Quotes about everything
page 64

Terence Tao photo
Milan Kundera photo
James M. Buchanan photo
Ann Coulter photo
Brandon Flowers (American football) photo
Lydia Maria Child photo
Muhammad photo
Ray Bradbury photo

“At the center of religion is love. I love you and I forgive you. I am like you and you are like me. I love all people. I love the world. I love creating. Everything in our life should be based on love.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

As quoted in "Sci-fi legend "Ray Bradbury on God, 'monsters and angels'" by John Blake, CNN : Living (2 August 2010) http://articles.cnn.com/2010-08-02/living/Bradbury_1_ray-bradbury-dandelion-wine-sam-weller?_s=PM:LIVING, p. 1

Immanuel Kant photo
Stuart Kauffman photo

“Stephen Jay Gould is extremely bright, inventive. He thoroughly understands paleontology; he thoroughly understands evolutionary biology. He has performed an enormous service in getting people to think about punctuated equilibrium, because you see the process of stasis/sudden change, which is a puzzle. It's the cessation of change for long periods of time. Since you always have mutations, why don't things continue changing? You either have to say that the particular form is highly adapted, optimal, and exists in a stable environment, or you have to be very puzzled. Steve has been enormously important in that sense. Talking with Steve, or listening to him give a talk, is a bit like playing tennis with someone who's better than you are. It makes you play a better game than you can play. For years, Steve has wanted to find, in effect, what accounts for the order in biology, without having to appeal to selection to explain everything—that is, to the evolutionary "just-so stories." You can come up with some cockamamie account about why anything you look at was formed in evolution because it was useful for something. There is no way of checking such things. We're natural allies, because I'm trying to find sources of that natural order without appealing to selection, and yet we all know that selection is important.”

Stuart Kauffman (1939) American biophysicist

Kauffman in: John Brockman, ed. (1995) The Third Culture: Beyond the Scientific Revolution, p. 64-65. ( online http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/i-Ch.2.html)

Wernher von Braun photo
José Ortega Y Gasset photo
Robert Charles Wilson photo
Paul Simon photo

“Once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now it's a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean
Song lyrics, Surprise (2006)

Pat Robertson photo
Vātsyāyana photo
Conor Oberst photo

“Everything that happens is supposed to be
And it's all pre-determined,
can't change your destiny
Guess I'll just keep moving,
someday maybe I'll get to where I'm going”

Conor Oberst (1980) American musician

Nothing Gets Crossed Out
Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)

Hillary Clinton photo
Emil M. Cioran photo
Douglas Coupland photo

“The Internet has made me very casual with a level of omniscience that was unthinkable a decade ago. I now wonder if God gets bored knowing the answer to everything.”

Douglas Coupland (1961) Canadian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and graphic designer

"Transience Is Now Permanence & the Fate of the Middle Classes (Doomed)" http://www.edge.org/q2010/q10_3.html#coupland, in The Edge Annual Question — 2010: How Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? http://www.edge.org/q2010/q10_index.html, January 2010

George Bernard Shaw photo
David Mamet photo
José Rizal photo
Yogi Berra photo

“I dunno. This game is getting funnier and funnier. We do everything but punch 'em in the nose and here we are all tied up in the Series. We flatten 'em by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0 and we still need one more to win. How do you figure that? Don't write this, but even if they beat us tomorrow, we're the better club.”

Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American baseball player, manager, coach

On the 1960 World Series; as quoted in "We Flattened 'Em, Yet We're Only Tied'" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PtpaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uWwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3807%2C3562090 by Joe Reichler (AP), in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 13, 1960), p. 35

Eddie Izzard photo
Alexander McCall Smith photo
Louis Pasteur photo

“Now, gentlemen, there will be a beautiful story: what is the role, in the overall scheme of creation, of some of these little beings who are the agents of fermentation, the agents of putrefaction, of disorganization of everything that life has had in the surface of the globe. This role is immense, marvelous, really moving. Maybe one day maybe I will be given [the opportunity] to explain here some of these results. May God grant it to be still in the presence of such a brilliant assembly!”

Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) French chemist and microbiologist

Original in French: Maintenant, messieurs, il y aurait un beau sujet à traiter : c’est celui du rôle, dans l’économie générale de la création, de quelques-uns de ces petits êtres qui sont les agents de la fermentation, les agents de la putréfaction, de la désorganisation de tout ce qui a eu vie il la surface du globe. Ce rôle est immense, merveilleux, vraiment émouvant. Un jour peut-être me sera-t-il donné de vous exposer ici quelques-uns de ces résultats. Dieu veuille que ce soit encore en présence à une aussi brillante assemblée!
Soirées scientifiques de la Sorbonne (1864)

William James photo

“Tell him to live by yes and no — yes to everything good, no to everything bad.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

As quoted in The Thought and Character of William James (1935) by Ralph Barton Perry, Vol. II, ch. 91
1890s

Ursula K. Le Guin photo

“I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth.”

