Andy Rooney

"Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done." -- Andy Rooney

Mr. Rooney is pushing his curmudgeonly image here, but he is wrong. While it is certainly true that computers aren't required to do much of anything by most people, they do in fact make it easier to do many very important things, such as distributing food and other necessities. A better example might be the distribution of electricity, which could not be done as it is today without the use of computers.

William Blake

One law for the lion and ox is oppression. -William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827)

Blake's concern, of course, is not with actual lions and oxen, but with humans of different personality, character, and, perhaps, position, which makes his opinion false.

Billie Jean King and Ernie Banks

"The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing." -- Billie Jean King

Ernie Banks, the great Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer, said this recently, "You have to care, but not too much." I think they are both right, and resolving the conflict isn't simply a matter of moderation in all things. What is required is the wisdom to know how to express your passion for each aspect of life, and how far.

Oscar Wilde

Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace. -Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)

I really wonder if Wilde was speaking tongue in cheek here. In any case, this isn't what death is like.