Tag Archives: quotations

Selections from Jesus, Son of Man

Posted on March 3, 2021 by smellincoffee

Earlier I posted comments for Kahlil Gibran’s moving Jesus, Son of Man, and now share some quotations from it. Then He looked at me, and the noontide of His eyes was upon me, and He said, “You have many lovers, … Continue reading →

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The death of Liberty

Posted on February 25, 2021 by smellincoffee

“Liberty never dies from direct attack. No man ever arises and says ‘Down with Liberty.’ Liberty has died in 14 countries in a single score of years from weakening its safeguards, from demoralization of the moral stamina of the people….If … Continue reading →

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Wisdom Wednesday: The Great Tradition

Posted on September 9, 2020 by smellincoffee

This week features a quote from Will Durant, whose epic Story of Civilization, partially co-written with his wife, was a masterful review of western history — surveying literature, politics, philosophy, etc — from Mesopotamia to Napoleon. This particular quote comes … Continue reading →

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Wisdom Wednesday: Enough

Posted on July 15, 2020 by smellincoffee

Hearing wisdom and knowing wisdom are two different things. The usual human experience is to hear a thing, remark on its  insight, and then shove it away in some dark closet of our minds, where it is forgotten and fruitless.  … Continue reading →

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Quotes from the Ground Beneath Us

Posted on March 5, 2020 by smellincoffee

“Quotations to follow tonight,” I said. I didn’t expect AT&T to have another network outage, though mercifully this one wasn’t as long as the twelve days (you better believe I counted) of February. But enough telecom griping! On to the … Continue reading →

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Perspective from Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Posted on July 25, 2019 by smellincoffee

I recently finished Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a slim little volume introducing readers to relativity (special and general), quantum mechanics, particle physics, heat, time, and our place in the universe.   As it’s less than a hundred pages I don’t … Continue reading →

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Buddhist cyberpunk?

Posted on May 30, 2019 by smellincoffee

“As a child I’d believed there was an essential person, a sort of core personality around which the surface factors could evolve and change without damaging the integrity of who you were. Later, I started to see that this was … Continue reading →

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The measure of a man

Posted on February 6, 2019 by smellincoffee

I am presently reading Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton, and in it he quotes a bit from Michel de Montaigne which is worth sharing. “A man have have a great suite of attendants, a beautiful palace, great influence and a … Continue reading →

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And now, the News (2)

Posted on August 10, 2018 by smellincoffee

Back when I read Alain de Botton’s The News: A  User’s Manual, I shared an excerpt from it.  While poking through my draft posts I found another quotation I’d jotted down that remains worth sharing. Herein lies a central paradox … Continue reading →

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Quotes from "Brave New World Revisited"

Posted on July 25, 2018 by smellincoffee

These are selected quotations from  Brave New World Revisited. “In the course of evolution nature has gone to endless trouble to see that every individual is unlike every other individual. […] Physically and mentally, each one of us is unique. … Continue reading →

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