January 2

January 2

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. ~ Albert Einstein

• selected by Basil Fawlty

2005

We are all in this together. ~ English proverb

• selected by Kalki

2006

How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection...That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers. ~ Isaac Asimov (born c. 2 January 1920)

• proposed by Kalki

2007

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. ~ Isaac Asimov

• proposed by Kalki

2008

When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. On the other hand, when they split up knowledge, concentrate on their own field, and scorn and ignore other fields, they grow less wise — even in their own field. ~ Isaac Asimov

• proposed by Kalki

2009

It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be … ~ Isaac Asimov

• proposed by Kalki

2010

I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be. ~ Isaac Asimov

• proposed by Kalki

2011

Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not. ~ Isaac Asimov

• proposed by Kalki

2012

It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety. ~ Isaac Asimov

• proposed by Kalki

2013

Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2014

There are no happy endings in history, only crisis points that pass.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2015

If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2016

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2017 

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2018

To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2019

It is better to go to defeat with free will than to live in a meaningless security as a cog in a machine.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• proposed by Kalki

2020 

Rank or add further suggestions…

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Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used. (This is the utmost ranking and should be used only for one quote at a time, per person, for each date.)

3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.

2 : Good - some desire to see it used.

1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.

0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

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Suggestions

DOB: Isaac Asimov · Philip Morin Freneau

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I prefer rationalism to atheism. The question of God and other objects-of-faith are outside reason and play no part in rationalism, thus you don't have to waste your time in either attacking or defending. ~ Isaac Asimov (date of birth)

• 3 Kalki 01:10, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 13:51, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 17:51, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, but left the shield. ~ Philip Morin Freneau

• 3 because in the heat of combat, defense is as important as offense, if not more important. Zarbon 05:33, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 16:55, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 23:24, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

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All you have to do is take a close look at yourself and you will understand everyone else. We’re in no way different ourselves... You show me someone who can’t understand people and I’ll show you someone who has built up a false image of himself.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 05:29, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

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It is the invariable lesson to humanity that distance in time, and in space as well, lends focus. It is not recorded, incidentally, that the lesson has ever been permanently learned.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 05:29, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

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Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 05:29, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

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My crime is that I have never labored to make myself popular — I admit that much — and I have paid too little attention to fools who are old enough to be senile but young enough to have power.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 05:29, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

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There is no belief, however foolish, that will not gather its faithful adherents who will defend it to the death.

~ Isaac Asimov ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 05:29, 31 December 2013 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

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