#dl

By the time of the arrival of Islam in the early seventeenth century CE, what we now call the Middle East was divided between the Persian and Byzantine empires. But with the spread of this new religion from Arabia, a powerful empire emerged, and with it a flourishing civilization and a glorious golden age. Given how far back it stretches in time, the history of the region -- and even of Iraq itself -- is too big a canvas for me to paint. Instead, what I hope to do in this book is take on the nonetheless ambitious task of sharing with you a remarkable story; one of an age in which great geniuses pushed the frontiers of knowledge to such an extent that their work shaped civilizations to this day. ↗

— Jim Al-Khalili

#civilization #islam #knowledge #middle-east #age

As we move toward a new Middle East, over the years and, I think, over the decades to come, we will make a lot of people very nervous. ↗

— James Woolsey

#decades #east #i #i think #lot

Once the attacks occur, as we learned on Sept. 11, it is too late. It makes little sense to deprive ourselves of an important, and legal, means to detect and prevent terrorist attacks while we are still in the middle of a fight to the death with al Qaeda. ↗

— John Yoo

#attacks #death #deprive #detect #fight

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five year mission... to boldly go where no man has gone before. ↗

— Gene Roddenberry

#boldly #enterprise #five #go #gone

You're in the public eye and you just hope that people don't come up and interrupt you while your in the middle of a meal or a conversation or something like that. ↗

— Wayne Rogers

#conversation #eye #hope #interrupt #just

The conscience of an artist worthy of the name is like an incurable disease which causes him endless torment but occasionally fills him with silent joy. ↗

— Georges Rouault

#causes #conscience #disease #endless #fills

You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain. ↗

— Tom Hiddleston

#goals #life #mountain #path #perseverance

Smile at people everywhere you go. Don’t just give them one of those half-smirk/head nod things. Raise your eyebrows, show those teeth, and chuckle while you smile. Next time you’re at the store, give a full-hearted smile to at least three complete strangers. You’ll be amazed at what this does for them and for you. ↗

— Dan Pearce

#confidence #friendliness #making-friends #self-esteem #self-worth

When you do talk to people, share what you are. Stop focusing on all the things that you aren’t. Stop focusing on all of the physical features that you think people won’t like about you. Stop focusing on your inabilities or lack of talent. Instead, focus on those physical features that you know people already love about you. Focus on your abilities and the talents that you do have. You have been blessed with all of the above, and that makes you worth getting to know in my book. ↗

— Dan Pearce

#confidence #friendliness #making-friends #self-esteem #self-worth

In this image-driven age, wildlife filmmakers carry a heavy responsibility. They can influence how we think and behave when we’re in nature. They can even influence how we raise our kids, how we vote and volunteer in our communities, as well as the future of our wildlands and wildlife. If the stories they create are misleading or false in some way, viewers will misunderstand the issues and react in inappropriate ways. People who consume a heavy diet of wildlife films filled with staged violence and aggression, for example, are likely to think about nature as a circus or a freak show. They certainly won’t form the same positive connections to the natural world as people who watch more thoughtful, authentic, and conservation-oriented films. ↗

— Chris Palmer

#conservation #film #television #tv #wildlife