Meandering . . .

Today is the birthday of Paul Karl Feyerabend (January 13, 1924 – February 11, 1994), philosopher of science.

"One can show the following: given any rule, however "fundamental" or "necessary" for science, there are always circumstances when it is advisable not only to ignore the rule, but to adopt its opposite."
- Paul Feyerabend

"It is clear, then, that the idea of a fixed method, or of a fixed theory or rationality, rests on too naive a view of man and his social surroundings. To those who look at the rich material provided by history, and who are not intent on impoverishing it in order to please their lower instincts, their craving for intellectual security in the for of clarity, precision, "objectivity", "truth", it will become clear that there is only one principle that can be defended under all circumstances and in all stages of human development. It is the principle: anything goes."
- Paul Feyerabend

"A scientist, an artist, a citizen is not like a child who needs papa methodology and mama rationality to give him security and direction, he can take care of himself, for he is the inventor not only of laws, theories, pictures, plays, forms of music, ways of dealing with his fellow man, institutions, but also entire world view, he is the inventor of entire forms of like."
- Paul Feyerabend

"My intention is not to replace one set of general rules by another such set: my intention is, rather, to convince the reader that all methodologies, even the most obvious ones, have their limits."
- Paul Feyerabend

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Meandering on the path . . .

Today is the birthday of Narendranath Dutta (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902), Hindu mystic and reformer. He is best known as Swami Vivekananda, the founder of the Ramakrishna Mission. He became the leading interpreter of Yoga and Hinduism in the West.

"We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act."
-Swami Vivekananda

"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far."
- Swami Vivekananda

"The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun when they are concentrated they illumine."
- Swami Vivekananda

"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark."
- Swami Vivekananda

"The whole life is a succession of dreams. My ambition is to be a conscious dreamer, that is all."
- Swami Vivekananda

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Meandering, meandering, meandering we go . . .

Today is the birthday of William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910), psychologist and philosopher.

"The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook."
— William James

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."
— William James

"Actions seem to follow feeling, but really actions and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not. Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there."
— William James

"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact."
- William James

"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude."
— William James

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. "
— William James

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."
— William James

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
— William James

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Today is the birthday of Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972), rabbi and philosopher.

"When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people."
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge."
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ....get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed."
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows
with the ability to say no to oneself."
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

"The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living."
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

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Meandering we go . . .

Today is the birthday of John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton (January 10, 1834 – June 19, 1902), historian, moralist, politician, and writer. He was best known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Bt from 1837 to 1869 and was usually referred to simply as Lord Acton.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
- Lord Acton

"There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion."
- Lord Acton

"Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity."
- Lord Acton

"A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times."
- Lord Acton

"I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money."
- Lord Acton

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks."
- Lord Acton

"There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye."
- Lord Acton

"To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice."
- Lord Acton

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Meandering in the stacks . . .

Today is the birthday of Simone de Beauvoir (January 9, 1908 – April 14, 1986), existentialist philosopher, novelist, and essayist. She is best known for her two volume treatise Le deuxième sexe (The Second Sex, 1949), which the Vatican placed on the Index of Forbidden Books.

"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others."
- Simone de Beauvoir

"Society cares about the individual only in so far as he is profitable. The young know this. Their anxiety as they enter in upon social life matches the anguish of the old as they are excluded from it."
- Simone de Beauvoir

"That's what I consider true generosity. You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing."
- Simone de Beauvoir

"There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning."
- Simone de Beauvoir

"Self-consciousness is not knowledge but a story one tells about oneself."
— Simone de Beauvoir

"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay."
- Simone de Beauvoir

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Meandering in the matrix . . .

Today is the birthday of Stephen William Hawking (born 8 January 1942), theoretical physicist and cosmologist.

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."
- Stephen W. Hawking

"Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?"
- Stephen W. Hawking

"One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away."
- Stephen W. Hawking

"I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road."
- Stephen W. Hawking

"One is always a long way from solving a problem until one actually has the answer."
- Stephen W. Hawking

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Meander with me . . .

Today is the birthday of Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (January 7, 1858 – December 16, 1922), lexicographer and newspaper editor. He was principally responsible for the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language, whereas it had previously been a ceremonial language. He is oft referred to as the father of modern Hebrew.

". . . it was as if the heavens had suddenly opened, and a clear incandescent light flashed before my eyes, and a mighty inner voice sounded in my ears: the renascence of Israel on its ancestral soil.... the more the nationalist concept grew in me, the more I realized what a common language is to a nation . . ."
- Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda

"For everything there is needed only one wise, clever and active man, with the initiative to devote all his energies to it, and the matter will progress, all obstacles in the way notwithstanding . . . In every new event, every step, even the smallest in the path of progress, it is necessary that there be one pioneer who will lead the way without leaving any possibility of turning back."
-Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda

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