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December 9

day of the year

Quotes of the dayfrom previous years:

2003
If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it, they are wrong. I do not say give them up, for they may be all you have, but conceal them like a vice lest they spoil the lives of better and simpler people. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
2004
Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
2005
We take men for what they are worth — and that is why we hate the government of man by man, and that we work with all our might — perhaps not strong enough — to put an end to it. ~Peter Kropotkin(born 9 December 1842)
2006
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to my conscience, above all liberties. ~John Milton(born 9 December 1608)
2007
Man is appealed to to be guided in his acts, not merely by love, which is always personal, or at the best tribal, but by the perception of his oneness with each human being. In the practice of mutual aid, which we can retrace to the earliest beginnings of evolution, we thus find the positive and undoubted origin of our ethical conceptions; and we can affirm that in the ethical progress of man, mutual support not mutual struggle — has had the leading part. ~Peter Kropotkin
2008
A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things. ~Grace Hopper
2009
A different conception of society, very different from that which now prevails, is in process of formation.… Acknowledging, as a fact, the equal rights of all its members to the treasures accumulated in the past… it seeks to establish a certain harmonious compatibility in its midst — not by subjecting all its members to an authority that is fictitiously supposed to represent society, not by trying to establish uniformity, but by urging all men to develop free initiative, free action, free association. ~Peter Kropotkin
2010
Freely we serve,
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall.
~John MiltoninParadise Lost~
2011
When we ask for theabolition of the State and its organswe are always told that wedreamof asocietycomposed of men better than they are inreality.But no; a thousand times, no. All we ask is that men should not be made worse than they are, by such institutions! ~Peter Kropotkin
2012
AccusenotNature:she hath done her part;
Do thoubut thine.
~John Milton~
2013
I neither oblige thebeliefof other person, nor overhastily subscribe mine own. Nor have I stood with otherscomputingor collating years and chronologies, lest I should bevainlycuriousabout thetimeandcircumstanceof things, whereof the substance is so much indoubt.By this time, like one who had set out on his way bynight,and travelled through a region of smooth or idledreams,ourhistorynow arrives on the confines, where daylight andtruthmeet us with a cleardawn,representing to our view, though at a far distance, true colours and shapes.
~John Milton~
2014
Thehistoryofhumanthoughtrecalls the swinging of apendulumwhich takescenturiesto swing. After a long period ofslumbercomes amomentofawakening.Then thoughtfreesherself from the chains with which those interested —rulers,lawyers,clerics— have carefully enwound her.
She shatters the chains. She subjects to severecriticismall that has beentaughther, and lays bare the emptiness of thereligiouspolitical,legal,andsocialprejudicesamid which she has vegetated. She starts research in new paths, enriches ourknowledgewith newdiscoveries,creates newsciences.
~Peter Kropotkin~
2015
Allis for all! If themanand thewomanbear theirfairshare ofwork,they have a right to their fair share of all that isproducedby all, and that share is enough to secure themwell-being.No more of such vague formulas as "TheRightto work, "or" To each the whole result of hislabour."What we proclaim isTheRight toWell-Being:Well-Being forAll!
~Peter Kropotkin~
2016
Godspeed,John Glenn.
~Scott Carpenter~
  • proposed byKalkiin regard to recent death of Glenn.
2017
Milton!thou shouldst belivingat this hour:
Englandhathneedof thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters: altar,sword,and pen,
Fireside, theheroicwealthof hall and bower,
Have forfeited their ancient English dower
Of inwardhappiness.We areselfishmen;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
And give usmanners,virtue,freedom,power.
Thysoulwas like aStar,and dwelt apart:
Thou hadst avoicewhosesoundwas like thesea:
Pureas the nakedheavens,majestic,free,
So didst thoutravelon life's common way,
Incheerfulgodliness;and yet thyheart
The lowliestdutieson herself did lay.
~William Wordsworth~
2018
Whenknowledgeis theslaveofsocialconsiderations, it defines a specialclass;when it serves its ownendsonly, it no longer does so. There is of course a profoundlogicin thisparadox:genuine knowledge isegalitarianin that it allows noprivilegedsource,testers,messengersofTruth.It tolerates no privileged and circumscribeddata.Theautonomyof knowledge is a leveller.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
2019
Under whattormentsinwardly I groane;
While theyadoreme on theThroneofHell,
WithDiademand Scepter high advanc’d
The lower still I fall, onely Supream
Inmiserie;suchjoyAmbitionfindes.
But say I couldrepentand could obtaine
ByActofGracemy former state; how soon
Would highth recal highthoughts,how soon unsay
What feign’dsubmissionswore: ease would recant
Vowsmade inpain,asviolentand void.
For never can truereconcilementgrow
Wherewoundsofdeadlyhatehave peirc’d so deep:
Which would but lead me to a worse relapse
And heavier fall: so should Ipurchasedeare
Short intermission bought with double smart.
~John Milton~
in
~Paradise Lost~
2020
Whilescienceandtechnologyplay critical roles in sustaining moderncivilization,they are not part of ourculturein the sense that they are not commonlystudiedor wellcomprehended.Neither thepotentialnor the limitations of science areunderstoodso that what can beachievedand what is beyond reach are not comprehended. The line between science andmagicbecomes blurred so that publicjudgmentson technical issues can be erratic or badly flawed. It frequentlyappearsthat somepeoplewillbelievealmost anything. Thus judgments can be manipulated or warped by unscrupulous groups. Distortions or outrightfalsehoodscan come to beacceptedasfact.
~Henry Way Kendall~
2021
I do not recommend anylegislativeactionagainsthermeneutics.I am aliberalpersonopposed to all unnecessarystatelimitation ofindividualliberties.Hermeneutics betweenconsentingadultsshould not, in my view, be the object of any statutory restrictions. I know, only too well, what it would entail. Hermeneuticspeakeasieswould spring up all over the place, smuggled Thick Descriptions would be brought in by the lorry-load fromCanadaby theMafia,bloodand thickmeaningwould clot in the gutter as rival gangs ofsemioticbootleggers slugged it out in a series of bloody shoot-outs and ambushes.Addictswould be subject to blackmail. Consumption of deep meanings and its attendant psychicconsequenceswould in no way diminsh, but thecriminalworldwould benefit, and the whole fabric ofcivilsocietywould be put under severe strain. Never!
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
2022
Ideas,and even the detection oferrors,require more than care and caution.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
2023
With thee conversing I forget alltime,
Allseasons,and theirchange;all please alike.
Sweet is the breath ofmorn,her rising sweet,
With charm of earliestbirds;pleasant thesun
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams on herb,tree,fruit,andflower,
Glist'ring with dew; fragrant the fertileearth
After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful ev'ning mild; thensilentnight
With this her solemn bird and this fairmoon,
And these the gems ofheaven,her starry train.
~John Milton~
in
~Paradise Lost~
2024
DrJ. O. Wisdomonce observed to me that he knew people who thought there was nophilosophyafterHegel,and others who thought there was none beforeWittgenstein;and he saw noreasonfor excluding thepossibilitythat both were right.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
2025
Rank or add further suggestions…

