Shared: si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses

si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses:

si tacuisses, philosophies mansisses

If you had kept your silence, you would have stayed a philosopher

This quote is often attributed to the Latin philosopher Boethius of the late fifth and early sixth centuries. It translates literally as, “If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher.” The phrase illustrates a common use of the subjunctive verb mood. Among other functions it expresses actions contrary to fact. Sir Humphrey Appleby translated it to the PM as: “If you’d kept your mouth shut we might have thought you were clever.”

Shared: Goodreads | Quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Quand tu veux construire un bateau, ne commence…”

Goodreads | Quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “Quand tu veux construire un bateau, ne commence…”:

“Quand tu veux construire un bateau, ne commence pas par rassembler du bois, couper des planches et distribuer du travail, mais reveille au sein des hommes le desir de la mer grande et large.

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Shared: Yes, Donald Trump scares me, too – The Washington Post

Yes, Donald Trump scares me, too – The Washington Post:

The Constitution divides power to make it easier to stop legislation than to enact it. When public opinion is sharply divided, it’s easy for nothing to happen. This can seem pretty maddening to those with strong views on one side. When you elect politicians who talk about how they’re going to solve problems, but then nothing happens, it’s easy to blame the politicians for not trying hard enough or for being controlled by unnamed “special interests.” After all, the politicians promised but then didn’t deliver. Something nefarious must explain it. In that kind of frustrated political environment, a politician who simply insists that he will solve every problem — and will do it so quickly and effectively that your head will spin — might seem like a breath of fresh air. That impression is based on a misunderstanding, though. The constitutional design makes the separation of powers a feature and not a bug. It means you need to persuade the other side, or reach a compromise, to change the law. The answer isn’t to elect a “strong man” who will find unnamed ways of forcing his views upon others. That’s a dangerous path, and it’s not one that the Constitution envisions or experience recommends.

Shared: Goodreads | Quote by Douglas Adams: “The major problem—one of the major problems, fo…”

Goodreads | Quote by Douglas Adams: “The major problem—one of the major problems, fo…”:

“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” ― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe