Quote Of The Week

Quote of the Week 52 " Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. " ―  Mahatma Gandhi Found when looking for the opposite: "What you think, say and do may be different." ― Alan Bipe See also:   Philosiblog  and QuoteIkon .

Quote of the Week 51 " Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. " ―   Epictetus Triggered by a discussion with a former colleague. See also: " What does it mean to be wealthy ". Maybe this is a better way to convey the original thought than the quote above? "Money is human happiness in the abstract: he, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete devotes his heart entirely to money." ―   Arthur Schopenhauer See also:   Philosiblog.

Quote of the Week 50 "I’m actually a quite different person, I just never get around to being him." ―  Ödön von Horváth " Eigentlich bin ich ganz anders, nur komme ich so selten dazu . " ―  Ödön von Horváth " Eigentlich bin ich ganz anders. Ich komme nur viel zu selten dazu . " See also:   LOOSE LIPPS .

2nd Quote of the Week 49 " The child is grown. The dream is gone. I have become comfortably numb. " ― Roger Waters ( Pink Floyd , " Comfortably Numb " lyrics ) David Gilmour 's incredible second  guitar solo (4:31) that follows these final lines trumps Roger's lyrics if you ask me: "Comfortably Numb" is one of Pink Floyd's best-known songs, notable for its two guitar solos . [4]  In 2005, it became the last song ever performed by Waters, Gilmour, keyboardist Richard Wright , and drummer Nick Mason  together. ...  Gilmour said the song represented the last time he and Waters were able to work together constructively. ...  Eventually, the group compromised by using the orchestral elements for the main portion and using Gilmour's stripped-down mix for final guitar solo. [8] Waters said: "That's all we could do without somebody 'winning' and somebody 'losing.' And of course, who lost, if you like, was the band, becaus...

Quote of the Week 49 " And as the longing drops away the compass is reset . " ― Peter Gabriel ( So Much ,  Album:  I/O , released December 2023) Lyrics by Peter Gabriel So much unfinished business All sticky with desire Raking through the empty shells Of all the rockets we fired   Set the navigation For the earth all warm and wet And as the longing drops away The compass is reset   Oh, there's so much to aim for You can shoot at the sun But all of it just comes and goes There's only so much can be done   Time slips in the mirror As an old man, I was born But I've grown to be a baby With a halo and a horn   Burn up like a lightning bolt All gone within a flash You look around to find a home Where the asteroid will crash   Oh, there's so much to live for So much left to give This edition is limited There's only so much can be done   Hm-hm, hm-hm Hm-hm, hm   The body stiffens, tires and aches In its wrinkled, blotchy skin With each decade, more...

Quote of the Week 48 " You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave . " ― Don Henley &  Glenn Frey ( Eagles , " Hotel California " song text ) One of the greatest guitar solos of all time - just after these final lines at 4:18 .

Quote of the Week 47 " Words are invitations to learn abstract categories. " ― Lisa Feldman Barrett As stated in the " Surprising Truths about the Human Brain " episode (at 1h:15m) of The Psychology Podcast . Possibly paraphrasing " Words are invitations to learn about categories " by  Sandra Waxman   and  William Thompson.

Quote of the Week 46 " What progress, you ask, have I made?    I have begun to be a friend to myself. " ― Seneca Triggered by a recent @DailyStoic tweet : pic.twitter.com/YxnYCGYMYA — Daily Stoic (@dailystoic) November 6, 2023 See also: " This is what progress looks like ".

Quote of the Week 45 " Chance is the only legitimate king in the universe. " ― Napoleon Bonaparte Cited in the book " Empire of Chance  -  The Napoleonic Wars and the Disorder of Things ".

Quote of the Week 44 " The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have. " ―  Epictetus  ( Discourses and Selected Writings )

2nd Quote of the Week 43 "Smile and be happy, it could get worse!" ― Otto Waalkes „Und aus dem Chaos sprach eine Stimme zu mir: Lächle und sei froh, es könnte schlimmer kommen! Und ich lächelte und war froh - und es kam schlimmer." ―  Otto Waalkes Alternative translation : " Out of the gloom  a voice said unto me “Smile and be happy,  things could be worse.” So I smiled and was happy  and behold  things did get worse. " A seen in the Otto Waalkes exhibition " OTTO - The Exhibition " in the Buchheim Museum in Bernried (Lake Starnberg):

