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August 12

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Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003
A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular. ~ Adlai Stevenson
2004
There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. ~ Washington Irving
2005
Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes. ~ George Soros (born 12 August 1930)
2006
The world is given to me only once, not one existing and one perceived. Subject and object are only one. The barrier between them cannot be said to have broken down as a result of recent experience in the physical sciences, for this barrier does not exist. ~ Erwin Schrödinger
2007
Faith plays an important role in an open society. Exactly because our understanding is imperfect, we cannot base our decisions on knowledge alone. We need to rely on beliefs, religious or otherwise, to help us make decisions. But we must remain open to the possibility that we may be wrong so that we can correct our mistakes. Otherwise, we are bound to be wrong. ~ George Soros
2008
It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought — that is to be educated. ~ Edith Hamilton
2009
There are few efforts more conducive to humility than that of the translator trying to communicate an incommunicable beauty. Yet, unless we do try, something unique and never surpassed will cease to exist except in the libraries of a few inquisitive book lovers. ~ Edith Hamilton
2010
No external power, no terrorist organization, can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire. ~ George Soros
2011
How can we escape from the trap that the terrorists have set us? Only by recognizing that the war on terrorism cannot be won by waging war. We must, of course, protect our security; but we must also correct the grievances on which terrorism feeds. Crime requires police work, not military action. ~ George Soros
2012
The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. To spread these principles is to build up a strong and more valiant and, above all, more scrupulous and more generous humanity.
~ Pierre de Coubertin ~
2013
Great literature, past or present, is the expression of great knowledge of the human heart; great art is the expression of a solution of the conflict between the demands of the world without and that within.
~ Edith Hamilton ~
2014
Although I think that life may be the result of an accident, I do not think that of consciousness. Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
2015
No self is of itself alone. It has a long chain of intellectual ancestors. The "I" is chained to ancestry by many factors ... This is not mere allegory, but an eternal memory.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
2016
The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
2017
I wish I could write a book that will be read for as long as our civilization lasts … would value it much more highly than any business success if I could contribute to an understanding of the world in which we live or, better yet, if I could help to preserve the economic and political system that has allowed me to flourish as a participant.
~ George Soros ~
2018
I learned at a very early age that what kind of social system or political system prevails is very important. Not just for your well-being, but for your very survival. Because, you know, I could have been killed by the Nazis. I could have wasted my life under the Communists. So, that's what led me to this idea of an open society. And that is the idea that is motivating me.
~ George Soros ~
2019
To others, being wrong is a source of shame; to me, recognizing my mistakes is a source of pride. Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.
~ George Soros ~
2020
People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other. But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That’s not our America.
Our United States of America is not about us versus them. It’s about We the people!
And in this moment, we must all speak truth about what’s happening.
Seek truth, speak truth and fight for the truth.
~ Kamala Harris ~
  • proposed by Kalki, in regard to her designation as Joe Biden's pick for VP.
2021
I am born into an environment — I know not whence I came nor whither I go nor who I am. This is my situation as yours, every single one of you. The fact that everyone always was in this same situation, and always will be, tells me nothing. Our burning question as to the whence and whither — all we can ourselves observe about it is the present environment. That is why we are eager to find out about it as much as we can. That is science, learning, knowledge; it is the true source of every spiritual endeavour of man.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
2022
Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.
All Americans are entitled to the even handed application of the law, to due process of the law, and to the presumption of innocence. Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations.… Let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.
The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them.
This is all I can say right now. More information will be made available in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time.
~ Merrick Garland ~
  • proposed by Kalki; recent remarks on current events.
2023
Multiplicity is only apparent, in truth, there is only one mind.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
2024
Rank or add further suggestions…

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Suggestions

[edit]

~ Erwin Schrödinger, born that day.

  • 3 ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 06:08, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
  • 1 121a0012 02:51, July 21, 2005 (UTC) (much too obscure)
  • 1 likewise too obscure
    • Unsigned vote! Also: too obscure? Schrödinger's equation is how the world works :) ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 16:06, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
    • Sorry unsigned was mine, it might well be how the world works but, like all equations, without a definition of notation & terms it is essentially a meaningless arrangement of letters & symbols AllanHainey 07:27, 27 July 2005 (UTC)
  • 4 - Amar 15:43, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
  • 0 Kalki 17:33, 10 August 2005 (UTC) Great equation, but totally indecipherable for most people.
  • 0 Zarbon 15:28, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

People can have the Model T in any color - so long as it's black. - Henry Ford. Model T built this day.

