There was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so sure established, which in continuance of time hath not been corrupted. The Preface Concerning the Service of the Church
Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience. Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) Two Concepts of Liberty (1958)
Luther hatte es verstanden, als er dem Teufel das Tintenfaß an den Kopf geworfen! Nur vor Tinte fürchtet sich der Teufel; damit allein verjagt man ihn. Ludwig Börne etwa: Luther visste hva han gjorde da han kastet blekkhuset etter djevelen. Djevelen frykter bare blekk, bare slik jager man ham vekk.
The aging of my body and my beauty is a wound from a merciless knife. I’m not resigned to it at all. I turn to you, Art of Poetry, because you have kind of knowledge about drugs: certain sedatives, in Language and Imagination. It’s a wound from a merciless knife. Bring your drugs, Art of […]
This judgement I have of you that you will not be corrupted by any manner of gift and that you will be faithful to the state; and that without respect of my private will you will give me that counsel which you think best. Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to William Cecil, appointing him her Secretary of […]
To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at the present possessors of power, to lament the past, to conceive extravagant hopes for the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of mankind. Edmund Burke Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)
The conduct of a losing party never appears right; at least it never can possess the only infallible criterion of wisdom to vulgar judgements – success. Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Letters to a member of the National Assembly (1791)
The kingdoms of Experience In the precious wind they rot While paupers change possessions Each one wishing for what the other has got And the princess and the prince Discuss what’s real and what is not It doesn’t matter inside the Gates of Eden The foreign sun, it squints upon A bed that is never […]
The lamppost stands with folded arms Its iron claws attached To curbs ‘neath holes where babies wail Though it shadows metal badge All and all can only fall With a crashing but meaningless blow No sound ever comes from the Gates of Eden The savage soldier sticks his head in sand And then complains Unto […]
Of war and peace the truth just twists Its curfew gull just glides Upon four-legged forest clouds The cowboy angel rides With his candle lit into the sun Though its glow is waxed in black All except when ‘neath the trees of Eden Bob Dylan: Gates of Eden, fra Bringing it all back home
