Quotes Flashcards
Not excited to begin
Nothing great has great beginnings.
People change…
And forget to tell each other.
If the professor is not capable of giving a class without preparation,
don’t attend.
People should only teach what they have learned organically, through experience and curiosity
…or get another job.
You are as good as…
how nice you are
to people you don’t have to be nice to.
live dangerously!
Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius!
-Nietzsche
Benefits of honest labor
Honor lies in honest toil.
A man’s word is his honor
A hundred years cannot repair a moment’s loss of honor
Honor
honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions
Prudence
Care and good sense that someone shows when making a decision
Prudence is not the same thing as caution.
Caution is a helpful strategy when crossing a mine field;
It is a disaster when you’re in a gold rush.
Those who can make you believe absurdities…
Can make you commit atrocities.
Quiet =/= safe
Just because the river is quiet does not mean the crocodiles have left.
There is always more goodness in the world than there appears to be…
Because goodness is of its very nature modest and retiring (shy and fond of being on one’s own).
Science is a process.
It’s not pretending it has the right answer, it merely has the best process to get closer to that right answer.
Science is an ongoing argument,
one where you show your work and make a prediction about what’s going to happen next.
And you’re not allowed to have magical faeries.
Not allowed to change the explanation based on what just happened.
You must begin again, from first principles, and make a new argument, and show new work, and make a better prediction.
Science isn’t only done in the lab. Every one of us does it at work, daily.
Science isn’t something to believe or not believe.
It’s something to do.
A joke at one’s expense…
Is its own reimbursement
Comparison
“Comparison is the theft of joy”
- Theodore Roosevelt
Racism isn’t getting worse,
It’s getting filmed.
The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose,
but queerer than we can suppose.
- J.B.S. Haldane
“Always take sides…”
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor never the tormentor.”
-Elie Wiesel
Driving
Don’t be nice…
Don’t be nice; be predictable
3 Rules of driving
- Watch out for idiots
- They’re all idiots
- Don’ be an idiot
You are not “stuck in traffic”
You are part of it.
Faced with a problem?
Stay calm.
If you have a problem and you completely lose your head over it; you now have two problems
Concerned about how others treat you
The way someone treats you is often a reflection of their own problems/issues, and quite possibly has nothing to do with you.
How you treat others
You treat everyone based on what you think they’re worth, including yourself
Arguing with a fool
Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
-Mark Twain
Inbreeder’s family tree
That’s not a family tree; it’s a family wreath
Knowledge vs. Wisdom
Knowledge is knowing tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Evolution doesn’t optimize…
It stops at good enough.
Stinky things are horrifying
Smells are particulates.
The goal to live everyday in happiness will make you unhappy
Happiness is not a goal; it is a temporary blessing for genuine effort
Friends don’t last forever
It doesn’t mean they’re bad people,
It just means they’re part in your story is done.
29 people have survived a suicide attempt jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge
All of them said they regretted their decision as soon as they jumped.
Revolutions
Let us undertake it, rather than undergo it.
Doubt Everything
Believing everything and doubting everything are equally convenient ways to avoid the work of actual thinking.
Henri Poincaré
Good Old Days
Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.
-Franklin Pierce Adams
Forgiveness
To no longer seek revenge.
Jack of all trades,
Master of none…
Specialization is for insects.
Ancient Greeks & Romans
First you’re a student, then you go to war, then you run a business, then you serve in government, and the you become a philosopher.
Courage when surrounded by your enemies
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us … they can’t get away this time.”
-Lt. Gen. Puller, Korean War
The judgements we make…
…are based on the examples we have. Read, study, find examples
When someone is hostile in a conversation
“Most people are not only comfortable in their ignorance, but hostile to anybody who points it out.”
Plato
History never repeats itself…
… But man always does.
-Voltaire
