May 8 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic. ~ Anaïs Nin

selected by Kalki

2005

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers. ~ Thomas Pynchon (born 8 May 1937)

selected by Kalki

2006

While in the physical sciences the investigator will be able to measure what, on the basis of a prima facie theory, he thinks important, in the social sciences often that is treated as important which happens to be accessible to measurement. This is sometimes carried to the point where it is demanded that our theories must be formulated in such terms that they refer only to measurable magnitudes. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born 8 May 1899)

selected by Kalki

2007

And, oh! what beautiful years were these
When our hearts clung each to each;
When life was filled and our senses thrilled
In the first faint dawn of speech.

Thus life by life and love by love
We passed through the cycles strange,
And breath by breath and death by death
We followed the chain of change.
~ Langdon Smith ~
(In honor of our reaching a myriad of articles at Wikiquote, a selection from the official "10,000th article".)

proposed by Kalki

2008

Freedom granted only when it is known beforehand that its effects will be beneficial is not freedom. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born 8 May 1899)

proposed by Zarbon

2009

I want to break out — to leave this cycle of infection and death. I want to be taken in love: so taken that you and I, and death, and life, will be gathered inseparable, into the radiance of what we would become... ~ Thomas Pynchon

proposed by Kalki

2010

Suggestions

Personally I prefer a liberal dictator to democratic government lacking liberalism. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born May 8)

3 because, according to Hayek, an outward dictator is better than a clever camouflage, a government of dubious and questionable liberalism. Zarbon 04:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) It is a clear expression of the importance of respect for liberty above respect for any particular form of rulership, whether of minorities or majorities.

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Is there a greater tragedy imaginable than that, in our endeavour consciously to shape our future in accordance with high ideals, we should in fact unwittingly produce the very opposite of what we have been striving. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born May 8)

3 because sometimes in accordance with "good" intentions, mankind can commit the worst of acts. Zarbon 04:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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As is true with respect to other great evils, the measures by which war might be made altogether impossible for the future may well be worse than even war itself. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born May 8)

3 because war prevention can end up being even deadlier than war itself. Zarbon 04:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) An expression against the dangers of absolute tyranny, whatever it's motives might be.

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The more the state 'plans' the more difficult planning becomes for the individual. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born May 8)

3 because the more the state controls one's fate, the less one is able to control one's own fate. Zarbon 04:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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The mind cannot foresee its own advance. ~ Friedrich Hayek (born May 8)

3 because the mind does not know what developments are to be had in its mainframe, the brain capacity, so to speak. Zarbon 04:50, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) (but I would probably prefer to extend this somewhat, with some associated observations)

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Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship. ~ Harry S. Truman (born May 8, 1884)

3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 because you can have a both separately as well. Zarbon 05:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know. ~ Harry S. Truman

3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 because that's not the only new thing. Sorry, don't agree with this. Zarbon 05:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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In a sense, one can never read the book that the author originally wrote, and one can never read the same book twice. ~ Edmund Wilson (born May 8, 1895)

4 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 because I'm sure many people do examine the same reading material more than once. If the context of the quote is meant to go beyond...to something deeper, it's rather too hidden insofar as understanding it goes. I'm wondering why you rated this one so high Invisible...I'm curious as to what makes the quote special to you...of course the author of any work would understand their work better than those who read it...it seems very logical and not very quoteworthy to me. If you still think the quote is rather good, I might be compelled to give it a 2 in the long run...but a 4? Why do you like it... Zarbon 05:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) I too consider it a good quote. It indicates the truth that one's experiences and ideas can never be fully indicated in any writing or expressions, no matter how extensive or precise they may be in many ways, and that one's own interpretation and understanding of anything which is read or otherwise observed or thought upon must always be different to some degree, at different times, based upon one's always changing body of awareness and experience.
- I understood what the quote was saying...I just don't think it has a meaning deep enough...it's moreso too straightforward and logical. I feel that we should strive for deeper quotes rather than the logical ones that are way too simplistic and leave no room for moral thought. Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote, lonely and desolate continent. A place where it's possible to see the splendours and immensities of the natural world at its most dramatic and, what's more, witness them almost exactly as they were, long, long before human beings ever arrived on the surface of this planet. Long may it remain so. ~ David Attenborough (born May 8, 1926)

3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 because this seems like a personal rant rather than a quote... Zarbon 05:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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The only consolation he drew from the present chaos was that his theory managed to explain it. ~ Thomas Pynchon (born May 8, 1937)

3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 because this leaves one rather clueless... Zarbon 05:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) (but I would prefer to precede it with "He had decided long ago that no Situation had any objective reality: it only existed in the minds of those who happened to be in on it at any specific moment. ... "
- Well, now that Kalki added the bit, it makes a little more sense as to what the quote is saying... Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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There was no difference between the behavior of a god and the operations of pure chance. ~ Thomas Pynchon

3 InvisibleSun 04:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2 because sometimes the two are intertwined. Zarbon 05:32, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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Liberty not only means that the individual has both the opportunity and the burden of choice; it also means that he must bear the consequences of his actions. ... Liberty and responsibility are inseparable. ~ Friedrich Hayek

3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 18:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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Conservatism, though a necessary element in any stable society, is not a social program; in its paternalistic, nationalistic and power adoring tendencies it is often closer to socialism than true liberalism; and with its traditionalistic, anti-intellectual, and often mystical propensities it will never, except in short periods of disillusionment, appeal to the young and all those others who believe that some changes are desirable if this world is to become a better place. ~ Friedrich Hayek

3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 18:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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If man is not to do more harm than good in his efforts to improve the social order, he will have to learn that in this, as in all other fields where essential complexity of an organized kind prevails, he cannot acquire the full knowledge which would make mastery of the events possible. He will therefore have to use what knowledge he can achieve, not to shape the results as the craftsman shapes his handiwork, but rather to cultivate a growth by providing the appropriate environment, in the manner in which the gardener does this for his plants. ~ Friedrich Hayek

3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 18:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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The recognition of the insuperable limits to his knowledge ought indeed to teach the student of society a lesson of humility which should guard him against becoming an accomplice in men's fatal striving to control society — a striving which makes him not only a tyrant over his fellows, but which may well make him the destroyer of a civilization which no brain has designed but which has grown from the free efforts of millions of individuals. ~ Friedrich Hayek

3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 18:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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Why should things be easy to understand? ~ Thomas Pynchon

3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 18:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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The knife cuts through the apple like a knife cutting an apple. Everything is where it is, no clearer than usual, but certainly more present. So much has to be left behind now, so quickly. ~ Thomas Pynchon

3 Kalki 17:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 18:23, 7 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 23:37, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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