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

  • As good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye. ~John MiltoninAreopagitica
  • One single war — we all know — may be productive of more evil, immediate and subsequent, than hundreds of years of the unchecked action of the mutual-aid principle may be productive of good. ~Peter Kropotkin
  • Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play on the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and prohibiting misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter? ~John MiltoninAreopagitica
  • I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. ~John MiltoninAreopagitica
He who thinks we are to pitch our tent here, and have attained the utmost prospect ofreformationthat the mortal glass wherein we contemplate can show us, till we come tobeatificvision,thatmanby this veryopiniondeclares that he is yet far short oftruth.
~John Milton~
in
~Areopagitica~
Booksare not absolutelydeadthings, but do contain a potency oflifein them to be as active as thatsoulwas whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial thepurestefficacy and extraction of that livingintellectthat bred them. Iknowthey are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulousdragon's teeth;and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men. And yet, on the other hand, unlesswarinessbe used, as good almostkilla man as kill a good book. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, killsreasonitself, kills the image ofGod,as it were in theeye.Many a man lives a burden to theearth;but a good book is the precious life-blood of a masterspirit,embalmed and treasured up onpurposetoa life beyond life.'Tis true, no age can restore a life, whereof perhaps there is no great loss; andrevolutionsof ages do not oft recover the loss of a rejectedtruth,for the want of which wholenationsfare the worse.
~John Milton~
in
~Areopagitica~

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DOB:Ernest Gellner‎‎·Grace Hopper·Henry Way Kendall·Peter Kropotkin·John Milton

It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ~Y-M-C-A,The Village Peoplein honor of the first YMCA established in North America, this day on 1851

  • 2 ~UDScott23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
  • 2 ~Kalki19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
  • 0Zarbon16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 0Lyle21:35, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 1Antiquary21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 1InvisibleSun23:14, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
  • Commentis this so much of the song that there is a potential copyvio issue?Matchups15:34, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise
(That last infirmity of noble mind)
To scorn delights, and live laborious days;
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
And think to burst out into sudden blaze,
Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorrèd shears,
And slits the thin-spun life.
~John Milton

Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lillies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;
Listen for dear honor's sake,
Goddess of the silver lake,
Listen and save.
~John Milton

Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. ~John Milton

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter? ~John Milton

He who thinks we are to pitch our tent here, and have attained the utmost prospect of reformation that the mortal glass wherein we contemplate can show us, till we come to beatific vision, that man by this very opinion declares that he is yet far short of truth. ~John Milton

The means of production being the collective work of humanity, the product should be the collective property of the race. Individual appropriation is neither just nor serviceable. All belongs to all. All things are for all men, since all men have need of them, since all men have worked in the measure of their strength to produce them, and since it is not possible to evaluate every one's part in the production of the world's wealth.

All things are for all.
~Peter Kropotkin~
People are even more reluctant to admit thatmanexplainsnothing,than they were to admit thatGodexplains nothing.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
It isnationalismwhich engendersnations,and not the other way round.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
A cleric who loses hisfaithabandons his calling; aphilosopherwho loses his redefines his subject.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
Tribalism never prospers, for when it does, everyone will respect it as a true nationalism, and no-one will dare call it tribalism.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
Capital, like capitalism, seems an overrated category.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
This is indeed one of the most important general traits of a modern society: cultural homogeneity, the capacity for context-free communication, the standardization of expression and comprehension.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
Civil Society is a cluster of institutions and associations strong enough to preventtyranny,but which are, none the less, entered and left freely, rather than imposed by birth or sustained by awesome ritual.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
The way forward does not lie in amateur and comically timeless linguisticsociologywhich takes ‘forms oflife’ for granted (and this is whatphilosophyhas been recently), but in thesystematicstudyof forms of life which does not take them for granted at all. It hardly matters whether such an inquiry is called philosophy or sociology.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~
Knowledgewhich...transcendsthe bounds, theprejudicesand prejudgements of any onesocietyandcultureis not an illusion but, on the contrary, a glorious and luminousreality.Just how it was achieved remains subject to debate.
~Ernest Gellner‎‎~


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