Borrowing Wisdom

Margaret Mead: "I was wise enough..."

2012-02-20T10:56:00.004-05:00

"I was wise enough to never grow up while fooling most people into believing I had."

—Margaret Mead

Margaret Mead: "A small group of..."

2012-02-20T10:53:00.002-05:00

"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

—Margaret Mead

Jean Dubuffet: "Art does not lie down..."

2012-02-20T00:23:00.001-05:00

"Art does not lie down on the bed that is made for it; it runs away as soon as one says its name; it loves to be incognito. Its best moments are when it forgets what it is called."

--Jean Dubuffet, French painter

Albert Einstein: "We cannot solve our..."

2012-02-19T23:42:00.001-05:00

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

--Albert Einstein

Andre Gide: "One does not discover..."

2012-02-19T23:25:00.001-05:00

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

--Andre Gide

Lewis Carroll: "There's no use trying..."

2012-02-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

"There's no use trying," Alice said. "One can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

—Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Rob Hopkins: "It is often said..."

2012-02-19T21:38:00.001-05:00

"It is often said that new ideas go through three stages. First they are ridiculed, then they are ignored, and finally they are accepted as having always been the case."

--Rob Hopkins, The Transition Handbook (p30)

Barbara Kingsolver: "At its heart..."

2012-02-18T21:16:00.004-05:00

"At its heart, a genuine food culture is an affinity between people and the land that feeds them."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "Where are our ingrained..."

2012-02-18T21:15:00.002-05:00

"Where are our ingrained rules of taste and civility, our ancient treaties between our human cravings and the particular fat of our land? Did they perhaps fly out the window while we were eating in a speeding car?"

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "Owing to synthetic fertilizers..."

2012-02-18T21:11:00.003-05:00

"Owing to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic modification, and a conversion of farming from a naturally based to a highly mechanized production system, U.S. farmers now produce 3,900 calories per U.S. citizen, per day. That is twice what we need, and 700 calories a day more than they grew in 1980.

Commodity farmers can only survive by producing their maximum yields, so they do. And here is the shocking plot twist: as the farmers produced those extra calories, the food industry figured out how to get them into the bodies of people who didn't really want to eat 700 more calories a day. That is the well-oiled machine we call Late Capitalism."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "When we walked as..."

2012-02-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

"When we walked as a nation away from the land, our knowledge of food production fell away from us like dirt in a laundry-soap commercial."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "... to many urban people..."

2012-02-18T21:01:00.000-05:00

"... to many urban people the idea of growing your food must seem as plausible as writing and conducting your own symphonies for your personal listening pleasure."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "The baby boom psyche..."

2012-02-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

"The baby boom psyche embraces a powerful presumption that education is a key to moving away from manual labor, and dirt - two undeniable ingredients of farming. It's good enough for us that somebody, somewhere, knows food production well enough to serve the rest of us with all we need to eat, each day of our lives.

Is the story of bread, from tilled ground to our table, less relevant to our lives than the history of the thirteen colonies?"

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Barbara Kingsolver: "In two generations we've..."

2012-02-18T20:51:00.000-05:00

"In two generations we've transformed ourselves from a rural to an urban nation. North American children begin their school year around Labor Day and finish at the beginning of June with no idea that this arrangement was devised to free up children's labor when it was needed on the farm.
Most people of my grandparents' generation had an intuitive sense of agricultural basics: when various fruits and vegetables come into season, which ones keep through the winter, how to preserve the others... Most importantly: what animals and vegetables thrive in one's immediate region and how to live well on those, with little else thrown into the mix beyond a bag of flour, a pinch of salt, and a handful of coffee. Few people of my generation, and approximately none of our children, could answer any of those questions, let alone all. This knowledge has vanished from our culture. We also have largely convinced ourselves it wasn't too important."

—Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Ayn Rand: "The question isn't who..."

2012-02-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

"The question isn't who is going to let me, it's who is going to stop me."

—Ayn Rand

Unknown: "Let your past make..."

2012-02-18T11:39:00.001-05:00

"Let your past make you better, not bitter."

—Unknown

Thomas Edison: "Opportunity is missed by..."

