| 1 April, 2009 |
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Lie: A very poor substitute for the truth, but the only one discovered to date. It is twice as hard to crush a half-truth as a whole lie. Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an Art. Psychoanalysis is confession without absolution. A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future. Vegetarianism is harmless enough, although it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness. To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians. The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of "Ten Best". The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence. The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post. I went to a convent in New York and was fired finally for my insistence that the Immaculate Conception was spontaneous combustion. Contemporary American children, if they are old enough to grasp the concept of Santa Claus by Thanksgiving, are able to see through it by December 15th. Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty. Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. ... and thereof do I repent: I only plucked an occasional flower when I might have gathered an ample harvest of fruit -- such are the just grounds for the regrets I have ... Avarice is the sphincter of the heart. The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge. Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness. An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup. Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both. The more violent the body contact of the sports you watch, the lower your class. All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling. The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet. Most men do not mature, they simply grow taller. I have just returned from Boston. It is the only thing to do if you find yourself up there. Social confusion has now reached a point at which the pursuit of immorality turns out to be more exhausting than compliance with the old moral codes. Behind almost every woman you ever heard of stands a man who let her down. He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor. He grounds the warship he walks on. You must believe in God in spite of what the clergy say. Changing a college curriculum is like moving a graveyard--you never know how many friends the dead have until you try to move them! Be careful in revising those immigration laws of yours. Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency. When there is no peril in the fight there is no glory in the triumph. Actions lie louder than words. Enzymes are things invented by biologists that explain things which otherwise require harder thinking. American husbands are the best in the world; no other husbands are so generous to their wives, or can be so easily divorced. The great masses of the people... will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one. Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly. God made man, and then said I can do better than that and made woman. Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. All power corrupts, but we need the electricity. The police.....always wanting to play games. If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. Action: the last resource of those who know not how to dream. If a child shows himself to be incorrigible, he should be decently and quietly beheaded at the age of twelve, lest he grow to maturity marry, and perpetuate his kind. Sunday: A day given over by Americans to wishing they were dead and in heaven, and that their neighbors were dead and in hell. Deeds, not words shall speak me. |
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