Selection of Values
But it does appear that a certain dullness of mind is almost an essential quality, if not for every public man, at least for everyone who is seriously interested in making money.
- Dostoyevsky
And indeed, once he has passed his examinations and served his time for thirty-five years, who in our country can fail to become a general eventually, and manage to pile up a tidy sum in the bank? This is how a Russian achieves almost effortlessly the reputation of being a capable and practical man. In fact, not to become a general is possible here only for an original man; in other words, a restless and searching man . . .
- Dostoyevsky
They seemed to have flung away all the golden grain of practical wisdom, which they had enjoyed so many opportunities of harvesting, and most carefully to have stored their memories with the husks. They spoke with far more interest and unction of their morning’s breakfast, or yesterday’s, today’s, or tomorrow’s dinner than of the shipwreck of forty or fifty years ago, and all the world’s wonders which they had witnessed with their youthful eyes. – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Foolish beyond measure is therefore the Christian who lives his life merely for the beautification of the dung hills of earth or hoped-for rewards from the condemned throngs of elegant, sinful men and women. How tragic is any life which merely polishes the brass on the sinking ship of earth and prepares not itself for the rulership of eternity. How pathetic is the naïve saint who chafes at the absence of earthly reward or human acclaim, which things are filthy rags compared to the honors and eternal rewards of heaven. Is it not time for the church to wake up to these facts? – Dave Breese
You can make a name for yourself; you can hear those tires squeal. You can be known as the most beautiful woman who ever crawled across cut glass to make a deal. – Bob Dylan
Of course it is possible to try not to get involved in man’s dilemma; but the only way not to get involved in the dilemma of man is by being young enough, well enough, having money enough, and being egotistic enough to care nothing about other human beings. – Francis Schaeffer
But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands. – Isaiah 32:8
People, I know some of you take this class seriously. – Dr. Portfleet
I saw thousands who could have overcome the darkness. For the love of a lousy buck I watched them die. – Bob Dylan
Charlie don’t surf. – The Clash
Don’t follow leaders, watch parking meters. – Bob Dylan
Time can turn on you like a corkscrew. – T-Bone Burnett
Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping. – Job
At a certain point you can only die. – Bruce Cockburn
What I got ain’t painful; it’s just bound to kill me dead. – Bob Dylan
Twenty-two thousand days, it’s all we’ve got; it’s not a lot, twenty-two thousand days. – The Moody Blues
Castles made of sand fall into the sea, eventually. – Jimi Hendrix
And the waves roll on the shore like a squadron of F-16’s. – Bruce Cockburn
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. - Jeremiah
Some world-views are spacious, and some are merely spaced. – Rush
What we want and what we need has been confused. – REM
Well the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount, but nothing really matters much, it’s doom alone that counts. And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn. – Bob Dylan
Do I understand your question, man, “Is it hopeless and forlorn?” – Bob Dylan
But, I live in another world, where life and death are memorized. Where the earth is strung with lover’s pearls, but all I see are dark eyes. – Bob Dylan
They say it's mostly vanity that writes the plays we act, they tell me that's what everybody knows. There's no such thing as sanity, and that's the sanest fact. And that's the way the story goes. - Mark Knopfler
Don't hate nothing at all except hatred. - Bob Dylan