There can be knowledge of the diabolical, but no belief in it, for more of the diabolical than there is does not exist.
~ Franz Kafka
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Author Archives: Seamas Anstruther
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Semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth: it cannot in fact be used “to tell” at all.
~ Umberto Eco
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Philosophers get attention only when they appear to be doing something sinister—corrupting the youth, undermining the foundations of civilization, sneering at all we hold dear.
~ Richard Rorty
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It is a melancholy truth that even great men have their poor relations.
~ Charles Dickens
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From the beginning, Google Maps pushed forward the notion of “place” on the Internet. You may quibble with how Google delineates some geopolitically contentious area, or dislike one of its interface redesigns — but modern maps are the way they are because of the scale of Google’s investment and ambition.
~ Liz Gannes
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They say philosophers and wise men are indifferent. Wrong. Indifference is a paralysis of the soul, a premature death.
~ Anton Chekhov
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One of the chief duties of a mathematician in acting as an advisor to scientists is to discourage them from expecting too much of mathematicians.
~ Norbert Wiener
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Learning for its own sake means exactly what it says: learning is the only reason that you’re doing it, because learning is what matters.
~ William Deresiewicz
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The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.
~ Dean Acheson
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Good design must be useful.
~ Dieter Rams
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