Author: LINUS FERNANDES
-
Friedrich Nietzsche: My task
“The better the state is established, the fainter is humanity. To make the individual uncomfortable, that is my task.” —Friedrich Nietzsche.
-
Vikki Roemer: Three types of guys
“There are three types of guys — the ones who hate nerds (all nerds, that is; girls aren’t let off the hook); the ones who are scared off by girls who are slightly more intelligent than average; and the guys who are also somewhat more intelligent than average, but are so shy that they can’t…
-
Al Capone: Bootlegging
“When I sell liquor, it’s called bootlegging; when my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, it’s called hospitality.” —Al Capone.
-
Wolfgang von Goethe: Life’s golden tree
“My worthy friend, gray are all theories,And green alone Life’s golden tree.” — Wolfgang von Goethe, “Faust, Part 1” (1808), Project Gutenberg translation (2005), updated 2023
-
André Gide: One must always start again
“Tout choses sont dites deja, mais comme personne n’ecoute, il faut toujours recommencer.” [All things have already been said, but since no one listens, one must always start again.] —André Gide.
-
Francoise Sagan: Living and writing
“I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live.” —Francoise Sagan.
-
Mark Twain: When angry
“When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.” —Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.
-
Mark Twain: Time to reform
“Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.” —Mark Twain.
-
Judith Martin: Civilized
“We are all born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.” —Judith Martin, “Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behaviour”.
-
Lillian Hellman: Since when?
“Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?” —Lillian Hellman.
-
Larry Wall: Compromise
“We all agree on the necessity of compromise. We just can’t agree on when it’s necessary to compromise.” —Larry Wall.
-
Benjamin Graham: Earning power
“Earning power must always be the chief criterion of stock values — exceeding in importance asset backing, financial condition, and even dividend return. For it is the average rate of earnings which determines the real value of the physical assets, which weakens or strengthens the cash position, and which finally must control the dividend policy.”…
-
Blaise Pascal: Two kinds of men
“There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who believe themselves sinners; the sinners who believe themselves righteous.” —Blaise Pascal.
-
Robert Pirsig: Avoid mistakes
“When a shepherd goes to kill a wolf, and takes his dog along to see the sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes. The dog has certain relationships to the wolf the shepherd may have forgotten.” —Robert Pirsig.
-
C S Lewis: Most dangerous thing
“Teachers will tell you that the laziest boy in the class is the one who works hardest in the end. They mean this. If you give two boys, say, a proposition in geometry to do, the one who is prepared to take trouble will try to understand it. The lazy boy will try to learn…
-
C S Lewis: Conscience
“Either we give up trying to be good, or else we become very unhappy indeed. For, make no mistake: if you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough left over to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your…
-
Andy Hunt: Perfect software
“No one in the brief history of computing has ever written a piece of perfect software. It’s unlikely that you’ll be the first.” —Andy Hunt.
-
Euripides: Dearer than a daughter
“To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter.” —Euripides.
-
W H Auden: No poet or novelist
“No poet or novelist wishes he was the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted.” —W. H. Auden.
-
Bob Marley: Hit me with music
“One good thing about music, Well, it helps you feel no pain. So hit me with music; Hit me with music now.” —Bob Marley.
-
C S Lewis: Pretence
“What’s the good of pretending to be what you aren’t? Well, even on the human level, you know, there are two kinds of pretending. There’s a bad kind, where the pretence is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he’s going to help you instead of really helping you. But there’s…
-
Joyce Carol Oates: Symbols are inventions
“H. sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.” —Joyce Carol Oates.
-
Ambrose Pierce: Fourteen hundred and forty times a day
“You are not permitted to kill a woman who has wronged you, but nothing forbids you to reflect that she is growing older every minute. You are avenged fourteen hundred and forty times a day.” —Ambrose Bierce.
-
Marc Andreessen: Good news
“I am here to bring the good news: AI will not destroy the world, and in fact may save it.” —Marc Andreessen.
-
Carl Sagan: Extraterrestrial intelligence
‘I’m often asked the question, “Do you think there is extraterrestrial intelligence?” I give the standard arguments — there are a lot of places out there, and use the word *billions*, and so on. And then I say it would be astonishing to me if there weren’t extraterrestrial intelligence, but of course there is as…
-
Norman Ralph Augustine: Laws
“The thickness of the proposal required to win a multimillion dollar contract is about one millimeter per million dollars. If all the proposals conforming to this standard were piled on top of each other at the bottom of the Grand Canyon it would probably be a good idea. Ninety percent of the time things will…
-
C S Lewis: Neither Totalitarian nor Individualist
“When you find yourself wanting to turn your children, or pupils, or even your neighbours, into people exactly like yourself, remember that God probably never meant them to be that. You and they are different organs, intended to do different things. On the other hand, when you are tempted not to bother about someone else’s…
-
Al Capone: Sick of the job
“Let the worthy citizens of Chicago get their liquor the best way they can. I’m sick of the job. It’s a thankless one and full of grief.” —Al Capone.
-
Bob Dylan: Insulting and humiliating music
“We’re constantly being bombarded by insulting and humiliating music, which people are making for you the way they make those Wonder Bread products. Just as food can be bad for your system, music can be bad for your spiritual and emotional feelings. It might taste good or clever, but in the long run, it’s not…
-
Charlie Munger: What’s going on now
“You can’t make a lot of money knowing what’s going on now.” —Charlie Munger.
-
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Words left unsaid, deeds left undone
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” —-Harriet Beecher Stowe.
-
Christopher Evans: Automobile industry
“Suppose for a moment that the automobile industry had developed at the same rate as computers and over the same period: how much cheaper and more efficient would the current models be? If you have not already heard the analogy, the answer is shattering. Today you would be able to buy a Rolls-Royce for $2.75,…
-
Honore de Balzac: Credit for nothing
“When women love us, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even our virtues.” —Honore de Balzac.
