Monday, January 22. 2007
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he [Yossarian] observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed. From Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" (thanks, reader BL)
Sunday, January 21. 2007
Who really needs a psychiatrist? My wife tells me what's wrong with me every day, for free. Anon.
Thursday, January 18. 2007
The principal feature of American liberalism is sanctimoniousness. By loudly denouncing all bad things — war and hunger and date rape — liberals testify to their own terrific goodness. More important, they promote themselves to membership in a self-selecting elite of those who care deeply about such things.... It's a kind of natural aristocracy, and the wonderful thing about this aristocracy is that you don't have to be brave, smart, strong or even lucky to join it, you just have to be liberal. P.J. O'Rourke (h/t, Viking)
Wednesday, January 17. 2007
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. Benjamin Franklin
Tuesday, January 16. 2007
The spirit of a warrior is not geared to indulging and complaining, nor is it geared to winning or losing. The spirit of a warrior is geared only to struggle, and every struggle is a warrior’s last battle on earth. Thus the outcome matters very little to him. In his last battle on earth a warrior lets his spirit flow free and clear. And as he wages his battle, knowing that his intent is impeccable, a warrior laughs and laughs. Carlos Casteneda (Thanks, Readers!)
Monday, January 15. 2007
I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sunday, January 14. 2007
From G. K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy, as posted in Dr. Bob's good recent piece on Faith and Reason: … [T]he materialist philosophy (whether true or not) is certainly much more limiting than any religion. In one sense, of course, all intelligent ideas are narrow. They cannot be broader than themselves. A Christian is only restricted in the same sense that an atheist is restricted. He cannot think Christianity false and continue to be a Christian; and the atheist cannot think atheism false and continue to be an atheist. But as it happens, there is a very special sense in which materialism has more restrictions than spiritualism. … The Christian is quite free to believe that there is a considerable amount of settled order and inevitable development in the universe. But the materialist is not allowed to admit into his spotless machine the slightest speck of spiritualism or miracle. … The Christian admits that the universe is manifold and even miscellaneous, just as a sane man knows that he is complex. The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast, a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. Nay, the really sane man knows that he has a touch of the madman. But the materialist’s world is quite simple and solid, just as the madman is quite sure he is sane. The materialist is sure that history has been simply and solely a chain of causation, just as the interesting person before mentioned is quite sure that he is simply and solely a chicken. Materialists and madmen never have doubts.
Saturday, January 13. 2007
The problem with government-controlled health care is that it tips a fundamental balance, and an important psychological balance, between individual citizen and the state by transforming everyone into a client/supplicant/dependent in relation to the state in one of the most important areas of their life. This is a paraphrase of something I read or heard in the past week. Wish I could remember who said it. Whatever. What it captures, I believe, is the reason the Left wants government health care. Power over your heart - literally. One step closer to that bowl of lentils - and serfdom. Guess what - your doctor won't work for you anymore. They will work for "the greater good." How about if your plumber worked like that? Or your lawyer? They are all just technicians, right?
Friday, January 12. 2007
We have been very boat-oriented this week. Is Spring coming? 1. A father's life advice to his 21 year-old son: "You only need to know two things: you can marry more money in a minute than you can make in a lifetime, and always have friends who own boats." 2. "A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into."
"Trying" is lying. A reader's mom. Do, or do not. There is no try. Yoda
Thursday, January 11. 2007
A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him discusses all sorts of subjects at random as though he knew everything. Sei Shonagon, Hateful Things, 900 AD (h/t, Sippican). Somehow, the quote reminded me of Maggie's Farm.
Saturday, December 30. 2006
It is false humility, and thus sinfully prideful, to deny oneself satisfaction in one's genuine humility... if you get my drift. The News Junkie (of Maggie's Farm)
Friday, December 29. 2006
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. George Burns (h/t, Samizdata)
Wednesday, December 27. 2006
Power, unlike money, is a zero-sum game. The Barrister
Tuesday, December 26. 2006
In the nanny/totalitarian state, anything not forbidden will be mandatory. Anon.
Saturday, December 23. 2006
That is why the young rich man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every call of Jesus is a call to die, with all of our affections and lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ and His call are necessary for our death and our life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (h/t, Dr. Bob) I have a personal piece in mind to write about this subject of "will," but it will need to wait.
Friday, December 22. 2006
At Christmas I no more desire a rose Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth; But like of each thing that in season grows..Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost
Thursday, December 21. 2006
In the end [the people] will lay their freedom at our feet, and say to us, "Make us your slaves, but feed us." They will understand themselves, at last, that freedom and bread enough for all are inconceivable together, for never, never will they be able to share between them! They will be convinced, too, that they can never be free, for they are weak, vicious, worthless, and rebellious. .
Wednesday, December 20. 2006
In passing, we should note this curious mark of our own age: the only absolute allowed is the absolute insistence that there is no absolute.
Tuesday, December 19. 2006
I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat. PJ O'Rourke. The full quote is at Mr. Free Market
Thursday, December 14. 2006
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. Norman Vincent Peale
Tuesday, December 12. 2006
Never get into fights with assholes. They drag you down to their level, then they beat you through superior experience. via Jay Tea
Let us consider, my lords, that arbitrary power has seldom or never been introduced into any country at once. It must be introduced by slow degrees, and as it were step by step, lest the people should see its approach. The barriers and fences of the people's liberty must be plucked up one by one, and some plausible pretences must be found for removing or hoodwinking, one after another, those sentries who are posted by the constitution of a free country, for warning the people of their danger. When these preparatory steps are once made, the people may then, indeed, with regret, see slavery and arbitrary power making long strides over their land; but it will be too late to think of preventing or avoiding the impending ruin. Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, to the House of Lords in 1737 (though reported rather later). The above borrowed in its entirety from Samizdata
Monday, December 11. 2006
'Nice' can’t confront this world’s sources of pain. Niceness makes people agreeable, not good. Somehow we have mistaken niceness for righteousness. From No More Christian Nice Guy, by Paul Coughlin
Saturday, December 9. 2006
It’s true, I was celebrating. Bloody hell, I had a glass of champagne in my hand – so what? Ms Hage-Ali, who was attacked for drinking while Moslem after being named Miss NSW Young Austrailian of the Year. Blair
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"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he [Yossarian] observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.