John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet
Letter to G. and F. Keats (December 21, 1817)
Letters (1817–1820)
John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet
Letter to G. and F. Keats (December 21, 1817)
Letters (1817–1820)
“Who I am, and what I am capable of doing has always managed to surprise me.”
Jodi Picoult (1966) Author
Source: Vanishing Acts
Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Henry Miller book Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch
Source: Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch
Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer
Source: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
“When a woman acts as though she’s capable of everything, she gets stuck doing everything.”
Sherry Argov (1977) American writer
Source: Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl—A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English writer
describing his experiment with mescaline, p. 22-24
The Doors of Perception (1954)
Source: The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell
Context: Reflecting on my experience, I find myself agreeing with the eminent Cambridge philosopher, Dr. C. D. Broad, “that we should do well to consider much more seriously than we have hitherto been inclined to do the type of theory which Bergson put forward in connection with memory and sense perception. The suggestion is that the function of the brain and nervous system and sense organs is in the main eliminative and not productive. Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and leaving only that very small and special selection which is likely to be practically useful.” According to such a theory, each one of us is potentially Mind at Large. But in so far as we are animals, our business is at all costs to survive. To make biological survival possible, Mind at Large has to be funneled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous system. What comes out at the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of consciousness which will help us to stay alive on the surface of this particular planet. To formulate and express the contents of this reduced awareness, man has invented and endlessly elaborated those symbol-systems and implicit philosophies which we call languages. Every individual is at once the beneficiary and the victim of the linguistic tradition into which he has been born—the beneficiary inasmuch as language gives access to the accumulated records of other people's experience, the victim in so far as it confirms him in the belief that reduced awareness is the only awareness and as it bedevils his sense of reality, so that he is all too apt to take his concepts for data, his words for actual things. That which, in the language of religion, is called “this world” is the universe of reduced awareness, expressed, and, as it were, petrified by language. The various “other worlds,” with which human beings erratically make contact are so many elements in the totality of the awareness belonging to Mind at Large. Most people, most of the time, know only what comes through the reducing valve and is consecrated as genuinely real by the local language. Certain persons, however, seem to be born with a kind of by-pass that circumvents the reducing valve. In others temporary by-passes may be acquired either spontaneously, or as the result of deliberate “spiritual exercises,” or through hypnosis, or by means of drugs. Through these permanent or temporary by-passes there flows, not indeed the perception “of everything that is happening everywhere in the universe” (for the by-pass does not abolish the reducing valve, which still excludes the total content of Mind at Large), but something more than, and above all something different from, the carefully selected utilitarian material which our narrowed, individual minds regard as a complete, or at least sufficient, picture of reality.
Ally Carter I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Source: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist
Source: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist
1960s, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (1963)
Anthony Giddens (1938) British sociologist
Source: Capitalism and Modern Social Theory (1971), pp. 230-231.
Andrei Tarkovsky (1932–1986) Soviet and Russian film-maker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director
Letter to the central committee of the CPSU (Communist Party of Soviet Union) https://varjag2007su.livejournal.com/2591915.html?utm_source=fbsharing&utm_medium=social (20 October 1970).
Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989) Religious leader, politician
Addressing an audience of Iranian industry workers and inventors (October 1983); quoted in "Imam's Sahife" vol. 18 p. 189,190.
Foreign policy
Derek Hitchins (1935) British systems engineer
Hitchins (1998. p. 195) cited in: Peter Stasinopoulos (2009) Whole System Design: An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Engineering. p. 27
Yohji Yamamoto (1943) Japanese fashion designer
Wim Wenders. Notebook on Cities and Clothes (1989). (The above transcription is from Kiyokazu Washida. The Past, the Feminine, the Vain in Talking to Myself (2002), Ch. 1: Fashion, or the Gaze at the Past).
Wesley Clark (1944) American general and former Democratic Party presidential candidate
92nd Street Y Cultural Center (2007)
Francis Escudero (1969) Filipino politician
Samar News http://www.samarnews.com/news_clips24/news508.htm <br class="br">2013
Leslie Weatherhead (1893–1976) English theologian
Location unknown
The Christian Agnostic (1965)
Jimmy Carter (1924) American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981)
Page 186
Post-Presidency, Our Endangered Values (2005)
“Those that say that individuals are not capable of changing anything are only looking for excuses.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and 1st President of the Czech Republic
Vaclav Havel’s human rights legacy an inspiration http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/vaclav-havel-s-human-rights-legacy-inspiration-2011-12-21 Amnesty International (21 December 2011)]
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Man of Letters
“I judge people based on their capability, honesty, and merit.”