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer

Introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness (1976)

Courtney Love photo
Charles Dickens photo

“The only thing of which we can be sure—time passes—everything else is vanity.”

Sean Russell (1952) author

Source: Sea Without a Shore (1996), Chapter 33 (p. 475)

Christopher Hitchens photo
Robert F. Kennedy photo

“Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”

Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968) American politician and brother of John F. Kennedy

Speech at the University of Kansas at Lawrence http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Remarks-of-Robert-F-Kennedy-at-the-University-of-Kansas-March-18-1968.aspx (18 March 1968)

Edward Heath photo

“Meet me by the fishin' hole and wear your leather britches.
Tell your ma and pa everything's all right.
We're really goin' fishin' next Saturday night.”

Tex Atchison (1912–1982) American musician

Song We're Gonna Go Fishin' http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25201

James Taylor photo

“Oh, Mexico.
It sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low.
Moon's so bright like to light up the night,
Make everything all right.”

James Taylor (1948) American singer-songwriter and guitarist

"Mexico"
Song lyrics, Gorilla (1975)

Luis Miguel photo

“I listen to everything, all types of music.”

Luis Miguel (1970) Puerto Rican singer; music producer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI_sg_mBSLk
Interview with Buenos Dias a Todos, 2008

Mahmoud al-Zahar photo
Lope De Vega photo

“But life is short: while one lives, everything is lacking; when one is dead, everything is superfluous.”

Pero la vida es corta:
viviendo, todo falta;
muriendo, todo sobra.
Act III, sc. vii. Translation from Arthur Terry Seventeenth-Century Spanish Poetry (Cambridge: CUP, 1993) p. 118.
La Dorotea (1632)

Russell Brand photo
Rob Enderle photo
Meister Eckhart photo

“We shall find God in everything alike, and find God always alike in everything.”

Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) German theologian

Quoted in Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists (2007) by James Geary, p. 232

Roberto Clemente photo

“Everything is so new in Puerto Rico. I wanted to build something the way Puerto Rico started, something from the old land.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

Discussing his recently opened restaurant, El Carretero (roughly translated as "one who leads the ox-drawn cart"), as quoted in "Roberto Clemente Baseball's Brightest Superstar" by Arnold Hano, in Boy's Life (March 1968), pp. 25 and 54 https://books.google.com/books?id=7LsdgvCy-S4C&pg=PA54
Other, <big><big>1960s</big></big>, <big>1968</big>

Dave Eggers photo
Harold Lloyd photo
Mau Piailug photo

“My grandfather Raangipi taught me the stars, but I didn't write it down like you are doing. I kept everything in my head. This is called paafu.”

Mau Piailug (1932–2010) Micronesian navigator from the Carolinian island of Satawal and a teacher of traditional, non-instrument wa…

The Last Navigator (1987)

Bill Maher photo
E.M. Forster photo
Lily Allen photo
Steve Jobs photo

“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. … Apple's been very fortunate in that it's introduced a few of these.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

Announcing the introduction of the iPhone, as quoted in Apple unveils cell phone, Apple TV http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16542805/ (9 January 2007)
2000s

“Without mysteries, life would be very dull indeed. What would be left to strive for if everything were known?”

Charles de Lint (1951) author

"Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night", p. 289
The Ivory and the Horn (1996)

Jim Henson photo

“When you trick people into laughing at themselves, that's wit. If you don't laugh at yourself, everything becomes heavy.”

Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer

Interview with The Boston Globe (1989)

Karel Čapek photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Haruki Murakami photo
Norman Mailer photo
Maddox photo

“I hate the help screen, I hate the options, I hate the card graphics, I hate the default window size, everything. I HATE SOLITAIRE.”

Maddox (1978) American internet writer

I hate Solitaire http://maddox.xmission.com/solitaire.html.
The Best Page in the Universe

Justin D. Fox photo
Sten Nadolny photo
Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira photo
Harry Turtledove photo

