Some intellectuals work at filling our brains

Some intellectuals work at filling our brains, whereas others do their best to empty them. Naturally the latter are in the majority.

Alcuni studiosi lavorano per riempire il cervello dell'uomo, altri per svuotarglielo. È inutile dire che i secondi sono la maggioranza.

 (Carl William Brown)

The account of science

«Any account of science which does not explicitly describe it as something we believe in is essentially incomplete and a false pretense. It amounts to a claim that science is essentially different from and superior to all human beliefs that are not scientific statements—and this is untrue.»

(Michael Polanyi)

¡Los suspiros son aire y van al aire!

¡Los suspiros son aire y van al aire!

¡Las lágrimas son agua y van al mar!

Dime, mujer, cuando el amor se olvida

¿sabes tú adónde va?

(Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer)

I sospiri sono aria e vanno nell’aria.

Le lacrime sono acqua e vanno al mare.

Dimmi, donna, quando l’amore si dimentica,

sai tu dove va?

(trad. Dr. Divago)

Happiness

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.

(Chuang Tzu)

Somewhere

“Ce qui embellit le desert”, dit le petit prince, “c'est qu'il cache un puits quelque part”.

 “What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well”.

(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)

The woodpecker

The woodpecker could hide in the forest but for his beak.

(Ancient proverb)

The Night has a thousand eyes

The Night has a thousand eyes,
And the Day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

(Francis William Bourdillon)