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Read through the most famous quotes by topic #man
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, The proper study of mankind is Man. Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise and rudely great: With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side, With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride, He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest; In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast; In doubt his mind or body to prefer; Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little or too much; Chaos of thought and passion, all confused; Still by himself abused or disabused; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd; The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! ↗
A sure sign of ineptitude and malice is manifested when one's attacker is willing to cover himself with mud in order to try and make some of it adhere to his target. ↗
#debate #ineptitude #malice #norman-g-finkelstein #smear-campaigns
On the black earth on which the ice plants bloomed, hundreds of black stink bugs crawled. And many of them stuck their tails up in the air. "Look at all them stink bugs," Hazel remarked, grateful to the bugs for being there. "They're interesting," said Doc. "Well, what they got their asses up in the air for?" Doc rolled up his wool socks and put them in the rubber boots and from his pocket he brought out dry socks and a pair of thin moccasins. "I don't know why," he said. "I looked them up recently--they're very common animals and one of the commonest things they do is put their tails up in the air. And in all the books there isn't one mention of the fact that they put their tails up in the air or why." Hazel turned one of the stink bugs over with the toe of his wet tennis shoe and the shining black beetle strove madly with floundering legs to get upright again. "Well, why do you think they do it?" "I think they're praying," said Doc. "What!" Hazel was shocked. "The remarkable thing," said Doc, "isn't that they put their tails up in the air--the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. We can only use ourselves as yardsticks. If we did something as inexplicable and strange we'd probably be praying--so maybe they're praying." "Let's get the hell out of here," said Hazel. ↗
Though he never actually joined it, he was close to some civilian elements of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which was the most Communist (and in the rather orthodox sense) of the Palestinian formations. I remember Edward once surprising me by saying, and apropos of nothing: 'Do you know something I have never done in my political career? I have never publicly criticized the Soviet Union. It’s not that I terribly sympathize with them or anything—it's just that the Soviets have never done anything to harm me, or us.' At the time I thought this a rather naïve statement, even perhaps a slightly contemptible one, but by then I had been in parts of the Middle East where it could come as a blessed relief to meet a consecrated Moscow-line atheist-dogmatist, if only for the comparatively rational humanism that he evinced amid so much religious barking and mania. It was only later to occur to me that Edward's pronounced dislike of George Orwell was something to which I ought to have paid more attention. ↗
A smaller rocket cut across the sky, trailing smoke. It exploded in a red heart. "Awwwww!" said the crowd. "Upside down," said Sean. The heart was, indeed, upside down. It grew and grew, upside down, until it's lights trailed and faded. A bigger rocket exploded in bright golden sparks, and then came another red heart. "Upside down," said all the boys. Three explosions layered on top of one another, gold, blue, pink. Then still another red heart exploded, growing and growing before it faded. "Upside down," said everyone in the boat but me. My own heart expanded for Adam. I whispered, "I know what he meant. ↗
He sighed, then said, "So basically, you're stalking her." "I am NOT stalking her." I insisted. "That's where you come in. If I followed her by myself, someone who did not understand the situation and did not realize that I am so responsible-" McGillicuddy snorted. "- might mistake what I am doing for stalking. However, her big brother is with me. Therefore we are protecting her. ↗
I don’t know who those other people are and what they did to you, but I’m not one of them,” I whispered, on the verge of tears. (Molly) “You are. You just don’t know yet.” (Victor) ↗
#romance #romantic-fantasy #young-adult-fantasy #young-adult-fiction #romantic
Mila este o manifestare a puterii, o reactie de superioritate (un fel de lamentatie indiferenta, rece, care nu schimba cu nimic starea de spirit a celui care o declama), falsa pentru ca nu presupune reflectie, ci doar o constatare care porneste de la diferentierea dintre cel care sufera si cel care proclam mila, cel care se simte sigur pe sine in timp ce seamanul lui se prabuseste. Compasiunea provine semantic in apropiere, empatia sa este reala, bazandu-se pe unitatea dintre cel suferind si cel care isi atribuie fara menajamente suferinta - in timp ce mila este doar o scanare sau o verificare superficiala a diferentierii. Apropierea este, astfel, o modalitate de invatare existentiala, orizontal pentru ca presupune o modestie primara - in timp ce modalitatea verticala ar fi ruperea de tiparul «chipului si asemanrii», egoismul brut al celui care refuza alteritatea, preferand inchiderea de sine, fara scuza expansivitatii. Mila ar fi expresia deghizata al unui nihilism, care imparte lumea intre puternici si «dezavantajati» sau, dup amodelul romantic, intre subiect si «ceilalti», unde ultimul termen este anonim, lipsit de chip si tinde spre vid. «Cele mai bune intentii» sunt enuntate sub masca milei (poate chiar prin mijloace pecuniare), dar ele nu-l pot insela pe cel care isi pune problema din punct de vedere afectiv: cei care sunt adepti ai milei sunt despartiti de realitatea celor suferinzi de un ecran ce le cenzureaza orice participare din interior a atrocitatii. Compasiunea presupune trecerea acestei granite, care te apropie de cel supus traumei, te impinge in chiar spatiul celui «agresat». ↗
[Robert] Newell's recommendation of walking is also interesting: 'The best way undoubtedly of seeing a country is on foot. It is the safest, and most suited to every variety of road; it will often enable you to take a shorter track, and visit scenes (the finest perhaps) not otherwise accessible; it is healthy, and, with a little practice, easy; it is economical: a pedestrian is content with almost any accommodations; he, of all travellers, wants but little, 'Nor wants that little long'. And last, though not least, it is perfectly independent.' Newell cites independence, as do a number of the 'first generation' of Romantic walkers I have already surveyed; more striking are his commendation of walking as the safest option, which reflects a very altered perception of the security of travel from that which prevailed in the eighteenth century, and his advocacy of the practical and health benefits of pedestrianism, which against suggests its institutionalisation as a form of tourism and its extension to lower reaches of the middle classes. ↗