“"Let's dicker, Lord Lyons," Lincoln said; the British minister needed a moment to understand he meant bargain. Lincoln gave him that moment, reaching into a desk drawer and drawing out a folded sheet of paper that he set on top of the desk. "I have here, sir, a proclamation declaring all Negroes held in bondage in those areas now in rebellion against the lawful government of the United States to be freed as of next January first. I had been saving this proclamation against a Union victory, but circumstances being as they are-" Lord Lyons spread his hands with genuine regret. "Had you won such a victory, Mr. President, I should not be visiting you today with the melancholy message I bear from my government. You know, sir, that I personally despise the institution of chattel slavery and everything associated with it." He waited for Lincoln to nod before continuing. "That said, however, I must tell you that an emancipation proclamation issued after the series of defeats Federal forces have suffered would be perceived as a cri de coeur, a call for servile insurrection to aid your flagging cause, and as such would not be favorably received in either London or Paris, to say nothing of its probable effect in Richmond. I am sorry, Mr. President, but this is not the way out of your dilemma." Lincoln unfolded the paper on which he'd written the decree abolishing slavery in the seceding states, put on a pair of spectacles to read it, sighed, folded it again, and returned it to its drawer without offering to show it to Lord Lyons. "If that doesn't help us, sir, I don't know what will," he said. His long, narrow face twisted, as if he were in physical pain. "Of course, what you're telling me is that nothing helps us, nothing at all."”

Source: The Great War: American Front (1998), p. 7

Ismail ibn Musa Menk photo

“Then we have Sūrat al-Sharḥ, also known as al-Inshirāḥ. I need to make mention of this because in it is a lot of comfort for myself and yourselves. We have a problem in life. When we have a problem Allah says, "Don't worry, with that difficulty, there is ease." You will never know what ease is all about unless you've been through difficulty. Those who have a beautiful life, sometimes they are still worried and depressed because they don't know what it is like to have suffered a little bit. So Allah's blessing, he makes us suffer slightly so that when there's a little bit of ease, mashallah. You know, a man who's always driven a Rolls-Royce will never know what it's like to ride a bicycle to work. Two ways of making them ride. One is, the doctor tells you you're about to die, Allahu Akbar, and you need to ride to work. Immediately everything is given up. Why? Because we're worried about dear life. That's why. If you see people – Subhan Allah – I've seen a man who had a carrot, and he was pretending like he's smoking this carrot and nibbling on it. And I told him, I said: "My brother, what made you nibble on this carrot?" He says: "My doctor told me I can't smoke, and a good replacement is a carrot." I said: "Allahu Akbar, you're stuffing your mouth with a carrot because of a doctor, but when Allah told you smoking is bad, then you didn't want to listen…" Allahu Akbar. May Allah make us from amongst those who eat carrots rather than smoking cigarettes. Really. So, my brothers and sisters, it's a reality. Whenever there is a person who has tasted goodness alone, and they don't know what difficulty is about, there comes a time when they do not appreciate what they have. So like I was saying, two ways. One is, Allah snatches it away from you, so you now have nothing. So many people have climbed the peak in terms of materialistic items, and then they've dropped down the mountain. They say it's easier to drop from the top than it is from the bottom. Allahu Akbar. When you arrive at the top, a small movement and you roll down, you're with the avalanche, one time. And when you're at the bottom, they can kick you – if you drop, you stand up again and you're walking – same level, masshalah, it's all about altitude. May Allah protect us. Another thing is, when you drop from the top, greater likelihood of breaking more bones. When you drop from the bottom, "Ah, I might have just hurt my head slightly", just say "Ouch" and carry on. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us and grant us humbleness. So, remember, sometimes Allah wants you to go down, so that you appreciate the bicycle after you had nothing, yet ten years ago you had the Rolls-Royce. May Allah bless us. So Allah says, and I'm sure we know verses, verse number five and six:
فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرً
إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
"Indeed, with every difficulty [or, with difficulty] there is ease.
And indeed, with the difficulty there is ease."
[…] May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alleviate the suffering that we are all going through in our own little ways. Remember it's a gift of Allah. To keep you in check sometimes. To keep you calling out to Him. May Allah open our doors.”

Ismail ibn Musa Menk (1975) Muslim cleric and Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe.

" Do you have problems in life? Watch This! by Mufti Menk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgp2zbE9Ofg", YouTube (2013)
Lectures

Lewis H. Lapham photo
Aron Ra photo
Abby Stein photo
Tony Abbott photo

“I know politicians are going to be judged on everything they say but sometimes in the heat of discussion you go a little bit further than you would if it was an absolutely calm, considered, prepared, scripted remark. The statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared scripted remarks.”

Tony Abbott (1957) Australian politician

Quoted in "Don't believe everything I say - Tony Abbott" http://www.news.com.au/national/dont-believe-everything-i-say-tony-abbott/story-e6frfkvr-1225867979082 on news.com.au, May 18, 2010.
2010

Augusto Pinochet photo

“Today, near the end of my days, I want to say that I harbor no rancor against anybody, that I love my fatherland above all and that I take political responsibility for everything that was done which had no other goal than making Chile greater and avoiding its disintegration.… I assume full political responsibility for what happened.”

