“The most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory; and in contemplating the cause of the present embarrassments, or the future dangers of the United States, the observer is invariably led to this as a primary fact.” StatesFactsCausesBlackUnitedUnited StatesDangerUnionsPopulationArisePrimariesTerritoryContemplatingObserversEmbarrassmentFormidable Book:Democracy in America Source: Democracy in America
“That's a mistake I think that a lot of Western observers make is to assume that Korean nationalism is hundreds if not thousands of years old. When in fact nationalism is incompatible with Korean Confucian tradition.” IfsThinkingYearsFactsMistakeTraditionAssumingWesternNationalismObserversKoreanConfucian Author:Brian Reynolds Myers
“The birth of a new fact is always a wonderful thing to experience. It's dualistically called a "discovery" because of the presumption that it has an existence independent of anyone's awareness of it. When it comes along, it always has, at first, a low value. Then, depending on the value-looseness of the observer and the potential quality of the fact, its value increases, either slowly or rapidly, or the value wanes and the fact disappears.” FirstsFactsValuesExistenceQualityWonderfulAwarenessBirthLowsDiscoveryIncreaseIndependentDisappearWonderful ThingsObserversPresumptionLooseness Author:Robert M. Pirsig
“The beautiful is and remains beautiful though it arouse no emotion whatever, and though there be no one to look at it. In other words, although the beautiful exists for the gratification of an observer, it is independent of him. In this sense music, too, has no aim (object), and the mere fact that this particular art is so closely bound up with our feelings by no means justifies the assumption that its aesthetic principles depend on this union.” LooksMeanArtFactsFeelingsBeautifulEmotionPrinciplesObjectsParticularDependsArt IsAimIndependentRemainsUnionsMereBoundsAssumptionJustifyAestheticObserversGratification Author:Eduard Hanslick
“Every single person is unlike anyone else. Therefore, in creating a portrait of someone... we must look carefully to catch that particular unique quality. In fact, we can neglect nothing because everything we select or do sends a message to the observer.” LooksPersonsFactsQualityParticularCreatingMessagesUniqueNeglectPortraitsObserversSelectSingle PersonPortraiture Author:Alton Tobey
“The issue of gay marriage has reached the Supreme Court and observers are analyzing every detail to predict how each justice will vote. Experts say Chief Justice John Roberts is likely to rule in favor of gay marriage based on the fact that he spent Tuesday's hearings watching the Tony Award nominations.” FactsJusticeIssuesGayVoteCourtDetailsHearingFavorsSupremeChiefsExpertsAwardsSupreme CourtObserversGay MarriageTuesdayNominationsAnalyzingChief Justice Author:David Letterman