2012-02-18T11:35:00.002-05:00

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

—Thomas Edison

M. Scott Peck: "Life is difficult. This..."

2012-02-18T11:22:00.000-05:00

"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters."

—M. Scott Peck, from The Road Less Traveled, discovered on QuoteSnack.com

Winston Churchill: "The era of procrastination..."

2012-02-18T11:12:00.004-05:00

"The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."

—Sir Winston Churchill, November 12, 1936

Mark Twain: "What gets us into..."

2012-02-18T11:03:00.001-05:00

"What gets us into trouble
is not what we don't know
it's what we know for sure
that just ain't so"

—Mark Twain

John McDonogh: "Study in the course..."

2012-02-17T19:04:00.001-05:00

"Study in the course of your life to do the greatest possible amount of good"

—John McDonogh

Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to..."

2012-02-16T23:00:00.001-05:00

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

—Upton Sinclair

Occupied Wall Street: "You can't evict an..."

2012-02-12T22:46:00.000-05:00

"You can't evict an idea."

—The Occupied Wall Street Journal Facebook Page

Saul D. Alinsky: "From time to time..."

2012-02-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

"From time to time there have been external enemies at our gates; there has always been the enemy within, the hidden and malignant inertia that foreshadows more certain destruction to our life and future than any nuclear warhead. There can be no darker or more devastating tragedy than the death of man's faith in himself and in his power to direct his future."

—Saul D. Alinsky, from Rules for Radicals (p xxvi)

Saul D. Alinsky: "To lose your 'identity'..."

2012-02-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

"To lose your 'identity' as a citizen of democracy is but a step from losing your identity as a person. People react to this frustration by not acting at all. The separation of the people from the routine daily functions of citizenship is heartbreak in a democracy... [Such a] citizen sinks further into apathy, anonymity, and depersonalization."

—Saul D. Alinsky, on democracy as an political system. From Rules for Radicals (p xxvi)

Saul D. Alinsky: "People who profess the..."

2012-02-11T14:18:00.001-05:00

"People who profess the democratic faith but yearn for the dark security of dependency where they can be spared the burden of decisions. Reluctant to grow up, or incapable of doing so, they want to remain children and be cared for by others... the fault lies not in the system, but in themselves."

—Saul D. Alinsky, on democracy as an political system. From Rules for Radicals (p xxv)

Saul D. Alinsky: "People cannot be free..."

2012-02-11T14:09:00.000-05:00

"People cannot be free unless they are willing to sacrifice some of their interests to guarantee the freedom of others."

—Saul D. Alinsky, on democracy as an political system. From Rules for Radicals (p xxv)

Saul D. Alinsky: "Great dangers always accompany..."

2012-02-11T14:05:00.001-05:00

"Great dangers always accompany great opportunities. The possibility of destruction is always implicit in the act of creation. Thus, the greatest enemy of individual freedom is the individual himself."

—Saul D. Alinsky, on democracy as an political system. From Rules for Radicals (p xxiv)

Saul D. Alinsky: "Do one of three..."

2012-02-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

"Do one of three things. One, go find a wailing wall and feel sorry for yourselves. Two, go psycho and start bombing—but this will only swing people to the right. Three, learn a lesson. Go home, organize, build power and at the next convention, you be the delegates."

—Saul D. Alinsky, advice to an activist after gassing and violence by the Chicago Police and National Guard during 1968 Democratic Convention. From Rules for Radicals (p xxiii).

John Adams: "The Revolution was effected..."

2012-02-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

"The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."

—John Adams (as quoted in Rules for Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky)

James Madison: "Perhaps it is a..."

2012-02-11T10:59:00.000-05:00

"Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged against provisions against danger, real or pretended from abroad."

—James Madison

Ludwig Von Mises: "There is no means..."

2012-02-10T18:48:00.000-05:00

"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved."

—Ludwig Von Mises

George Eliot: "Any coward can fight..."

2012-02-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

"Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning, but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he's sure of losing. That's my way, sir; and there are many victories worse than a defeat."

—George Eliot

Bruce Wayne: "A man, however strong..."

