When I began my physical studies [in Munich in 1874] and sought advice from my venerable teacher ...he portrayed to me physics as a highly developed, almost fully matured science...Possibly in one or another nook there would perhaps be a dust particl...
The sense of tragedy - according to Aristotle - comes, ironically enough, not from the protagonist's weak points but from his good qualities. Do you know what I'm getting at? People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virt...
I am wondering if many of the things that we say about ourselves as women, are actually responsible for leading us down detrimental paths in life. For example, usually we like to say that we're crazy, messy and lost. But when I think about it, I want...
if you do not share the universities' values, it could be a big mistake to send your children to college before they are intellectually and morally prepared for the indoctrination-rather-than-education they will receive there. Therefore, prepare them...
A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel, for example, do not read much other fiction. By contrast, the audience for an obscure novel is largely composed of people who read a lot. That means the least popular books are judged by people who ha...
To take, for example, my own death: what I consider most likely to be true is that death will be the complete and utter end of my existence, with no successor existence of any kind that can be related to me as I now am. And if that is not the case, t...
Last week my boss told me to rewrite a twenty-page proposal on engagement benchmarking. I turned it in and he wrote a note on the cover that just said, "No, no. Not this." I had no idea what he wanted, so I just put it off, and then when he came in t...
How can God allow this to happen? How can our predecessors allow this to happen? How can YOU allow this to happen? We could all blame everyone else for the problems of the past that brought us the present, but that doesn't do us any good. The past ha...
Be the kind of person that others admire, can count on, trust and enjoy spending time with. After you have developed that reputation, people will start to ask you what you do, and will want to work with you on the things that matter. When you focus o...
General: [when soldiers have gathered in observatory room on Laputa; Muska appears before them as a hologram] General: What's going on? Col. Muska: Hold your tongue, commoner! You are in the presence of the king of Laputa. General: The man has gone *...
President Lindberg: [phone call from President to Korben Dallas] Major Dallas, I first would like to salute a warrior, you are a shining example of this Army's might, in the name of the Federation and it's territory... Korben Dallas: Mr. President, M...
Henry Frankenstein: Dangerous? Poor old Waldman. Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have your never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what...
Patrick Kenzie: So what kind of name is Bressant? Detective Remy Bressant: It's the kind they give you in Lousiana. Patrick Kenzie: Oh yeah? Thought you were from here. Detective Remy Bressant: Well, it all depends on how you look at it. I mean, you ...
General Custer: A scout has a certain look... Kit Carson, for example. You look like... a muleskinner! Jack Crabb: Uh, General I don't know anything about mules... General Custer: Lieutenant, it's amazing how I can guess the profession of a man just ...
Mr. Goodkat: [his first lines] There was a time. Nick: [groggily looks at his watch] 4:35. Mr. Goodkat: You misunderstood. I wasn't asking for the time, I was just saying... there was a time. Nick: There was a time? Mr. Goodkat: Mmm-hmm. Take Brown S...
Mary Poppins: [singing] So when the cat has got your tongue, there's no need for dismay! Just summon up this word, and then you've got a lot to say! But better use it carefully or it could change your life... Busker: For example... Mary Poppins: Yes?...
George: Let's leave the Jews out of this just for a moment. Let's think of another minority. One that... One that can go unnoticed if it needs to. There are all sorts of minorities, blondes for example... Or people with freckles. But a minority is on...
[Asking for background information about Howard Hunt] Bob Woodward: It's just profile information, mostly. We know, for example, that he works for Mullen and Company, or did work for Mullen and Company, as a writer. He's also a novelist; we know that...
Unfortunately, we don't have all that many good examples to follow. The people that our cultures label as "successful" are the ones who have become wealthy or famous or celebrities, but the truly successful people--those who have become happy and who...
In writing I try to pare down the descriptive bits. If I feel that I could say something in as few words as possible, then I would rather do it than to go on padding. One should describe sufficiently to give the reader a sense of what one feels, but ...
Both died, ignored by most; they neither sought nor found public favour, for high roads never lead there. and never left such roads, were never tempted to peruse those easy successes which, for strongly marked characters, offer neither allure nor gai...
