#vice

[L]et us talk about the unholy vice of self-esteem, the beginning and completion of the passions; and let us talk briefly, for to undertake an exhaustive discussion would be to act like someone who inquires into the weight of the winds. ↗

— Saint John Climacus

#good-phrase #religion-is-wrong #religion

For God's sake, have some self-respect and do not run off at the mouth if your brain is out to lunch. ↗

— Anton Chekhov

#respect

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure what I have received. ↗

— Albert Einstein

#respect #service #life

Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. - John Adams ↗

— David McCullough

#patriotism #political #service #service

Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose. ↗

— Douglas Adams

#paradox #advice

By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. -this quote is actually found in Carl Sagan's book The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, where he attributes it to engineer James Oberg, who says he stole it from someone else. ↗

— Richard Dawkins

#good-advice #science

To be a writer, you must write. To be a published writer you must finish what you write and then get what you've written in front of the outside world. ↗

— George H. Scithers

#science

How do I know what I think until I see what I say? ↗

— E.M. Forster

#e-m-forster #essay #fiction #writing #fiction

The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and my eyes got big, because it glowed with a bluish light. When he extended the antenna, two creatures began writhing around it-green snakes, no bigger than earthworms. The jogger didn't seem to notice. He checked his LCD display and cursed. "I've got to take this. Just a sec ..." Then into the phone: "Hello?" He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear. Yeah," the jogger said. "Listen-I know, but... I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package....A gift to humankind, great... You know how many of those we deliver-Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go. ↗

— Rick Riordan

#percy-jackson #service

God does watch over us and does notice us, but it usually through someone else that he meets our needs. ↗

— Spencer W. Kimball

#service