Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Quotes from the Wise and the Cynical



"Religion"

"Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one."

Thomas Jefferson

"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion."

Abraham Lincoln

"Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates."

Stella Terrill Mann

"Reality"

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

Albert Einstein

"I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it."

Mary Chase, Jimmy Stewart in "Harvey", 1950.

"Philosophy"

"Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.'

Ludwig Wittgenstein

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

William Shakespeare, "Hamlet", Act 1 scene 5

"You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

Richard Feynman
US educator & physicist (1918 - 1988)

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