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d1478fb No matter how much people on the left talk about compassion, they have no compassion for the taxpayers. Thomas Sowell
2c4e8df A mere enumeration of government activity is evidence -- often the sole evidence offered -- of "inadequate" nongovernment institutions, whose "inability" to cope with problems "obviously" required state intervention. Government is depicted as acting not in response to its own political incentives and constraints but because it is compelled to do so by concern for the public interest: it "cannot keep its hands off" when so "much is at stake,.. Thomas Sowell
96df575 The government is indeed an institution, but "the market" is nothing more than an option for each individual to chose among numerous existing institutions, or to fashion new arrangements suited to his own situation and taste." Thomas Sowell
da4f75b Age gives you an excuse for not being very good at things that you were not very good at when you were young. Thomas Sowell
636b9b8 People are all born ignorant but they are not born stupid. Much of the stupidity we see today is induced by our educational system, from the elementary schools to the universities. In a high-tech age that has seen the creation of artificial intelligence by computers, we are also seeing the creation of artificial stupidity by people who call themselves educators. Thomas Sowell
a1ef6b8 It is very difficult for me to come to terms with my spiritual illness because of my great pride, disguised by my material successes and my intellectual power. Intelligence is not incompatible with humility, provided I place humility first. To seek prestige and wealth is the ultimate goal for many in the modern world. To be fashionable and to seem better than I really am is a spiritual illness. To recognize and to admit my weaknesses is the.. Alcoholics Anonymous
4fa89d4 My personal opinion is that the neutral position on the mood spectrum--what I called emotional sea level--is not happiness but rather contentment and the calm acceptance that is the goal of many kinds of spiritual practice. happiness spiritual-practice Andrew Weil
2207ec0 You have not been yourself all day," said Henry, and rose from his seat with face unmoved. Margaret rushed at him and seized both his hands. She was transfigured. "Not any more of this!" she cried. "You shall see the connection if it kills you, Henry! You have had a mistress--I forgave you. My sister has a lover--you drive her from the house. Do you see the connection? Stupid, hypocritical, cruel--oh, contemptible!--a man who insults his wi.. E.M. Forster
03dacb2 You are inclined to get muddled, if I may judge from last night. Let yourself go. Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them. E.M. Forster
113c41a I can only do what's easy. I can only entice and be enticed. I can't, and won't, attempt difficult relations. If I marry it will either be a man who's strong enough to boss me or whom I'm strong enough to boss. So I shan't ever marry, for there aren't such men. And Heaven help any one whom I do marry, for I shall certainly run away from him before you can say 'Jack Robinson. relationships E.M. Forster
7696824 Few travelled in these days, for, thanks to the advance of science, the earth was exactly alike all over. Rapid intercourse, from which the previous civilization had hoped so much, had ended by defeating itself. What was the good of going to Peking when it was just like Shrewsbury? Why return to Shrewsbury when it would all be like Peking? Men seldom moved their bodies; all unrest was concentrated in the soul. civilisation civilization future machine science-fiction soul travel unrest E.M. Forster
15b596b But this is something new!' said Mrs. Munt, who collected new ideas as a squirrel collects nuts, and was especially attracted by those that are portable. E.M. Forster
bf3e8a3 Books have to be read (worse luck, for it takes a long time); it is the only way of discovering what they contain. education learning reading scholorship E.M. Forster
3368e55 Owen is the most Hitchcockian preschooler I ever met. He's three. He knows maybe ninety word and one of them is 'crypt'? macabre Sarah Vowell
6e74d44 When one of a culture's guiding credos is that "all men are created equal," any person who, say, becomes an expert on, say, nuclear weapons or, say, ecology, i.e., anyone who distinguishes himself through mental excellence, is a nuisance." Sarah Vowell
e5d9b03 Don't talk to me about hatred if you haven't been married. Jonathan Franzen
33ee29e You know your country has a checkered past when you find yourself sitting around pondering the humanitarian upside of sticking with the British Empire. history humanitarianism Sarah Vowell
a2ba098 But I have never had the privilege of unhappiness in Happy Valley. California is about the good life. So a bad life there seems so much worse than a bad life anywhere else. Quality is an obsession there--good food, good wine, good movies, music, weather, cars. Those sound like the right things to shoot for, but the never-ending quality quest is a lot of pressure when you're uncertain and disorganized and, not least, broker than broke. Some .. humor quality Sarah Vowell