2012-02-10T14:05:00.001-05:00

"A man, however strong, however skilled, is just flesh and blood. I need to be more than a man. I need to be a symbol."

—Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, Screenplay by David Goyer

David Goyer: "It is not enough..."

2012-02-10T14:03:00.001-05:00

"It is not enough to be a man... you have to become an idea."

—David Goyer, Ducard in Batman Begins

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "Fairness, justice and freedom..."

2012-02-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

"Fairness, justice and freedom are more than words — they are perspectives." [Full speech]

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "The building is a..."

2012-02-10T13:44:00.001-05:00

"The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people blowing up a building can change the world." [Full speech]

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "You really think blowing..."

2012-02-10T13:42:00.001-05:00

EVEY: You really think blowing up Parliament's going to make this country a better place?
V: There's no certainty, only opportunity.
EVEY: I think you can be pretty certain that if anyone does show up, Creedy will black bag every one of them.
V: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
EVEY: And you're going to make that happen by blowing up a building?
V: The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people blowing up a building can change the world.

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V and Evey in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "There is something terribly..."

2012-02-10T13:34:00.001-05:00

"There is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object — to think and speak as you saw fit — you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity.

How did this happen? Who's to blame? Certainly there are those who are more responsible than others. And they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you. And in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace. And all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent." [Full speech]

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "While the truncheon may..."

2012-02-10T13:28:00.000-05:00

"While the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth." [Full speech]

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "Allow me first to..."

2012-02-10T13:26:00.001-05:00

"Allow me first to apologize. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of everyday routines; the security of the familiar; the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration — whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or an end of an awful, bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday — I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.

There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object — to think and speak as you saw fit — you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity.

How did this happen? Who's to blame? Certainly there are those who are more responsible than others. And they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you. And in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace. And all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

Last night, I sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than 400 years ago, a great citizen wished to embed the 5th of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words — they are perspectives.

So if you've seen nothing. If the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest that you allow the 5th of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight outside the gates of Parliament. And together, we shall give them a 5th of November that shall never, ever be forgot."

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Gandhi: "First they ignore you..."

2012-02-10T12:57:00.000-05:00

“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”

—Gandhi

Daniel Quinn: "The rule in crisis..."

2012-02-10T12:51:00.001-05:00

"The rule in crisis management is, Don't make it your goal to control effects, make it your goal to control causes. If you control causes, then you don't have to control effects. This is why they make you go through airport security before you get on the plane. They don't want to control effects."

—Daniel Quinn

Derrick Jensen: "If monetary value is..."

2012-02-10T12:48:00.000-05:00

“If monetary value is attached to something it will be exploited until it’s gone. That’s what happens when you convert living beings to cash. That conversion, from living forests to lumber, schools of cod to fish sticks, and onward to numbers on a ledger, is the central process of our economic system.”

—Derrick Jensen

Robert Shetterly: "The second strong feeling..."

2012-02-10T12:45:00.000-05:00

"The second strong feeling --- the first being horror --- I had on September 11 was hope, hope that the United States would use the shock of this tragedy to reassess our economic, environmental, and military strategies in relation to the other countries and peoples of the world. Many people hoped for the same thing --- not to validate terrorism, but to admit that the arrogance and appetite of the U.S., all of us, have created so much bad feeling in many parts of the world that terrorism is inevitable. I no longer feel hopeful. If one looks closely at U.S. foreign policy, the common denominator is energy, oil in particular. The world is running out of oil. Political leadership that had respect for the future of the Earth and a decent concern for the lives of American and non-American people would be leading us away from conflict toward conservation and economic justice, toward alternative energy, toward a plan for the survival of the world that benefits everyone. We see hegemony and greed thinly veiled behind patriotism and security. We get pre-emptive war instead of pre-emptive planning for a sustainable future. The greatness of our country is being tested and will be measured not by its military might but by its restraint, compassion, and wisdom. De Toqueville said, “America is great because it is good. When it ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.” A democracy, whose leaders and media do not try to tell the people the truth, is a democracy in name only. If the consent of voters is gained through fear and lies, America is neither good nor great. Nor is it America."

