Martin Svoboda

@quick, member from April 4, 2011
Henry James photo

“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

Henry James (1843–1916) American novelist, short story author, and literary critic

Overheard by his nephew, Billy James, in 1902; quoted in Leon Edel, Henry James: A Life, vol V: The Master 1901-1916 (1972).

Milan Kundera photo

“The eye… the point where a person's identity is concentrated.”

Milan Kundera book Identity

Identity (1998), pg 63

Jawaharlal Nehru photo
Josif Brodskij photo

„Koneckonců je těžké zvládnout stejně dobře život i práci. Jestli jste nuceni jedno z toho předstírat, tak ať je to raději život.“

Josif Brodskij (1940–1996) ruský a americký básník, laureát Nobelovy ceny za literaturu

Source: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josif_Brodskij

Paulo Coelho photo
Paulo Coelho photo

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 128

Paulo Coelho photo
Paulo Coelho photo
Paulo Coelho photo

“Beware when making a woman cry. God is counting her tears.”

Paulo Coelho book Adultery

Source: Adultery

Daniel Kahneman photo
Robert Schumann photo

“Play always as if in the presence of a master.”

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) German composer, aesthete and influential music critic

T. B. Joshua photo

“Each day has its own destiny. Yesterday is history, today is opportunity while tomorrow is mystery.”

T. B. Joshua (1963) Nigerian Christian leader

On destiny - "The Shock Of Reality" http://allafrica.com/stories/200908240244.html All Africa (August 24 2009)

T. B. Joshua photo

“People will challenge you, question you, try to get you off track. Don't listen to the temptation to act out of character.”

T. B. Joshua (1963) Nigerian Christian leader

On temptation - "'ATTRIBUTING THE SATELLITES SUCCESS TO ME IS BLASPHEMY' – T.B. JOSHUA" http://www.modernghana.com/print/247180/1/attributing-the-satellites-success-to-me-is-blasph.html Modern Ghana (November 4 2009)

Jiri Lev photo

“We don’t need natural disasters. We’re building our own.”

Jiri Lev (1979)

Source: The Australian Architects Offering Pro-Bono Design Services to Bushfire Survivors https://hivelife.com/architects-assist/.

Edgar Allan Poe photo

“If a poem hasn't ripped apart your soul; you haven't experienced poetry.”

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) American author, poet, editor and literary critic

Paul Dirac photo

“I was taught at school never to start a sentence without knowing the end of it.”

Paul Dirac (1902–1984) theoretical physicist

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Printonly/Dirac.html

Paul Dirac photo

“If we are honest — and scientists have to be — we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination.”

Paul Dirac (1902–1984) theoretical physicist

Remarks made during the Fifth Solvay International Conference (October 1927), as quoted in Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations (1971) by Werner Heisenberg, pp. 85-86; these comments prompted the famous remark later in the day by Wolfgang Pauli: "Well, our friend Dirac, too, has a religion, and its guiding principle is "God does not exist and Dirac is His prophet." Variant translations and paraphrases of that comment are listed in the "Quotes about Dirac" section below.
Context: If we are honest — and scientists have to be — we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can't for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way. What I do see is that this assumption leads to such unproductive questions as why God allows so much misery and injustice, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and all the other horrors He might have prevented. If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classes quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit. Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people. Hence the close alliance between those two great political forces, the State and the Church. Both need the illusion that a kindly God rewards — in heaven if not on earth — all those who have not risen up against injustice, who have done their duty quietly and uncomplainingly. That is precisely why the honest assertion that God is a mere product of the human imagination is branded as the worst of all mortal sins.

Max Planck photo

“Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.”

Max Planck (1858–1947) German theoretical physicist

As quoted in Advances in Biochemical Psychopharmacology, Vol. 25 (1980), p. 3