A collection of sayings, phrases, thoughts and other snippets of 'wisdom'
that I have been exposed to over the years.
I realize that 'wisdom' may be a little strong. I also acknowledge that I
have largely only been exposed to words in the English language and mostly
those written or said in the last half-century as I have never really read
the 'classics'.
But one has to start somehwere.
Many of these inform the way I think, work and play. I will look to add to
them over time and, if the list grows long enough, will categorize them to
enable sorting as well.
I have tried to ensure that the attributation is correct, i.e. I have
checked my sources as best I can. However, I continue to be amazed by the
number of times that I confidently ascribe a saying in my head to a source
only to find that the person never said it or were certainly not the first
to say it.
Thoughts to work, play and live by? Table of collected Wisdoms: a few things I've seen or heard that help me better understand some things in lifeSaying Source Experience is the thing you get right after you need it. More accurately perhaps "Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it." Steven Wright Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (among others?) The main thing that flying requires is the ability to throw yourself at the ground and miss According to the Guide, flying is notoriously difficult and deliberately intending to miss the ground does not work. The secret is finding a way to be suddenly and surprisingly distracted just before you hit the ground. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law. My favourite 'law'. I'll write a blog post on some other good ones in due course. Douglas Hofstadter in his book 'Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid' from 1979