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
"Trump towers" https://books.google.com/books?id=smMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23&dq=%22Trump%20towers%22, interview with Paul Alexander, The Advocate (15 February 2000), p. 23 <br class="br">2000s
Bush, Stephen F., Smart Grid: Communication-Enabled Intelligence for the Electric Power Grid, ISBN: 978-1-119-97580-9, 576 pages, March 2014, Wiley-IEEE Press.
C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) American sociologist
Source: Letters & Autobiographical Writings (1954), p. 185.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …
letter to the Abbés Chalut and Arnaud (17 April 1787).
Epistles
Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) American writer, editor, and professor
“I was paraphrasing what Mark Schorer said about Sinclair Lewis,” Bruce replied.
“The Joker’s Greatest Triumph”.
Come Back, Dr. Caligari (1964)
Stephen Jay Gould book Wonderful Life
you don't see electrons, gravity, or black holes either
Source: Wonderful Life (1989), p. 279
Lin Carter (1930–1988) American fantasy writer, editor, critic
Source: Tower at the Edge of Time (1968), Chapter 9, “Slaves of Chan” (p. 86)
Immanuel Kant book Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science
Preface, Tr. Bax (1883)
Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786)
William Glasser (1925–2013) American psychiatrist
Source: Unhappy Teenagers A Way for Parents and Teachers to Reach Them (2002), p.14
Johann Gottlieb Fichte book The Vocation of Man
Source: The Vocation of Man (1800), P. Preuss, trans. (1987), p. 12
Tzvetan Todorov (1939–2017) Bulgarian historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist
Hope and Memory: Reflections on the Twentieth Century (2003)
David Rittenhouse (1732–1796) American astronomer
Letter to Thomas Barton (Jan 28, 1767) as quoted by Florian Cajori, The Teaching and History of Mathematics in the United States (1890) p. 39.
Geoffrey Blainey (1930) Australian historian
The Story of Australia's People: The Rise and Rise of a New Australia (2016)
Walter W. Powell (1948) American sociologist
Walter W. Powell and Kaisa Snellman. "The knowledge economy." Annu. Rev. Sociol. 30 (2004): 199-220.
Henri Poincaré book The Value of Science
Pour qu’un ensemble de sensations soit devenu un souvenir susceptible d’être classé dans le temps, il faut qu’il ait cessé d’être actuel, que nous ayons perdu le sens de son infinie complexité, sans quoi il serait resté actuel. Il faut qu’il ait pour ainsi dire cristallisé autour d’un centre d’associations d’idées qui sera comme une sorte d’étiquette. Ce n’est que quand ils auront ainsi perdu toute vie que nous pourrons classer nos souvenirs dans le temps, comme un botaniste range dans son herbier les fleurs desséchées.
Source: The Value of Science (1905), Ch. 2: The Measure of Time
James Berardinelli (1967) American film critic
Review http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=669 of Psycho (1960). <br class="br">Three-and-a-half star reviews
Barbara Ehrenreich (1941) American writer and journalist
The real function of these tests, I decide, is to convey information not to the employer but to the potential employee, and the information conveyed is always: You will have no secrets from us.
Source: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America (2001), Ch. 2: Scrubbing in Maine (p. 59)
Ilana Mercer South African writer
“The ‘We Need To Have A Conversation’ Malarkey,” http://thelibertarianalliance.com/2015/03/30/the-we-need-to-have-a-conversation-malarkey/ The Libertarian Alliance, March 30, 2015. <br class="br">2010s, 2015 <br class="br">Variant: Demographics need not be destiny. The waning West became what it is not by out-breeding the undeveloped world. We were once great not because of huge numbers, but due to human capital — people of superior ideas and abilities, capable of innovation, exploration, science, philosophy.
Nicholas Carr (1959) American writer
Why IT Doesn't Matter Anymore http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3520.html, Harvard Business Review, June 9, 2003.
