And so to the penultimate collection of quotes for this year …
By Brian Bilston
The advert said
MONETISE YOUR FOLLOWERS
so he thought
he would respond;
by painting them
in the changing light,
like waterlilies
in a pond.
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.
[Albert Camus]
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.
[EF Schumacher, Small is Beautiful]
The floor of the House of Commons is little more than a West End theatre.
[DAT Green, Prospect Magazine; 24/10/2024]
Whether a chemical is man-made or natural fells you precisely nothing about how dangerous it is.
[Dr Mark Lorch, Biochemist, University of Hull]
Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know.
[JRR Tolkien]
I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things.
[Richard Feynman]
It was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.
[Anaïs Nin, (1803-1877)]
If someone has terrible principles, they will at least try to abide by them. If someone has no principles at all, there is no limit to what they’ll do.
[Ian Dunt at https://iandunt.substack.com/p/kemi-badenoch-becomes-tory-leader]
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.
[Turkish Proverb]
I heard someone refer to their kids as “sexually transmitted dependents”. I had to turn away before my soda came out of my nose. I thought they were called “crutch goblins”.
[unknown]
Meet me at midnight in the forest of my dreams. We’ll make a fire and count the stars that shimmer above the trees.
[Christy Ann Martine]
Suspending belief because you don’t have enough information does not make you indecisive. Changing your mind when better information comes to light does not make you a hypocrite. Deferring to expertise on complex topics outside your knowledge base does not make you a sheep.
[unknown]
The internet causes village idiots to form entire villages made up only of village idiots who have no idea they are village idiots.
[Vlad Vexler]