Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)

Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it. -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)

This raises an interesting question in my mind: When someone is unexpectedly not offended by satire, is he or she demonstrating a magnanimous or an obtuse spirit?

Pierre Bayle, philosopher and writer (1647-1706)

There is not less wit nor less invention in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of that thought. -Pierre Bayle, philosopher and writer (1647-1706)

This is a pleasant thought. Too bad it isn't true. The skill to use another's thought well should not be denigrated but the originality of the author is in fact an additional skill.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

What??!! Those who have burned, suppressed, and expunged through the centuries haven't thought so, and I think Emerson is wildly optimistic here. It is true that in the long run, the eternal perspective, God's truth will be vindicated, but nevertheless evil is still evil and has its effects. I don't believe there is any mysterious spiritual ether in which a suppressed truth "reverberates through the earth."

Ben Hecht, screenwriter, playwright, novelist, director, and producer (1894-1964)

Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock. -Ben Hecht, screenwriter, playwright, novelist, director, and producer (1894-1964)

I think this is a good insight. To really understand what is going on in the world, one needs perspective. One needs to stand back a bit in time to see the trends. In our digital age this is perhaps even more to the point.

John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer

What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do. -John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)

This seems odd to me. Surely what we do is the consequence of what we think, know, and believe!

Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author

Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

I don't often find myself agreeing with Thoreau, but this time I do. As a society we need to cultivate a much greater respect for life in general. It comes, after all, from God, and man cannot create it.

Will Durant, historian (1885-1981)

Inquiry is fatal to certainty. -Will Durant, historian (1885-1981)

To my mind inquiry is rather an antidote to doubt.