—Robert Shetterly, AmericansWhoTellTheTruth.org

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "We are told to..."

2012-02-10T12:41:00.000-05:00

"We are told to remember the idea, not the man. A man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But 400 years later, an idea can still change the world.

I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them. And die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea. Cannot touch it. Or hold it. Ideas do not bleed. They do not feel pain. They do not love. And it is not an idea that I miss — it is a man."

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, Evey in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "People should not be..."

2012-02-10T12:31:00.004-05:00

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." [Full speech]

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas..."

2012-02-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

—Eleanor Roosevelt

Howard Zinn: "The rule of law..."

2012-02-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

“The rule of law does not do away with the unequal distribution of wealth and power, but reinforces that inequality with the authority of law. It allocates wealth and poverty in such calculated and indirect ways as to leave the victim bewildered.”

—Howard Zinn

Robert F. Kennedy: "Too much and too..."

2012-02-10T11:18:00.002-05:00

“Too much and too long we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values to the mere accumulation of material things…The gross national product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America—except whether we are proud to be Americans.”

—Robert F. Kennedy, (Address, University of Kansas, March 18, 1968)

Salman Rushdie: "Human beings understand..."

2012-02-06T23:51:00.000-05:00

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "Art is created by..."

2012-02-03T23:58:00.000-05:00

"Art is created by individuals and there are no individuals in a world where you are told what to think."

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "Artists use lies to..."

2012-02-03T23:50:00.002-05:00

"Artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, Evey in "V for Vendetta"

Larry and Andy Wachowski: "You cannot kill me..."

2012-02-03T23:38:00.001-05:00

"You cannot kill me. There is no flesh and blood within this cloak to kill. There is only an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."

—Larry and Andy Wachowski, V in "V for Vendetta"

Albert Einstein: "Not everything that can..."

2012-01-31T22:51:00.000-05:00

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

—Albert Einstein

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "Must one have seen..."

2012-01-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

"Must one have seen the world? In this village, in every house, in every shack, you will find the entire range of human emotions: love and hate, fear and jealousy, envy and joy. You needn't go looking for them."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "Love makes us beautiful..."

2012-01-20T21:12:00.001-05:00

"Love makes us beautiful. Do you know a single person who loves and is loved, who is love unconditionally and who, at the same time is ugly? There's no need to ponder the question. There is no such person."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "Music, my father often said..."

2012-01-20T21:09:00.002-05:00

"Music, my father often said, was the only reason he could sometimes believe in a god or in any heavenly power."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "Do children what to..."

2012-01-20T21:06:00.003-05:00

"Do children want to know their parents as independent individuals? Can we see them as they were before we came into the world?"

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "The true essence of..."

2012-01-20T21:03:00.000-05:00

"The true essence of things is invisible to the eyes. Our sensory organs love to lead us astray, and eyes are the most deceptive of all. We rely too heavily upon them. We believe that we see the world around us, and yet it is only the surface that we perceive. We must learn to divine the true nature of things, their substance, and the eyes are rather a hindrance than a help in that regard. They distract us. We love to be dazzled."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "Life... is a gift..."

2012-01-20T20:58:00.000-05:00

"Life... is a gift full of riddles in which suffering and happiness are inextricably intertwined. Any attempt to have one without the other was simply bound to fail."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "What do we know..."

2012-01-20T20:56:00.002-05:00

"What do we know about our parents, and what do they know about us? And if we don't even know the individuals who have accompanied us since birth - we not them and they not us - then what do we know about anyone at all?"

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "... there are wounds time..."

2012-01-20T20:53:00.004-05:00

"... there are wounds time does not heal, though it can reduce them to a manageable size."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "And so there must be..."

2012-01-20T20:51:00.002-05:00

"And so there must be in life something like a catastrophic turning point, when the world as we know it ceases to exist. A moment that transforms us into a different person from one heartbeat to the next."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker: "I speak of a love..."

2012-01-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

"I speak of a love that brings sight to the blind. Of a love stronger than fear. I speak of a love that breathes meaning into life, that defies the natural laws of deterioration, that causes us to flourish, that knows no bounds. I speak of the triumph of the human spirit over selfishness and death."

