a renunciation of instinct November 30, 2009

It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct. —Sigmund Freud

or else alone November 30, 2009

I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone. —Rainer Maria Rilke

a contradiction in our belief November 30, 2009

To extend our memories by monuments whose death we daily pray for, and whose duration we cannot hope, without injury to our expectations in the advent of the last day, were a contradiction to our belief. —Sir Thomas Browne

the foremost civilized nation November 30, 2009

“The country which first recognizes its responsibilities to the child,” S. W. Newmayer wrote in 1911, ”will receive the recognition of the world as being the foremost civilized nation.” Newmayer had just been asked to guide Philadelphia’s child health and welfare efforts, and as he surveyed indicators of child healthfrom around the world, he found that the United States [...]

tools to make tools November 30, 2009

Intelligence is the faculty of making artificial objects, especially tools to make tools. - Henri Bergson

a photographic ideal November 30, 2009

        There are an awful lot of people in the world and it’s going to be terribly hard to photograph all of them. —Diane Arbus      

memory resolves itself November 29, 2009

All memory resolves itself in gaze.   —Richard Hugo  

Mississippi begins November 29, 2009

Mississippi begins in a lobby of a Memphis, Tennessee hotel and extends south to the Gulf of Mexico.   —William Faulkner

in varying proportions November 29, 2009

Every man has a mob self and an individual self, in varying proportions. ~D.H. Lawrence

more tangible than prayers November 28, 2009

. . . most bereaved souls crave nourishment more tangible than prayers: they want a steak. —M. F. K. Fisher