Quotes

Lisa

Superstar
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
20,288
“Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?'
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.”

- Vonnegut
Man doesn’t have to wonder why, why, why if he reads the Bible...
 

Red Sky at Morning

Superstar
Joined
Mar 15, 2017
Messages
13,932
‘So I am in the bottom of it already,’ said John. ‘And now there is nothing to prevent me from crossing it.’

The young man shook his head. ‘There is no crossing it,’ he said.

‘When I told you we were now at the bottom, I meant the lowest point that can be reached by man. The real bottom is, of course, the bottom of this crevasse which we are sitting by: and that, of course – well, it would be a misunderstanding to talk of getting down it.

There is no question of crossing or of getting to what you see over there.’

‘Could it not be bridged?’ said John.

‘In a sense there is nothing to bridge – there is nowhere for this bridge to arrive at. You must not take literally the show of forest and mountain which we seem to see as we look across.’

‘You don’t mean that it is an illusion?’

‘No. You will understand better when you have been longer with my father. It is not an illusion, it is an appearance. It is a true appearance, too, in a sense. You must see it as a mountain-side or the like – a continuation of the world we do know – and it does not mean that there is anything wrong with your eyes or any better way of seeing it to which you can attain. But don’t think you can get there. Don’t think there is any meaning in the idea of you (a man) going “there”, as if it were really a place.’

‘What? And the Island too! You would have me give up my heart’s desire?’

‘I would not. I would not have you cease to fix all your desires on the far side, for to wish to cross is simply to be a man, and to lose that wish is to be a beast. It is not desire that my father’s doctrine kills: it is only hope.’

‘And what is this valley called?’

‘We call it now simply Wisdom’s Valley: but the oldest maps mark it as the Valley of Humiliation.’

The Pilgrims Regress, C.S. Lewis
 

Lisa

Superstar
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
20,288
“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”

Arthur C Clarke
Why would it be scary that we are alone in the universe? Means no alien invasions..anyway and some people think the earth‘s been around millions of years..we are still going despite all the killings and abortions.
 

DesertRose

Superstar
Joined
May 20, 2017
Messages
7,596
“Bureaucracy is a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions.”
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
 

Hooligan69

Established
Joined
Apr 15, 2019
Messages
279
If only, if only, nuclear war was just another kind of war. If only it was about the usual things - nations and territories, gods and histories. If only those of us who dread it are just worthless moral cowards who are not prepared to die in defense of our beliefs. If only nuclear war was the kind of war in which countries battled countries and men battled men. But it isn't. If there is a nuclear war, our foes will not be China or America or even each other. Our foe will be the earth herself. The very elements - the sky, the air, the land, the wind and water - will all turn against us. The wrath will be terrible.

Our cities and forests, our fields and villages will burn for days. Rivers will turn to poison. The air will become fire. The wind will spread the flames. When everything there is to burn has burned and the fires die, smoke will rise and shut out the sun. The earth will be enveloped in darkness. There will be no day. Only interminable night. Temperatures will drop to far below freezing and nuclear winter will set in. Water will turn into toxic ice. Radioactive fallout will seep through the earth and contaminate groundwater. Most living things, animal and vegetable, fish and fowl, will die. Only rats and cockroaches will breed and multiply and compete with foraging relict humans for what little food there is.

What shall we do then, those of us who are still alive? Burned and blind and bald and ill, carrying the cancerous carcasses of our children in our arms, where shall we go? What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we breathe?

- Arundhati Roy, The End of Imagination
 
Last edited:

DesertRose

Superstar
Joined
May 20, 2017
Messages
7,596
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - chapter 68

A good soldier is not violent.
A good fighter is not angry.
A good winner is not vengeful.
A good employer is humble.
This is known as the Virtue of not striving.
This is known as ability to deal with others.
This since ancient times has been known
as the ultimate unity with heaven.

Edit: A different translation
68.
The best warriors
do not use violence.
The best tacticians
try to avoid confrontation.
The best businessmen
serve the communal good.
The best leaders
become servants of their people.

All of them embody
the virtue of non-competition.
Not that they don’t love to compete,
but they do so in the spirit of play.
In this they are like children.
This since ancient times has been known
as the ultimate unity with heaven.
 
Last edited:
Top