Bradley Denton (1958) American science fiction author
Source: Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede (1991), p. 114
Et Tu The Press Club? http://agonist.org/story/2005/4/19/135355/148.
Bradley Denton (1958) American science fiction author
Source: Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede (1991), p. 114
Maneka Gandhi (1956) Indian politician and activist
On global warming, as quoted in "Maneka Gandhi on India and global warming" http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/may/14guest1.htm, Rediff (14 May 2007) <br class="br">2001-2010
Susan Stebbing (1885–1943) British philosopher
As quoted in Thinking to Some Purpose (1939), p. 100
William Ernest Hocking (1873–1966) American philosopher
Source: The Meaning of God in Human Experience (1912), Ch. XIV : The Need of an Absolute, p. 192.
Context: As in reply to the skeptic or agnostic, who asserts in despair that there is no absolute truth. The dialectician retorts: Then at least your own assertion must be absolutely true. There must be some absolute truth, for you cannot assert that there is none without self-contradiction. As in Descartes' case, the doubter is reminded of himself. There, in his own assertion, is a certainty from which he cannot escape.
This turn of thought which reminds the enquirer of himself, we shall call the reflexive turn. It reappears in all discoveries of the Absolute. It is clinching--but is likely to disappoint, even as Descartes' result disappoints. For the skeptic finds that he also was in search of objective truth: and that the absolute truth of his statement is irrelevant to his quest. Whence his skepticism toward objective truth remains unanswered.
George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist
"Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool," Polemic (March 1947)
Context: A normal human being does not want the Kingdom of Heaven: he wants life on earth to continue. This is not solely because he is "weak," "sinful" and anxious for a "good time." Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. Ultimately it is the Christian attitude which is self-interested and hedonistic, since the aim is always to get away from the painful struggle of earthly life and find eternal peace in some kind of Heaven or Nirvana. The humanist attitude is that the struggle must continue and that death is the price of life.
John Mortimer (1923–2009) English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author
Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 11 : Lying