A man turned off the light and went to bed. Because of this, several people died. Why? The man lives in a lighthouse; when he turned off the light, two ships crashed. For months, the man is wracked with guilt—how could he forget to keep the light on? What was he thinking? Years pass. The man moves to a small inland town. He attends group therapy regularly. At one session, he meets a widow of three years. She is beautiful in a quiet way. They get married. She never questions why he refuses to turn off the lights at night. Days become decades. They don’t have children, but they are happy together. One day, the man visits an antique shop and breaks down sobbing when he sees a ship in a bottle. He asks his wife to drive him to the ocean. She does. She knows not to ask why. They arrive. The man forgives himself. He finally forgives himself. ~ Ethan Kuperberg
For the resolving powers of our scientific instruments decide, at a given moment, of the size and the vision of our Universe, and of the image we then make of ourselves. ~ Albert Claude
With the supermarket as our temple and the singing commercial as our litany, are we likely to fire the world with an irresistible vision of America's exalted purpose and inspiring way of life? ~ Adlai Stevenson
What will you do if all your problems aren't solved by the time you die?
Since anti-racist individuals did not control mass media, the media became the primary tool that would be used and is still used to convince black viewers, and everyone else, of black inferiority. ~ bell hooks
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book. -- Groucho Marx
Now, it we had this sort of thing: yield -a for yield to all traffic yield -t for yield to trucks yield -f for yield to people walking (yield foot) yield -d t* for yield on days starting with t ...you'd have a lot of dead people at intersections, and traffic jams you wouldn't believe... (Discussion in comp.os.linux.misc on the intuitiveness of commands.)
A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere. -- Groucho Marx
Sheer stockings. Designed for fancy dress, but so serviceable that lots of women wear nothing else.
The most intense conflicts, if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed. It is just these intense conflicts and their conflagration which are needed to produce valuable and lasting results. -- Carl Jung
Real software engineers write in languages that have not actually been implemented for any machine, and for which only the formal spec (in BNF) is available. This keeps them from having to take any machine dependencies into account. Machine dependencies make real software engineers very uneasy.
"Cast your Eye upon the Changeling, then look for the origin of change. Perhaps it is in the Eye." Luna, "Catalog of Companions" CY 302
The human brain is a wonderful thing. It starts working the moment you are born, and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. -- Sir George Jessel
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
Reyna d’Assia: The Key to Immortal Consciousness 76. When someone is speaking to an interested audience, do not contradict that person and steal his or her audience.
Q: If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here! It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross...but it's not for the timid. "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q Who [2.16], Season 2"
It is enough to make one sympathize with a tyrant for the determination of his courtiers to deceive him for their own personal ends... -- Russell Baker and Charles Peters
If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. - Mark Twain
Luke Skywalker: I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters.
Ranger Gord: Here's a new joke I just made up: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "No one." "No one who?" "No one. Just no one. Ever."