Anne Gilchrist (February 25, 1828 – November 29, 1885) I used to think it was great to disregard happiness, to press on to a high goal, careless, disdainful of it. But now I see that there is nothing so great as to be capable of happiness; to pluck it out of “each moment and whatever …
Rachel Carson On Origin
Remember Earth Day, April 22, 2020 Rachel Carson (May 27, 1907–April 14, 1964) Our origins are of the earth. And so there is in us a deeply seated response to the natural universe, which is part of our humanity.
William Godwin On Language
William Godwin (March 3, 1756–April 7, 1836) Words are of the utmost importance to human understanding. Almost all the ideas employed by us in matters of reasoning have been acquired by words. In our most retired contemplations we think for the most part in words; and upon recollection can in most cases easily tell in …
Seneca On Immortality
Seneca (c. 4 BC – AD 65) We are in the habit of saying that it was not in our power to choose the parents who were allotted to us, that they were given to us by chance. But we can choose whose children we would like to be. There are households of the noblest …
Ruth Rendell On Aging
Ruth Rendell (February 17, 1930 – May 02, 2015) The tragedy of growing old is not that one is old but that one is young.
Martin L King On The Promised Land
Martin L King (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. …
Emily Levine On Predictions
Emily Levine (October 23, 1944 - February 3, 2019) We don’t live in Newton’s clockwork universe anymore — we live in a banana peel universe, and we won’t ever be able to know everything, or control everything, or predict everything.
