Category: Quotes

Heinlein On Democracy

Thus spake Heinlein. “The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all perfect democracies throughout all histories.” Continue reading “Heinlein On Democracy”

Random Quotes — Best Sellers

A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel, for example, do not read much other fiction. By contrast, the audience for an obscure novel is largely composed of people who read a lot. That means the least popular books are judged by people who have the highest standards, while the most popular are judged by people who literally do not know any better. An American who read just one book this year was disproportionately likely to have read ‘The Lost Symbol’, by Dan Brown. He almost certainly liked it.

— The Economist

The Importance of Committing

That great Indian teacher, Gautama who became the Buddha, had once instructed his followers to stop dithering. He said, “Bhikshus, when you sit, you sit. When you stand, you stand. Don’t dither.” Continue reading “The Importance of Committing”

Mother India

Will Durant (1885 – 1981) was an American historian, writer and philosopher. His most famous work is the 11-volume “The Story of Civilization”, published between 1935 and 1975. In a 1931 work, “The Case for India“, he had this to say about India.
Continue reading “Mother India”

Thomas Jefferson on Christianity

UPDATE 23 Oct 2018:

The post is clearly wrong. It was Mark Twain, not Jefferson, who wrote this about Christianity.

See this: TwainQuotes.com

Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) had this to say about Christianity —
Continue reading “Thomas Jefferson on Christianity”

Paul Romer: Charter Cities

Cities are the engines of growth. Therefore, a policy that promotes urbanization of the population is an indispensible instrument for economic growth and development. In the following TED Talk, Paul Romer, a world-class growth economist at Stanford, makes the case.
Continue reading “Paul Romer: Charter Cities”

Change is Digital, not Analog

“If the old model is broken, what will work in its place?” ask Clay Shirkey in a blog post “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable.” (March 2009). The full implications of technological change is impossible to foresee even by those who are responsible for the change.
Continue reading “Change is Digital, not Analog”

Looking for Causes must precede the Finding of Remedies

Garrett Hardin (April 21, 1915 – September 14, 2003) proposed what he called the First Law of Ecology, which states “You cannot do only one thing”. He is also the author of the 1968 paper, The Tragedy of the Commons. I admire Hardin for his deep ecological thinking. Here’s a quote from his book ‘Living Within Limits:Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos‘ (1993, OUP).
Continue reading “Looking for Causes must precede the Finding of Remedies”