“At least when the Emperor Justinian, a sky-god man, decided to outlaw sodomy, he had to come up with a good practical reason, which he did. It is well known, Justinian declared, that buggery is a principal cause of earthquakes, and so must be prohibited. But our sky-godders, always eager to hate, still quote Leviticus, as if that looney text had anything useful to say about anything except, perhaps, the inadvisability of eating shellfish in the Jerusalem area.” IfsMenWellsStillsReasonHateCausesKnownSkyEatingAreasDecidedCome UpPracticalsPrincipalWell KnownEmperorEarthquakesJerusalemOutlawMonotheismLeviticusShellfishJustinian Author:Gore Vidal
“My area of research is something that in all fairness has no practical usability whatsoever and the thing is I'm often asked to apologize for that. It is interesting to me that people ask 'what's the point of doing that if it's not useful?' But they never ask that, or do they very rarely ask that about art or literature or music. Those things are not gonna produce a better toaster.” PeopleIfsArtAsksLiteratureInterestingProduceResearchAreasPracticalsFairnessApologizingUsabilityToasters Author:Lawrence M. Krauss
“Reconciliation will not work if it puts a higher value on symbolic gestures and overblown promises rather than the practical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in areas like health, housing, education and employment.” IfsNeedsValuesHigherPromiseAreasPracticalsEmploymentGesturesHousingReconciliationSymbolicAboriginalTorres Author:Warren Mundine
“I must say what I admire most is the person who masters an area of practical experience, and can teach me something. I mean, my local midwife has taught me how to keep bees. Well, she can't understand anything I write. And I find myself liking her, may I say, more than most poets. And among my friends I find people who know all about boats or know all about certain sports, or how to cut somebody open and remove an organ. I'm fascinated by this mastery of the practical.” PeopleKnowsWritingWellsMayMeanPersonsCertainSportsTeachCuttingTaughtPoetMastersMy FriendsAreasPracticalsLocalsAdmireBoatRemoveFascinatedMasteryOrgansBeesMidwifePractical Experience Author:Sylvia Plath
“There were open source projects and free software before Linux was there. Linux in many ways is one of the more visible and one of the bigger technical projects in this area, and it changed how people looked at it because Linux took both the practical and ideological approach.” PeopleWayChangedSourceProjectsApproachAreasBiggerPracticalsVisibleSoftwareIdeologicalLinuxOpen Source Author:Linus Torvalds
“I imagine a future where many of us will call ourselves dancers and collaborate to make an art which concerns itself with primary areas of life... for me, peace is a communal work process, a collective vision. The dance itself tries to exemplify a few of these methods in a truly grounded and practical way so that the people can say: yes, there are prospects of survival.” PeopleWayTryingArtProcessVisionImagineSurvivalAreasConcernMethodDancePracticalsPrimariesDancerCollectivesGroundedProspects Author:Anna Halprin