"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind." God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (and see Mr. Rogers, below)
"Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail."
Jailbird, prologue
When asked in 1978 about his writing process, Updike said, “I’ve never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think that pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them, you will never write again.”
After the birth of his third child, he had rented an office above a restaurant in Ipswich, and spent several hours each morning writing there. Throughout his 50-year career, he remained devoted to that schedule, writing about three pages every morning after breakfast, sometimes more if things were going well. He said: “Back when I started, our best writers spent long periods brooding in silence. Then they’d publish a big book and go quiet again for another five years. I decided to run a different kind of shop.” WA
 | Alain de Botton (@alaindebotton) |
Why ‘Earthrise’ Matters thebookoflife.org/why- | |
 | Five Books (@five_books) |
The 'father of science fiction' HG Wells suffered terribly from class anxiety. Huxley and Woolf thought him 'vulgar' == Five books on... | |
Charles Darwin (@cdarwin)1/11/15, 6:51 AM"And maybe this is what I have learned more than anything from my great-great-grandfather: to keep my eyes and my mind open, to enjoy the wonders of nature and never cease to ask questions." Sarah Darwin, foreword to "A Modest Genius: The story of Darwin's life and how his ideas changed everything" by Hanne Strager
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In my favorite of the Star Trek films - "The Undiscovered Country" - Nimoy's character as an exchange with Lt. Valeris along those lines:
Spock: "History is replete with turning points, Lieutenant. You must have faith."
Valeris: "Faith?"
Spock: "That the universe will unfold as it should."
Valeris: "But is that logical? Surely we must....."
Spock: "Logic, logic, and logic..... Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end."
(Also of note, a splendid performance by Chrisopher Plummer as the Shakespere-quoting General Chang.)
Spock (the later, enlightened version at least) is a Jamesian mystic, I think:
"What an awful trade that of professor is," William James complained at term's end in 1892, "paid to talk, talk, talk! ...It would be an awful universe if everything could be converted into words, words, words."
On my view Trek is all about HOPE, not faith (which seems too passive). Check out "Ten Commandments of Star Trek," an amusing slide-show from beliefnet.com -
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/2009/04/The-Ten-Commandments-in-Star-Trek.aspx
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