“Though he avoided outright endorsement of the view, fifth-century Church Father Saint Augustine was clearly familiar with the theory of the spherical earth: "They [those who believe that "there are men on the other side of the earth"] fail to observe that even if the world is held to be global or rounded in shape, or if some process of reasoning should prove this to be the case, it would still not necessarily follow that the land on the opposite side is not covered by masses of water."” IfsMenWorldShouldBelieveStillsEarthFatherProcessSidesWaterChurchViewsCasesFailingLandCenturyTheoryShapesProveMassOppositesSaintFamiliarReasoningCoveredFifthAvoidedEndorsementsAugustineChurch Fathers Author:Saint Augustine
“I use throughout the term 'liberal' in the original, nineteenth-century sense in which it is still current in Britain. In current American usage it often means very nearly the opposite of this. It has been part of the camouflage of leftish movements in this country, helped by muddleheadedness of many who really believe in liberty, that 'liberal' has come to mean the advocacy of almost every kind of government control.” BelieveKindMeanHas BeensStillsCountryUseGovernmentTermLibertyCenturyMovementEconomicsOppositesOriginalsCurrentsBritainNineteenth CenturyAdvocacyUsageCamouflage Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
“For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate. But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power....When the revolutionary theory of government began to prevail, and Church and State found that they were educating for opposite ends and in a contradictory spirit, it became necessary to remove children entirely from the influence of religion.” ChildrenEndsStatesGovernmentSpiritFoundChurchInfluenceModernCenturyTheoryOppositesFunctionClaimsRevolutionaryRemoveEducateSovereignBehalfContradictoryChurch And StateAbsolutism Author:Lord Acton
“Orthodox Judaism is a thicket of detailed injunctions, Biblical commandments elaborated during centuries of prohibited proselytizing, functioning to limit interaction with outsiders. At the opposite extreme, Islam, still the most rapidly expanding of faiths, demands little immediate knowledge from those who would convert. The convert is permitted to enter and then to learn by participation, although there are plenty of detailed regulations and abstruse theological ideas to be pursued later, and the regulations do effectively separate believers from nonbelievers.” LittlesStillsIdeasCenturyDemandLimitsOppositesIslamExtremesBelieverPlentyOrthodoxInteractionRegulationOutsidersBiblicalCommandmentsParticipationJudaismExpandingPursuedTheologicalThicketsProselytizing Author:Mary Catherine Bateson
“We have observed for thirty centuries that a large nose is a sign on the door of our face that says 'Herein dwells a man who is intelligent, prudent, courteous, affable, noble-minded and generous'. A small nose is a cork on the bottle of the opposite vices.” MenFacesDoorsCenturyOppositesIntelligentVicesNobleNosesGenerousThirtyBottlesPrudentCourteousCorkAffable Author:Cyrano de Bergerac
“Those who are guilty of the argumentum ad ignorantiam profess belief in something because its opposite cannot be proved ... In the realm where "prejudice" is now most an issue, it normally takes a form like this: you cannot prove by the method of statistics and quantitative measurement that men are not equal. Therefore all men are equal. ... You cannot prove again by the methods of science that one culture is higher than another. Therefore the culture of the Digger Indians is just a good as that of Muncie, Indiana, or thirteenth-century France.” MenFormCultureBeliefIssuesCenturyHigherProveEqualOppositesPrejudiceMethodGuiltyFranceRealmsStatisticsAdsMeasurementIndiana Author:Richard M. Weaver
“I definitely have a Luddite's approach to what's going on. I find that as I get older, I get stupider. For me, the iPhone is harder than reading Faust. I've been hanging out a bit with Lou Reed, and he's the complete opposite. He's into technology and is kind of like a toddler, compared to me, who's like an old 19th-century widow or something.” KindReadingBitsTechnologyCenturyApproachOppositesHarderHanging OutWidows19th CenturyIphoneReedsToddlerFaustComplete Opposites Author:Rufus Wainwright
“This is not the 19th century, where actors are expected to play completely opposite roles. We're not typecast, but we're brought in because somebody thinks that it's a good fit, so you make it a better fit.” ThinkingPlayActorsRolesCenturyFitOppositesExpected19th Century Author:Kate Mulgrew
“What's clarity like? Try to remember that funny feeling inside your head when you had math problems too difficult to solve: the faint buzzing noise in your ears, a heaviness on both sides of your skull, and the sensation that your brain is twitching inside your cranium like a fish on the beach. This is the opposite sensation of clarity. Yet for many people of my era, as they aged, this sensation became the dominant sensation of their lives. It was as though day-to-day twentieth century living had become an unsolvable algebraic equation.” PeopleTryingFeelingsProblemRememberDifficultSidesBrainCenturyOppositesEarsFishesSolveMathNoiseClarityErasBeachSensationsDominantDay To DayBoth SidesEquationsTwentieth CenturySkullsHeavinessMath ProblemsTwitching Author:Douglas Coupland