Dogma is the enemy of truth and the enemy of persons. Dogma says, “Do not think! Be less than a person.” The ideas enshrined in dogma may include good and wise ideas, but dogma is bad in itself because it is accepted as good without examination.
Authors: M.D., Thomas A. Harris | Subject: Thought | Inquiry
Problem solvers, whether international or hometown, talk incessantly about the “need for a dialogue” without ever considering the need to define terms. …Dialogue, if it is to get us anywhere must be based on agreement of what to examine and an agreement on the words to describe what we observe. Otherwise we simply stumble over words.
Authors: M.D., Thomas A. Harris | Subject: Communication
If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow | Subjects: Military | War | Peace, Relationships
We can hate evil so much that we forget to love good.
Authors: M.D., Thomas A. Harris | Subject: Good & Evil
The only way to stay a winner is to surround oneself with losers.
Authors: M.D., Thomas A. Harris | Subjects: Action | Accomplishment, Success / Failure
What is “the American idea”? It is the fractious, maddening approach to the conduct of human affairs that values equality despite its elusiveness, that values democracy despite its debasement, that values pluralism despite its messiness, that values the institutions of civic culture despite their flaws, and that values public life as something higher and greater than the sum of all our private lives.
Source: “77 North Washington Street” by The Atlantic Monthly Editors | Source: The Atlantic | Subjects: America, Culture
A madman is not someone who has lost his reason. A madman is someone who has lost everything but his reason.
Author: G. K. Chesterton | Subjects: Perception | Observation, Psychology | Behavior
A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.
Author: John F. Kennedy | Subjects: Culture, International
The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.
Author: John F. Kennedy | Subjects: Politics & Public Policy, Power
The real benefit of a good education is the inability to follow along with other people’s thinking (and our own) without at some point considering that perhaps they (we) are wrong.
Author: William Langewiesche | Source: The Point of No Return | The Atlantic | Subjects: Education | Scholarship, Thought | Inquiry
Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.
Author: Isaac Asimov | Subject: Perception | Observation
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Author: Unknown | Subjects: Ability | Skill, Action | Accomplishment
Talent is from God – Be Thankful
Praise is from others – Be Humble
Conceit is from ourselves – Be Careful
Author: Tony Dungee | Subjects: Ability | Skill, Attitude
Phi Beta Kappa, as I understand it, is committed to much more than recognizing superior academic accomplishment. We honor and support an educational process that exalts openness to divergent views, the interplay of ideas, inquiry and integrity, and the accomplishments of the human mind and spirit. We are egalitarian in denying that class, gender, race, or religion determines excellence. We are elitist in positing … [ Read more ]
Author: Linda Seidel | Subjects: Education | Scholarship, Intelligence | Knowledge
As soon as the love relationship does not lead me to me, as soon as I in a love relationship do not lead another person to himself, this love, even if it seems to be the most secure and ecstatic attachment I have ever experienced, is not true love. For real love is dedicated to continual becoming.
Author: Leo Buscaglia | Subject: Love
Pain is inevitable in life. Endeavor always to be true to yourself—your true self—and all pain will be justified.
Author: JMB | Subjects: Life & Society, Pain & Suffering
Intelligence is secondary to interest. Without the latter there is little need for the former.
Author: JMB | Subject: Intelligence | Knowledge
Moral courage is often the excuse people make for having rigid minds.
Author: Sarah Layton | Subjects: Ethics | Integrity | Morality, Psychology | Behavior, Thought | Inquiry
Vengeance is a lazy form of grief.
Author: Silvia Broome | Subjects: Pain & Suffering, Psychology | Behavior
There is an inevitable divergence, attributable to the imperfections of the human mind, between the world as it is and the world as men perceive it. As long as our perceptions are reasonably close to objective reality, it is possible for us to act upon our problems in a rational and appropriate manner. But when our perceptions fail to keep pace with events, when … [ Read more ]
Author: William Fulbright | Subjects: Perception | Observation, Psychology | Behavior