“Life would be a great deal easier if dead things had the decency to remain dead.”
Doug MacLeod (1959) Australian writer
He Who Shapes (1965)
Context: The fact remains that you would be dealing, and dealing constantly, with the abnormal. The power of a neurosis is unimaginable to ninety-nine point et cetera percent of the population, because we can never adequately judge the intensity of our own — let alone those of others, when we only see them from the outside. That is why no neuroparticipant will ever undertake to treat a fullblown psychotic. The few pioneers in that area are all themselves in therapy today. It would be like driving into a maelstrom. If the therapist loses the upper hand in an intense session he becomes the Shaped rather than the Shaper. The synapses respond like a fission reaction when nervous impulses are artificially augmented. The transference effect is almost instantaneous.
“Life would be a great deal easier if dead things had the decency to remain dead.”
Doug MacLeod (1959) Australian writer
M. C. Escher (1898–1972) Dutch graphic artist
1950's, On Being a Graphic Artist', 1953
Context: It may seem paradoxical to say that there are similarities between a poetical and a commercial mind, but it is a fact that both a poet and a businessman are constantly dealing with problems that are directly related to people and for which sensitivity is of prime importance. The business-like mind is sometimes described as being cold, sober, calculating, hard; but perhaps these are simply qualities that are necessary for dealing with people if one wants to achieve anything. One is always concerned with the mysterious, incalculable, dark, hidden aspects for which there is no easy formula, but which form essentially the same human element as that which inspires the poet.
Richard Hamming (1915–1998) American mathematician and information theorist
Methods of Mathematics Applied to Calculus, Probability, and Statistics (1985)
“You can deal with reality sooner, or later the reality will deal with you.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
Book Sometimes you win Sometimes you Learn
Bill Haywood (1869–1928) Labor organizer
Roughneck, The Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, Peter Carlson, 1983, page 146.
Alex Haley (1921–1992) African American biographer, screenwriter, and novelist
As quoted in My Soul Looks Back, 'Less I Forget : A Collection of Quotations (1993) by Dorothy Winbush Riley.
“Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.”
Norman Cousins (1915–1990) American journalist
Human Options (1981)
“I deal only in facts, that's why I'm a cocky fuckin' bastard.”
Bill Hicks (1961–1994) American comedian
Love, Laughter and Truth (2002)
Jeffrey Montgomery (1953–2016) American LGBT rights activist and public relations executive
[Woodhull Freedom Foundation mourns death of one of its founders, Jeffrey Montgomery, Levy, Ricci J., Woodhull Freedom Foundation, July 19, 2016, 2016-07-20, http://www.woodhullfoundation.org/2016/sex-and-politics/woodhull-freedom-foundation-mourns-death-of-one-of-its-founders-jeffrey-montgomery-a-leader-activist-a-mentor-and-sexual-freedom-movement-hero/]