“The world exists, not for what it means but for what it is. The purpose of mushrooms is to be mushrooms, wine is in order to be wine: things are precious before they are contributory. It is a false piety that walks through creation looking only for lessons which can be applied somewhere else. To be sure, God remains the greatest good; but, for all that, the world is still good in itself. Indeed, since He does not need it, its whole reason for being must lie in its own natural goodness; He has no use for it, only delight.” WorldNeedsMeanDoeStillsReasonWholeUseLyingPurposeOrderNaturalWalksCreationLessonsGoodnessRemainsWineEnvironmentalDelightSomewhere ElsePietyMushrooms Author:Robert Farrar Capon
“Despite his reputation as one of America's foremost "serious" filmmakers, Oliver Stone's name under the "director" caption does not guarantee a good movie. I learned that lesson while enduring the seemingly-endless tedium of The Doors, and was reminded of it during some of the long, drawn-out portions of JFK. However, nothing that Stone has directed or misdirected prepared me for the grotesque mess that is Natural Born Killers.” LongDoeAmericaNamesBornNaturalDoorsSeriousLessonsDirectorsStonesPreparedEndureEndlessReputationDespiteMessFilmmakerGuaranteesPortionsKillersGood MovieGrotesqueTediumCaption Author:James Berardinelli
“Education and study, and the favors of the muses, confer no greater benefit on those that seek them than these humanizing and civilizing lessons, which teach our natural qualities to submit to the limitations prescribed by reason, and to avoid the wildness of extremes.” ReasonNaturalQualityTeachStudyGreaterLessonsBenefitsExtremesFavorsLimitationSubmitMuseModerationWildness Book:Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans: Top Biography Source: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans: Top Biography
“... any woman who accepts aloneness as the natural by-product of success is accepting a punishment for a crime she didn't commit. And she is not acknowledging one of the most precious lessons of the women's movement, the lessons of community ... We may not able to tell women that there is safety in freedom. But we certainly can say, with absolute certainty, that for free women, the only safety is in numbers.” MayAbleCommunityNaturalNumbersAcceptingCrimeMovementProductsLessonsAbsolutesSafetyPunishmentCommitCertaintyAbsolute Certainty Author:Marlo Thomas
“The prime lesson the social sciences can learn from the natural sciences is just this: that it is necessary to press on to find the positive conditions under which desired events take place, and that these can be just as scientifically investigated as can instances of negative correlation. This problem is beyond relativity.” ProblemScienceSocialNaturalConditionsEventsLessonsNegativePressesInstancePrimeRelativitySocial ScienceNatural ScienceCorrelation Book:An Anthropologist at Work Source: An Anthropologist at Work
“One of the greatest gifts science has brought to the world is continuing elimination of the supernatural, and it was a lesson that my father passed on to me, that knowledge liberates mankind from superstition. We can live our lives without the constant fear that we have offended this or that deity who must be placated by incantation or sacrifice, or that we are at the mercy of devils or the Fates. With increasing knowledge, the intellectual darkness that surrounds us is illuminated and we learn more of the beauty and wonder of the natural world.” WorldFatherNaturalWonderDarknessOur LivesFateSacrificeMankindLessonsIntellectualDevilMercyConstantSurroundSuperstitionsContinuingOffendedDeitiesNatural WorldGreatest GiftsEliminationIncreasing Knowledge Author:James D. Watson
“View life as a learning opportunity. Ask God what He wants you to learn from the situations you face. . . . When we set aside specific time to listen, He often encourages us with His presence and promises, and interprets to some degree the circumstances of life. Take advantage of the natural lull after hard times when you're pulling together the pieces to sort through the events and ferret out the lessons.” WantHardGodTogetherFacesAsksOpportunityNaturalViewsSituationPiecesEventsCircumstancesPromiseLessonsDegreesAdvantageHard TimesPullingLullsFerretsPulling Together Author:Jean Fleming