Here’s this month’s selection of recently encountered quotes.
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. Without religion, everything would be permitted.
[Napoleon Bonaparte]
Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn’t there and finding it.
[Oscar Wilde]
He who blames others has a long way to go on his journey. He who blames himself is halfway there. He who blames no one has arrived.
[Chinese Proverb]
Be careful. When a democracy is sick, fascism comes to its bedside, but it is not to inquire about its health.
[Albert Camus]
Consciousness is an end in itself. We torture ourselves getting somewhere, and when we get there it is nowhere, for there is nowhere to get to.
[DH Lawrence]
First, they fascinate the fools. Then, they muzzle the intelligent.
[Bertrand Russell]
You can view life as a comedy or a tragedy, but … Socrates thought there’s a third possibility. That is, you can refute things. You can investigate them, never settle on an answer. There’s an inquisitive mode of living, in which you’re living your life at the same time as not assuming you know how to live it.
[Prof. Agnes Callard]
I’m not answering your question, but I’m telling you how difficult a “why” question is. You have to know what it is that you’re permitted to understand and allow to be understood and know, and what it is you’re not.
[Richard Feynman]
Had it with these
dollar store philosophers
selling me
someone else’s advise
and a makeup tutorial
I want a freak flag and
a peace pipe
and a revolution I can
feel in my hips
[JK Kennedy]
If all religious knowledge and texts disappeared, new religions would eventually form, but they’d be different from what we have now. If all scientific knowledge and texts were lost, it would come back the same, because we’d still be rediscovering the same reality.
[unknown]
No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.
[Mark Twain]
Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.
Medicine
What is dermatophobia the fear of? Skin disease
How many teeth do adult humans have? 32
In 2015, which country started thanking people via text message when their donated blood was used? Sweden
An absence of the SRY gene means what for a human being? It means the human is a female. The presence of the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene is the specific factor which leads to maleness in mammals
In which part of the body would you find the atlas and axis bones? Neck
First developed by John Salk, the vaccine for which illness was first tested in 1952? Poliomyelitis
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
This year our Ten Things column each month is alternating between composers and artists a century at a time from pre-1500 to 20th century. As always, there’s no guarantee you will have heard of them all!
Ten Artists Born Before 1500
Albrecht Durer
Leonardo da Vinci
Fra Angelico
Jan van Eyck
Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch Detail from The Garden of Earthly Delights
Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.
Medicine
What is dermatophobia the fear of?
How many teeth do adult humans have?
In 2015, which country started thanking people via text message when their donated blood was used?
An absence of the SRY gene means what for a human being?
In which part of the body would you find the atlas and axis bones?
First developed by John Salk, the vaccine for which illness was first tested in 1952?
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
1. Ahmed Zog ascended to power in Albania, becoming its President, Prime Minister and Marshal of the Royal Albanian Army.
2.Born. Elaine Stritch, actress and singer, in Detroit (d.2014)
8.Born. Jack Lemmon, actor, in Newton, Massachusetts (d.2001)
11. In the English House of Commons, Reginald Applin of the Conservatives asked the Speaker of the House if Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson was in order while addressing the House without wearing a hat. The Speaker ruled that she was and a precedent for women was set.
26.Born. Everton Weekes, cricketer, in St Michael, Barbados (d.2020)
Diary-type thoughts on what occurred around here which weren’t otherwise written about.
Wednesday 1 I find it mysterious that I awoke this morning to find an empty champagne bottle in the bedroom wastepaper bin. Such decadence! Happy New Year!
Thursday 2 So the weather people have issued a weather warning for snow and ice (maybe someone needs to explain to them that snow is ice!) over the weekend – and for some much colder days and nights. What are the odds of us getting snow here in suburban west London? In my estimation approximately zero ± a gnat’s testicle. We’ll see; I could be wrong.
Friday 3 It was a nice sunny day, but they weren’t wrong about the cold. Bright sunshine and good light even at 15:30; pitch dark by 16:30.
Sunday 5 The squirrels are cheeky little monkeys; you can quite see why they’re so successful. Over the months they’ve created large holes in the mesh at the bottom of the peanut feeder outside the dining room window; I’m surprised the bottom hasn’t fallen out! Lunchtime today the feeder was almost empty and there was our chubby squirrel raiding it. There’s so little wire that said squirrel was getting a paw in the feeder to retrieve whole nuts – a bit like a cat feeling under the bed for their lost mouse.
Oh and we got a bit of snow last evening: rain turned to ice and then came snow; just enough to make things white. It had gone by morning to be replaced by rain and fog; the former continued persistently all day so by dark-fall we had half the garden under casual water.
Monday 6 I gave in and had my annual pre-birthday haircut and shower.
Friday 10 This week from the supermarket we have tangerines from Tangier … possibly. They’re certainly from Morocco. They’re rays of sunshine at the end of a cold, dull week. Today has only just crept above freezing having been around -6°C last night – and early this evening it is already around -4°C so we’re going to get another cold night. Indeed apart from roughly midday Sunday to sunrise Monday when it was relatively warm and wet, no day in the last week has got up to 5°C. And this is in the relative warmth of suburban west London!
