“It often happens that the universal belief of one age of mankind — a belief from which no one was, nor without an extraordinary effort of genius and courage, could at that time be free — becomes to a subsequent age so palpable an absurdity, that the only difficulty then is to imagine how such a thing can ever have appeared credible.” IdeasHappensAgeBeliefEffortImagineGeniusUniversalDifficultyExtraordinaryAbsurdityCredible Author:John Stuart Mill
“I don't consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can't develop any further. But I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself. Take a musician like John Coltrane. He is a perfect musician, who can give expression to all the possibilities of his instrument. But he seems to have difficulty expressing original ideas on it. That is why he keeps looking for ideas in exotic places. At least I don't have that problem, because, like I say, I find my inspiration in myself.” GivingIdeasProblemInspirationSeemsPerfectPiecesPossibilityExpressionMusicianPerfectionDifficultyOriginalsInstrumentsFormulasExoticOriginal IdeasColtraneExotic Places Author:Thelonious Monk
“I would rather have ideas and some difficulties of technique than a perfect technique and no ideas.” IdeasPerfectDifficultyTechniqueNo Idea Author:Mstislav Rostropovich
“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.” MenDoeIdeasPhilosophyRememberValuesCoursesEvilNationsLosesPerfectForgetHistoryStudyExampleDifficultyRegardSlavePaintForgottenNobleLawyerDrunkAfrican AmericanTelling The TruthOwnersAmerican HistoryIncentivesSplendidPerfect ManRecurrenceSlave Owners Author:W. E. B. Du Bois