Quote of the Week 43 "How can I know what I think till I see what I say?" ―  E. M. Forster See Quote Investigator for the origin of the quote: T he saying was popularized by both Graham Wallas and E. M. Forster although both disclaimed credit for authorship. ...  In conclusion, in 1926 Graham Wallas attributed the expression to a little girl. In 1927 E. M. Forster attributed the expression to an old lady. Both of them helped to popularize the saying. W. H. Auden also used the saying, but he referred back to Forster. "Wie kann ich wissen, was ich denke, bevor ich höre, was ich sage?" ―  E. M. Forster

Quote of the Week 42 "Never push twice." ― Alan Bipe A reference to Twenty-One and the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Source:  https://twitter.com/llama_index/status/1712483872817156545

Quote of the Week 41 " Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace. " ―  Epictetus  ( Discourses and Selected Writings ) Triggered once more by a recent Daily Stoic  tweet . pic.twitter.com/JKLpchGpUM — Daily Stoic (@dailystoic) September 25, 2023

Quote of the Week 40 "They get the facts wrong but often get the feelings right." ―  Naomi Klein ( commenting on conspiracy theorists) See also: On with Kara Swisher podcast.

2nd Quote of the Week 39 "With age, one's bite becomes less fierce." ― Alan Bipe "Mit dem Alter kommt die Zahnlosigkeit."

Quote of the Week 39 "I know, you said, you would, …" ― Delta Spirit („Hold My End Up“ song lyrics )

  Quote of the Week 38 " It's impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows . " ―  Epictetus Triggered by a Daily Stoic tweet .

Quote of the Week 37 " Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example. " ― François de La Rochefoucauld Quote found in the context of a search for another Rochefoucauld quote on "Contentment" / "Zufriedenheit": "Wenn wir Zufriedenheit nicht in uns selbst finden, ist es zwecklos, sie anderswo zu suchen. " ― François de La Rochefoucauld   "Wenn man seine Ruhe nicht in sich findet, ist es zwecklos, sie andernorts zu suchen. " "Si nous sommes incapables de trouver la tranquillité en nous-mêmes, il ne sert à rien de la chercher ailleurs. " " If we are incapable of finding peace in ourselves, it is pointless to search elsewhere. "    

Quote of the Week 36 " Never underestimate the man who overestimates himself. " ―  Charlie Munger Triggered by David Senra's tweet  which in turn references a February 2020 statement by Munger.

Quote of the Week 35 " We can know more than we can tell. " ―  Michael Polanyi  ( Polanyi's paradox ) Triggered by a reference to the paradox in a recent presentation at ICML 2023 by Prof. Subbarao Kambhampati :  Avenging Polanyi's Revenge: Exploiting the Approximate Omniscience of LLMs in Planning without Deluding Yourself In the Process

Quote of the Week 34 " The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false. " ― Harry G. Frankfurt (" On Bullshit ")  Triggered by the ongoing discussion of trustworthiness of Large Language Models' (LLMs) output. Under this definition LLMs are bullshitters, not liars. But liars can use them to amplify their lies. Full quote : "The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether or not their listener is persuaded." Related : „It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.“ „Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstance require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.“

Quote of the Week 33 " You always own the option of having no opinion. " ― Marcus Aurelius     Triggered by the use of the quote in a recent Daily Stoic   tweet : “You always own the option of having no opinion.” — Marcus Aurelius — Daily Stoic (@dailystoic) August 12, 2023 See also:  10 Stoic Rules From Marcus Aurelius RULE 5: You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.

Quote of the Week 32 " It takes a long time to become young. " ―  Pablo Picasso   Triggered by John Maeda's compilation of Picasso quotes  including " One starts to get young at 60, and then it’s too late . " See also:  https://joemckeever.com/wp/it-takes-a-long-time-to-become-young/ In his book by this title, Garson Kanin , a well-known playwright, told how Pablo Picasso walked into a hall where a massive display of his paintings was being exhibited. The artist strode into the gathering with a beautiful young woman on each arm and a smile on his countenance. Someone approached him and after the greeting, said, “Sire, I have a question. There is something about your painting that puzzles me.” The man pointed out that in Picasso’s first paintings, done when he was a young man, the scenes are dark and formal and according to all the standards. But, he said, “The paintings of your latter years are alive and colorful and so youthful! How do you explain that?” Picass...

Quote of the Week 31 " The higher you climb, the smaller your world becomes. " ― Esther Crawford   Triggered by Esther's tweet about working with Elon Musk at Twitter: Like seemingly everyone on this app I have plenty of opinions about Twitter > X and figure now is a good time to open up a bit about my experience at the company. I tweeted for years into the void for the love of it like many of you, but after selling my startup to Twitter in… pic.twitter.com/bw7CHhk0Xg — Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) July 26, 2023