It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is … Continue reading Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), on Those Who Count ::
Lead the people with governmental measures and regulate them by law and punishment, and they will avoid wrongdoing but have no sense of honour and shame. Lead them with virtue and regulate them by the rules of propriety, and they will have a sense of shame and, moreover, set themselves right. Continue reading Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), on Leadership ::
[To] hold that rulers and ministers act toward each other like father and son and consequently there will necessarily be orderly government, is to imply that there are no disorderly fathers and sons. Continue reading Han Feizi (280 BC-233 BC), on Fathers and Sons ::
Masters of the very first order can be recognised by the following characteristic: in all matters great and small they know with perfect assurance how to find the end, whether it be the end of a melody or the end of a thought, whether it be the fifth act of a tragedy or the end of a political action. The very best of the second-in-rank … Continue reading Friedrich Nietszche (1844-1900), on Masters ::
I can’t listen to music too often. It affects your nerves, makes you want to say stupid nice things, and stroke the heads of people who could create such beauty while living in this vile hell. Continue reading Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924), on Music ::
I’ve had three blogs prior to this one. None of them exist today. I designed them for specific purposes and named them accordingly. That was their death knell. When I became disinterested in that purpose or felt constrained, the blog went to the glue factory. So when I started ‘Swimming with Elephants’, my chief desire was that it survive. I had to defuse my desire … Continue reading Why swim with elephants? ::
For man sometimes loves suffering terribly much, to the point of passion, and that is a fact. Here there’s not even any need to consult world history; just ask yourself, if you’re a human being and have had any life at all. As for my personal opinion, to love just well-being alone is even somehow indecent. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s sometimes also very … Continue reading Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) ::
Never think that war, no matter how necessary or justifiable, is not a crime. Continue reading Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) ::
Sir. The man had paid when the barista stopped him. Sir. She pointed to his cheek. You have a— He half-raised a hand and answered in vowels, Oh, I— She gestured with her hand. He hesitated. She gestured again. Here, she said. He leant forward and she lifted her finger, stroked it across his cheek and held the eyelash out. Like a birthday cake, she … Continue reading One hundred words on Palestine ::