fc3d7a1 Hamilton was bug-eyed. "Who those people?" Jonah held his head. "Man, I should have known it was a mistake to say I'd be leaving town soon! Why do fans have to be so literal?" "Are they going to let us go get the faxes?" Hamilton asked. Jonah stared at him. "You're kidding, right?" Gordon Korman
c751488 A bronze plaque read: GAIUS PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS Dan made a face. "Get a load of the guy with the funny name." "I think that's Pliny the younger, the famous Roman writer," Amy supplied. She bent down to read the English portion of the tablet. "Right. In A.D. 79, Pliny chronicled the destruction of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. It's one of the earliest eyewitness accounts of a major disaster." Dan yawned. "Doesn't this rem.. Gordon Korman
adf2b30 Amy, since when do you have a boyfriend? Gordon Korman
70020fa Slime him, sis," Dan urged, "Make him a redcoat." redcoats Gordon Korman
91c73cd Check it out." Jonah removed the bubble wrap and held up the picture for his three cousins. Dan took a step backward. The shock was almost as powerful as it had been the day before at the Uffizi. "It's perfect! It's every bit as disgusting as the real one!" Amy nodded. "And so fast. We only called you yesterday." Jonah shrugged. "Even the Janus take a short cut every now and then. You can do a lot with digitization these days. You break the.. Gordon Korman
6dac243 Kod ljudi koji nam postanu bliski mi sve te pojedinosti prvog dodira sa njima obicno zaboravljamo; izgleda nam kao da smo ih vazda znali i kao da su oduvek sa nama bili. Od svega toga u secanju iskrsne ponekad samo neka nepovezana slika. Ivo Andrić
8e945bf lys hdh 'wn lmwt ,, bl 'wn brhn lmr `l~ qymth. Ivo Andrić
29f2351 era apenas la suma de dos soledades y de muchas ausencias. Isabel Allende
a1c4d34 Learn how to smile in the cannibal pot and life will be so much easier. Alan Brennert
47cc242 You make all these decisions in your life, and they all seem like the right decisions at the time. You think you're doing the right thing. And it's only later that you realize, no, they were exactly the wrong decisions, and instead of bringing you what you wanted, they only carried you even farther away from your dreams. And somehow you've got to live with that. Alan Brennert
e55979e Nations should be governed by a council of learned men who must answer to the people for their actions. Isabel Allende
1b14aba Hay mucha gente buena, Irina, pero es discreta. Los malos, en cambio, hacen mucho ruido, por eso se notan mas. humanidad maldad Isabel Allende
b65e994 My father says that fear is good; it's the body's alarm system, it warns us of danger. But sometimes danger can't be avoided, and then you have to forget about being afraid. Isabel Allende
185b1a2 I have a hundred-year-old aunt who aspires to sainthood, and whose only wish has been to go into the convent, but no congregation, not even the Little Sisters of Charity, could tolerate her for more than a few weeks, so the family has had to look after her. Believe me, there is nothing so insufferable as a saint, I wouldn't sic one on my worst enemy. humor religion Isabel Allende
f11eedb I strike the ground with the soles of my feet and life rises up my legs, spreads up my skeleton, takes possession of me, drives away distress and sweetens my memory. The world trembles. poetry-quotes Isabel Allende
a0c1904 Vamos a recorrer este camino juntos, paso a paso, dia a dia, con la mejor intencion. Eso es lo unico que podemos prometernos mutuamente. Isabel Allende
b61db2f As I travel through life, I gather experiences that lie imprinted on the deepest strata of memory, and there they ferment, are transformed, and sometimes rise to the surface and sprout like strange plants from other worlds. What is the fertile humus of the subconscious composed of? Why are certain images converted into recurrent themes in nightmares or writing? Isabel Allende
1b11113 m yuns~ ybdw k'nWh lm yHduth qT . Isabel Allende
ac44904 Si fuera capaz de exteriorizar mis sentimientos, tal vez sufriria menos, pero se me quedan atorados adentro, como un inmenso bloque de hielo y pueden pasar anos antes que el hielo empiece a derretirse. Isabel Allende
fdb17db Nothing changes; we humans repeat the same sins over and over, eternally. human-nature sins Isabel Allende
5ddde22 Tenia un pie en la ilusion obligada y otro en la realidad secreta Isabel Allende
63f8537 What can we do with this happiness that appears for no obvious reason, the joy that needs no cause to exist? Isabel Allende
ce128fc Just as when we come into the world, when we die we are afraid of unknown things. But the fear is something from within us that has nothing to do with reality Isabel Allende
8bec0d6 We fight no matter the cost of battle, the losses we take, the improbability of success. We fight to the very end. It is not the question of courage. It is something constitutional, an ability to let go. It maybe nothing more than life-hungry stupidity. Yann Martel
ca6e160 The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity - it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. love Yann Martel
08da1da Isn't it ironic, Richard Parker? We're in hell yet still we're afraid of immortality Yann Martel