Something from Jim Steinman, the musician, who wrote Bat Out Hell and died a few days ago (1947-2021).
“If you don’t go over the top, you can’t see what’s on the other side.”
Reminds me slighly of Kurt Vonnegut’s quote: “I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.” And this, of course, harks back to Guillaume Apollinaire’s ‘Come to the edge’ quote.
“The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is or has been is but the twilight of the dawn.” HG Wells, The Discovery of tyhe Future (1913)
“No plan of operations reaches with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main force” (Helmuth von Moltke, Prussina military commander, 1880).
Or another version….
“Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth” (Mike Tyson, former World Heavyweight boxing champion).
“Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science. But man needs both.” – From the Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra.
Not 100% true (floppy discs or zip drives anyone?), but I like the thought.
Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
“I don’t make predictions and I never will” – Paul Gascoigne.
“I remember one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the back of a tree just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened; the butterfly started slowly crawling out, and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath, in vain. It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of the wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand. That little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience. For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm.” – Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek.
“Someday a computer will give the wrong answer to spare someone’s feelings, and man will have invented artificial intelligence.” – Robert Breault.
“Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.”
From Revenge of the Analog, by David Sax