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Isaac Quotes

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Isaac Quotes

“Isaac basically knew just one thing for sure: Many are born, few flourish, all die. If you didn’t die as a sacrifice for God today, you would die of an incomprehensible plague tomorrow, or of undeserved starvation the day after, or of good old-fashioned senseless human slaughter before the next harvest. Life was short in those days and people were grateful for whatever they could get. They didn’t expect wireless video game consoles, fast German cars, dental insurance, anti-depressants, and a pension.”

“He leaned in and kissed her. His lips were dry, and tasted of gritty stone and dust. Alice's fingers curled so hard against the book that they ached, and after a moment or two she closed her eyes. It seemed like an age before he pulled away. Her lips tingled, as though he'd passed on an electric charge. "I'm sorry," he said, with a lopsided grin. "It's part of the spell." Alice had a single moment to be furious before the music of the Siren rose all around her, a quiescent orchestration building to an unexpected crescendo. As her mind drifted away on that exquisite, all-encompassing melody, the last thing she felt were his hands on hers, gently tugging the book from her slackening fingers.”

“We have absolutely no time for the monsters who try to defend Yahweh’s order to Abraham to kill his son, or Abraham’s agreement to do so. He was free to choose what was right or to “obey orders” like a Nazi. Like the Nazis, he was afraid (rightly) that his “God” would kill him if he refused. But the Nuremberg Trials showed contempt for the only-obeying-orders position, and we hold it in contempt too.”

“Lakini ukweli ni upi? Ukweli ni kwamba utajiri una changamoto nyingi kuupata na kuudumisha pia kuliko usomi na kwamba ukweli ni amani ya Mungu katika moyo wa mwanadamu. Heri msomi kuliko tajiri – Heri yule aliyesoma kuliko tajiri asiyesoma au yule aliyesoma kuliko vile alivyosoma tajiri au tajiri asiyesoma au aliyesoma lakini asiyekuwa na tamaa kabisa na dunia hii ambaye kukosa kwake tamaa na dunia hii kunamfanya msomi. Ndivyo Kristo anavyomaanisha. Si kwamba tajiri hawezi kuuona ufalme wa mbinguni. Ibrahimu, Isaka, Yakobo, Yusufu, Daudi, Sulemani, Yehoshafati, Hezekia, Zakayo, Yoana, Susana, na Lidia watauona ufalme wa mbinguni na walikuwa matajiri. Mali zao zilivyozidi hawakuangalia moyoni, hawakuwa na tamaa kabisa na dunia hii, bali walimtumaini Mungu kwa kila kitu walichokuwa nacho. Anaweza. Lakini asiipende dunia bali ayapende mambo ya ufalme wa Mungu kwa moyo wake wote.”

“Siku moja, jambo baya litatokea. Labda babu yako au mnyama wako kipenzi atafariki au shangazi yako atagundulika na kansa. Labda utafukuzwa kazi au utaachika kwa mumeo au mkeo mliyependana sana. Labda rafiki yako kipenzi atapata ajali mbaya ya gari na utatakiwa kupeleka taarifa kwa ndugu na marafiki zake. Kutoa taarifa ya jambo baya kwa mtu ni kazi ngumu sawa na kupokea taarifa ya jambo baya kutoka kwa mtu. Kama umeteuliwa kupeleka taarifa ya kifo au ya jambo lolote baya kwa mtu fanya hivyo kwa makini. Toa taarifa ya msiba au ya jambo lolote baya kwa hekima na busara kama Ibrahimu alivyofanya kwa Sara kuhusiana na kafara ya Isaka, si kama Mbenyamini alivyofanya kwa Eli kuhusiana na kutwaliwa kwa sanduku la agano na kuuwawa kwa watoto wake wawili. Jidhibiti kwanza wewe mwenyewe kama umeteuliwa kupeleka taarifa ya kifo au ya jambo lolote baya. Angalia kama wewe ni mtu sahihi wa kupeleka taarifa hiyo. Pangilia mawazo ya kile unachotaka kwenda kukisema au unachotaka kwenda kukiandika. Mwangalie machoni, si usoni, yule unayempelekea taarifa kisha mwambie kwa sauti ya upole nini kimetokea.”

“Hakimu na Kuhani Mkuu wa Shilo Eli alipata matatizo makubwa wakati wa mgogoro wa Waisraeli na Wafilisti, kati ya mwaka 2871 na 2870 Kabla ya Kristo. Mara tu baada ya kupewa taarifa ya kifo cha watoto wake wawili, Hofni na Finehasi, na kutwaliwa kwa Sanduku la Agano la Bwana wa Majeshi lililohifadhi Amri Kumi za Mungu, Eli alianguka kutoka katika kiti chake na kufariki papo hapo akiwa na umri wa miaka 98. Aidha, mkwe wa Eli, mke wa Finehasi, alijifungua ghafla na kufariki alipopata taarifa ya kifo cha mkwewe na taarifa ya kuuwawa kwa mumewe na ya kutekwa nyara kwa Sanduku la Agano. Mwanajeshi kutoka Benyamini falaula angetumia hekima na busara kutoa taarifa ya kifo na ya kutwaliwa kwa Sanduku la Agano huenda Eli asingefariki, na huenda mkwewe asingejifungua mtoto njiti na huenda asingekufa siku hiyo. Kwani Sanduku la Agano lilirejeshwa nchini Israeli, na Wafilisti wenyewe, baada ya miezi saba tangu litwaliwe, na kifo cha watoto wa Eli yalikuwa mapenzi ya Mungu. Hivyo Eli asingeweza kuzuia kifo cha watoto wake, na Wafilisti wasingeweza kukaa na Sanduku la Agano milele. Lakini katika kafara ya Isaka ambapo Isaka aliamua kujitoa kafara mwenyewe kumfurahisha Mungu na baba yake kama Yesu alivyoamua kujitoa kafara mwenyewe kumfurahisha Mungu na baba yake wa mbinguni, Sara angekufa kama Ibrahimu hangetumia hekima alipomwambia anakwenda kumtolea Bwana kafara ya mwanakondoo wakati akijua anakwenda kumtoa Isaka mtoto wa pekee wa Sara. Hekima inatoka moyoni, busara inatoka mdomoni. Kwa vile suala la kutoa taarifa mbaya kwa mtu ni gumu kwa yule anayetoa na kwa yule anayepokea, hekima na busara havina budi kutumika.”

