Died on July 20 — Quotes

There is a value called “mind” as there is a value oil, wheat, or gold. … One can invest in that value, one can “follow” it as they say on the stock exchange; one can watch its fluctuations in I know not what price list which is the world’s general opinion of it. … All these rising and falling values constitute the great market of human affairs. And of these the unfortunate value mind does not stop falling.

But what, Phaedrus, is the contrary of a dream if not some other dream?… A dream of vigilance and tension dreamt by Reason herself!—And what would such a Reason dream?—If a Reason were to dream—a Reason hard, erect, eyes armed, mouth closed, as though mistress of her lips—would not the dream she dreamt be what we see now—this world of exact forces and studied illusions?—A dream, a dream, but a dream interpenetrated with symmetries, all order, acts and sequences!

"The doubters said,
"Man can not fly,"
The doers said,
"Maybe, but we'll try,"
And finally soared
In the morning glow
While non-believers
Watched from below."

Seek to understand the root. — It is futile to argue as to which single leaf, which design of branch, or which attractive flower you like; when you understand the root, you understand all its blossoming.

To see a thing uncolored by one’s own personal preferences and desires is to see it in its own pristine simplicity.

The happiness that is derived from excitement is like a brilliant fire — soon it will go out. Before we married, we never had the chance to go out to nightclubs. We only spent our nights watching TV and chatting. Many young couples live a very exciting life when they are in love. So, when they marry, and their lives are reduced to calmness and dullness, they will feel impatient and will drink the bitter cup of a sad marriage.

Open your grief-stricken heart to the Lord. Weep and sincerely pray, 'O Lord, draw me towards You; give me peace of mind.' By doing so constantly you, will gradually attain peace of mind.

If a given proto-language was spoken in an area outside that of its daughter languages, specific words designating features of the ancient habitat are not usually preserved in the attested languages. Therefore, if a language ancestral to a group of European languages originated in Africa, we would not be able to find in the extant lexical stock ancient words for "giraffe" and "elephant" which could suggest its African origin. (Dolgopolsky 1987, 8)

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

Then, sir, you will turn it over once more in what you are pleased to call your mind.

I don't fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks but the man who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times!

Beware of language, for it is often a great cheat.

This character out of my fantasy, whose author I became in the days of my partly literary, partly solitary or . . inward youth, has lived, apparently, since that faded time with a certain life — which his reticence, more than what he said, has persuaded a few readers to attribute to him. Teste was conceived — in a room where Auguste Comte spent his early years — at a period when I was drunk on my own will and subject to strange excesses of consciousness of my self. I was suffering from the acute ailment called precision. I tended toward the extreme of the reckless desire to understand, and I searched in myself for the critical points in my powers of attention.

It takes as much time and trouble to pull down a falsehood as to build up a truth.

All great undertakings do not consist of doing again what others have done before, but in recapturing the spirit that went into what they did—and would have done differently in a different age.