Walt's World of Wisdom
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Wisdom 81
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
that wants it down.
Robert Frost
Source: "Mending Wall" from The Complete Poems of Robert Frost
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Wisdom 82
When my father was alive, I thought of him as being at home. Now that he has died, I think of him as being everywhere.
George Simons
Comment: This is what George said to me the night that my father died—and it has stayed with me over the years since.
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Wisdom 83
At first people refuse to believe
that a strange new thing can be done,
then they begin to hope it can be done,
then they see it can be done—
then it is done
and all the world wonders why
it was not done centuries ago.
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Source: The Secret Garden
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Wisdom 84
One of the new things people began to find out
in the last century was that thoughts—just mere
thoughts—are as powerful as electric batteries—
as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as
poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into
your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet
fever germ get into your body.
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Source: The Secret Garden
Comment: In 1911, Burnett popularised the work of William James and opened up the path to Appreciative Inquiry.
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Wisdom 85
Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. . . . And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
Source: A Return To Love
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Wisdom 86
We old mathematicians never die,
we just shift to another dimension.
Walt Hopkins
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Wisdom 87
If we are going to discuss ethical questions we
must begin by giving the devil fair play. . . .
England never does. We always assume that the
devil is guilty; and we wont allow him to prove his
innocence, because it would be against public
morals if he succeeded. We used to do the same
with prisoners accused of high treason. And the
consequence is that we overreach ourselves;
and the devil gets the better of us after all.
Perhaps thats what most of us intend him to do.
George Bernard Shaw
Source: Getting Married
Comment: spoken in this play by the Bishop of Chelsea (with contractions spelt by Shaw!)
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Wisdom 88
I'm not a teacher: only a fellow-traveller
of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead—
ahead of myself as well as of you.
George Bernard Shaw
Source: Getting Married
Comment: spoken in this play by the Bishop of Chelsea
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Wisdom 89
Blessed are the mad
for they reason without logic.
Luigi Pirandello
Source: Henry IV
Comment: Also translated as: "Madmen, lucky folk! construct without logic, or rather with a logic that flies like a feather."
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Wisdom 90
We old scientists never die,
we just evolve into a new theory.
Walt Hopkins
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Welcome to Walt's World of Wisdom!
My passion for wisdom includes a passion for getting the quotation right and getting the source right. If you have any corrections to offer, please let me know. Thanks!
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