—Jan-Philipp Sendker, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr: "We must rapidly begin..."

2012-01-16T08:16:00.001-05:00

"We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., American clergyman & prominent activist in the civil rights movement

John Green: "The world may be broken..."

2012-01-12T21:35:00.000-05:00

Susan Cain: "We are like rubber bands..."

2012-01-08T15:58:00.000-05:00

“We are like rubber bands at rest. We are elastic and canstretch ourselves, but only so far.”

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Steve Wozniak: "Most inventors and engineers..."

2012-01-08T15:56:00.000-05:00

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me – they’reshy and they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, thevery best of them are artists. And artists work best alone where they can control aninvention’s design without a lot of other people designing it for marketing orsome other committee. I don’t believe anything really revolutionary has beeninvented by committee. If you’re that rare engineer who’s an inventor and alsoan artist, I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. Thatadvice is: Work alone. You’re going to bebest able to design revolutionary products and features if you’re working onyour own. Not on a committee. Not on a team.”

— from Steve Wozniak's memoir iWoz, quoted in Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "...quiet midnights..."

2012-01-08T15:51:00.001-05:00

“…quiet midnights and solitary sunrises…”

—Description of the latenights and early mornings that Steve Wozniak worked alone from Susan Cain's, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "I worry that there are..."

2012-01-08T15:49:00.000-05:00

“I worry that there are people who are put in position ofauthority because they’re good talkers, but they don’t have good ideas… It’s soeasy to confuse schmoozing ability with talent… we put too much of a premium onpresenting and not enough on substance and critical thinking.”

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "In the United States..."

2012-01-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

"In the United States, conversation is about how effectiveyou are at turning your experiences into stories, whereas a Chinese personmight be concerned with taking up too much of the other person’s time withinconsequential information."

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "Americans responded to these..."

2012-01-08T15:47:00.001-05:00

"Americans responded to these pressures by trying to becomesalesmen who could sell not only their company’s latest gizmo but alsothemselves."

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Adlai Stevenson, Jr: "If we value the..."

2012-01-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

"If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us."

—Adlai Stevenson, Jr.

Author Unknown: "On the outside..."

2012-01-02T22:55:00.001-05:00

"On the outside, looks can fool even the smartest of people. It's on the inside where the transformation takes place. In the heart."

—The Velveteen Rabbit, a play, based on the classic children's book by Margery Williams, (author of the play is unknown to me)

The Muppets: "It's in the singing..."

2011-12-27T09:07:00.003-05:00

It Feels Like Christmas

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love it feels like Christmas

A cup of kindess that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love it feels like Christmas

It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the sprit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year

It's in the giving of a gift to another
A pair of mittens that were made by your mother
It's all the ways that we show love that feel like Christmas

A part of childhood we'll always remember
It is the summer of the soul in December
Yes, when you do your best for love it feels like Christmas

It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the sprit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love it feels like Christmas
It's true, wherever you find love it feels like Christmas

—from The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Jan Karon: "I was able to..."

2011-12-26T09:28:00.001-05:00

"I was able to do what I loved! I consider this a most extraordinary miracle in a world which conspires to rob us of our dreams, and even of our passion."

—Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills

Jan Karon: "But it wasn't stuff..."

2011-12-26T09:25:00.002-05:00

"But it wasn't stuff like the pony or the tree house that made the difference, sir. What made the difference was their love. It had a force to it, and it stayed with me all the time. Looking back, I'd say it made me feel... invincible."

—Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills

Jan Karon: "When we view the..."

2011-12-26T09:23:00.003-05:00

"When we view the little things with thanksgiving, even they become big things."

—Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills

Deitrich Bonhoeffer: "Only he who gives..."

2011-12-26T09:22:00.001-05:00

"Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things."

—Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Oswald Chambers: "We look for visions..."

2011-12-26T09:20:00.000-05:00

"We look for visions of heaven and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us."

—Oswald Chambers

Jan Karon: "He knew it could..."

2011-12-26T09:16:00.001-05:00

"He knew it could not always be this way. No, nothing ever remained the same. If he had learned anything in life, he had learned that such moments were fragile beyond knowing."

—Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills

Jan Karon: "One does not expect miracles..."

2011-12-18T15:57:00.000-05:00

"One does not expect miracles. A miracle is, at least partly by definition, something quite unexpected."

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window

Jan Karon: "Why was fear always..."

2011-12-18T15:55:00.003-05:00

"Why was fear always so close upon the heels of joy, overtaking it every time?"

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window

Jan Karon: "I shall give you..."

2011-12-18T15:54:00.002-05:00

"I shall give you as much love and affection and happiness as I am capable of giving. Which, I believe... is quite a lot."

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window

Jan Karon: "What a lovely thing..."

2011-12-18T15:52:00.005-05:00

"What a lovely thing it is to begin to love. I shall not dwell on the fear, which seems always to come with it. I shall write only of the victory, for that is what is on my heart tonight."

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window

Jan Karon: "How lovely that you..."

2011-12-18T15:51:00.001-05:00

"How lovely that you can still surprise yourself. I couldn't love you if you were completely buttoned up. It's that little place you can never quite manage to get closed that makes me love you."

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window

Jan Karon: "My work is awfully..."

2011-12-18T15:50:00.000-05:00

"My work is awfully labored just now. Sometimes it has the most wonderful life of its own, it fairly pulls me along... At other times, it drags and mopes, so that I despair of ever writing another word... I've found that if one keeps pushing along during the mopes, out will flash the most exhilarating thought or idea - and then, one is off again, and hold on to your hat!"

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window, Cynthia describing her writing

Jan Karon: "Everything and nothing..."

2011-12-18T15:47:00.000-05:00

"Everything and nothing. What you did today, what I did today, what we'll do tomorrow. About God and how He's working in our lives. About my work, about your work, about life, about love, about what's for dinner and how the roses are doing..."

—Jan Karon, A Light in the Window, Cynthia's answer to Father Tim's question "What do you want to talk about?" in regards to married life

W. Somerset Maugham: "Only the mediocre man..."

2011-12-18T15:42:00.002-05:00

"Only the mediocre man is always at his best."

—W. Somerset Maugham

Stephen Karam: "Some things you can't..."

2011-12-08T09:44:00.001-05:00

"Some things you can't understand until you understand them. Until they're happening to you."

—Stephen Karam, character of Charles in Sons of the Prophet

Stephen Karam: "Any time you try..."

2011-12-08T09:40:00.001-05:00

"Any time you try to put the truth on paper, you get a form of fiction."

—Stephen Karam, character of Gloria in Sons of the Prophet

Jordan Roth: "She sees all of us..."

2011-12-07T11:05:00.001-05:00

"She sees all of us as our best selves. And then helps us become it. That is what it is to produce. To make. To create. To build something because you see it as what it can be, not just what it is now. To do that for a show is a talent. To do it for a person is a blessing."

-Jordan Roth (speaking of his mother, Daryl Roth)

Jordan Roth: "There are two kinds..."

2011-12-07T11:04:00.001-05:00

"There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who close the door behind them, and those who hold it open for the rest of us. If you've ever met my mother, you already know which she is."

-Jordan Roth

Ben Franklin: "If we don't hang together..."

2011-12-07T11:02:00.001-05:00

"If we don't hang together, we shall surely hang separately."

-Ben Franklin

Natasha Lyonne: "...just hang in there..."

2011-12-07T11:00:00.001-05:00

"... just hang in there. The world can be a much bigger place."

-Natasha Lyonne

Alan W. Watts: "To have faith is..."

2011-12-02T09:18:00.001-05:00

"To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim, you don't grab hold of the water because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float."

—Alan W. Watts

Stephen King: "There are certain things..."

2011-11-26T08:30:00.001-05:00

“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write. I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning. I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”

—Stephen King (on writing) from Lisa Rogak, Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King

Christopher Robin: "You're braver than you believe..."

2011-11-24T21:30:00.001-05:00

"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

—Christopher Robin to Pooh (A. A. Milne)

Leonard Cohen: "Ring the bells that..."

2011-11-16T23:15:00.001-05:00

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

—Leonard Cohen