I’m leaving on a jet plane

I am off to visit the old neighborhood. Southwest Airlines flight from Philadelphia, PA via Chicago, IL to San Jose, CA.

Here are some quotes  I like. 

From the admittedly wise Socrates–

Intelligent individuals learn from every thing and every one; average people, from their experiences. The stupid already have all the answers.

The German philosopher H​annah Arendt (1906 – 1975). She fled Nazi Germany to France and then to the US. She understood the nature of freedom and totalitarianism.

… I am certain that the greatest evils we know are not due to him who has to face himself again and whose curse is that he cannot forget. The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back. For human beings, thinking of past matters means moving in the dimension of depth, striking roots and thus stabilizing themselves, so as not to be swept away by whatever may occur—the Zeitgeist or History or simple temptation. The greatest evil is not radical, it has no roots, and because it has no roots it has no limitations, it can go to unthinkable extremes and sweep over the whole world. – Responsibility and Judgment.

The poet Longfellow:

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.

Here’s one from Adam Smith, writing in 1755 — a good 21 years before the publication of his magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations. What are the necessary conditions for economic development?

Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things. All governments which thwart this natural course, which force things into another channel, or which endeavour to arrest the progress of society at a particular point, are unnatural, and to support themselves are obliged to be oppressive and tyrannical.

And to round it all up, here’s a gem from E. B. White:

I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Be well, do good work to contribute to order and steadfastness, and keep in touch.