Hope

Hope is the most powerful thing there is. It is the adrenalin of the soul.

— Amy Tan, from an interview on Change on To The Best of Our Knowledge


Creative Culture

Disney ripped creativity from the culture around him, mixed that creativity with his own extraordinary talent, and then burned that mix into the soul of his culture. Rip, mix, and burn

— Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity


Work

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.

— James M. Barrie


Three Hardest Tasks

The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements but moral acts:

  • to return love for hate
  • to include the excluded
  • and to say “I was wrong.”

— Sydney J. Harris, Pieces of Eight


A Few Good Men

Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.

We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick a weapon and stand a post.

– Aaron Sorkin, monologue by Jack Nicholson’s character in A Few Good Men.

No apologies. This quote is simply a guilty pleasure. I get goose bumps every time Tom Cruise provokes Nicholson to the point that Nicholson erupts with the above soliloquy.

Sorkin is a brilliant writer and a master wordsmith. I am a ardent fan of The West Wing primarily because of Sorkin’s trademark rapid-fire dialogue and extended monologues. Good words, well assembled, are a true delight.

Write on, Aaron.


Dreams

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.

— Richard Bach, Illusions


Berkeley, UNIX, and LSD

There are two major products to come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don’t believe this to be a coincidence.

– Unknown


Walking in the Rain

Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet.

– Roger Miller


Adaptation

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

– Charles Darwin


Children

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.

– Socrates


It cracks me up when I see the author of this quote. I taught high school for two years and can say that at least some things never change. :)

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