"Happiness, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another."

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“Mayonnaise, n. One of the sauces that serve the French in place of a state religion.”

“Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”

“Conservative, n. A statesman enamored of existing evils, as opposed to a Liberal, who wants to replace them with others.”

“Cannon, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.”

“Resign, v. To renounce an honor for an advantage. To renounce an advantage for a greater advantage.”

“An army's bravest men are its cowards. The death which they would not meet at the hands of the enemy they will meet at the hands of their officers, with never a flinching.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It is not by comparing line with line, that the merit of great works is to be estimated, but by their general effects and ultimate result. It is easy to note a weak line, and write one more vigorous i…"

— Samuel Johnson

Literature1709–1784

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"Even if it were clear what was meant, this sort of treatment would seem closer to describing what is taking place than to explaining it. I do not want to deny the value of describing a phenomenon; ric…"

— Stephen Kosslyn

Science1948

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"Were I to assume an hypothesis, it should be this, if propounded more generally, so as not to assume what light is further than that it is something or other capable of exciting vibrations of the ethe…"

— Isaac Newton

Mathematics1934–2014

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"If you deny any affinity with another person or kind of person, if you declare it to be wholly different from yourself—as men have done to women, and class has done to class, and nation has done to na…"

— Ursula K. Le Guin

Literature1929–2018

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