Quote of the day

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iambiguous
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Re: Quote of the day

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Graham Greene from The Quiet American

I never knew a man who had better motives for all the trouble he caused.


And how tricky is that, right?

I envied those who could believe in a God and I distrusted them. I felt they were keeping their courage up with a fable of the changeless and the permanent. Death was far more certain than God, and with death there would be no longer the possibility of love dying.

And how tricky is that, right?

I can’t say what made me fall in love with Vietnam - that a woman’s voice can drug you; that everything is so intense. The colors, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the filthy rain in London. They say whatever you’re looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that’s the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat. Your shirt is straightaway a rag. You can hardly remember your name, or what you came to escape from. But at night, there’s a breeze. The river is beautiful. You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war; that the gunshots were fireworks; that only pleasure matters. A pipe of opium, or the touch of a girl who might tell you she loves you. And then, something happens, as you knew it would. And nothing can ever be the same again.

And nothing ever was for me. And still isn't.

He was impregnably armored by his good intentions and his ignorance.

Yo, henry!
Among others.


God save us always, I said from the innocent and the good.

And from the pinheads. But that's understood.

Ordinary life goes on---that has saved many a man's reason.

No, really, think about it.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Jane Austen from Pride and Prejudice

I have not the pleasure of understanding you.


Next up: the pleasure of misunderstanding me.

For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?

Indeed. And I certainly take full advantage of that here.

You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.

Or, sure, in remembrance of all the pain you gave to others.

An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.

Conflicting goods as it were. Back then.

Till this moment I never knew myself.

Me? Till this moment I thought I knew myself.

My good opinion once lost is lost forever.

And double that [at least] here.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Bret Easton Ellis from American Psycho

There's a moment of sheer terror when I discover Paul's apartment overlooks the park.


Well, he is an American psycho.

I’m into, oh, murders and executions mostly. It depends. I shrug. Do you like it? she asks, unfazed. Um … It depends. Why? I take a bite of sorbet. Well, most guys I know who work in mergers and acquisitions don’t really like it, she says.

Based on a true story no doubt.

...general competence is on the fucking decline.

:lol:
No, seriously.

I passed what I thought was a Halloween parade, which was disorienting since I was fairly sure this was May. When I stopped on the corner of Sixteenth Street and made a closer inspection it turned out to be something called a “Gay Pride Parade,” which made my stomach turn.

Not unlike these guys: https://knowthyself.forumotion.net/t290 ... egenerates

Something is turning into nothing very quickly.

And, for some, not just philosophically.

The Patty Winters Show this morning was about Nazis and, inexplicably, I got a real charge out of watching it. Though I wasn't exactly charmed by their deeds, I didn't find them unsympathetic either, nor I might add did most of the members of the audience. One of the Nazis, in a rare display of humor, even juggled grapefruits and, delighted, I sat up in bed and clapped.

Let's run this by the Nazis here.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Michio Kaku from Physics of the Impossible

“If at first an idea does not sound absurd, then there is no hope for it." Albert Einstein


Well, not counting the absurd ideas we endure here.
Mine for example, right? And definitely yours, Mr. Pinhead.


As Sir William Osler once said, “The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow."

Let's fit my philosophy in there.

A plasma is the “fourth state of matter." Solids, liquids, and gases make up the three familiar states of matter, but the most common form of matter in the universe is plasma, a gas of ionized atoms.

Next up: the ionized atoms of bullshit here.

Ironically, the serious study of the impossible has frequently opened up rich and entirely unexpected domains of science. For example, over the centuries the frustrating and futile search for a “perpetual motion machine” led physicists to conclude that such a machine was impossible, forcing them to postulate the conservation of energy and the three laws of thermodynamics. Thus the futile search to build perpetual motion machines helped to open up the entirely new field of thermodynamics, which in part laid the foundation of the steam engine, the machine age, and modern industrial society.

Next up: the perpetual motion bullshit here.

The Pentagon has been looking into the possibility of developing “smart dust,” dust-sized particles that have tiny sensors inside that can be sprayed over a battlefield to give commanders real-time information. In the future it is conceivable that “smart dust” might be sent to the nearby stars.

And then the "dumb dust" they used in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

One day , would it be possible to walk through walls ? To build starships than can travel faster than the speed of life? To read other people's mind? To become invisible? To move object with the power of our minds? To transport our bodies instantly through outer space?? Since I was a child , I've always been fascinated by these questions.

The "beam me up, Scotty" really, really long shots.
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Re: Quote of the day

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The Onion

Florida Woman Fills Out 25-Page Application To Receive Tampon From Dispenser


Well, it is Florida, right Ron?

