#imperfection — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Ingersoll

The fact is, very few men are right in everything. Great virtues may draw attention from defects, but they cannot sanctify them. A pebble surrounded by diamonds remains a common stone, and a diamond surrounded by pebbles is still a gem. No one should attempt to refute an argument by pronouncing the name of some man, unless he is willing to adopt all the ideas and beliefs of that man. It is better to give reasons and facts than names. An argument should not depend for its force upon the name of its author. Facts need no pedigree, logic has no heraldry, and the living should not awed by the mistakes of the dead.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York

More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ingersoll #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #ancestors #argument #authority #debate #defect #elders #facts #fallacy #feetofclay #forefathers #imperfection #perfection #truth #virtue

A quotation from Bertrand Russell

I think the gist of the matter is that a saint can live without politeness, and indeed that politeness is incompatible with a saintly character. But the man who is always to be sincere must be free from spite and envy and malice and pettiness. Most of us have a dose of these vices in our composition and therefore have to excerise tact to avoid giving offence. We cannot all be saints, and if saintliness is impossible, we may at least try not to be too disagreeable.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Essay (1933-02-01) “On Tact,” New York American

More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/601…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #compensation #diplomacy #disagreeability #friction #imperfection #offense #politeness #pragmatism #prudence #saint #sincerity #tact #virtue

A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt

We may make mistakes — but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1945-01-20), Inaugural Address, Washington, D.C.

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-d…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklinroosevelt #fdr #franklindelanoroosevelt #franklindroosevelt #error #fear #immorality #imperfection #mistake #principles #reluctance #vice #evil

A quotation from Marcus Aurelius

Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on to say, “Why were things of this sort ever brought into the world?” The student of nature will only laugh at you; just as a carpenter or a shoemaker would laugh, if you found fault with the shavings and scraps from their work which you saw in the shop.
 
[Σίκυος πικρός; ἄφες. βάτοι ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ; ἔκκλινον. ἀρκεῖ, μὴ προσεπείπῃς: τί δὲ καὶ ἐγένετο ταῦτα ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ; ἐπεὶ καταγελασθήσῃ ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπου φυσιολόγου, ὡς ἂν καὶ ὑπὸ τέκτονος καὶ σκυτέως γελασθείης καταγινώσκων ὅτι ἐν τῷ ἐργαστηρίῳ ξέσματα καὶ περιτμήματα τῶν κατασκευαζομένων ὁρᾷς.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 8, ch. 50 (8.50) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/marcus-aureleus/8007…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marcusaurelius #marcusaureliusmeditations #causes #divinepurpose #facts #happenstance #imperfection #meaning #problems #purpose #reasons #dealwithit

A quotation from Barbara Brown Taylor

What I mean by that, I think, is that much of religion, much of the religion I was schooled in, was about putting myself away, aside, behind me in order to become something holier and closer to God. In other words, to draw nearer to the Really Real I needed to be less me. Perhaps it was a midlife revelation or just wearing out on that that led me to a different understanding — that my humanity was God’s chief gift to me, and that if I was going to find the Really Real it was going to be within that and not separating myself from that. I don’t know if it makes sense. But it meant that the holiest thing I could be was the flawed human being God had made me to be.

Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Interview (2006-06-08) by Bob Abernathy, PBS

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/taylor-barbara-brown…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #authenticity #creation #God #humannature #imperfection #reality #religion #selfdenial

A quotation from Dante Alighieri:

«
O clear and noble conscience, how sharply a little fault stings you!
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/dante-alighieri-poet/63503/

#quote #quotes #quotation #conscience #flaw #imperfection #lapse #reproof #sin #selfcriticism #selfawareness #selfreproach #highstandards #selfawareness #fault