Intention is the father of invention.
Quote of the Week 46 “ Intention is the father of invention.” ― Alan Bipe A variation of: “ Necessity is the mother of invention ” ― Proverb
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Inside every old person there is a young one wondering what happened.
Quote of the Week 45 “ Inside every old person there is a young one wondering what happened.” ― Dan Sullivan (often attributed to Terry Pratchett) Triggered by a recent Quote Investigator post.
Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.
Quote of the Week 44 “ Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. ” ― Jeremy Bentham - An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation Triggered by the citation in A Brief History of Intelligence: Why the Evolution of the Brain Holds the Key to the Future of AI (pg. 43) by Max Bennett. Related: “ Nature is neither pleasant nor painful. It is all intelligence and beauty. Pain and pleasure are in the mind.” ― Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj “ Pleasure and pain are only aspects of the mind. Our essential nature is happiness.” ― Ramana Maharshi
Fanaticism is always a sign of repressed doubt.
Quote of the Week 43 “ Fanaticism is always a sign of repressed doubt. ” ― Carl Gustav Jung
Only one who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible.
Quote of the Week 42 “Only one who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible. ” ― Miguel de Unamuno Triggered by the misattribution of a variant of the quote to M.C. Escher : “Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. ”
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Quote of the Week 41 “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. ” ― Albert Einstein Triggered by the citation in A Brain for Innovation: The Neuroscience of Imagination and Abstract Thinking (English Edition) by Jung, Min W. (2023). Related : “ Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” ― Albert Einstein
Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses.
Quote of the Week 40 “Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses. ” ― Thomas Aquinas ( Peripatetic Axiom ) Latin: “Nihil est in intellectu quod non sit prius in sensu. ” Often attributed to John Locke . Lockean Axiom : “There is no idea in the mind that cannot be traced back to some particular experience. ” Further refined by Leibniz : “Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses, except the intellect itself.” ― Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz .
You can not only sell others short, you can also sell yourself short.
Quote of the Week 39 “You can not only sell others short, you can also sell yourself short. ” ― Norbert Hinske ( Ohne Fußnoten. Prämissen und Folgerungen. ) Alternative translation: “You can fool not only others, but also yourself. ” “Man kann nicht nur andere, man kann auch sich selbst für dumm verkaufen. ” ― Norbert Hinske (Aphorismus)
The danger isn't AI thinking like humans, but humanity thinking like AI.
2nd Quote of the Week 38 “ The danger isn't AI thinking like humans, but humanity thinking like AI.” ― Julian Goldstahl Translated from German AIphorism : “ Wir fürchten nicht die KI, die denkt wie ein Mensch, sondern die Menschheit, die denkt wie eine KI. ” ― attributed to Julian Goldstahl by DeepSeek
Worry is like paying interest on a debt you don’t owe.
Quote of the Week 38 “ Worry is like paying interest on a debt you don’t owe.” ― often misattributed to Mark Twain Related: Quote of the Week 9 / 2022 " Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength . " ― Corrie ten Boom
The most beautiful dreams are those unfulfilled.
Quote of the Week 37 “The most beautiful dreams are those unfulfilled. ” ― Alan Bipe
You can't erase the empty space.
Quote of the Week 36 “ You can't erase the empty space. ” ― Sadie Winters (Walking Away - AI Lyrics )
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.
Quote of the Week 35 “ You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” ― Attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche While often attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche , the quote is actually a paraphrasing of a statement made by his fictional character Zarathustra in Thus Spoke Zarathustra . „Das — ist nun mein Weg, — wo ist der eure?“ so antwortete ich Denen, welche mich „nach dem Wege“ fragten. Den Weg nämlich — den giebt es nicht! Also sprach Zarathustra. “ Du hast deinen Weg. Ich habe meinen Weg. Den Weg, den richtigen Weg und den einzigen Weg gibt es nicht. ” ― Pseudo-Friedrich-Nietzsche-Zitat
I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is that they must change if they are to get better.
Quote of the Week 34 “ I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is that they must change if they are to get better.” ― Georg Christoph Lichtenberg “ Ich weiss nicht, ob es besser wird, wenn es anders wird. Aber es muss anders werden, wenn es besser werden soll. ” ― Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
No one needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.
Quote of the Week 33 “ No one needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.” ― attributed to Elbert Hubbard No one needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one Who crafted this quip: Elbert Hubbard? Mary Sargent Hopkins? Anonymous? https://t.co/3bT2q7GGhI pic.twitter.com/5YuLW5vdSt — Quote Investigator® (@QuoteResearch) August 6, 2025
It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to keep quiet.
Quote of the Week 32 “ It takes two years to learn to speak and sixty to learn to keep quiet.” ― attributed to Ernest Hemingway
Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Quote of the Week 31 “ Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer “ Das Talent gleicht dem Schützen, der ein Ziel trifft, welches die Übrigen nicht erreichen können; das Genie dem, der eines trifft, bis zu welchem sie nicht einmal zu sehn vermögen. ” — Arthur Schopenhauer , Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung , Zweiter Band, Ergänzungen zum dritten Buch, Kapitel 31.
There are measures of focus and one of them is how often you say no.
Quote of the Week 30 “ There are measures of focus and one of them is how often you say no.” ― attributed to Steve Jobs See also: Quote of the Week 20 / 2023 "'No' is a complete sentence . " ― Anne Lamott Source: dailyphilosopher on Instagram
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
Quote of the Week 29 “ Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” ― Simone Weil
'Vibe' stands for Very Incomplete, Brittle Experiment.
2nd Quote of the Week 28 “ 'Vibe' stands for Very Incomplete, Brittle Experiment.” ― Julian Goldstahl Triggered by the response to Gary Marcus' tweet about 'vibe coding': Always thought "vibe" stands for Very Incomplete, Brittle Experiment. — Julian Goldstahl ack/me (@JulianGoldstahl) July 8, 2025
Only those who change remain true to themselves.
Quote of the Week 28 “ Only those who change remain true to themselves.” ― Wolf Biermann “ Nur wer sich ändert, bleibt sich treu.” ― Wolf Biermann Cited by Wolfgang Niedecken (BAP) last week in Munich.
We don't really want what we think we desire.
Quote of the Week 27 “ We don't really want what we think we desire.” ― Slavoj Žižek Triggered by thephilosophyquote on Instagram: Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an Ein Beitrag geteilt von Promoting the world through books (@indieauthorshowcase) As quoted on Goodreads and BigThink : “ We don't really want to get what we think that we want. I am married to a wife and relationship with her are cold and I have a mistress. And all the time I dream oh my god if my wife were to disappear - I'm not a murderer but let us say- that it will open up a new life with the mistress.Then, for some reason, the wife goes away, you lose the mistress. You thought this is all I want, when you have it there, you turn out it was a much more complex situation. It was not to live with the mistress, but to keep her as a distance as on object of desire about which you dream. This is not an excessive example, I claim this is how things function. We don't really w...
You can imagine the opposite.
Quote of the Week 26 “ You can imagine the opposite.” ― Maurizio Nannucci Triggered by a visit to Lenbachhaus in Munich. Related : Quote of the Week 20 “Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso Other themes of neon texts created by Nannucci : “ All art has been contemporary.” “ Light and beauty are two unquestionable facts.” “ Listen to your eyes.” “ The missing poem ist the poem.” “ Events take time events take space. ” “ In regard to simplicity nothing is defined .” “ Some words different thoughts. ” “I mages are the origin of language .”