Daniel Ginsburg
@dginsburg
Daniel Ginsburg
Such a “glimmering perception” of nature’s interdependence, Humboldt observes, was always present in so-called “primitive” societies as kind of shadow form, intuited rather than investigated, until science emerged to illuminate its elemental truth through its process of “long and laborious observation.”
Maria Popova • The Marginalian
Science can, and does, get there eventually. It is just that the process is slow and laborious, and along the way dogmas can get stuck, and some people forget that that is all part of the process. But, that is all part of the process.
The Guardian view on Austen and Brontë adaptations: purists may reel, but reinvention keeps classic novels alive | Editorial
theguardian.com
Far from being acts of literary grave-robbing, adaptations can be a way of keeping novels alive. With reading now an endangered pursuit, any spin‑offs that lead people back to the books are to be welcomed. Purists need not fear: the reputations of Austen and Brontë will remain unsullied. We should rejoice in the fact that they have sparked social media storms. Their work continues to be part of our cultural conversation – not confined to classrooms and lecture halls. We are still asking: “Who is Heathcliff?” “Does Emma live happily ever after?”
“Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness
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The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery... See more
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You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. - James Baldwin
Perhaps Satan made monsters of the righteous by deceiving them into pursuing imaginary ones - Malcolm Gaskill, on the witch trials
