“We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century [...] lies where we have never suspected it [...] The only palliative is [...] by reading old books. [...] the books of the future would be just as good [...], but unfortunately we cannot get at them.” MayBookWould BeLyingReadingCenturyCharacteristicsBlindnessTwentieth CenturyOld Books Author:C. S. Lewis
“We, all of us in the First World, have participated in something of a binge, a half century of unbelievable prosperity and ease. We may have had some intuition that it was a binge and the earth couldn't support it, but aside from the easy things (biodegradable detergent, slightly smaller cars) we didn't do much. We didn't turn our lives around to prevent it. Our sadness is almost an aesthetic response - appropriate because we have marred a great, mad, profligate work of art, taken a hammer to the most perfectly proportioned of sculptures.” WorldFirstsMayArtEarthTurnsEasyHalfSupportTakenOur LivesSadnessCenturyCarMadResponseProsperityIntuitionEaseAppropriateWorks Of ArtAestheticConsumerismUnbelievableSculptureHammersOverconsumptionEasy ThingsBingeBiodegradable Author:Bill McKibben
“It may be said of many palaeontologists, as Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper said recently of 18th century historians: "Their most serious error was to measure the past by the present".” MaySaidPastScienceCenturySeriousErrorsProfessorsHistorian18th Century Author:D. V. Ager
“The influenza pandemic of 1918 may well be the greatest scourge ever to afflict humanity, exacting a death toll greater than all the wars of the 20th Century combined. The virus that wreaked this havoc apparently developed in birds, and then jumped to people. In other words, it was avian flu.” PeopleWellsMayWarHumanityGreaterCenturyBirdAffliction20th CenturyVirusesFluTollsScourgeHavocPandemicsInfluenza Author:David L. Katz
“I would just like to mention Robert Houdin who in the eighteenth century invented the vanishing birdcage trick and the theater matinee - may he rot and perish. Good afternoon.” MayCenturyTheaterTricksAfternoonVanishingGood Afternoon Author:Orson Welles
“Participatory complexity may well be the key descriptor of the 21st century - in our economies, in our politics, and in our everyday lives.” WellsMayEconomyCenturyKeysEverydayComplexityEveryday Life21st Century Author:Jamais Cascio
“The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still be considered as the commonplace of everyday thinking. ... An innate blindness seems to have closed the eyes of this epoch to all but those facts which show life as a phenomenon of utility” ThinkingMayStillsFactsShowsSeemsEyeCenturyEverydayInterpretationPhenomenonBlindnessInnateUtilityCommonplaceNineteenth CenturyEpochUtilitarian Author:Jose Ortega y Gasset
“It may happen in the next hundred years that the English novelists of the present day will come to be valued as we now value the artists and craftsmen of the late eighteenth century.” YearsMayHappensArtistValuesNextCenturyLateHundredNovelistsPresent DayCraftsman Book:The world of Evelyn Waugh Source: The world of Evelyn Waugh
“What we need most is to restore and revive our humanity. We must create a society where people can live with dignity, a society where people can live in peace and happiness. People are tired of games played for power and profit. People are tired of hatred and conflict. They want to live with more wisdom and confidence, and in peace. It may seem like a long and distant path, but I am convinced that the 21st century must see a movement to sow the seeds of peace, happiness and trust in every person's heart. The seeds of a truly humane way of life. I am convinced this is the only path.” PeopleWayWantNeedsHeartMayPersonsLongSeemsHumanityGamesPathCenturyMovementConflictDignityHatredTiredProfitSeedsConvinced21st CenturyHumaneRevivePeace And HappinessHumane Way Author:Daisaku Ikeda
“It is likely that America will be more important during the next century or two, but after that it may well be the turn of China.” WellsMayTwoImportantAmericaTurnsNextCenturyChina Book:The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell Source: The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell
“If I have accomplished anything, I owe it, among other fortunate circumstances, to the fact that through the early training bestowed on me by my father, I started, I may fairly say, with an advantage of a quarter of a century over my contemporaries.” IfsMayFactsFatherCenturyCircumstancesTrainingAdvantageFortunateAccomplishedQuartersQuarter Of A Century Book:Autobiography Source: Autobiography