Insights, Snippets, Quotes, Epiphanies & All That Sort of Things

[North Star]

No, I mean the works he chose to publish. Aren't they just perfect? 

Yes - and some of precisely those works are ones that others persuaded Brahms to not throw them into the fireplace.

[North Star]

"How many wars have been averted by patience and persisting good will! Religion and virtue alike lend their sanctions to meekness and humility, not only between men but between nations. How many wars have been precipitated by firebrands! How many misunderstandings which led to wars could have been removed by temporizing! How often have countries fought cruel wars and then after a few years found themselves not only friends but allies!"
Churchill

[North Star]

"You can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me" Wafa Sultan
"Beware of all enterprises that require a new set of clothes." - Thoreau
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Mark Twain
"To see is to forget the name of the thing that one sees."  Paul Valery

Picasso supposedly met an American G.I. who told him he didn't like modern paintings because they were not realistic. To illustrate his point, the G.I. showed Picasso a photo of his girlfriend. "My," said Picasso, "Is she really so small?"

[Moonfish]

"There are very few moments in a man's existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat."


― Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

[North Star]

"Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."

"To attain knowledge, add things every day.
To attain wisdom, remove things every day."

Laozi

[Wakefield]

"Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."

"To attain knowledge, add things every day.
To attain wisdom, remove things every day."

Laozi

Excellent. It suggests me two things: how our intellectual faculties are probably quite more superficial than we usually believe, and some feeling about the "tragic" nature of erudition...


 

[Jaakko Keskinen]

"There are very few moments in a man's existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat."


― Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

Not bad. Here are some of the most powerfully described things Dickens ever wrote IMO:

"The state of the man was murderous, and he knew it. More; he irritated it, with a kind of perverse pleasure akin to that which a sick man sometimes has in irritating a wound upon his body. Tied up all day with his disciplined show upon him, subdued to the performance of his routine of educational tricks, encircled by a gabbling crowd, he broke loose at night like an ill-tamed wild animal. Under his daily restraint, it was his compensation, not his trouble, to give a glance towards his state at night, and to the freedom of its being indulged. If great criminals told the truth—which, being great criminals, they do not—they would very rarely tell of their struggles against the crime. Their struggles are towards it. They buffet with opposing waves, to gain the bloody shore, not to recede from it. This man perfectly comprehended that he hated his rival with his strongest and worst forces, and that if he tracked him to Lizzie Hexam, his so doing would never serve himself with her, or serve her. All his pains were taken, to the end that he might incense himself with the sight of the detested figure in her company and favour, in her place of concealment. And he knew as well what act of his would follow if he did, as he knew that his mother had borne him. Granted, that he may not have held it necessary to make express mention to himself of the one familiar truth any more than of the other.
He knew equally well that he fed his wrath and hatred, and that he accumulated provocation and self-justification, by being made the nightly sport of the reckless and insolent Eugene. Knowing all this,—and still always going on with infinite endurance, pains, and perseverance, could his dark soul doubt whither he went?"




...


"Bradley assenting, went with him into an early public-house, haunted by unsavoury smells of musty hay and stale straw, where returning carts, farmers' men, gaunt dogs, fowls of a beery breed, and certain human nightbirds fluttering home to roost, were solacing themselves after their several manners; and where not one of the nightbirds hovering about the sloppy bar failed to discern at a glance in the passion-wasted nightbird with respectable feathers, the worst nightbird of all.
An inspiration of affection for a half-drunken carter going his way led to Mr Riderhood's being elevated on a high heap of baskets on a waggon, and pursuing his journey recumbent on his back with his head on his bundle. Bradley then turned to retrace his steps, and by-and-by struck off through little-traversed ways, and by-and-by reached school and home. Up came the sun to find him washed and brushed, methodically dressed in decent black coat and waistcoat, decent formal black tie, and pepper-and-salt pantaloons, with his decent silver watch in its pocket, and its decent hair-guard round his neck: a scholastic huntsman clad for the field, with his fresh pack yelping and barking around him.
Yet more really bewitched than the miserable creatures of the much-lamented times, who accused themselves of impossibilities under a contagion of horror and the strongly suggestive influences of Torture, he had been ridden hard by Evil Spirits in the night that was newly gone. He had been spurred and whipped and heavily sweated. If a record of the sport had usurped the places of the peaceful texts from Scripture on the wall, the most advanced of the scholars might have taken fright and run away from the master."

- Charles Dickens, Our mutual friend, book 3, chapter 11, "In the dark".

[Wakefield]

"Voyager est, quoi qu'on en puisse dire, un des plus tristes plaisirs de la vie".
— Mme. de Staël Holstein: Corinne ou L'Italie, Tome Premier, Chapitre II (1807).

The complete paragraph translated by Isabel Hill:

"Traveling, say what we will, is one of the saddest pleasures in life. If you ever feel at ease in a strange place, it is because you have begun to make it your home; but to traverse unknown lands, to hear a language which you hardly comprehend, to look on faces unconnected with either your past or future, this is solitude without repose or dignity; for the hurry to arrive where no one awaits you, that agitation whose sole cause is curiosity, lessens you in your own esteem, while, ere new objects can become old, they have bound you by some sweet link of sentiment and habit."

[North Star]

“It is precisely from the regret left by the imperfect work that the next one can be born.” - Odilon Redon
“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”  - Maria Edgeworth & Samuel Johnson
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”  - Albert Camus
“It is no use doing what you like - you have got to like what you do” - Winston Churchill
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” - Winston Churchill
“When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.” - Winston Churchill

[Wakefield]

"Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."  - Warren Buffett

Terrible, but and true. It's like a summary of adult's life.

