"The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this."

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“Stern Daughter of the Voice of God!”

“One of those heavenly days that cannot die.”

“And mighty poets in their misery dead.”

“A multitude of causes unknown to former times are now acting with a combined force to blunt the discriminating powers of the mind, and unfitting it for all voluntary exertion to reduce it to a state of almost savage torpor.”

“Nature's old felicities.”

“But he is risen, a later star of dawn.”

Resonant Thoughts

"I am damned smarter man than Grant. I know more about military history, strategy, and grand tactics than he does. I know more about supply, administration, and everything else than he does. I'll tell …"

— William Tecumseh Sherman

Military1820–1891

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"That the threat is now intense is not a reason to abandon our quest for knowledge. It is a reason to hold it more tightly, in spite of the need for action to preserve our freedom, in spite of the dist…"

— Vannevar Bush

Technology1890–1974

#knowledge

"My mistress ... caused me to know the exact difference between the smart of the rope, the cart-whip, and the cow-skin, when applied to my naked body by her own cruel hand."

— Mary Prince

Literature1788–1679

#knowledge

"I don't know how you perceive my mission as a writer, but for me it is not a responsibility to reaffirm your concretized myths and provincial prejudices. It is not my job to lull you with a false sens…"

— Harlan Ellison

Literature1934–2018

#knowledge