“Abraham had eight sons--not one. All eight sons bring something to the table. Abraham loved all of his sons. He was a good father who made sure all his sons were literate, of good character and shared a common ideology with their father, Abraham. Abraham did good. Where did we go wrong?”

“Some readers may realize that this story, first published in 1956, has been overtaken by events. In 1965, astronomers discovered that Mercury does not keep one side always to the Sun, but has a period of rotation of about fifty-four days, so that all parts of it are exposed to the sunlight at one time or another. Well, what can I do except say that I wish astronomers would get things right to begin with? And I certainly refuse to change the story to suit their whims.”

“The office of reformer of the superstitions of a nation, is ever more dangerous. Jesus had to work on the perilous confines of reason and religion; and a step to the right or left might place him within the grasp of the priests of the superstition, a bloodthirsty race, as cruel and remorseless as the being whom they represented as the family God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, and the local God of Israel. That Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God, physically speaking, I have been convinced by the writings of men more learned than myself in that lore.”

“Nothing is so much coveted by a young man as the reputation of being a genius; and many seem to feel that the want of patience for laborious application and deep research is such a mark of genius as cannot be mistaken: while a real genius, like Sir Isaac Newton, with great modesty says, that the great and only difference between his mind and the minds of others consisted solely in his having more patience.”

“Ever since Sir Isaac Newton's times, scientists have worked in the same sort of way: They show a great respect for experiment and observation, They don't cherry pick data, They take a skeptical approach to what they do. And then scientists work together to get a consensus as to what should be believed And that generates very reliable knowledge and that reliable knowledge drives innovation”

“I often use detective elements in my books. I love detective novels. But I also think science fiction and detective stories are very close and friendly genres, which shows in the books by Isaac Asimov, John Brunner, and Glen Cook. However, whilst even a tiny drop of science fiction may harm a detective story, a little detective element benefits science fiction. Such a strange puzzle.”

“As to the Christian religion, besides the strong evidence which we have for it, there is a balance in its favor from the number of great men who have been convinced of its truth after a serious consideration of the question. Grotius was an acute man, a lawyer, a man accustomed to examine evidence, and he was convinced. Grotius was not a recluse, but a man of the world, who certainly had no bias on the side of religion. Sir Isaac Newton set out an infidel, and came to be a very firm believer.”

“We never had books at home, but my dad, seeing how keen I was to read, took me to Islington Library when I was about eight and we pulled out two - a Biggles and a science fiction novel. I never got the ace fighter pilot but fell in love with all things to do with the future and space. Isaac Asimov soon became my guiding star.”

“A learned parson, rusting in his cell at Oxford or Cambridge, will reason admirably well upon the nature of man; will profoundly analyze the head, the heart, the reason, the will, the passions, the senses, the sentiments, and all those subdivisions of we know not what ; and yet, unfortunately, he knows nothing of man... He views man as he does colours in Sir Isaac Newton's prism, where only the capital ones are seen; but an experienced dyer knows all their various shades and gradations, together with the result of their several mixtures.”

“I'd go back and hang out with Isaac Newton. I'm torn between do I hang out with him or do I bring him into the present to hang out with me. See, that might be terrifying because his head will just explode once he sees everything that was derived from his discoveries, but I'd spend more time with someone who I think is one of the most brilliant minds our species has ever known.”

“FACT: The Priory of Sion - a European secret society founded in 1099 - is a real organization. In 1975 Paris's Bibliothque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.”

“Isaac Watts, of course, is a hymn writer in the tradition of Congregationalism who lived in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. He is very interesting and important because he was also a metaphysician. He knew a great deal about what was, for him, contemporary science. He was very much influenced by Isaac Newton, for example. There are planets and meteors and so on showing up in his hymns very often. But, again, the scale of his religious imagination corresponds to a very generously scaled scientific imagination.”

“A couple of hundred years from now, maybe [science fiction writers] Isaac Asimov and Fred Pohl will be considered the important philosophers of the twentieth century, and the professional philosophers will almost all be forgotten, because they're just shallow and wrong, and their ideas aren't very powerful.”

“As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behaviour toward creatures, all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right.”

“We have to start at ground zero and ask what it means to have a real connection with God and what it means to pray. We have to recast our whole understanding of God. We live on the other side of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Steven Hawking, a whole group of people who have recast the way we think about reality.”

“John XXI was a very great pope and he's the one who actually corrected the liturgy. He did so because of his friend Jules Isaac, a French Jewish historian who was a friend of John Paul, of John 23rd, and he convinced him and he changed the liturgy, no more Jew, the perfidious Jew and so forth and now, and don't speak any more of the Jews killing Christ. Things have changed.”

“[Sacrifice of Isaac] is a major theme of the so-called Elohist [one authorial strand in the Pentateuch]. It is marked by all of his linguistic characteristics, and so on. We cannot determine what is historical and what isn't. As literary critics, we would understand the importance of this for understanding life, destiny. But the historical question must be left with a question mark.”