Great quotes

[Outer Haven]

Post some cool/inspiring/thought-provoking quotes that you know.

--

"Failure is just a matter of interpretation. The only time you really fail is when you don't learn from the experience."
-- Chuck Norris

"The likelihood of one individual being right increases in direct proportion to the intensity to which others are trying to prove him wrong." 
-- Harry Segall

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions."
-- Leonardo da Vinci

"To lie is so vile, that even if it were in speaking well of godly things it would take off something from God's grace; and Truth is so excellent, that if it praises but small things they become noble."
-- Leonardo da Vinci

"Just as eating against one's will is injurious to health, so study without a liking for it spoils the memory, and it retains nothing it takes in."
-- Leonardo da Vinci

"If you want to be a real seeker of truth, you need to, at least once in your lifetime, doubt in, as much as it's possible, in everything."
-- Blaise Pascal

"If a philosopher says something that's true, then it's obvious; if he says something that's not obvious, then it's false."
-- Karl Gauss

"The essence of mathematics lies in its freedom."
-- Georg Cantor

"To doubt everything and to believe in everything are two equally comforting options: both free you from the duty of thinking.
-- Henri Poincaré

"If somebody were to gather 10 of the smartest men in the world and asked them, what was the dumbest thing in existence, they would not be able to think of anything as dumb as astrology."
-- David Hilbert

"God exists because mathematics is without a doubt consistent, and the Devil exists because we cannot prove this consistency."
-- Hermann Weyl

"There exist a lot of questions that the fools can ask, and the intelligent cannot answer."
-- George Pólya

"There is no point in being precise if you do not even know what you are talking about."
-- John von Neumann

"All generalisations -- perhaps except this one -- are false."
-- Kurt Gödel

"There will be plenty of time to rest in grave."
-- Paul Erdős

"As Hamlet tells his friend, ``There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'' Well then, we must try harder to dream!"
-- Gregory Chaitin

"When a real genius appeares in this world, you'll know him by the fact that all the fools have allied against him."
-- Jonathan Swift

"Wise people speak because they have something to say; fools speak because they have to say something."
-- Platon

"The truth will set you free, but first it'll make you angry."
-- Anonymous

"If you think the world is evil, remember that there are people like you in it."
-- Mahatma Ghandi

"The greatest trick the Devil has ever pulled off was convincing the world he didn't exist."
-- C.S. Lewis

"I can disagree what you have to say, but I shall defend to death your right to say it."
-- Voltaire

"To know what is the right thing to do and not do it is the greatest cowardice."
-- Confucius

"The truth always turns out to be simpler than you thought."
-- Richard Feynman

"Believe in those that are searching for the truth, doubt those that claim they have found it."
-- Andre Gide

"The ability to make witty observations is commonly refered to as "cynism" by people who lack it."
-- George Bernard Shaw

"Logic is invincible because in order to combat logic it is necessary to use logic."
-- Pierre Boutroux.

"Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense."
-- Leo Rosten

"Today's mighty oak tree is a yesterday's nut, that stood its ground."
-- David Icke

"It's not wether you were right or wrong, but how much faith you were willing to have -- that decides the future."
-- Solid Snake/Hideo Kojima

"Building the future, and keeping the past alive -- are one and the same thing."
-- Solid Snake/Hideo Kojima

"Find something to believe in, and find it for yourself. And when you do -- pass it on to the future."
-- Solid Snake/Hideo Kojima

"When we have left out the impossible, whatever remains, however imporbable, is the truth."
-- Sherlock Holmes

"It's not about changing the world... It's about not letting the world change you."
-- me 

[Outer Haven]

"I believe God put me on this Earth to be the best person I could be, and that God put everyone to be the best person they could be."
-- Aaron Russo [may be a little off]

"You have to stand up for what's right in life. Unless you do that... you're nothing."
-- Aaron Russo

"On the altair of God, I swear eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the minds of men."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."
-- same

"The idea of liberty didn't begin with Alex Jones, it didn't begin Mahatma Ghandi... the idea of liberty didn't begin with Jesus Christ; it is AN ETERNAL RIGHT GIVEN TO US BY GOD!!!"
-- Alexander Emmerich Jones 

[agentbluescreen]

You need neither schooling nor a degree in economics to understand the monetary difference between playing Poker and playing 21, and who, then, should be the owners of "the house".

[phosphene]

"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?" W.O.P.R.

[Outer Haven]

"If socialism gave more prosperity than capitalism does, I would still prefer capitalism -- as it gives more freedom. Luckily, though, I do not have to face this dillema..."
-- Janusz Korwin-Mikke (Polish libertarian)

[agentbluescreen]

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
~ Steven Weinberg

"I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your 'Christians' are so unlike your Christ."
~ Mohandas Gandhi

[Devotional Soul]

Here's some Albert Einstein quotes:

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

"Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them. "

"Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. "

"If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. "

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. "

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. "

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. "

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. "

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions. "

"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death. "

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. "

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. "

"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. "

"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind. "

"Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war. "

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. "

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

"When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous."

