#tis

There are two kinds of patriotism -- monarchical patriotism and republican patriotism. In the one case the government and the king may rightfully furnish you their notions of patriotism; in the other, neither the government nor the entire nation is privileged to dictate to any individual what the form of his patriotism shall be. The gospel of the monarchical patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: "Our country, right or wrong!" We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had:-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. ↗

— Mark Twain

#change

Every man finds his limitations, Mr. Holmes, but at least it cures us of the weakness of self-satisfaction. ↗

— Arthur Conan Doyle

#satisfaction

You are a real find and you keep me satisfied, up to a point. After all, I'm a malcontent and you can't change that. ↗

— Charles Baxter

#malcontents #satisfaction #change

Patriotism has nothing to do with Conservatism. It is actually the opposite of Conservatism, since it is a devotion to something that is always changing and yet is felt to be mystically the same. ↗

— George Orwell

#change

There are always more questions. Science as a process is never complete. It is not a foot race, with a finish line.... People will always be waiting at a particular finish line: journalists with their cameras, impatient crowds eager to call the race, astounded to see the scientists approach, pass the mark, and keep running. It's a common misunderstanding, he said. They conclude there was no race. As long as we won't commit to knowing everything, the presumption is we know nothing. ↗

— Barbara Kingsolver

#journalists #knowledge #questions #science #scientists

I love the ritual of drawing up lists, and there's something wonderfully satisfying about ticking tasks off. ↗

— Shaida Kazie Ali

#satisfaction #tasks #love

I attended a symposium, an event named after a fifth century (B.C.) Athenian drinking party in which nonnerds talked about love; alas, there was no drinking, and mercifully, nobody talked about love. ↗

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb

#autism #modernity #nerd #nerdiness #nerds

How does one hate a country, or love one?... I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is the love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. ↗

— Ursula K. Le Guin

#love

Ar to vien, ka tu vispār man biji, mūžs ir attaisnots, pilnīgs un piesauļots, un tā priekšā es noliecos bijīgi. ↗

— Ojārs Vācietis

#ojārs-vācietis #love

An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over, and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged; no harm can be done. ↗

— Jane Austen

#always #cares #disengaged #done #engaged