Which in turn reminds me of George Harrison's take on "Alice in Wonderland" in his song "Any Road:" "If you don't know where you're going Any road will take you there." I love that song. George's guitar was never more silky and delicious.
Which in turn reminds of Seneca's saying: "if one does not know to which port he is sailing, no wind is favorable."
I can't think of a case where poems changed the world, but what they do is they change people's understanding of what's going on in the world. ~ Seamus Heaney
'Everybody has a right to be stupid, but some people abuse the privilege.' 'Ideas are more powerful than guns.' 'It's not the people who vote that count.' 'It is difficult for me to imagine what “personal liberty” is enjoyed by an unemployed hungry person.' ------------------------------------------- All this said by Joseph Stalin. Yes, he was a monster but that doesn't mean he didn't have a point in those quotes.
Frederick the Great was an interesting person. --It is disgusting to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects, and the amount of money that goes out of the country as a consequence. Everybody is using coffee; this must be prevented. His Majesty was brought up on beer, and so were both his ancestors and officers. Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer, and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be relied upon to endure hardships in case of another war. --Little minds try to defend everything at once, but sensible people look at the main point only; they parry the worst blows and stand a little hurt if thereby they avoid a greater one. If you try to hold everything, you hold nothing. --The greatest and noblest pleasure which men can have in this world is to discover new truths; and the next is to shake off old prejudices. --If I wished to punish a province, I would have it governed by philosophers. --A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.
There would be nothing to get me to run for president. I don't even understand how anyone would want that job at all. Although I would be able to play golf, which I don't seem to have time for now. - Ellen DeGeneres
If I am occasionally a little overdressed, I make up for it by being always immensely overeducated. ~Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Which calls to mind Kurt Vonnegut's quote: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." — From Mother Night
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” - Albert Einstein
"On the next tone... (elongated pause)... you will have lost the previous one... See? I told you so." - Hera Katsouda
Every morning I take out my bankbook, stare at it, shudder - and turn quickly to my typewriter. - Sydney J. Harris
"We're not going crazy, We're learning to fly, We're looking for answers With both of our eyes Well maybe it's time to tame the monster inside, Of this wild, wild world we live in"-Set It Off "Wild Wild World" ""Well, I've been deep in this sleeplessness I don't know why Just can't get away from myself When I get back on my feet I'll blow this open wide And carry me home in good health"-Marianas Trench "Who do You Love"
"Sodden with drink as she was, she had a bold-faced shamelessness that I could well imagine appealed to all that was base in men." W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge
I don't know if I posted this before, but I came across it again: "Many people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those that I do understand." --Mark Twain
I can still hear his voice and see his teeth clenching that cigar! I think I've unwittingly put Apone into my SES character. I might make him black, just for tribute.
