#selfrationalization — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Bill Watterson

   CALVIN: (building a snowman) I should be doing my homework now. But the way I look at it, playing in the snow is a lot more important. Out here I’m learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life.
   HOBBES: Such as?
   CALVIN: Procrastinating and rationalizing.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-02-15)

More about this quote: wist.info/watterson-bill/85252…

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A quotation from Euripides

MEDEA: Women, my task is fixed: as quickly as I may
   To kill my children, and start away from this land,
   And not, by wasting time, to suffer my children
   To be slain by another hand less kindly to them.
   Force every way will have it they must die, and since
   This must be so, then I, their mother, shall kill them.
   Oh, arm yourself in steel, my heart! Do not hang back
   From doing this fearful and necessary wrong.
   Oh, come, my hand, poor wretched hand, and take the sword,
   Take it, step forward to this bitter starting point,
   And do not be a coward, do not think of them,
   How sweet they are, and how you are their mother. Just for
   This one short day be forgetful of your children,
   Afterward weep; for even though you will kill them,
   They were very dear — Oh, I am an unhappy woman!
      (With a cry she rushes into the house.)
   
[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: φίλαι, δέδοκται τοὔργον ὡς τάχιστά μοι
   παῖδας κτανούσῃ τῆσδ᾽ ἀφορμᾶσθαι χθονός,
   καὶ μὴ σχολὴν ἄγουσαν ἐκδοῦναι τέκνα
   ἄλλῃ φονεῦσαι δυσμενεστέρᾳ χερί.
   πάντως σφ᾽ ἀνάγκη κατθανεῖν: ἐπεὶ δὲ χρή,
   ἀλλ᾽ εἶ᾽ ὁπλίζου, καρδία: τί μέλλομεν
   τὰ δεινὰ κἀναγκαῖα μὴ πράσσειν κακά;
   ἄγ᾽, ὦ τάλαινα χεὶρ ἐμή, λαβὲ ξίφος,
   λάβ᾽, ἕρπε πρὸς βαλβῖδα λυπηρὰν βίου,
   καὶ μὴ κακισθῇς μηδ᾽ ἀναμνησθῇς τέκνων,
   ὡς φίλταθ᾽, ὡς ἔτικτες, ἀλλὰ τήνδε γε
   λαθοῦ βραχεῖαν ἡμέραν παίδων σέθεν
   κἄπειτα θρήνει: καὶ γὰρ εἰ κτενεῖς σφ᾽, ὅμως
   φίλοι γ᾽ ἔφυσαν: δυστυχὴς δ᾽ ἐγὼ γυνή.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 1236ff (431 BC) [tr. Warner (1944)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/84979/

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A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

Solitude is the climax of the negative virtues. When we go to bed after a solitary day we can tell ourselves that we have not been unkind nor dishonest nor untruthful; and the negative virtues are agreeable to that dangerous faculty we call the conscience. That they should ever be admitted for a part of virtue is what I cannot explain. I do not care two straws for all the nots.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 4.6 “Solitude and Society”

More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

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A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

Few men are sufficiently discerning to appreciate all the evil they do.
 
[Il n’y a guère d’homme assez habile pour connoître tout le mal qu’il fait.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶269 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959), ¶269]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

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A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Even the acquisition of knowledge is often much facilitated by the advantages of society: he that never compares his notions with those of others, readily acquiesces in his first thoughts, and very seldom discovers the objections which may be raised against his opinions; he, therefore, often thinks himself in possession of truth, when he is only fondling an errour long since exploded. He that has neither companions nor rivals in his studies, will always applaud his own progress, and think highly of his performances, because he knows not that others have equalled or excelled him. And I am afraid it may be added, that the student who withdraws himself from the world, will soon feel that ardour extinguished which praise or emulation had enkindled, and take the advantage of secrecy to sleep, rather than to labour.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1754-01-19), The Adventurer, No. 126

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/81496…

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A quotation from Thomas Carlyle

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London

More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/730/

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A quotation from Banksy

Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for.

Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, “Street Furniture,” “Advice on Making Stencils” (2005)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/banksy/76024/

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