Quotes of the day from previous years:
- 2005
- All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. ~ Martin Buber (born 8 February 1878)
- 2006
- There are, indeed, two forms of discontent: one laborious, the other indolent and complaining. We respect the man of laborious desire, but let us not suppose that his restlessness is peace, or his ambition meekness. It is because of the special connection of meekness with contentment that it is promised that the meek shall 'inherit the earth.' Neither covetous men, nor the grave, can inherit anything; they can but consume. Only contentment can possess. ~ John Ruskin (born 8 February 1819)
- 2007
- One single war — we all know — may be productive of more evil, immediate and subsequent, than hundreds of years of the unchecked action of the mutual-aid principle may be productive of good. ~ Peter Kropotkin, died 8 February 1921.
- 2008
- The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion, — all in one. ~ John Ruskin
- 2009
- Man's constitution is so peculiar that his health is purely a negative matter. No sooner is the rage of hunger appeased than it becomes difficult to comprehend the meaning of starvation. It is only when you suffer that you really understand. ~ Jules Verne, born 8 February 1828.
- 2010
- Punishment is the last and least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime. ~ John Ruskin
- 2011
- There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest numbers of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest, who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others. ~ John Ruskin
- 2012
- Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality. ~ John Ruskin
- 2013
- 2014
| Ignorance, which is contented and clumsy, will produce what is imperfect, but not offensive. But ignorance discontented and dexterous, learning what it cannot understand, and imitating what it cannot enjoy, produces the most loathsome forms of manufacture that can disgrace or mislead humanity
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| ~ John Ruskin ~
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- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
| Some would deny any legitimate use of the word God because it has been misused so much. Certainly it is the most burdened of all human words. Precisely for that reason it is the most imperishable and unavoidable. And how much weight has all erroneous talk about God's nature and works (although there never has been nor can be any such talk that is not erroneous) compared with the one truth that all men who have addressed God really meant him? For whoever pronounces the word God and really means Thou, addresses, no matter what his delusion, the true Thou of his life that cannot be restricted by any other and to whom he stands in a relationship that includes all others.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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- 2021
The world is not divine sport, it is divine destiny. There is divine meaning in the life of the world, of man, of human persons, of you and of me.
Creation happens to us, burns itself into us, recasts us in burning — we tremble and are faint, we submit. We take part in creation, meet the Creator, reach out to Him, helpers and companions.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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- 2022
| It is the glistening and softly spoken lie; the amiable fallacy; the patriotic lie of the historian, the provident lie of the politician, the zealous lie of the partisan, the merciful lie of the friend, and the careless lie of each man to himself, that cast that black mystery over humanity, through which we thank any man who pierces, as we would thank one who dug a well in a desert.
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| ~ John Ruskin ~
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- 2023
- 2024
- 2025
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All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs. ~ Enoch Powell, died 8 February 1998.
- 4. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 23:44, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
- 2 Kalki 23:44, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
- 2 InvisibleSun 01:12, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
- 2 Zarbon 22:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
The good Samaritan had compassion. If two good Samaritans had compassion, that would still be individual compassion, not collective compassion. If the good Samaritan had been obliged by decree of the Roman Emperor to assist the traveller, that would not be compassion at all, because it would be done under obligation. ~ Enoch Powell.
- 2. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 23:44, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
- 2 Kalki 23:44, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
- 3 InvisibleSun 01:12, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
- 1 Zarbon 22:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless: peacocks and lilies, for instance. ~ John Ruskin, born 8 February 1819.
When we are interested in the beauty of a thing, the oftener we can see it the better; but when we are interested only by the story of a thing, we get tired of hearing the same tale told over and over again, and stopping always at the same point — we want a new story presently, a newer and better one — and the picture of the day, and novel of the day, become as ephemeral as the coiffure or the bonnet of the day. Now this spirit is wholly adverse to the existence of any lovely art. If you mean to throw it aside to-morrow, you can never have it to-day. ~ John Ruskin
- 3 InvisibleSun 01:12, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
- 1 Zarbon 22:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
- 3 Kalki 22:12, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
Every other sin hath some pleasure annexed to it, or will admit of an excuse; envy alone wants both. Other sins last but for awhile; the gut may be satisfied, anger remits, hatred hath an end, envy never ceaseth. ~ Robert Burton (born February 8, 1577)
- 3 InvisibleSun 10:40, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
- 2 Zarbon 22:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
- 2 Kalki 22:12, 7 February 2009 (UTC) with lean toward 3.
Compound for sins they are inclined to,
By damning those they have no mind to. ~ Samuel Butler
- 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:41, 5 February 2015 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
| Persons appear by entering into relation to other persons.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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| Whoever abhors the name and fancies that he is godless — when he addresses with his whole devoted being the Thou of his life that cannot be restricted by any other, he addresses God.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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| All names of God remain hallowed because they have been used not only to speak of God but also to speak to him.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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- 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:41, 5 February 2015 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
| An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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- 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:41, 5 February 2015 (UTC) slightly prefer this to the alternate translation: "All real life is meeting."
| The basic word I-Thou can be spoken only with one's whole being. The concentration and fusion into a whole being can never be accomplished by me, can never be accomplished without me. I require a Thou to become; becoming I, I say Thou.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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| The Thou encounters me by grace — it cannot be found by seeking. But that I speak the basic word to it is a deed of my whole being, is my essential deed.
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| ~ Martin Buber ~
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| Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts—the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others; but of the three, the only quite trustworthy one is the last.
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| ~ John Ruskin ~
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