church shoes? Jesus wore sandals.
HOMER: Well, if he’d had proper arch support, maybe they might not have caught him.(Other Authors and Sources)
The Simpsons
APU: I used to think karma was baloney, but now I’m not so sure.
HOMER: Mmmmm … caramel baloney!(Other Authors and Sources)
The Simpsons
Liberty is the capacity to do anything that does no harm to others.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, France, Article IV (26 Aug. 1789)
THE DOCTOR: To the rational mind, nothing is inexplicable; only unexplained.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Doctor Who (1963)
ANYA: Look, I know you find me attractive; I’ve seen you looking at my breasts.
XANDER: Nothing personal, but when a guy does that, it just means his eyes are open.(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
“I can’t remember if I’m the good twin or the evil one.”
Sig Lines
~
I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.
(Other Authors and Sources)
English Professor, University of Ohio
“A polar bear is a rectangular bear after a coordinate transform.”
Sig Lines
~
Examine what is said, not him who speaks.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Arab proverb
“I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.”
Sig Lines
~
“Early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”
Sig Lines
~
“Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.”
Sig Lines
~
“Yes, I am an Agent of Evil. However, my duties are largely ceremonial.”
Sig Lines
~
“Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive.”
Sig Lines
~
MAYOR: I swear, I would sell my soul for a decent short game. Of course, it’s a little late for that. I don’t suppose I could offer your soul, huh? Really help me on the green.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Lover’s Walk”
Confessed faults are half mended.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Scottish proverb
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Chinese proverb
XANDER: You up for a little reconnaissance?
BUFFY: You mean where we all sculpt and paint and stuff?
XANDER: No, that was the Renaissance.
BUFFY: Oh. I’ve had a really long week.(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
GILES: I suppose there is a sort of Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression.
XANDER: I resent that! Or possibly, thank you.(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
MAYOR: Be careful not put someone’s eye out with that thing … until I tell you to.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
MAYOR: There’s more than one way to skin a cat. And I happen to know that’s factually true.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
STUDENT: Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?
BUFFY: You know I meant to, and then I just got really busy…(Other Authors and Sources)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy.
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Ecclesiastes 9:7 [JPS (1985)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart.
[KJV (1611)]
Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a glad heart.
[JB (1966)]
Go ahead -- eat your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful.
[GNT (1976)]
Go, eat your bread with enjoyment and drink your wine with a merry heart.
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]
All parts should go together without forcing. You must remember that the parts you are reassembling were disassembled by you. Therefore, if you can’t get them together again, there must be a reason. By all means, do not use a hammer.
(Other Authors and Sources)
IBM maintenance manual (1925)
“That’s it! I’m calling the Mother Ship!”
Sig Lines
~
Talk doesn’t cook rice.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Chinese proverb
LORD PALMERDALE: Are you in charge here?
THE DOCTOR: No, but I’m full of ideas.Terrance Dicks (1935-2019) English screenwriter, author [pseud. Robin Bland]
Doctor Who, “The Horror of Fang Rock” (1977)
If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 Corinthians 13:1 [NRSV (1989)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
[KJV (1611)]
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing.
[Jerusalem (1966)]
I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.
[GNT (1976)]
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 22:21
The story is told of Picasso that a stranger in a railway carriage accosted him with the challenge, “Why don’t you paint things as they really are.” Picasso demurred, saying that he did not quite understand what the gentleman meant, and the stranger then produced from his wallet a photograph of his wife. “I mean,” he said, “like that. That’s how she is.” Picasso coughed hesitantly and said, “She is rather small, isn’t she. And somewhat flat?”
(Other Authors and Sources)
Angels Fear, by Gregory and Mary Catherine Bateson
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Hebrews 13:2
He who carries out one good deed acquires one advocate in his own behalf, and he who commits one transgression acquires one accuser against himself. Repentance and good works are like a shield against calamity.
The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
(Unreferenced)
Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment;
Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength.(Other Authors and Sources)
Tao te Ching
If hard work were so wonderful, the rich would keep it all for themselves.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Yiddish proverb
Only time can heal your broken heart, just as only time can heal his broken arms and legs.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Miss Piggy
Every man likes the smell of his own farts.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Icelandic proverb
It’s not the bullet with my name on it that worries me. It’s the one that says “To whom it may concern.”
(Other Authors and Sources)
Anonymous Belfast resident, quoted in The London Guardian (1991)
See also this.
“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.”
Sig Lines
~
Attributed to many people, most prominently Eleanor Roosevelt and Hyman Rickover, but the origin appears to be a recollection of a statement by Henry Thomas Buckle: "Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." -- Charles Stewart, Haud Immemor: Reminiscences of Legal and Social Life in Edinburgh and London 1850-1900 (1901). More information here.