Paul Romer (1955) American economist
At a news conference after the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics announcement, as quoted in "2018 Nobel in Economics Is Awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/business/economic-science-nobel-prize.html The New York Times. October 8, 2018.
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) German mathematician and physical scientist
As quoted in Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science (1955) by Guy Waldo Dunnington. p. 362
Robert Cormier book The Rag and Bone Shop
Source: The Rag and Bone Shop (2000), p. 26
Ethan Allen (1738–1789) American general
Source: Reason: The Only Oracle Of Man (1784), Chapter I Section I - Of Reforming Mankind from Superstition and Error, and the Good Consequences of it"
Jean Piaget (1896–1980) Swiss psychologist, biologist, logician, philosopher & academic
As quoted in Education for Democracy, Proceedings from the Cambridge School Conference on Progressive Education (1988) edited by Kathe Jervis and Arthur Tobier
Jack Herer (1939–2010) American Cannabis/Hemp and freedom activist
Jack Herer's The Emperor Wears No Clothes (1993), from the book's back cover
Stewart Lee (1968) English stand-up comedian, writer, director and musician
Series 3 Episode 3: "Satire"
Kim Jong-il (1941–2011) General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea
"The Songun-based revolutionary line is a great revolutionary line of our era and an ever-victorious banner of our revolution", address to the senior officials of the Central Committee of the Worker's Party (29 January 2003)
Andrew Sullivan (1963) Journalist, writer, blogger
"Re-Thinking The War II" http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/05/rethinking_the__5.html, The Daily Dish (8 May 2007)
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party
2 April 1945.
Disputed, The Testament of Adolf Hitler (1945)
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution
Collected Works, Vol. 18, pp. 163–169.
Collected Works
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815–1881) English churchman, Dean of Westminster
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 58.
Henry Liddon (1829–1890) British theologian
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 547.
Larry David (1947) American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer
When Woody Allen asked him to appear in a film. <br class="br">Interview, Esquire, September 18, 2009 http://www.esquire.com/features/the-screen/larry-david-interview-0709
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (1899–1938) Romanian politician
For My Legionaries: The Iron Guard (1936), Politics
Adam Smith (1723–1790) Scottish moral philosopher and political economist
Source: (1776), Book V, Chapter I, Part III, p. 820.
George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States
1990s, A Period of Consequences (September 1999)
Menzies Campbell (1941) British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate
Hansard HC 6ser vol 390 col 43 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020924/debtext/20924-12.htm#20924-12_spnew1. <br class="br">Speech in the House of Commons, 24 September 2002.
“It is important to plan for maximum utilization of contingent capability.”
John H. Disher (1921–1988) American aeronautical engineer and NASA manager
"Skylab Lessons Learned" (22 September 1975)
Francis Escudero (1969) Filipino politician
Escudero, F. [Francis]. (2015, May 7). Retrieved from Official Facebook Page of Francis Escudero https://www.facebook.com/senchizescudero/posts/10153256177970610/ <br class="br">2015, Facebook
“Man was formed for society and is neither capable of living alone, nor has the courage to do it.”
William Blackstone book Commentaries on the Laws of England
Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769)
Source: Introduction, Section II: Of the Nature of Laws in General
David Morrison (1956) Australian army general
Address at the International Women's Day Conference (2013)
William Luther Pierce (1933–2002) American white nationalist
Why War? (November 21, 1998) http://web.archive.org/web/20070324011124/http://www.natvan.com/pub/1998/112198.txt, American Dissident Voices Broadcast of November 21, 1998 http://archive.org/details/DrWilliamPierceAudioArchive308RadioBroadcasts. <br class="br">1990s, 1990
Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) Prussian geographer, naturalist and explorer
Equinoctial Regions of America (1814-1829)
Source: You Can't Win, Chapter Two
Tony Blair (1953) former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister's website http://web.archive.org/20051103003809/www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page7314.asp <br class="br">11 March 2005, at the launch of the Commission for Africa Report. <br class="br">2000s
Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary
Mobilising for Invasion (1961)
Variant: The victory of the Cuban Revolution will be a tangible demonstration before all the Americas that peoples are capable of rising up, that they can rise up by themselves right under the very fangs of the monster.