“The more fortunate people among us would surely think we are civilized, but the less fortunate among us are a reminder that we’re not.”

— Eugene J. Martin

Annotated Drawings by Eugene J. Martin: 1977-1978

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Eugene J. Martin 41

American artist 1938–2005

Anne Bishop (1955) American fiction writer

Source: Daughter of the Blood

“Good fortune is a god among men, and more than a god.”

Aeschylus The Libation Bearers

Variant translation: Success is man's god.
Source: Oresteia (458 BC), The Libation Bearers, line 59

“Our job is to remind us that there are more contexts than the one that we’re in — the one that we think is reality.”

Alan Kay (1940) computer scientist

ACM Queue A Conversation with Alan Kay Vol. 2, No. 9 - Dec/Jan 2004-2005 http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1039523
2000s, A Conversation with Alan Kay, 2004–05
Context: Most creativity is a transition from one context into another where things are more surprising. There’s an element of surprise, and especially in science, there is often laughter that goes along with the “Aha.” Art also has this element. Our job is to remind us that there are more contexts than the one that we’re in — the one that we think is reality.

“There are those among us who would have us say that the mysteries of the brain are completely solved and little needs to be added to its knowledge. It is as if these fortunate persons had been present when this magnificent organ was created.”

Nicolas Steno (1638–1686) Pioneer in anatomy and geology, bishop

quoted in Minds Behind the Brain. A History of the Pioneers and Their Discoveries by S. Finger, 2000

“Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune.”

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer

No. 19
Characteristics, in the manner of Rochefoucauld's Maxims (1823)

“It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.”

Aga Khan IV (1936) 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism

Speech at the Innauguration of the Aga Khan Baug, Versova, India (17 January 1983) http://ismaili.net/speech/s830117.html 
Context: There are those... who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink back into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.

“The civil libertarians among us would rather defend the Constitution than protect our nation’s security.”

Jeff Sessions (1946) Former United States Attorney General

Said in a derogatory tone on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Monday, 17 December 2007 http://unamericanrevolution.com/policy/betrayal-of-the-american-conscience/ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?r110:./temp/~r110JlvtMq