Todays Thought

The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human. 

-Aldous Huxley, novelist (26 Jul 1894-1963)

Todays Thought

Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality. 

-Sheri S. Tepper, novelist (16 Jul 1929-2016)

Todays Thought

The truth is that every morning war is declared afresh. And the men who wish to continue it are as guilty as the men who began it, more guilty perhaps, for the latter perhaps did not foresee all its horrors. 

-Marcel Proust, novelist (10 Jul 1871-1922)

Todays Thought

In order for me to write poetry that isn't political / I must listen to the birds / and in order to hear the birds / the warplanes must be silent. 

-Marwan Makhoul, poet (b. 2 Jul 1979)

Todays Thought

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. 

-Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and novelist (14 Jun 1811-1896)

Todays Thought

There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, nαked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don’t expect you to save the world, I do think it’s not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary, and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair, and disrespect. 

-Nikki Giovanni, poet and professor (7 Jun 1943-2024)

Todays Thought

It is the people who scream the loudest about America and Freedom who seem to be the most intolerant for a differing point of view. 

-Rosanne Cash, singer-songwriter and author (b. 24 May 1955)

Todays Thought

I should dearly love that the world should be ever so little better for my presence. Even on this small stage we have our two sides, and something might be done by throwing all one's weight on the scale of breadth, tolerance, charity, temperance, peace, and kindliness to man and beast. We can't all strike very big blows, and even the little ones count for something. 

-Arthur Conan Doyle, physician and writer (22 May 1859-1930)

Todays Thought

The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other. 

-Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (18 May 1872-1970)

Todays Thought

How simple life becomes when things like mirrors are forgotten. 

-Daphne du Maurier, novelist (13 May 1907-1989)

Todays Thought

Neither genius, fame, nor love show the greatness of the soul. Only kindness can do that. 

-Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire, preacher, journalist, and activist (12 May 1802-1861)

Todays Thought

The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered to be your style. 

-Fred Astaire, dancer, actor, singer, musician, and choreographer (10 May 1899-1987)

Todays Thought

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers. 

-Thomas Pynchon, novelist (b. 8 May 1937)

Todays Thought

The butterfly flitting from flower to flower ever remains mine, I lose the one that is netted by me. 

-Rabindranath Tagore, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer, Nobel laureate (7 May 1861-1941)

Todays Thought

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. 

-Annie Dillard, author (b. 30 Apr 1945)

Todays Thought

The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on. 

-Joseph Heller, novelist (1 May 1923-1999)

Todays Thought

 Once you've accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.

-George R.R. Martin

Todays Thought

We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love. 

-Madame De Stael, writer (22 Apr 1766-1817)

Todays Thought

There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan, and the musician. 

-Glenn T. Seaborg, scientist, Nobel laureate (19 Apr 1912-1999)

Todays Thought

The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions. 

-Robert Lynd, writer (20 Apr 1879-1949)