Subject: Viridian Note 00017: Viridian Aphorisms Key concepts: aphorisms, slogans; Viridian Ranking Attention Conservation Notice: Though aphorisms are laudably small in bandwidth, they can occupy shocking amounts of attention, perhaps haunting you for life. Links: http://www.bespoke.org/viridian/ (See Note 00011 for details on the"Big Mike" Viridian Design Contest. See Note 00002 for details on the Viridian Ranking System.) Source: Most of these aphorisms come from THE VIKING BOOK OF APHORISMS by W. H. Auden and Louis Kronenberger, first assembled in 1962. Entries in the "Big Mike" Viridian Design Contest: http://www.pinknoiz.com/graphics/bigmike.gif http://www.spaceways.de/BigMike/Mike.html http://weber.u.washington.edu/~r1ddl3r/bigmike.html http://powerbase-alpha.com/bigmike http://rampages.onramp.net/~jzero/ http://www.well.com/conf/mirrorshades http://www.57thstreet.com/viridian/ ****************** VIRIDIAN APHORISMS ****************** (((bruces remarks: we Viridians won't have time to accumulate our own wisdom of the ages, but we can certainly take the wisdom already to hand and put our own vivifying spin on it. "An epoch doesn't so much reinvent itself as reimagine its heritage" -- STERLING))) It takes time to ruin a world, but time is all it takes. FONTENELLE A historian is a prophet in reverse. SCHEGEL Persistent prophesy is a familiar way of assuring the event. GISSING Our ignorance of history makes us vilify our own age. FLAUBERT Historical textbooks always seem to make three claims about the era they are dealing with: it was a period of change; it was essentially a transitional epoch; and the middle classes went on rising. EAGLETON Each generation criticizes the unconscious assumptions made by its parents. It may assent to them, but it brings them out in the open. WHITEHEAD The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave. FORSTER Progress is the mother of problems. CHESTERTON The obscurest epoch is today. STEVENSON From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be fashioned. KANT Every luxury must be paid for, and everything is a luxury, starting with being in the world. PAVESE Long years must pass before the truths we have made for ourselves become our very flesh. VALERY To know oneself is to foresee oneself; to foresee oneself amounts to playing a part. VALERY How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares, were there any danger of their coming true. LOGAN PEARSALL SMITH Among all human constructions the only ones that avoid the dissolving hands of time are castles in the air. DE ROBERTO (((More to come. People who send us a good Viridian aphorism will earn a chevron. bruces))) **************** VIRIDIAN RANKING **************** The Viridian Ranking System has been hand-created with a vintage fountain pen and fine art paper. Scars, flaws, and imperfections add character and are an inherent part of the product. jon@lasser.org^^^** rsewell@cix.compulink.co.uk^^^** jim@smallworks.com^^^^^^^^* dhlight@mcs.net^^^^^* rinesi@espacio.com.ar^^* SeJ@aol.com^^* steffen@eskimo.com^^* wex@media.mit.edu^^* whiz@ricochet.net^^* LangiG@parl.gc.ca^* weasel@gothic.net^* hinne@spaceways.de* jzero@onramp.net* mgoldh@well.com* pinknoiz@pinknoiz.com* r1ddl3r@bp13.u.washington.edu* richardd@reeseco.com* tux@powerbase-alpha.com* jonl@well.com^^^^^ Ian.Griffin@Corp.Sun.COM^^^^ Cooper409@aol.com^^^ cthomas@10fold.com^^^ tor@araneum.dk^^^ bobmorris@mediaone.net^^ bperry@shore.net^^ geert@xs4all.nl^^ pacoid@fringeware.com^^ pjd@cne.gmu.edu^^ rdm@test.legislate.com^^ robot@ultimax.com^^ tbyfield@panix.com^^ thack@design-inst.nl^^ TuckerV@frogdesign.com^^ ASKornheiser@prodigy.net^ Basilisk@mcione.com^ ccraig@ucsd.edu^ c.ted.ballou@intel.com^ dave@va.com.au^ dc@technomedia.com^ dlandry@rohan.sdsu.edu^ gagin@inter.net.ru^ gail@well.com^ ggg@well.com^ gordy@nytimes.com^ infinite@beaming.com^ jrc@well.com^ kallen@physics.ucsd.edu^ kaiser@acm.org^ katie@wtp.net^ kirk@mcelhearn.com^ klilly@neog.com^ Matt@MediaServ.com^ mann@cse.unsw.edu.au^ melcher@unix.nets.com^ merlan@visa.com^ mwiik@brysonweb.com^ nehrlich@sfis.com^ philg@martigny.ai.mit.edu^ quest@inetarena.com^ roger@bayarea.net^ rthieme@thiemeworks.com^ sblack@library.berkeley.edu^ shassinger@dev.tivoli.com^ steven@iisl.co.uk^ sdhurley@ican.net^ StJude@aol.com^ tdav@wam.umd.edu^ tenev@digbody.dux.ru^ udhay@pobox.com^ viridian@access.spring.net^ WarrenE@aol.com^ whh@uclink4.berkeley.edu^