“In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.”
― Eric Hoffer
Not One Drop of Blood But What Is American
John Adams (1735-1826), President and Patriot, gave the following account of his ancestry:
“One of the foreign Ambassadors said to me, You have been often in England. — Never but once in November and December 1783. You have Relations in England no doubt. — None at all. — None how can that be? You are of English Extraction? — Neither my Father or Mother, Grandfather or Grandmother, Great Grandfather or Great Grandmother nor any other Relation that I know of or care a farthing for have been in England these 150 Years. So that you see, I have not one drop of Blood in my Veins, but what is American. — Ay We have seen says he proofs enough of that. This flattered me no doubt, and I was vain enough to be pleased with it.”
John Adams, Diary, 43:13, May 3, 1785
Change the Sky
Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt.
(They change the sky, not their soul, who run across the sea.)
— Horace
Deception
— Anonymous
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur. (The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived.)
Useless Knowledge
“There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.”
— Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)