November’s collection of recently encountered quotes …
His own sex life had always been rather a mystery. There was nothing so very unusual about that. Most people’s sex life is a mystery, especially that of individuals who seem to make most parade of it.
[Anthony Powell; The Military Philosophers]
You must always be willing to truly consider evidence that contradicts your beliefs, and admit the possibility that you may be wrong. Intelligence isn’t knowing everything, it’s the ability to challenge everything you know.
[unknown]
In Athens … nude sculpture is a thing. There are life size or better penises, breasts and butts in public squares, and, of course, in every museum. This is the way it has been for thousands of years. It is not so unusual, though, to observe a gaggle of young girls from the States giggling over a particular male’s anatomy, but at the very least they will know what a penis looks like. Education is a wonderful thing.
[unknown]
What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?
[Michelangelo]
Madness is rare in individuals, but in groups, parties, peoples, ages it is the rule.
[Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil]
There is a misconception that Buddhism is a religion, and that you worship Buddha. Buddhism is a practice, like yoga. You can be a Christian and practise Buddhism. I met a Catholic priest who lives in a Buddhist monastery in France. He told me that Buddhism makes him a better Christian. I love that.
[Thich Nhat Hanh]
I recently called an old engineering buddy of mine and asked what he was working on these days.
He replied that he was working on “aqua-thermal treatment of ceramics, aluminium and steel under
a constrained environment.”
I was impressed until, upon further inquiry, I learned that he was washing dishes with hot water under
his wife’s supervision.
[unknown]
Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they didn’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.
[Ray Bradbury; Dandelion Wine]
So many people from your past know a version of you that no longer exists anymore.
[unknown]
I have lived with several Zen masters – all of them cats.
[Eckhart Tolle]
They fear love because it creates a world they can’t control.
[George Orwell, 1984]