Meandering about . . .

Today is the birthday of Irving Tennenbanm (July 14, 1903 – August 26, 1989), writer, better known as Irving Stone.

He is best known for his biographical novels of famous historical personalities, especially his two works: Lust for Life a biographical novel about the life of Vincent van Gogh and The Agony and the Ecstasy a biographical novel about Michelangelo.

"Art is a staple, like bread or wine or a warm coat in winter. Man's spirit grows hungry for art in the same way his stomach growls for food." - Irving Stone

"He had been standing still; for an artist, one of the more painful forms of death." - Irving Stone

"The most perfect guide is nature. Continue without fail to draw something every day." - Irving Stone

"To try to understand another human being, to grapple for his ultimate depths, that is the most dangerous of human endeavors." - Irving Stone

"In order to paint life one must understand not only anatomy, but what people feel and thing about the world they live in. The painter who knows his own craft and nothing else will turn out to be a very superficial artist." - Irving Stone

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Meandering in circles . . .

Today is the birthday of John Dee (July 13, 1527 – 1608/09), renowned intellectual, a true "Renaissance Man", a polymath.

"Before we raise our eyes to heaven, kabbalistically illuminated by the contemplation of these mysteries, we could perceive very exactly the constitution of our Monad as it is shown to us not only in the LIGHT but also in life and nature, for it discloses explicitly, by its inner movement, the most secret mysteries of this physical analysis." - John Dee, Theorem XVIII

"There is (gentle reader) nothing (the works of God only set apart) which so much beautifies and adorns the soul and mind of man as does knowledge of the good arts and sciences. ... Many ... arts there are which beautify the mind of man; but of all none do more garnish and beautify it than those arts which are called mathematical, unto the knowledge of which no man can attain, without perfect knowledge and instruction of the principles, grounds, and Elements of Geometry." - John Dee, The Mathematical Preface

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Meandering we go . . .

Today is the birthday of George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) founder of the Eastman Kodak Company and inventor of roll film.

"Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography." - George Eastman

"There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are." - George Eastman

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." - George Eastman

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything." - George Eastman

"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still." - George Eastman

"What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are." - George Eastman

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Meandering on . . .

Today is the birthday of Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 - October 1, 1985), writer. He is best known as the author of children's books Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little and as the co-author of the writing guide The Elements of Style. In 1978, E. B. White received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his work.

"I am pessimistic about the human race because it is too ingenious for its own good. Our approach to nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves to this planet and viewed it appreciatively instead of skeptically and dictatorially." - E. B. White

"As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the one thing left to us in a bad time." - E. B. White

"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." - E. B. White

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White

"Once in everyone's life there is apt to be a period when he is fully awake, instead of half asleep." - E. B. White

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Meandering . . .

Today is the birthday of Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (July 10, 1871 – November 18, 1922), author. He is best known as the author of In Search of Lost Time (in French À la recherche du temps perdu, also titled Remembrance of Things Past in its original edition), a monumental work of twentieth-century fiction published in seven volumes from 1913 to 1927.

"Everything great in the world comes from neurotics. They alone have founded our religions and composed our masterpieces." - Marcel Proust

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

"If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time." - Marcel Proust

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust


"Only through art can we emerge from ourselves and know what another person sees." - Marcel Proust

"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves." - Marcel Proust

Trivia bit: Marcel Proust is another author that stood up for the truth in the Dreyfus Affair.

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Meandering we go . . .

Today is the birthday of John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911 – April 13, 2008), theoretical physicist. He gave us the terms black hole, wormhole and the phrase "it from bit". He argued about the nature of reality with Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, while at the same time trying to achieve Albert Einstein's vision of a unified field theory. He has been referred to as the father of modern general relativity.

"The universe does not exist 'out there,' independent of us. We are inescapably involved in bringing about that which appears to be happening. We are not only observers. We are participators. In some strange sense, this is a participatory universe. Physics is no longer satisfied with insights only into particles, fields of force, into geometry, or even into time and space. Today we demand of physics some understanding of existence itself." - John Archibald Wheeler

"It is my opinion that everything must be based on a simple idea. And it is my opinion that this idea, once we have finally discovered it, will be so compelling, so beautiful, that we will say to one another, yes, how could it have been any different." - John Archibald Wheeler

"We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance." - John Archibald Wheeler

"No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon." - John Archibald Wheeler

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once." - John Archibald Wheeler

Trivia bit: "John Archibald Wheeler was also the son, brother, father and uncle of librarians. In 1984, he gave the graduation address to the University of Texas library school. The theme of his speech, which focused on his father’s work as a public library director, was on Selling Library Service. It is well worth reading." direct quote source (1)

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*****

Meandering around . . .

Today is the birthday of Jean de La Fontaine (July 8, 1621 – April 13, 1695) fabulist and poet.

"Nothing is more dangerous than a friend without discretion; even a prudent enemy is preferable." - Jean de La Fontaine

"One should oblige everyone to the extent of one's ability. One often needs someone smaller than oneself." - Jean de La Fontaine

"Never sell the bear's skin before one has killed the beast." - Jean de La Fontaine

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it." - Jean de La Fontaine

"Kindness effects more than severity." - Jean de La Fontaine

"People must help one another; it is nature's law." - Jean de La Fontaine

"We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all." - Jean de La Fontaine

"Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire." - Jean de La Fontaine

"By the work one knows the workman." - Jean de La Fontaine

"Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish." - Jean de La Fontaine

"Beware so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance" - Jean de La Fontaine

"People who make no noise are dangerous." - Jean de La Fontaine

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