“Despite the fact that nothing complicates the truth as much as a lie, if the truth is as obvious as it is
inescapable, then the fabrication of its banality could be viewed as an act of benevolence.”
“I am Vincent Vee, the epitome of elegance, the paragon of perfection, and the most captivating vampire rock star you will ever encounter.”
Source: Vincent Vee
“We know that out of that bleak rectory in Yorkshire came Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and all the richly imaginative works of the Brontë sisters... To me, a famous writer's house is irresistable. The more ordinary the scene, in fact, the more I succumb to sensation, wonder and awe.”
Source: The Informed Air: Essays
“We inherited a strong and flourishing country, and instead of making the investments - that is, the sacrifices - to maintain it, we chose to suck it dry and stick our children with the bill. If you want to see who is to blame for student debt, just look in the mirror. And if parents find themselves supporting kids beyond their college years, that is only, in the aggregate, a form of compensatory justice: the intergenerational transfer of wealth that should have been effected through taxation.”
Source: Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life
“Let's put our money where our mouth is; let's invest in the future by investing in the education of our youth and the re-education of those who need it and aren't so young anymore. It's not charity; it's an investment in the mental, intellectual, and social infrastructure of our country and our planet. Charity is something you give to corporations when they commit crimes of fraud and plunge the world into economic turmoil.”
Source: Be a Hobbit, Save the Earth: the Guide to Sustainable Shire Living
“Economists had found an almost one-to-one match between PISA scores and a nation's long term economic growth. Many other things influenced economic growth, of course, but the ability of a workforce to learn, think and adapt was the ultimate stimulus package...For students, PISA scores were a better predictor of who would go to college than report cards...PISA wasn't measuring memorization; it was measuring aspiration.”
“This strange new test called PISA, which stood for the Program for International Student Assessment. Instead of a typical test question, which might ask which combination of coins you needed to buy something, PISA asked you to design your own coins, right there in the test booklet.”
Source: The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way
“There are no boundaries of religion, nature, beauty, humanity, and goodness.”
“We would never say to a man, "Be eccentric"; but if he cannot help being so, we would not have him be otherwise. The Leaning Tower of Pisa owes much of its fame to its leaning, and although it certainly is not a safe model for architects, we would by no means advise its demolition. Ten to one any builder who tried to erect another would create a huge ruin, and therefore it would not be a safe precedent; but there it is, and who wishes it was other than it is? Serve the Lord, brother, with your very best, and seek to do even better, and whatever your peculiarities, the grace of God will be glorified in you.”
Source: Eccentric Preachers: Spiritual Lessons and Insights from God’s Peculiar People [Updated and Annotated]
“The sign that makes us forget the thing signified.”