If the rose at noon has lost the beauty it had at dawn, the beauty it had then was real. Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy.
-The Razor’s Edge, W. Somerset Maugham
“Why didn’t you warn us?” the people asked.
“I can only see futures you would believe could happen,” the soothsayer said.
“Are you saying we choose the future?”
The soothsayer looked at them. “No. And yes. And, the more you can imagine, the better you can choose.”
– Via MicroSFF på Facebook.
A picture is worth a thousand lies.
“Fabulous weather, isn’t it?” said the chauffeur, looking up at the sky. “It’s–how can I put it?–crystal clear.”
I nodded.
“When it gets this clear, God’s messages must have no trouble getting through at all,” I offered.
“Nothing of the kind,” said the chauffeur with a grin. “There are messages already in all things. In flowers, in the rocks, in the clouds…”
“And cars?”
“In cars too.”
“But cars are made in factories.” Typical me.
“Whosoever makes it, God’s will is worked into it.”
“As in ear lice?” Her contribution.
“As in the very air,” corrected the chauffeur.
“Well then, I suppose that cars made in Saudi Arabia have Allah in them.”
“They don’t produce cars in Saudi Arabia.”
“Really?” Again me.
“Really.”
“Then what about cars produced in America for export to Saudi Arabia? What god’s in them?” queried my girlfriend.
A difficult question.
– Haruki Murakami: A Wild Sheep Chase, p. 151
General Ralph Landry: You know, when they forced Khruschev out, he sat down and wrote two letters to his successor. He said – “When you get yourself into a situation you can’t get out of, open the first letter, and you’ll be safe. When you get yourself into another situation you can’t get out of, open the second letter”.
Soon enough, he gets into a tight situation, and he opens the first letter. It says – “Blame it all on me”. So he blames it all on the old guy, and it worked like a charm.
When he got himself into a second situation, he opened the second letter. It said – “Sit down, and write two letters”.
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
– Winston S. Churchill
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
– Bertrand Russell
Arguments are extremely vulgar, for everyone in good society holds exactly the same opinion.
– Oscar Wilde
My work here is done. Why wait?
– Selvmordsnote af Kodaks grundlægger George Eastman
[…] som Adrian Lloyd Hughes konstaterede i DR 2-programmet ’Kulturkøbing’, har hver kommune med respekt for sig selv rejst en smuk bygning for kunsten, men investeringen er blevet gjort i mursten: smukke rammer, café og designbutik og ikke i samlingerne!
Lise Bach Hansen i Politiken: Knowledge is Pleasure