[Neco]

[Outer Haven]

Some good Einstein quotes there!

"Any s*** will go with the current, but he who has his own rules, lives by those."
-- some random bum I walked by in my local park, while talking to another bum (seriously)

"Today, mathematicians and physicists worry little about what a philosopher would think of their theories. Famous American physicist Richard Feynman, when asked what he thought of the field of philosophy, gave a concise answer consisting of two letters, a "b", and [an "s"]."
-- Leonard Mlodinow

"Mathematics is like a woman -- you don't need to understand her, you only need to love her."
-- my high school math teacher

"He who thinks little, errs much."
-- Leonardo da Vinci

"To speak well of a base man is much the same as speaking ill of a

good man."
-- same

"All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher"
-- Ambrose Bierce

"An error doesn't become the truth by reason of multiple propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody will see it."
-- Mahatma Ghandi

"An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."
-- JFK

[Paranoid Puppet Master]

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.
 --Benjamin Franklin

[Outer Haven]

"Today, mathematicians and physicists worry little abou what a philosopher would think of their theories. Famous American physicist Richard Feynman, when asked what he thought of the field of philosophy, gave a concise answer consisting of two letters, a "b", and [an "s"]."
-- Leonard Mlodinow

"Capitalism is the exploitation of man by another man. Communism is just the other way around."
-- John Kenneth Galbraith

"It is my view that to be successful life, you need to be antisocial, otherwise you end up getting devoured." [paraphrase]
-- Sean Connery

"We are usually convinced more easily by reasons we have found ourselves than by those which have occurred to others."
-- Blaise Pascal

"Logic is invincible because in order to combat logic it is necessary to use logic."
-- Pierre Boutroux

"It is easier to fight for principles than to live by them."
-- Alfred Adler

"As Hamlet tells his friend, ``There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'' Well then, we must try harder to dream!"
-- Gregory Chaitin

"When a true genius appeares in this world, you'll know him by the fact that all the idiots have teamed up against him."
-- Jonathan Swift

"Live as if you were going to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were going to live forever."
-- Mahatma Gandhi

"Most of the quotes you'll find attributed to famous persons on the Internet have been made up."
-- Albert Einstein 

[Neco]

Nice.

[Outer Haven]

"The Divine intellect indeed knows infinitely more propositions [than we can ever know]. But with regard to those few which the human intellect does understand, I believe that its knowledge equals the Divine in objective certainty."
- Galileo

[phosphene]

“But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it."
--Lysander Spooner

[TOSG]

"Everything you know is wrong"

-Chumbawamba, Weird Al Yankovich, and Firesign Theater.

This quote expresses the idea how misinformation shapes people perception upon reality and history.

[lord edward coke]

Two Americans, Walter Lippmann and Edward Bernays were appointed to handle the manipulation of American public opinion in preparation for the entry of the United States into WWI, and to brief and direct President Woodrow Wilson.
    From a somewhat crude beginning at Wellington House, grew an organization that was to shape the destiny of Germany, Britain and more especially the United States in manner that became a highly sophisticated organization to manipulate and create public opinion, what is commonly termed, “mass brainwashing.”
    During the course of its evolvement, Tavistock expanded in size and ambition, when in 1937, a decision was made to use the German author Oswald Spengler's monumental work, Untergange des Abenlandes (The Decline of Western Civilization ) as a model.
    Previously, Wellington House  board members  Rothmere, Northcliffe, Lippmann, and Bernays  had read and proposed as a guide the writings of Correa Moylan Walsh, in particular, the book The Climax of Civilization  (1917) as corresponding closely to conditions that had to be created before a New World Order in a One World Government could be ushered in.
    With the Tavistock plan modified to suit American conditions, Bernays and Lippmann led President Woodrow Wilson  to set up the very first Tavistock methodology techniques for polling (manufacturing) so-called public opinion created by Tavistock propaganda. They also taught Wilson to set up a secret body of “managers” to run the war effort and a body of “advisors” to assist the President in his decision-making. The Creel Commission was the first such body of opinion-makers set up in the United States.
http://www.whale.to/b/coleman_b.html
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized." - Edward Bernays

[Outer Haven]

"Every extreme belief system is false."
- my logic lecturer

That seems kind of problematic, because the above statement itself sounds kind of extreme, doesn't it?
In any event, I understand what he meant: people who yell things like "all people are equal!", "all dogmas are false!" etc. are either naÏve or lying.