The British stumbled upon an unexpectedly powerful idea: Sever the symbolism of the state from the political power of the state, and bestow those two different governing roles on two different people. Power has little majesty in the British system. Prime ministers reside in an apartment over their office. People are rude to them all the time.
~ David Frum via The Atlantic
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Like many universities, W.P.I.’s focus has evolved from taking responsibility solely for the academic education of its students to becoming the custodian of individual student wellness. This is, perhaps, the new vanguard: the academic institution as wellness community. It has a slight dystopian ring to it. The all-encompassing beneficent administrative machine, with eyes everywhere. And yet, the circumstances producing these conditions seem to justify it.
~ Jordan Kisner via The New York Times Magazine
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A tradition is kept alive only by something being added to it.
~ Henry James
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The ancestor of every action is a thought.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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If we exiled our sins, our virtues would get lonely without their old sparring partners.
~ Henry S. Haskins
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The regime which is destroyed by a revolution is almost always an improvement on its immediate predecessor, and experience teaches that the most critical moment for bad governments is the one which witnesses their first steps toward reform.
~ Alexis de Tocqueville
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Happiness is not something that you can find, acquire, or achieve directly. You have to get the conditions right and then wait. Some of those conditions are within you, such as coherence among the parts and levels of your personality. Other conditions require relationships to things beyond you.
~ Jonathan Haidt
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The uncompromising attitude is more indicative of an inner uncertainty than of deep conviction. The implacable stand is directed more against the doubt within than the assailant without.
~ Eric Hoffer
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The man who is too old to learn was probably always too old to learn.
~ Henry S. Haskins
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If the public likes you, you’re good. Shakespeare was a common, down-to-earth writer in his day.
~ Mickey Spillane
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