
“A fire eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself.”
Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951), Part III, The Mayors, section 9
Interlude, p. 75
Towards a Canada of Light (2006)
Context: Electrical fire and the fire of greed kindle economies. In that flux, nations become digitized commodities on stock-exchange floors and on investors' rating screens. A country becomes a product to be rated for its obedience to paying of deficits and debts.
“A fire eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself.”
Source: The Foundation series (1951–1993), Foundation (1951), Part III, The Mayors, section 9
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
“676. A little wind kindles, much puts out the fire.”
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
“We cannot kindle when we will
The fire that in the heart resides”
"Morality" (1852), st. 1
Context: We cannot kindle when we will
The fire that in the heart resides,
The spirit bloweth and is still,
In mystery our soul abides; —
But tasks, in hours of insight willed,
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
“319. Little sticks kindle the fire, great ones put it out.”
Jacula Prudentum (1651)
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), XX Humorous Writings
The Writings of Marguerite Bourgeoys, p. 204
“Books can ignite fires in your mind, because they carry ideas for kindling, and art for matches.”
Source: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Source: De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (~ 15BC), Book II, Chapter IX, Sec. 14
Context: The larch... is not only preserved from decay and the worm by the great bitterness of its sap, but also it cannot be kindled with fire nor ignite of itself, unless like stone in a limekiln it is burned with other wood.... This is because there is a very small proportion of the elements of fire and air in its composition, which is a dense and solid mass of moisture and the earthy, so that it has no open pores through which fire can find its way... Further, its weight will not let it float in water.