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Quotations – Momentous, Memorable, Meaningful

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A place to share the words of others (or your own!) which have been impactful in your life, whether they're serious, poignant, humorous, or just something worth noting.

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Latest Activity: 5 hours ago

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I have been a quote collector and quote monger for at least as long as I've been an atheist and probably a good deal longer. My admiration for those who enjoy reputations as wordsmiths extends even further back, whether we're talking about John F. Kennedy's assertion: "We choose to go to the moon," George Santayana's warning: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," or James T. Kirk's deft observation when faced with the dauntingly huge First Federation ship: "Not chess, Mr. Spock ... poker!"

The realm of atheist activism has had its own share of verbal craftsmen and women, from Madalyn Murray O'Hair's: "An atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church." to Aron Ra's succinct: "If you can't show it, you don't know it."

Regardless of the topic, these are words which are capable of fomenting inspiration, reflection, and sometimes even action. They can educate and illuminate the human condition and allow us to better know ourselves. That said, here is an open invitation to share those words which have been particularly meaningful or impactful or timely or just special to you for one reason or another.

Let's share those words and have fun!

One bit of clerical business: please hold your quotes in the comment area below to 20 lines or 200 words. One comment should not so dominate the Home page of this group that no other comment is visible. That way, the briefer comments and quotes of all participants are more likely to be seen, read, and appreciated. If you have a long quote or commentary, create a post, please.

Discussion Forum

Ten things that explain the incredible power of Moore's Law

Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Alan Perlman May 4. 3 Replies 0 Likes

"Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors per integrated circuit will double approximately every 18-24 months, has become the defining metaphor of the modern technological age. As a…Continue

Tags: shrinking, smartphone, performance, innovation, level

have dominion over the fish of the sea, & over the fowl of the air, & over every living thing

Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Plinius May 2. 1 Reply 0 Likes

Genesis 1:28"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon…Continue

Tags: shrivel, consequence, loss, abandon, exploit

The core of permaculture is design.

Started by Joan Denoo Mar 5. 0 Replies 0 Likes

"The core of permaculture is design. Design is the connection between things. It’s the very opposite of what we’re taught in school. Education takes everything and pulls it apart and makes no…Continue

Tags: connection, design, permaculture

"If Right Doesn't Matter, We're Lost." (Adam Schiff)

Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Grinning Cat Feb 1. 3 Replies 4 Likes

This is a bit rushed, but I wanted to post Adam Schiff's closing statement to the impeachment trial on 24 January 2020. This is potent stuff, and it speaks to Schiff's integrity and determination to…Continue

Tags: statement, impeachment, Adam Schiff

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Comment by Joan Denoo on April 24, 2020 at 6:34am: Loren, thanks for reminding us of Neil deGrasse Tyson's quote.
Also for Helen Kellers quote about sight with no vision.

Comment by Loren Miller on April 24, 2020 at 5:35am: Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
-- Carl Sagan

What an exciting idea! And if not to be the one to first discover it ourselves, to be able to learn that "something" and savor it in our minds is equally thrilling.

Comment by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on April 23, 2020 at 11:15pm: Agreed, Loren. "any claim of "beneficence" has to fall under some pretty serious questioning". We behave like abused children running to hug the parent who terrorizes.

Comment by Patricia on April 23, 2020 at 11:52am: Excellent, Loren, both of them.

Comment by Loren Miller on April 23, 2020 at 6:04am: The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.
-- Helen Keller

I suspect all of us could make a list of such people with very little effort ... right now.

Comment by Loren Miller on April 22, 2020 at 6:23am: Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence.
-- Neil deGrasse Tyson

Considering that Dawkins calls Yahweh a "capriciously malevolent bully" and Heinlein opines that: "Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child," any claim of "beneficence" has to fall under some pretty serious questioning.

Comment by Joan Denoo on April 22, 2020 at 4:25am: "Recent research explores the effect of improved built environments on physical activity,4 asthma,5 obesity,6 cardiovascular disease, lung cancer mortality,7 and mental health.8,9 However, a pressing need remains for more concerted research to identify mechanisms by which the built environment adversely and positively impacts health and to develop appropriate interventions to reduce or eliminate harmful health effects. The growing health burden and attendant economic costs associated with higher chronic disease incidence (e.g., obesity, asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer) require such research efforts. These complex diseases are attributable to an interaction of genetic and environmental influences, and many of the latter can be directly connected to the built environment. While research has focused on the negative public health consequences of the built environment, there has been very limited focus on the benefits of living in sustainable communities. A research agenda on the public health and quality-of-life benefits of sustainable communities is necessary."

~ Srinivasan, S., O'Fallon, L. R., & Dearry, A. (2003). Creating healthy communities, healthy homes, healthy people: initiating a research agenda on the built environment and public health. American journal of public health, 93(9), 1446–1450. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.93.9.1446

(emphasis mine)

Comment by Loren Miller on April 21, 2020 at 6:20am: Gods always behave like the people who make them.
-- Zora Neale Hurston

Don't they always? [wry chuckle]

Comment by Loren Miller on April 20, 2020 at 5:23am: And that brings me to the final objection - I'll condense it, Dr. Orlafsky - which is, this is a totalitarian system. If there was a God who could do these things and demand these things of us, and he was eternal and unchanging, we'd be living under a dictatorship from which there is no appeal, and one that can never change and one that knows our thoughts and can convict us of thought crime, and condemn us to eternal punishment for actions that we are condemned in advance to be taking. All this in the round, and I could say more, it's an excellent thing that we have absolutely no reason to believe any of it to be true.
-- Christopher Hitchens

Living under a god that could be construed as a benevolent despot would be one thing, but if the history of Yahweh as recorded in the bible is to be believed, there is very little "benevolence" to be found in that character as I understand it, and I would want to have nothing to do with such a rule under such a dictator.

Comment by Loren Miller on April 19, 2020 at 7:46am: I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion [...]. If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?
— Ruth Hurmence Green, The Born Again Skeptic's Guide To The Bible

As I cited Steve Shives as saying some time back, the bible wants us to look at its evil and call it good. I simply WON'T, and I doubt anyone else around here will, either.