If this life is a desert, it is our duty to make an oasis in it; if this life is a shipwreck, we must rescue as many as we can, and not forget to sing in the lifeboats.
Peter Gay, Voltaire’s Candide: A Bilingual Edition
If you haven’t already done so, please do so at this time.
Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant
When Bankei was preaching at Ryumon temple, a Shinshu priest, who believed in salvation through the repitition of the name of the Buddha of Love, was jealous of his large audience and wanted to debate with him.
Bankei was in the midst of a talk when the priest appeared, but the fellow made such a disturbance that Bankei stopped his discourse and asked about the noise.
“The founder of our sect,” boasted the priest, “had such miraculous powers that he held a brush in his hand on one bank of the river, his attendant held up a paper on the other bank, and the teacher wrote the holy name of Amida through the air. Can you do such a wonderful thing?”
Bankei replied lightly: “Perhaps your fox can perform that trick, but that is not the manner of Zen. My miracle is that when I feel hungry I eat, and when I feel thirsty I drink.”
Collection of Stone and Sand, #80, The Real Miracle
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau
Thrice happy you, whose walls already rise!
Virgil, from the Aeneid
Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein
… get some cups, brew some coffee. When you run out of cups, close the door and go get more cups.
Giulietta Carrelli retelling advice from her boss on how to open her own coffee shop. This American Life, episode 520, No Place Like Home, Act 3 The Hostess With The Toastess
This end should point toward the ground if you want to go to space. If it starts pointing toward space you are having a bad problem and you will not go to space today.
XKCD, Up Goer Five
Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.
Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
John DeHope 