Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. — Albert Camus
EppsNet Archive: Quotations
There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain. — Plato
Enough of the Mealy-Mouthed Obamacare Excuses!
I’d have a lot more respect for the president if he just came out and said, “As Otter so cogently observed in Animal House, ‘You fucked up … You trusted us!’” Read more →
Both Sides of the Case
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion . . .” — John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” Read more →
Well, there are fewer limits on what you can promise than on what you can deliver. — Milton Friedman
Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure you are not just surrounded by assholes. — William Gibson
Ronald Coase, 1910-2013
To ignore the government’s poor performance of its present duties when deciding on whether it should or should not take on new duties is obviously wrong. — Ronald Coase Read more →
Seeing the Thing Through
Ah, poor fellow!–and Herzog momentarily joined the objective world in looking down on himself. He too could smile at Herzog and despise him. But there still remained the fact. I am Herzog. I have to be that man. There is no one else to do it. After smiling, he must return to his own Self and see the thing through. — Saul Bellow, Herzog Read more →
Well, there is a piece of famous advice, grand advice even if it is German, to forget what you can’t bear. — Saul Bellow, Herzog
If sin and folly get punished appropriately, we’re in for a bad time. — Charlie Munger
I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart. — Vincent van Gogh
Boring a Lot of People For a Long Time
I’ve probably been boring a lot of people for a long time. Strange to find comfort in the idea. There have always been things I felt I must tell them, even if no one listened or understood. — Marilynne Robinson, Gilead Read more →
A Glutton for Punishment
“You must really be a glutton for punishment,” he said. “A gourmet, actually,” I said. “If it isn’t perfect, I send it back.” — Jonathan Lethem, Gun, with Occasional Music Read more →
I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I’m dead. — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. — Joseph Addison
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. — George Bernard Shaw
You work your side of the street and I’ll work mine. — Frank Bullitt
The Lightning-Bug and the Lightning
This picture was taken just after I said to Mark Twain, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.” And Twain said, “That’s a good one! I’ve got to write that down!” Actually, the Twain statue is just inside the main entrance of Doe Library at UC Berkeley. I asked the nerdy-looking Asian girl at the front desk, “Who’s the guy on the bench?” She stared at me for a second. “Kidding,” I said. “At first, I thought it was Albert Einstein,” she said, “so it doesn’t surprise me when people don’t know.” Read more →
To be useful was the best thing the old men ever hoped for themselves, and to be aimless was their worst fear. — Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
Give a man a mask, and he will tell you the truth. — Oscar Wilde