Anheuser-Busch Confirms All Bud Light Cans Have Undergone Gay Conversion Therapy

Let's call it right-wing woke.

‘Succession’ Ends With Roy Family Saving Christmas

Who cares as long as it ended.

Hamburger Creeped Out By Eerie Soy Facsimile Of Itself On Grill

Of course they'll both end up as shit flushed down the toilet.

Experts Warn AI Could One Day Be Smart Enough To Eat Soup

With a fork no less.

Study Finds First Bullets Fired By Cop During Traffic Stop Dictate How Rest Of Interaction Will Go

That and the color of the driver's skin.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Emil M. Cioran from On the Heights of Despair

If I were to be totally sincere, I would say that I do not know why I live and why I do not stop living. The answer probably lies in the irrational character of life which maintains itself without reason.


See, I told you.

How important can it be that I suffer and think? My presence in this world will disturb a few tranquil lives and will unsettle the unconscious and pleasant naiveté of others. Although I feel that my tragedy is the greatest in history—greater than the fall of empires—I am nevertheless aware of my total insignificance. I am absolutely persuaded that I am nothing in this universe; yet I feel that mine is the only real existence.

That's it! It can't be put any better.

Only those are happy who never think or, rather, who only think about life's bare necessities, and to think about such things means not to think at all.

Them and [of course] the pinheads.

No matter which way we go, it is no better than any other. It is all the same whether you achieve something or not, have faith or not, just as it is all the same whether you cry or remain silent.

Philosophically?

I would like to be free, totally free...free like an aborted child.

Said the man who lived to be 84.
But point taken.


There are no arguments. Can anyone who has reached the limit bother with arguments, causes, effects, moral considerations, and so forth? Of course not.

He argued...
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Re: Quote of the day

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Stephen Hawking from A Brief History of Time

One could still imagine that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang, or even afterwards in just such a way as to make it look as though there had been a big bang, but it would be meaningless to suppose that it was created before the big bang. An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when he might have carried out his job!


Of course, there's not much that can't be made to mean.

Another prediction of general relativity is that time should appear to run slower near a massive body like the earth.

Nano seconds at least.

...when another German scientist, Werner Heisenberg, formulated his famous uncertainty principle. In order to predict the future position and velocity of a particle, one has to be able to measure its present position and velocity accurately. The obvious way to do this is to shine light on the particle. Some of the waves of light will be scattered by the particle and this will indicate its position. However, one will not be able to determine the position of the particle more accurately than the distance between the wave crests of light, so one needs to use light of a short wavelength in order to measure the position of the particle precisely.

Next up: the considerably less famous iambiguous uncertainty principle. Or, to you, intellectual contraption.

As we shall see, the concept of time has no meaning before the beginning of the universe. This was first pointed out by St. Augustine. When asked: “What did God do before he created the universe?” Augustine didn’t reply: “He was preparing Hell for people who asked such questions.”

No, really, what is time?

If there were events earlier than this time, then they could not affect what happens at the present time. Their existence can be ignored because it would have no observational consequences.

Of course!

Normally, the energy of the particle is still positive, but the gravitational field inside a black hole is so strong that even a real particle can have negative energy there. It is therefore possible, if a black hole is present, for the virtual particle with negative energy to fall into the black hole and become a real particle or antiparticle.

Common sense let's call it.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Nora Ephron from Heartburn

And then the dreams break into a million tiny pieces. The dream dies. Which leaves you with a choice: you can settle for reality, or you can go off, like a fool, and dream another dream.


Dream on in other words.

I always read the last page of a book first so that if I die before I finish I'll know how it turned out.

Let's note the pros and cons.

I must try this again, I thought; I must try again someday to sit still and not say a word. Maybe when I'm dead.

Definitely when I'm dead.

You'd be amazed how little choice you have about loony bins.

Take the one that we're in here, for example.

In a socialist country you can get rich by providing necessities, while in a capitalist country you can get rich by providing luxuries.

Kind of.

Show me a woman who cries when the trees lose their leaves in autumn and I’ll show you a real asshole.

What to make of that?
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Re: Quote of the day

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Pessimism...

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." James Branch Cabell


Next up: living in the least of all possible worlds.

“I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” Antonio Gramsci

I'll still need a context myself.

"I wish to believe but belief is a graveyard." Charles Bukowski

And I, among others, see to that.

“If you think this Universe is bad, you should see some of the others.” Philip K. Dick

Anyone here ever seen one?

“If you expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed.” Sarah Dessen

Indeed, few here have let me down.

"What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too.” Chuck Palahniuk

Starting, of course, with the day that we are born.
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Re: Quote of the day

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The Onion

Ukraine Admits Country’s Been In Shambles Since Hunter Biden Left


Putin now off the hook.

