Education

Dead Literature

01/24/2012
by Kerri Elders in ,

Sinclair Lewis

Sinclair Lewis

“Our American professors like their literature clear and cold and pure and very dead.”


–Sinclair Lewis

Smart Strategy

12/07/2011
by Kerri Elders in , , ,

Mark Twain

Mark Twain

“It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”


–Mark Twain

Physicists and Sin

07/31/2011
by Kerri Elders in , ,

J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

“In some sort of crude sense, which no vulgarity, no humor, no overstatement can quite extinguish, the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.”


—J. Robert Oppenheimer

Dave Barry Knows His History

07/20/2011
by Kerri Elders in ,

Dave Barry

Dave Barry

“In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which, as any American high school student can tell you, was an act that apparently had something to do with stamps.”


–Dave Barry

Knowledge

05/24/2011
by Kerri Elders in , ,

HL Mencken

HL Mencken

“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.”


–HL Mencken

Choosing the Right Path

05/10/2011
by Kerri Elders in , , , ,

Woody Allen

Woody Allen

“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads.

One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction.

Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”


—Woody Allen
(from Side Effects, 1980, “My Speech to the Graduates”)

True Humility

05/10/2011
by Kerri Elders in , , , ,

Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer

“It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.”


—Tom Lehrer (at age 37)

Optimists and Pessimists

05/10/2011
by Kerri Elders in , , , ,

J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

“The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.”


—–J. Robert Oppenheimer

Will Rogers’ Keys to Success

05/03/2011
by Kerri Elders in , ,

Will Rogers

Will Rogers

“If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing.”


–Will Rogers

Thought for the Day

05/03/2011
by Kerri Elders in , , ,

Ann Landers

Ann Landers

“One out of four people in this country is mentally unbalanced. Think of your three closest friends; if they seem OK, then you’re the one.”


–Ann Landers

Dave Barry vs. the Metric System

04/28/2011
by Kerri Elders in , , ,

Dave Barry

Dave Barry

“The weightlifting competition I saw was the women’s 63 kg class.

I’m not sure whether this means the actual women weighed 63 kg or the weights they lifted weighed 63 kg.

Or possibly the temperature in the weightlifting hall was 63 kg.

There’s no way to know for sure without finding out what a “kg” is, and my belief, as an American, is that if I have to start understanding the metric system, then the terrorists have won.”


—Dave Barry

Puritanism Defined

04/16/2011
by Kerri Elders in , ,

HL Mencken

HL Mencken

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.


–H.L. Mencken

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