“Water is bewitched, so that it always goes downhill. Birds are bewitched, so that they fly. The sun is bewitched so that it shines.”
G.K. Chesterton, “A Fairy Tale,” in Alberto Manguel, ed., On Lying in Bed and Other Essays by G.K. Chesterton
“The influence which writers of history thus exercise on public opinion is probably more immediate and extensive than that of political theorists who launch new ideas.”
Friedrich Hayek, quoted in appendix to R.M. Hartwell, “The Unfinished Agenda: Some Reflections on Completing the History of the Mont Pelerin Society”, September 1992
“Being for or against a natural phenomenon is a waste of time and mental energy.”
Michael Rothschild Bionomics: The Inevitability of Capitalism (which he considers a natural phenomenon)
“Every Hun has value – even if only to serve as a bad example.”
Wess Roberts, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
“I remember when Jack Smith, putting together a story on me, read me a quote from Jack London: ‘I would rather be a meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.’ ‘What does that mean to you?’ Jack Smith asked. I thought for a long moment, and then I said, ‘Throw deep.’”
Kenny Stabler Snake
In the winter forest “There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness – a laughter that was as mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life.”
Jack London White Fang
“I know what you’re thinking. You’ll never find a man quite like me.”
Some character (I didn’t record which) on the TV show “Family Matters” on TBS June 6, 1996
“What a miserable thing life is: you’re living in clover, only the clover isn’t good enough.”
Bertold Brecht, quoted in Jon Winokur Zen to Go