Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined.
-- Thoreau
Risk
When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown,
we must believe that one of two things will happen.
There will be something solid for us to stand on
or we will be taught to fly.
-- Patrick Overton
Thinking Machine
Asking whether machines can think is precisely as interesting as asking whether submarines can swim.
-- Dijkstra
Believe
Believe in the intelligence of men, power of nature, Believe in the certainty of change, and the fundemental principles of living -- Integrity and compassion.
-- PK Shiu
Change the World
Why Not
You see things; and you say "Why?"
But I dream things that never
were; and I say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah (1921) pt. 1, act 1
Sucess - Original Version
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved
much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of
intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his
niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he
found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued
soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to
express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them
the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory is a
benediction.
Bessie A. Stanley (b.1879) in _Notes and Queries_ July 1976
Success
To laugh often and love much,
to win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children;
to earn the approbation of honest critics;
to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self;
to know even one life has breathed easier because
you have lived --- that is to have succeeded.
-- Harry Emerson Fosdick
The Tao of Politics
Here are to evaluate people:
If they are in positions of high status, observe what they promote.
If they are wealthy, observe what they give.
If they are poor, observe what they refuse to accept.
If they are of low status, observe what they refuse to do.
If they are covetous, observe what they will not take.
See them change difficulties, and you can know their courage.
Move them with joy and happiness, and you can observe their self-control.
Entrust them with goods and money, and you can assess their humanity.
Shake them with fear, and you can know their discipline.
-- Ref: The Lessons of the Masters of Huainan, (207 B.C.E. - 220 C.E.) Translation: by Thomas Cleary
Do
“Do or do not, there is no try”