Category Archives: quotations

Freedom, Culture, and the Modern Negation of Both

Posted on July 13, 2018 by smellincoffee

From Anthony Esolen’s “Culture? What Culture”, a speech I heard on Youtube and began to transcribe until I did a google search and realized he’s already posted the full text of it.  The speech is rather long and begins by … Continue reading →

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Spock Thoughts | Desiderata

Posted on September 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

Although I do not consume The News — that is, the constantly changing, buzzing noise of whatever it is people are excited about for the present day and a half, soon to be abruptly replaced by something else —  occasionally … Continue reading →

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A human is a messy receipe

Posted on August 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

“There is an important distinction between a blueprint and a recipe. A blueprint is a detailed, point-for-point specification of some end product like a house or a car. One diagnostic feature of a blueprint is that it is reversible. Give … Continue reading →

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Unsettled America

Posted on July 19, 2017 by smellincoffee

Last week I read Wendell Berry’s The Unsettling of America, on the subject of agriculture and culture. Its title is apt, because Berry believes that the triumph of industrialism — as it has turned farms into agribusinesses, and America from … Continue reading →

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Contra Mundum

Posted on July 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And … Continue reading →

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"Far winds and whispers and soap opera cries"

Posted on June 10, 2017 by smellincoffee

“In writing the short novel Fahrenheit 451 I thought I was describing a world that might evolve in four or five decades. But only a few weeks ago, in Beverly Hills one night, a husband and wife passed me, walking … Continue reading →

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Two voices, two centuries, one timeless truth

Posted on February 19, 2017 by smellincoffee

At once time Mr. Douglass was travelling in the state of Pennsylvania, and was forced, on account of his colour, to ride in the baggage-car, in spite of the fact that he had paid the same price for his passage … Continue reading →

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A reading on the Presidency: The Ship of State Turns Not Easily

Posted on January 19, 2017 by smellincoffee

Another reading from The Twilight of the Presidency: Newton’s first law holds that a body at rest will remain at rest and a body in motion will continue in motion along the same line until acted upon by an outside … Continue reading →

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A reading on the Presidency: A Man Divided?

Posted on January 18, 2017 by smellincoffee

The president really has two jobs. The first that has received is that of his managerial role, his responsibility for handling the nation’s affairs. Coupled with that is his role of personifying the nation and becoming thereby the unifying factor … Continue reading →

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Ad Astra Per Aspera

Posted on November 13, 2016 by smellincoffee

A reading from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, set to utterly perfect music. We were hunters and foragers — the frontier was everywhere. We were bounded only by the earth, and the ocean, and the sky. The open road still … Continue reading →

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