Jef's web files - Wisdom

Wisdom

Sun, 30 May 2004 19:08:41 -0400

Wisdom

Although pleasure, love and grace are ephemeral, trust them and follow them, for they contain the meaning of life.

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:13:16 -0400

"Pleasure, love and grace are not man's to control. They come from identifying with life, and rejoicing in its splendor, vitality, and beauty. Although pleasure, love and grace are ephemeral, trust them and follow them, for they contain the meaning of life." – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

...science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:03:37 -0400

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
- Isaac Asimov

It is time we steered by the stars, not by the lights of each passing ship.

Fri, 26 Nov 2004 15:12:17 -0500

It is time we steered by the stars, not by the lights of each passing ship.
- General Omar Bradley

"That would be a good idea."

Sun, 27 Jun 2004 12:18:40 -0400

That would be a good idea.
- Gandhi (when asked what he thought of western civilisation)

The systems approach begins when first you view the world through the eyes of another.

Fri, 26 Nov 2004 15:36:19 -0500

The systems approach begins when first you view the world through the eyes of another.
- C. West Churchman

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

Fri, 26 Nov 2004 15:09:45 -0500

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
- Sir Winston Churchill

...the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.

Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:55:49 -0500

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

War, except in self-defense, is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomacy.

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:18:10 -0400

"War, except in self-defense, is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomacy."
— Bill Moyers

Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most.

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:15:10 -0400

"Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most."
— Thucydides

"...But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!..."

Tue, 29 Jun 2004 12:54:46 -0400

To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!
- H.L. Mencken