Saturday 11 So that was a birthday, was it? N was at the hospital. I spent the day in the study doing paperwork & admin for various projects, and getting cold because I was resisting putting the heating back on. I work on the basis that it’s known that if you’re too hot you burn extra calories to keep cool, so it stands to reason that if you’re cold you’ll burn extra calories to keep warm – and after all I have plenty of calories to burn!
Sunday 12 Birthday part 2. Again, apart from 15 minutes doing bits outside, I spent the day mostly working on various projects, although I did have a good lay-in. Finished off with cold smoked chicken, new potatoes & fennel slaw, followed by strawberries & cream; all washed down with a bottle of champagne and a liqueur. End result = fairly incapable! Hic!
Wednesday 15 So I look out of the study window this morning and the trees in the garden are full of green parakeets. Count 16. 2 minutes later, count 18. Another 2 minutes, count 21. The final count got to 23! I think that’s a record for us. It’s no wonder N is having to refill the feeders every other day – what with the parakeets, tits, and at least 3 squirrels.
Thursday 16 Somewhere in the house the cats have lost a dead mouse. I can smell it, but not trace it. Gah!
Friday 17 They’re Moroccan and they’re whoppers! Most girls would be proud of them. [Spoiler: see a week ago.]
Saturday 18 Does anyone else have weird, byzantine, waking dreams? This morning my dream was a mixture of travel by taxi or given a lift by a colleague from two adjacent work locations, through a mixture of (London) suburbs, some rebuilt some not; to a big hospital where I was having regular bits of minor (but internal, abdominal) surgery. I think the consultant was one I’ve seen before who has done a couple of colonoscopies for me. And … I was also having dental treatment with my actual dentist in some rather dilapidated Edwardian rooms which were part of the same hospital. I was having to scuttle from one to the other, and trying to arrange appointments. The culmination was this complex dental work on a Saturday (my real dentist is Jewish so doesn’t work on a Saturday!), which involved not just my dentist, but also another dental consultant and an anaesthetist, all together. GOK what it was all about – other than anxiety!
Sunday 19 David the Pond Man came to do a much delayed late autumn overhaul. Blimey he drained the whole pond (the fish were put in a holding tank) and said he removed 2 inches of muck from the bottom. The saved water from two holding tanks went back in; and by dark-fall the hose had refilled the pond about ⅓ – quite enough for the fish and putting the pumps back on (we’ll refill the rest tomorrow, but God help the water bill!). But lo-and-behold, we still have 21 goldfish, which means we’ve not lost any in 2½ years; and they’re now big chunky goldfish which started out as tiny fingerlings.
Monday 20 Make that 22 goldfish.
Wednesday 22 It’s been one of those days where everything either conspires to be difficult, or actually goes tits up. In fact it was one of those days before I even got out of bed this morning. But I take consolation in that I’m not the only one suffering this today.
Friday 24 I still haven’t finished refilling the pond. It’s ⅔ full and filter running so should be OK. But I’ve declined to brave the rain, the lake on the path, and the mud to venture forth. This weather is driving us all up the wall. Can we actually manage to go a week without a major storm? So we consoled ourselves this evening with sausage and chips.
Saturday 25 There must be something wrong! I actually spent most of the afternoon reading.
Sunday 26 Cometh the gardener. He thinks he’s going to finish refilling the pond for me. Why bother? It is pissing with rain. And within an hour the garden is awash with casual water, again. Oh and the gardener thinks we have 23 goldfish – so one of us can’t count!
Monday 27 This afternoon, the usual twice yearly dental check-up etc. And as I was warned last time I need a raft of work done: at least 4 fillings, mostly because the existing fillings are beginning to fail. Well one of those fillings is old amalgam, so it must be 25+ years old. That’s going to hurt the wallet! I might have to have a replacement crown too, but at least for the moment that can has been kicked down the road, so even more cost postponed. It’s all surprisingly draining, even though I don’t actually mind going to the dentist.
Tuesday 28 Well if I pissed him off, it’s just too bad. Tell me on Monday evening that I have a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and that I’m supposed to know about it, when this is the first I’ve heard? Don’t be surprised if I say “no”, followed by “and not this week”. A lack of planning (or attention to detail) on your part does not constitute a crisis on mine.
Wednesday 29 I had to chuckle this afternoon when we at the doctors doing outreach work. One of the young lady clinicians (not one of the doctors or nurses) was wearing black patent, very pointed, slightly upturned shoes, which reminded me of medieval poulaines – although not as exaggerated; more akin to 1960s winkle-pickers. I said to her that I liked her medieval shoes; she said she called them her Pied Piper shoes!
Medieval poulaines (top) and 1960s winkle-pickers (bottom)
Friday 31 I’ve just tried some seaweed crisps. My advice: don’t!
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
