Henry Fielding

Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason. -Henry Fielding, author (1707-1754)

I can believe that this is often true, although I haven't had enough exposure to either great riches or great poverty to form my own opinion. I can imagine that someone in truly dire straights might choose a dangerous course that promised relief against all advice to the contrary. On the other side, I would have to suppose that if Fielding is right the cause of this rejection of reason must be pride.

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Bertrand Russell

I've made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, and author (1872-1970)

I wonder what lesson Russell drew from this discovery? The savant would probably say that the gardener just isn't equipped to see reality as it is. Personally, I'm with the gardener.

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E. B. White

"People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust." -- E. B. White

When this is true of a person, it reveals a sad self-centeredness.

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John Ruskin

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. -John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)

I am striving to develop this attitude. I say striving because as I get older, my natural tendency moves in the opposite direction. Sometimes it is easier than others. This week's weather makes me wonder what would be Ruskin's praise for sleet and freezing rain.

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Mohandas K. Gandhi

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

This sounds good, but is it true? Or better, is it always true? It would be easy to find instances when it was true, but I question whether it can be raised to the level of a universal principle. Certainly there is one instance when it did not hold. The violence done against Christ resulted in the greatest good, but not the "good" the perpetrators intended. And I think Gandhi himself would say that some of the violence done against him and his followers in the nonviolent struggle for the independence of India brought lasting good, although again, not what the perpetrators intended.

Of course that is Gandhi's point, that violence never accomplishes, in a permanent way, the good that is intended by the perpetrators. But the question remains: is it always true? For example, does violence done in self-defense always ultimately fail, or in defense of another innocent victim? I do believe, however, that it is safe to say that even violence done in response to violence is in danger of being unjust and of failing to achieve its purpose. The bias in our thought should run very strongly against the use of violence in every circumstance.

Mt. 5:38-48 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'^{[g] 39}But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor^[h] and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴But I tell you: Love your enemies^[i] and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Mark Twain

"The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money." -- Mark Twain

The structure of this one liner reminds me of Dave Barry. Is this where Dave learned it, or did he come up with it independently?

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W. H. Auden

A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us. -W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973)

A brief explication: A book worthy of the name is one that in the reading reveals something of the reader to himself.

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