July 28 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. ~ Oprah Winfrey

selected by Kalki

2005

Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve. ~ Karl Popper (born 28 July 1902) in Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach (1972)

proposed by MosheZadka

2006

We are social creatures to the inmost centre of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong. ~ Karl Popper

proposed by Kalki

2007

We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than only freedom can make security more secure. ~ Karl Popper

proposed by Kalki

2008

If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, "Tell the Truth." If I got three more words, I'd add, "All the time." ~ Randy Pausch

proposed by Kalki

2009

We do not choose political freedom because it promises us this or that. We choose it because it makes possible the only dignified form of human coexistence, the only form in which we can be fully responsible for ourselves. Whether we realize its possibilities depends on all kinds of things — and above all on ourselves. ~ Karl Popper

proposed by Kalki

2010

Suggestions

One man can make a difference and every man should try. ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (born 28 July 1929)

4 Kalki 00:07, 28 July 2009 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 00:10, 28 July 2005 (UTC) with a VERY strong lean to 4.
1 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

Minimum information given with maximum politeness. ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (date of birth)

2 Kalki 13:07, 27 July 2009 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 00:10, 28 July 2005 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

Always remember that it is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood: there will always be some who misunderstand you. ~ Karl Popper (date of birth)

3 Kalki 00:10, 28 July 2005 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 21:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

Our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite. ~ Karl Popper (date of birth)

3 Kalki 00:10, 28 July 2005 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 21:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
3 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain. ~ Gerard Manley Hopkins (born July 28, 1844)

3 InvisibleSun 18:28, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
1 Kalki 12:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC) This just doesn't strike me as a strong statement of much.
2 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap
May who ne'er hung there.
~ Gerard Manley Hopkins

4 InvisibleSun 18:28, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
2 Kalki 12:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things. ~ Gerard Manley Hopkins

3 InvisibleSun 18:28, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
1 Kalki 12:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC) No clear context as is. If used I would prefer to add at least:
All is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things...

— but even extended thus I would probably still only rank it at 2. A stronger statement from the same poem is proposed below.

1 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

The World is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
~ Gerard Manley Hopkins ~

3 Kalki 12:26, 27 July 2007 (UTC) A stronger and clearer statement from the poem suggested above, which could also be extended further to include the above lines, but I am still inclined to prefer something by Popper at this point. I do have a slight inclination toward 4, combined with the longest form of the previous suggestion, thus continuing with:

All is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things...

3 InvisibleSun 21:45, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 14:43, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

----

When imperialism feels weak, it resorts to brute force. ~ Hugo Chávez

2 Zarbon 20:02, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 15:12, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

----

And the Devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the Devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulphur still today. ~ Hugo Chávez

4 Zarbon 20:02, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 15:12, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

----

There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army. ~ John Ashbery

2 Zarbon 20:02, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 15:12, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

----

Quoternity