May 11 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

The integral vision embodies an attempt to take the best of both worlds, ancient and modern. But that demands a critical stance willing to reject unflinchingly the worst of both as well. ~ Ken Wilber

selected by Kalki

2005

When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is trying to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind. ~ J. Krishnamurti (born 11 May 1895)

selected by Kalki

2006

Positive vibrations man. That's what makes it work. That's reggae music. You can't look away because it's real. You listen to what I sing because I mean what I sing, there's no secret, no big deal. Just honesty, that's all. ~ Bob Marley (died 11 May 1981)

proposed by JeffQ (author) and Kalki (quote)

2007

The poet in a golden clime was born,
With golden stars above;
Dower'd with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn,
The love of love.
~ Alfred Tennyson ~

proposed by Poetlister

2008

Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. Nothing is 'mere'. I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more? The vastness of the heavens stretches my imagination — stuck on this carousel my little eye can catch one-million-year-old light. A vast pattern — of which I am a part... What is the pattern or the meaning or the why? It does not do harm to the mystery to know a little more about it. ~ Richard Feynman (born 11 May 1918)

proposed by Aphaia

2009

There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts. ~ Richard Feynman

proposed by Kalki

2010

Suggestions

Say you just can't live that negative way
You know what I mean
Make way for the positive day
Cause it's a new day. ~ Bob Marley (died 11 May 1981), "Positive Vibration", Rastaman Vibration (1976)

2 Jeff Q (talk) 05:51, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
2 ~ I did some quick research, and the writing credits for this are to Vincent Ford, but there are indications that Marley simply gave Ford credit for these and other lyrics. Taking up the suggestion for something by Marley I have found a couple that, while not fully sourced as yet, I find plausible and not likely to become disputed. ~ Kalki 22:04, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
2 Aphaia 09:39, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 05:10, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:04, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

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I don't have prejudice against myself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white. ~ Bob Marley (date of death)

3 Kalki 22:04, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
1 Jeff Q (talk) 23:56, 10 May 2006 (UTC). I'd prefer a less weighty quote.
2 Aphaia 09:39, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 05:10, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
~~3 InvisibleSun 22:04, 10 May 2008 (UTC)~~

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For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. ~ Richard Feynman

3 Kalki 20:08, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 05:10, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
3 Aphaia 23:58, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:04, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

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Dance is the hidden language of the soul ~ Martha Graham (date of birth).

3 Aphaia 23:58, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 04:05, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

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It is bias to think that the art of war is just for killing people. It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil. It is a stratagem to give life to many people by killing the evil of one person. ~ Yagyū Munenori (date of death, date of birth unknown)

3 because there is truly beauty in the art of war. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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It is easy to kill someone with a slash of a sword. It is hard to be impossible for others to cut down. ~ Yagyū Munenori

3 because as easy as it is to defeat the opponent, the opponent may win with ease just as well. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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See first with your mind, then with your eyes, and finally with your body. ~ Yagyū Munenori

3 because the physical strike comes last. It is more important to plan ahead before that attack. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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Once a fight has started, if you get involved in thinking about what to do, you will be cut down by your opponent with the very next blow. ~ Yagyū Munenori

3 because there is a time to contemplate and a time to attack and defend. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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There may be a hundred stances and sword positions, but you win with just one. ~ Yagyū Munenori

3 because it is the thunderous winning blow that counts. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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Conquering evil, not the opponent is the essence of swordsmanship. ~ Yagyū Munenori

2 Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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If you gaze at a single leaf on a single tree, you do not see the other leaves. If you face the tree with no intention and do not fix your eyes on a single leaf, then you will see all the many leaves. If your mind is preoccupied with one leaf, you do not see the others, if you do not set your attention on one; you will see hundreds and thousands of leaves. ~ Yagyū Munenori

3 because one must concentrate on all aspects in order to avoid dogmatism. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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If you have attained mastery of swordlessness, you will never be without a sword. ~ Yagyū Munenori

3 because it is imperative for one to train without a weapon just as much in order to survive all predicaments. Zarbon 04:47, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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There's a great and unutterable beauty in all this. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

2 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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The observer is the observed. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

2 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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Silence is difficult and arduous, it is not to be played with. It isn't something that you can experience by reading a book, or by listening to a talk, or by sitting together, or by retiring into a wood or a monastery. I am afraid none of these things will bring about this silence. This silence demands intense psychological work. You have to be burningly aware of your snobbishness, aware of your fears, your anxieties, your sense of guilt. And when you die to all that, then out of that dying comes the beauty of silence. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

3 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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So, the questioner wants to know why it is that he cannot go beyond all these superficial wrangles of the mind. For the simple reason that, consciously or unconsciously, the mind is always seeking something, and that very search brings violence, competition, the sense of utter dissatisfaction. It is only when the mind is completely still that there is a possibility of touching the deep waters. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

3 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3, but just for the final sentence.
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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We human beings are what we have been for millions of years — colossally greedy, envious, aggressive, jealous, anxious and despairing, with occasional flashes of joy and affection. We are a strange mixture of hate, fear and gentleness; we are both violence and peace. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

2 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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We are afraid of the known and afraid of the unknown. That is our daily life and in that there is no hope, and therefore every form of philosophy, every form of theological concept, is merely an escape from the actual reality of what is. All outward forms of change brought about by wars, revolutions, reformations, laws and ideologies have failed completely to change the basic nature of man and therefore of society. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

2 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:52, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

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It's no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

2 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

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Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

3 Zarbon 04:15, 1 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 09:35, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

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