Augusto Pinochet (1915–2006) Former dictator of the republic of Chile

Birthday announcement (25 November 2006); " Pinochet Takes 'Political Responsibility' for Actions of Chilean Dictatorship http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500834.html" (26 November 2006) Washington Post
2000s

Luke the Evangelist photo
Michael Swanwick photo
Roald Amundsen photo

“Everything is on a reduced scale here in the Polar regions; we can't afford to be extravagant.”

Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) Norwegian polar researcher, who was the first to reach the South Pole

Concerning the Polar accommodations
Sydpolen (The South Pole) (1912)

Walter Model photo

“Every minute that we lose will cost us great losses later that we will not be able to afford. We must push forward now, otherwise we risk everything. Hurry yourself with the technical aspects, a lot of time has already been lost.”

Walter Model (1891–1945) German field marshal

To Major Kratzenberg on 3 July 1942, The Battle of Smolensk. Quoted in "Generalfeldmarschall Model Biographie" - Page 93 - by Walter Göriltz - 2012

George Bernard Shaw photo

“Nothing is more dreadful than a husband who keeps telling you everything he thinks, and always wants to know what you think.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

The Bishop
1900s, Getting Married (1908)

John Byrne photo

“I’d go back to 1975. I commented elsewhere, recently, that pressing the “rewind” button would be a good idea, as long as it was done across the board, and not piecemeal or in stealth mode, a la “Birthright.” Take all the characters back to their status quo circa 1975, but set the stories now. Since the most anal-retentive fanboys need “explanations” for everything, have the Shaper of Worlds do it at M*****. Not sure who’d be up for the job at DC.”

John Byrne (1950) American author and artist of comic books

2004
https://web.archive.org/web/20090207020226/http://www.network54.com/Forum/248951/thread/1082467515/last-1082574445/Complete+DCU+And+M%2A%2A%2A%2A%2A++Universe++Overhauls.
On taking comics back to the basics; ‘rewinding’ or ‘resetting’ to the status quo

Joseph Gordon-Levitt photo
Morrissey photo

“PM: What annoys you most about yourself?
M: Practically everything. I miss not being able to stand up straight. I tend to slide into rooms and sit on the chair behind the door.”

Morrissey (1959) English singer

From "Wilde child", interview by Paul Morley, Blitz (April 1988).
In interviews etc., About himself and his work

Harry Truman photo

“The Russians are liars – you can't trust them. At Potsdam they agreed to everything and broke their word. It's too bad the second world power is like this, but that's the way it is, and we must keep our strength.”

Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)

Statement to Richard Nixon and his wife Pat in 1969, as quoted in The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, p. 44

Anthony Bourdain photo
Ted Ginn, Jr. photo

“In order to be the go-to guy, you must have everything right. You have to be on point with your routes and catch the ball no matter where the quarterback puts it. You just have to have confidence. I'm rolling, and I want to go out and have fun.”

Ted Ginn, Jr. (1985) American football wide receiver, kick returner

[Carlton, Chuck, Ohio State's Ginn ready to be go-to guy, Dallas Morning News, 2006-09-08, 2007-01-23]

Bernie Sanders photo
Willa Cather photo
Jack McDevitt photo
John Maynard Keynes photo
Johannes Tauler photo
James Gleick photo
Geert Wilders photo
Tomas Kalnoky photo
Nicholas Sparks photo

“"I'm not sure I ever 'got it' when it comes to how to live my life in a way that was original and free," reflected Steven Salt, a retired businessman. "Of course, like most men, I always believed I had the answers and that I was not going to live my life the stupid way other men do. I was going to be unique and avoid their mistakes, but instead I'm just another male stereotype. I started off thinking that being an achiever and a 'winner' would be the key to real freedom. So all my energy went that way and I faked everything else when it came to caring about other people. Then I thought I'd marry the 'perfect' woman and be the 'perfect' dad and husband, not like the other married men. I'd be different. But no matter how I tried I was forcing it and probably fooling no one but myself. My wife finally left and I barely know who my kids really are. When we talk it's mainly 'business.' I fell into all the traps. Now that I'm in my seventies, I'm becoming just like all those guys I felt sorry for when I was younger— guys with no real friends and with no patience for anyone else's ideas or opinions. I can barely stand to talk to anyone and yet I'm still looking to fulfill myself by meeting the 'perfect' woman. I've become a macho cliché. It's taken me this long to realize that even if she existed I really wouldn't know how to be with her and make it feel good anyway."”

Herb Goldberg (1937–2019) American psychologist

The Personal Journey of Masculinity: From Externalization to Disconnection to Oblivion, p. 9
What Men Still Don't Know About Women, Relationships, and Love (2007)