“How do you live with evil? Art is traditionally - certainly with my secular background - the answer, but art is very self-referential, whereas religion claims to go beyond the bounds of human existence.” HumansArtSelfEvilAnswersExistenceArt IsClaimsBoundsBackgroundsSecularHuman Existence Author:Yann Martel
“The notion of rights is linked with the notion of sharing out, of exchange, of measured quantity. It has a commercial flavor, essentially evocative of legal claims and arguments. Rights are always asserted in a tone of contention; and when this tone is adopted, it must rely upon force in the background, or else it will be laughed at.” ForceRightsArgumentClaimsNotionBackgroundsToneRelyLaughedQuantityLinkedFlavorAdoptedContentionRely Upon Book:The Simone Weil Reader Source: The Simone Weil Reader
“The statements of certain western officials show that contrary to their absurd claims, westerners are disqualified, and impetuous, lacking any cultural background.” ShowsCertainClaimsWesternContraryBackgroundsStatementsAbsurdOfficialsLackingAbsurdityWesternersImpetuous Author:Hamid-Reza Assefi
“The true contrast between science and religion is that science unites the world and makes it possible for people of widely differing backgrounds to work together and to cooperate. Religion, on the other hand, by its very claim to know “The Truth” through “revelation,” is inherently divisive and a creator of separatism and hostility.” PeopleKnowsWorldHandsTogetherReligionHuman NatureClaimsCreatorBackgroundsRevelationsWorking TogetherCooperationContrastScience And ReligionHostility Author:Hermann Bondi
“...academic credentials are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for having your ideas taken seriously. If a famous professor repeatedly says stupid things, then tries to claim he never said them, there's no rule against calling him a mendacious idiot - and no special qualifications required to make that pronouncement other than doing your own homework.Conversely, if someone without formal credentials consistently makes trenchant, insightful observations, he or she has earned the right to be taken seriously, regardless of background.” IfsTryingSaidIdeasTakenSpecialConditionsStupidCallingClaimsBackgroundsObservationIdiotSufficientInsightfulProfessorsAcademicConsistentlyFormalHomeworkQualificationsStupid ThingsCredentials Author:Paul Krugman
“It is no wonder if, under the pressure of these possibilities of suffering, men are accustomed to moderate their claims to happiness - just as the pleasure principle itself, indeed, under the influence of the external world, changed into the more modest reality principle -, if a man thinks himself happy merely to have escaped unhappiness or to have survived his suffering, and if in general the task of avoiding suffering pushes that of obtaining pleasure into the background.” IfsThinkingMenWorldRealitySufferingPleasureWonderPrinciplesInfluencePossibilityChangedTasksClaimsPressureBackgroundsUnhappinessModestSurvivedAvoidingAccustomedModeratesObtaining Author:Sigmund Freud
“They said, OK, nine [Louis] Brandeis's is too much, but one is OK. So, with friends like that, and so forth. But, yes, the idea that because he was Jewish he would rule a particular way was an ugly undercurrent of the hearings, which resonates with current claims that a judge can't be impartial because of his or her background or ethnicity or race. It's, I guess, a small comfort that in the end the Brandeis vote wasn't close.” WaySaidIdeasEndsRaceToo MuchParticularJudgingComfortVoteClaimsCurrentsUglyHearingNineBackgroundsThey SaidEthnicityLouis Brandeis Author:Jeffrey Rosen
“I would have private conversations with [Buckminster Fuller]. I once had an argument, for four hours, about the existence of the Mobius strip. Because he believed in the Klein Bottle, you see. And I said, "How in hell can you claim to believe in the Klein Bottle and think that the Mobius strip is dubious?" He said, "Well, it's a torus." I don't know what he had in his mind as a mathematical background, because I don't think he got topology. Because, in other words, the Mobius strip didn't have angles in it.” ThinkingKnowsMindBelieveWellsSaidHoursExistenceHellFourConversationArgumentClaimsBackgroundsMathematicalBottlesAngleDubiousBuckminster FullerTopology Author:Paul Laffoley
“WARNING: The following is a transcript of a digital recording. In certain places, the audio quality was poor, so some words and phrases represent the author's best guesses. Where possible, illustrations of important symbols mentioned in the recording have been added. Background noises such as scuffling, hitting, and cursing by the two speakers have not been transcribed The author makes no claims for the authenticity of the recording. It seems impossible that the two young narrators are telling the truth, but you, the reader, must decide for yourself.” Has BeensTwoImportantSeemsYoungCertainPoorQualityImpossibleReaderClaimsFollowingBackgroundsNoiseAuthenticitySymbolsPhrasesTelling The TruthDigitalWarningSpeakersHittingIllustrationCursingNarratorsAudioSadie KaneBackground NoiseCarter Kane Book:The Kane Chronicles, The, Book One: Red Pyramid Source: The Kane Chronicles, The, Book One: Red Pyramid