[Wakefield]

Terrible, but and true. It's like a summary of adult's life.

BTW, now I have learnt - from the Quote Investigator - that the attribution to Warren Buffett is wrong. Here it can be read the detailed investigation about the origins of this quote:

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/07/13/chains-of-habit/

[North Star]

BTW, now I have learnt - from the Quote Investigator - that the attribution to Warren Buffett is wrong. Here it can be read the detailed investigation about the origins of this quote:

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/07/13/chains-of-habit/

Thanks, I picked that quote from a Literature Networks thread.

[Florestan]

"Voyager est, quoi qu'on en puisse dire, un des plus tristes plaisirs de la vie".
— Mme. de Staël Holstein: Corinne ou L'Italie, Tome Premier, Chapitre II (1807).

The complete paragraph translated by Isabel Hill:

"Traveling, say what we will, is one of the saddest pleasures in life. If you ever feel at ease in a strange place, it is because you have begun to make it your home; but to traverse unknown lands, to hear a language which you hardly comprehend, to look on faces unconnected with either your past or future, this is solitude without repose or dignity; for the hurry to arrive where no one awaits you, that agitation whose sole cause is curiosity, lessens you in your own esteem, while, ere new objects can become old, they have bound you by some sweet link of sentiment and habit."

I couldn´t disagree more. 

First of all, I don´t travel in order to meet strangers, but to see new places and experience new things (architecture, art, music, cuisine, folklore, a way of life different than my own etc). When in Venice, Paris or Madrid I really had no time to notice being in the middle of unknown people. 

Secondly, speaking foreign languages (the more, the better) certainly helps a lot; now, Mme de Stael probably knew only French and probably deemed it enough for a civilized person... 

Thirdly, if in the process of travelling I can get acquainted with, and even make friends of, a few people, than would only add to the pleasure of travelling, but it is by no means its main purpose. 

Lastly, to rub shoulders with people who could not care less about you and your ideas and to hear all around you a language you cannot comprehend is very good for one´s soul: it shows one that one is not the center of the universe, that the world was not created for the instant gratification of one´s own whims and desires, and that one´s own nation and country is only one among many. In short, travelling (if done properly, ie with open heart and eyes) teaches one both personal and national humility. Now, of course, Mme de Stael was not the most humble, or receptive to humility, person in the world...

Just my 2 cents.

[Ten thumbs]

First of all, I don´t travel in order to meet strangers, but to see new places and experience new things (architecture, art, music, cuisine, folklore, a way of life different than my own etc). When in Venice, Paris or Madrid I really had no time to notice being in the middle of unknown people. 

Secondly, speaking foreign languages (the more, the better) certainly helps a lot; now, Mme de Stael probably knew only French and probably deemed it enough for a civilized person... 

Thirdly, if in the process of travelling I can get acquainted with, and even make friends of, a few people, than would only add to the pleasure of travelling, but it is by no means its main purpose. 

Lastly, to rub shoulders with people who could not care less about you and your ideas and to hear all around you a language you cannot comprehend is very good for one´s soul: it shows one that one is not the center of the universe, that the world was not created for the instant gratification of one´s own whims and desires, and that one´s own nation and country is only one among many. In short, travelling (if done properly, ie with open heart and eyes) teaches one both personal and national humility. Now, of course, Mme de Stael was not the most humble, or receptive to humility, person in the world...

Fair enough, but like millions and millions of people today, Mme de Staël travelled as a displaced person rather than engaging in a leisure activity. I think this rather coloured her feelings. As for language, there is more to it than her bare statement, she was after all also familiar with Italian, German and English. She knew Latin too but that would not have helped her much. I can understand her loneliness.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

"I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature." - Edvard Munch.

Greatest description of panic attack ever, period. Munch could have been just as great of a poet as he was a painter.

[North Star]

"Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue." Francis Bacon

"Money is like muck, not good except it be spread." Francis Bacon

"Let not the sun go down upon your anger." Francis Bacon

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better" Samuel Becket

"It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. " Churchill

[Florestan]

"Let not the sun go down upon your anger." Francis Bacon

What is the source for this quotation? If he really wrote it then he was a plagiarist. 

Ephesians 4:26: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath

[North Star]

What is the source for this quotation? If he really wrote it then he was a plagiarist. 

Ephesians 4:26: Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath

It's from Essays (1625), according to Wikiquote. But as I say, good writers borrow, great writers steal.
"To seek to extinguish anger utterly, is but a bravery of the Stoics. We have better oracles: Be angry, but sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Anger must be limited and confined, both in race and in time."

[Ken B]

But as I say, good writers borrow, great writers steal.

I've heard that before!

[Florestan]

It's from Essays (1625), according to Wikiquote. But as I say, good writers borrow, great writers steal.
"To seek to extinguish anger utterly, is but a bravery of the Stoics. We have better oracles: Be angry, but sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Anger must be limited and confined, both in race and in time."

Things are clear now. Bacon was actually quoting St. Paul word by word without directly naming him (we have better oracles is an obvious allusion, though) because he need not do it. Any reader of the Essays at the time of their publication would have been able to make the connection. Not so with the compiler of the Bacon quotes on Wikiquote. He printed the words of St. Paul in bold type, as if they were Bacon's own contribution to the topic.