Friend Who Is Not Into Dogfighting Really Ruining Match For Everyone Else

Like that could ever happen.

Apartment Building Washing Machine Only Accepts Money Orders

And bitcoins.

White Conservative Parents Sit Children Down For Tough Conversation About Seeing Black Character In Movie

Actually, it was a black trans character.

Man Figured Drug Addiction Would Take Up A Lot More Free Time

What would you advise?

Internet Divided Over Video Of Black Cop Shooting White Cop Who Was Choking Out Racist White Woman Who Called Police On Black Teenagers

Well, that was bound to happen.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Chuck Palahniuk from Fight Club

Which is worse: Hell or nothing?


Yes.

Generations have been working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy what they don't really need.

Uh, capitalism?

Recycling and speed limits are bullshit. They're like someone who quits smoking on his deathbed.

You tell me.

I am nothing, and not even that.

That can't be much.

We just had a near-life experience.

Scary, isn't it?.

It's so quiet this high up, the feeling you get is that you're one of those space monkeys. You do the little job you're trained to do. Pull a lever. Push a button. You don't understand any of it, and then you just die.

Not unlike the wage slaves down here.
Pulling the lever for Trump.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Stupidity...

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” Albert Einstein


In other words, you and all the rest of it. :wink:

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” Laurence J. Peter

Or here: “If a cluttered post is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty post a sign?”

“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” George Carlin

Or, sure, in small groups: https://knowthyself.forumotion.net/f6-agora

“Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.” Euripides

Don't get me started!

“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” Harlan Ellison

Pick one, Mr. Pinhead:

1] :lol:
2] :lol:
3] :lol:

"I'll take crazy over stupid any day.” Joss Whedon

And twice on Sunday.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Carl Sagan from Cosmos

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.


Tell that to God.

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

Actually, I wouldn't go that far myself.

We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.

Of our own volition, of course.

The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together.

Unless, of course, it's ugly.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

God, right?

There’s as many atoms in a single molecule of your DNA as there are stars in the typical galaxy.

Go ahead. Take you time. Wrap your head around it.
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Re: Quote of the day

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Witold Gombrowicz from Ferdydurke

Man is profoundly dependent on the reflection of himself in another man's soul, be it even the soul of an idiot.


Next up: the soul of a pinhead.

Great! I've written something stupid, but I haven't signed a contract with anyone to produce solely wise and perfect works. I gave vent to my stupidity...and here I am, reborn.

Next up: you give vent to yours.

Against the background of general freakishness the case of my particular freakishness was lost.

Dont you just hate that?

There is nothing that the mature hate more, there is nothing that disgusts them more, than immaturity.

And, of course, the other way around.

Beauty beheld in solitude is even more lethal.

I know that mine is.

And just as he had earlier, during their lunch hour, insinuated the problem of innocence to the formalists - which had incensed them and boosted their immaturity a hundredfold - he was now making an issue of my modern legs. And there I was, listening and lapping it all up - his linking the calves of my legs with those of the new generation - and coming to feel the cruelty of youth toward old calves! And there was also a kind of leg camaraderie with the schoolgirl, plus a clandestine, voluptuous collusion of legs, plus leg patriotism, plus the impudence of young legs, plus leg poetry, plus young-blooded pride in the calf of the leg, and a cult of the calf of the leg. Oh, what a fiendish body part!

Legs again...
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Re: Quote of the day

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Peter Wessel Zapffe

A coin is examined, and only after careful deliberation, given to a beggar, whereas a child is flung out into the cosmic brutality without hesitation.


Go figure?

To bear children into this world is like carrying wood to a burning house.

Pick one:
1] a mood you're in
2] a philosophy of life
3] a scientific fact


The tragedy of a species becoming unfit for life by over-evolving one ability is not confined to humankind. Thus it is thought, for instance, that certain deer in paleontological times succumbed as they acquired overly-heavy horns. The mutations must be considered blind, they work, are thrown forth, without any contact of interest with their environment. In depressive states, the mind may be seen in the image of such an antler, in all its fantastic splendour pinning its bearer to the ground.

Our species, perhaps?

Each new generation asks – What is the meaning of life? A more fertile way of putting the question would be – Why does man need a meaning to life?

Let alone yours.

The dread of being stares us in the eye, and in a deadly gush we perceive how the minds are dangling in threads of their own spinning, and that a hell is lurking underneath.

You know, being optimistic.

The modern barbarity of ‘saving’ the suicidal is based on a hair-raising misapprehension of the nature of existence.

Unless, of course, he's wrong.
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