Favourite Quotes

[Louanne Learning]

​

As the philosopher Ned Block once noted, the question ‘What is consciousness?’ can be answered much like Louis Armstrong reportedly answered the question ‘What is jazz?’: ‘If you got to ask, you ain’t never gonna get to know.

​

Tim Bayne, professor of philosophy and author of The Unity of Consciousness (2010), Thought: A Very Short Introduction (2013), and Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction (2022)

​

​

 

[GrahamLewis]

​

As the philosopher Ned Block once noted, the question ‘What is consciousness?’ can be answered much like Louis Armstrong reportedly answered the question ‘What is jazz?’: ‘If you got to ask, you ain’t never gonna get to know.

​

Tim Bayne, professor of philosophy and author of The Unity of Consciousness (2010), Thought: A Very Short Introduction (2013), and Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction (2022)

​

Or, as one US Supreme Court Justice once purportedly said about pornography, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

 

[GrahamLewis]

"We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves." Eric Hoffer

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Or, as one US Supreme Court Justice once purportedly said about pornography, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

Yes. It was Justice Potter Stewart in the case Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), where the court was grappling with the legal definition of obscenity.

Jesse Helms used to call it "Poe-Naw-Grah-Fee" ... but as the late, great Bill Hicks said, "I don't think you should be against something until you can pronounce it. Is that harsh of me? I think that's a good rule of thumb."

 

[JLT]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Sorry, Louanne, but I don't do Instagram.

 

[Louanne Learning]

 

[GrahamLewis]

"I feel ancient, as though I had
Lived many lives.

"And may never now know
If I am a fool
Or have done what my
karma demands."

Gary Snyder December at Yase

 

[JLT]

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. The only function of a school is to make self-education easier; failing that, it does nothing."

Isaac Asimov

 

[Selluwud]

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"

Yogi ism

 

[Louanne Learning]

The only function of a school is to make self-education easier;

Just to add - I also taught a lot of scientific theory! But yes, a good education system produces self-learners

 

[Rigor Mortis]

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"

Yogi ism

Reminds me of what one politician around here said of another some years ago (I can guess but not certain the identities):
"If it was raining soup, he'd be out there with a fork."

 

[Rath Darkblade]

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. The only function of a school is to make self-education easier; failing that, it does nothing."

Isaac Asimov

Asimov FTW. As for education quotes, I always liked this one:

Lady Bracknell: I have always believed that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?

Jack: *reluctantly* I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell: *with complacency* I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.

(The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde)

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Here's another quote I like ...

 

[GrahamLewis]

"The irrational fullness of life has taught me never to discard anything, even when it goes against all our theories (so short-lived at best) or otherwise admits of no immediate explanation. It is of course disquieting, and one is not certain whether the compass is pointing true or not, but security, certitude, and peace do not lead to discoveries." C.J. Jung, Foreword, The I Ching or Book of Changes, p. xxxiv (Princeton U. Press 1967)/

 

[JLT]

"Don't grow old too quickly, and don't stay young too long."
--Leo Marks, British spymaster in WW2, advising young decoders at Bletchley Park

 

[Louanne Learning]

The opening sentence of The Marginalian post in my inbox today, by Maria Popova

There is no greater remedy for helplessness than helping someone else, no greater salve for sorrow than according gladness to another.

 

[JLT]

Here's another quote I like ...

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes."
--Mark Twain

 

[Rath Darkblade]

"No, they have more money."

-- An unimpressed Ernest Hemingway, after F. Scott Fitzgerald remarked to him that the rich "are not as we are."

 

[JLT]

"No, they have more money."

-- An unimpressed Ernest Hemingway, after F. Scott Fitzgerald remarked to him that the rich "are not as we are."

Actually, that conversation is an urban legend, based on things that the two authors had written. Here's the real story:

“The rich are different”… The real story behind the famed “exchange” between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

If you’re a quotation buff, you’ve probably heard of a legendary exchange about “rich people” that supposedly took place between the Am...

www.quotecounterquote.com

 

[Also]

Our principal writers have all been fortunate in escaping regular education.

Hugh MacDiarmid