If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The psi-function of the entire system would express this by having in it the living and dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts. ~ Erwin Schrödinger

  • 3 ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 04:53, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
  • Comment: hopefully this is less scary. Yay cats :) ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 04:53, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
  • 3 AllanHainey 07:50, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
  • 1 acceptable, but still a bit obscure for most. Psi-functions and the context of the "dead cat" are not very plain.
  • 1 InvisibleSun 23:34, 11 August 2007 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 15:28, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Markets reduce everything, including human beings and nature, to commodities. ~ George Soros (date of birth)

If you ask a stupid question,you will get a stupid answer. ~ Anon

  • 0 Kalki 13:18, 11 August 2007 (UTC) No clear relation to the date, and not a standard rendering of the English proverb "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer."
  • 0 Zarbon 15:28, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Mind and spirit together make up that which separates us from the rest of the animal world, that which enables a man to know the truth and that which enables him to die for the truth. ~ Edith Hamilton

None but a poet can write a tragedy. For tragedy is nothing less than pain transmuted into exaltation by the alchemy of poetry. ~ Edith Hamilton

  • 2 Zarbon 14:52, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 19:29, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 21:03, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Peace and Passion ("I'm listening....") 19:43, 10 August 2009 (UTC) I'm sure it's not the case, but this sounds ("nothing less than pain transmuted into exultation by the alchemy of poetry") like a poor writer trying to make a sentence "intense" by dedicated use of a thesaurus.

But, if the knowledge of the occult powers of nature opens the spiritual sight of man, enlarges his intellectual faculties, and leads him unerringly to a profounder veneration for the Creator, on the other hand ignorance, dogmatic narrow-mindedness, and a childish fear of looking to the bottom of things, invariably leads to fetish-worship and superstition. ~ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

  • 2 Zarbon 14:52, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 19:29, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 21:03, 11 August 2008 (UTC) But might prefer to trim it or extend it slightly
  • ~ Peace and Passion ("I'm listening....") 19:43, 10 August 2009 (UTC) I don't much like the way this stand-alone quote begins with "but," it distracts my attention from the quote wondering what came before (I know the quote does stand well on its own, but perhaps trim as Kalki says?).

Man is not dead when he is cold, stiff, pulseless, breathless, and even showing signs of decomposition; he is not dead when buried, nor afterward, until a certain point is reached. That point is, when the vital organs have become so decomposed, that if reanimated, they could not perform their customary functions; when the mainspring and cogs of the machine, so to speak, are so eaten away by rust, that they would snap upon the turning of the key. Until that point is reached, the astral body may be caused, without miracle, to reenter its former tabernacle, either by an effort of its own will, or under the resistless impulse of the will of one who knows the potencies of nature and how to direct them. The spark is not extinguished, but only latent -- latent as the fire in the flint, or the heat in the cold iron. ~ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Science tells us that heat may be shown to develop electricity, electricity produce heat; and magnetism to evolve electricity, and vice versa. Motion, they tell us, results from motion itself, and so on, ad infinitum. This is the A B C of occultism and of the earliest alchemists. The indestructibility of matter and force being discovered and proved, the great problem of eternity is solved. ~ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman. ~ George Soros

My peculiarity is that I don't have a particular style of investing or, more exactly, I try to change my style to fit the conditions. ~ George Soros

Most of the time we are punished if we go against the trend. Only at an inflection point are we rewarded. ~ George Soros

Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected. ~ George Soros

The main difference between me and other people who have amassed this kind of money is that I am primarily interested in ideas, and I don't have much personal use for money. But I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't made money: My ideas would not have gotten much play. ~ George Soros

Eternally and always there is only now, one and the same now; the present is the only thing that has no end.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
Nirvana is a state of pure blissful knowledge... It has nothing to do with the individual. The ego or its separation is an illusion. Indeed in a certain sense two "I"'s are identical namely when one disregards all special contents — their Karma.
~ Erwin Schrödinger ~
There is often greater martyrdom to live for the love of, whether man or an ideal, than to die.
~ Helena Blavatsky ~
We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace. But the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world. This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: let us live this culture of peace every single day.
~ Thomas Bach ~


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