no. 702

"The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given."

— Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (1912), Ch. XV: The Value of Philosophy, p. 141 

no. 701

"All who are not lunatics are agreed about certain things. That it is better to be alive than dead, better to be adequately fed than starved, better to be free than a slave. Many people desire those things only for themselves and their friends; they are quite content that their enemies should suffer. These people can only be refuted by science: Humankind has become so much one family that we cannot ensure our own prosperity except by ensuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy." 

 — Bertrand Russell, The Science to Save Us from Science, The New York Times Magazine (19 March 1950)

no. 700

“Andrew is gay,” Tilda said, “and Jeff is a great guy.”

“Andrew didn’t know this before he married Eve?”

“He says not. He says it was God’s way of making sure there was a Nadine.”

from Faking It, by Jennifer Crusie

no. 699

“There exist many willing to fight for the degradation of other human beings, and they are supported by a critical mass of comfortable people, because supporting injustice remains the path of ease.” ~@JuliusGoat

no. 698

“We never asked ourselves what was casting the shadow...we were too enamored with what it had been hiding...” Solomon Patreids, An Explanation of Quandaries of Which We Are Currently Beset

no. 697

“There is nothing Below that we cannot reveal in time...time and blood...for what are we but the abattoir of the past, suppliers for the merchants of our futures” Solomon Patreid, Tomorrow is Meat: A Treatise on Possibility and the Engine We Feed To Harvest It

no. 696

“The true bedrock of American religious dogma is, in the words of Frank Wilhoit: ‘exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protectes but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.’” @doctorow