“As great, everlasting,
Adamantine laws
Dictate, we must all
Complete the cycles
Of our existence.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Das Göttliche
Das Göttliche (The Divine) (1783)
"Massacre", Ch. 10, p. 88
Report to Greco (1965)
Context: Every word is an adamantine shell which encloses a great explosive force. To discover its meaning you must let it burst inside you like a bomb and in this way liberate the soul which it imprisons.
“As great, everlasting,
Adamantine laws
Dictate, we must all
Complete the cycles
Of our existence.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Das Göttliche
Das Göttliche (The Divine) (1783)
“A definition is the enclosing a wilderness of idea within a wall of words.”
Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist
Definitions, iii
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part XIV - Higgledy-Piggledy
“The two most beautiful words in the English language are 'cheque enclosed.”
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist
Craig Ferguson (1962) Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice a…
A comedic musical tribute to Doctor Who made in November 2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P4SxtphJ4, which was not aired for legal reasons, but "leaked" to the internet, and finally aired with legal clearance on Late Late Show (6 January 2011) http://geeksofdoom.com/2011/01/07/craig-fergusons-doctor-who-musical-finally-airs/The · Transcript of lyrics (with some minor errors), online at Forbes (1 December 2010) http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2010/12/01/craig-fergusons-doctor-who-song/ <br class="br">The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2005–2014) <br class="br">Context: In 1963 the BBC premiered a show about an alien<br>Who traveled through space and time to combat the powers of evil. … <br>The show has been running in Britain almost fifty years,<br>with many different actors in the role of The Doctor. …<br>One thing is consistent though and this is why the show is so beloved by geeks and nerds —<br>It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism!<br>Intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism!<br>And if there is any hope for any of us in this giant explosion in which we inhabit then surely that’s it:<br>Intellect and romance triumph over brute force and cynicism! <!-- Right Doctor?
Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)
Letter to Bess Wallace (8 September 1918) https://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/ww1/documents/fulltext.php?documentid=1-15 <br class="br">Context: Now days battles are just sort of a "You shoot up my town and I'll shoot up yours." They say that Americans don't play fair. They shoot 'em up all the time. I hope so because I want to finish this job as soon as possible and begin making an honest living again... Have fired 500 rounds at the Germans, at my command, been shelled, didn't run away thank the Lord and never lost a man. Probably shouldn't have told you but you'll not worry any more if you know I'm in it than if you think I am. Have had the most strenuous work of my life, am very tired but otherwise absolutely in good condition physically mentally and morally... When a High Explosive shell bursts in fifteen feet and does you no damage, you can bet your sweet life you bear a charmed life and no mistake. I didn't have sense enough to know what was going on until the next day and then I was pretty scared. The men think I am not much afraid of shells but they don't know. I was too scared to run and that is pretty scared.
Michel Foucault book Discipline and Punish
Source: Discipline and Punish (1977), Chapter Three, The Gentle Way in Punishment
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
"Can a Scientific Community Be Stable?," Lecture, Royal Society of Medicine, London (29 November 1949)
1940s