Tony's Garden

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “As hatred is defined as intense dislike, what is wrong with inciting intense dislike of a religion, if the activities or teachings of that religion are so outrageous, irrational or abusive of human rights that they deserve to be intensely disliked?”― Rowan Atkinson BIRTHDAYS: 245 Zenobia, third-century queen of the Palmyrene…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers.”― Thomas Sowell BIRTHDAYS: 1400 Luca della Robbia, Italian sculptor 1639 Jean Racine, French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille. 1702 Jean-Étienne…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.”― Isaac Asimov BIRTHDAYS: 1401 Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter 1616 Pietro Andrea Ziani, Italian organist and composer. Sonata VII and 3 in D, and Sonata XVIII 1815 Thomas Couture, French history painter & teacher 1922 Paul Winchell (Wilchinsky), American ventriloquist (Jerry…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The continual intrusion into our minds of the hammering noises of arguments and propaganda can lead to two kinds of reactions. It may lead to apathy and indifference, the I-don’t-care reaction, or to a more intensified desire to study and to understand. Unfortunately, the first reaction is the more popular one.”―…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them — the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you’re sensible, you’ll listen to us; and if not, to…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “There is, however, hope for any person who wants to remain an individual. He can assert himself and refuse to conform. He’ll be on his own, that’s true, but while he will not have the security enjoyed by those who do conform, there will be no limits to what he may…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “Problems worthy of attackprove their worth by fighting back.” ― Piet Hein, Grooks 1 BIRTHDAYS: 1706 Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (Institutions de Physique; translation of Newton’s Principia) 1749 Domenico Cimarosa, Italian composer. “Vè che matta, maledetta!”, and Sonata II – Valentino Bontempi 1797 Joseph Henry, American scientist and…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “Language most shows a man; speak that I may see thee” ― Ben Jonson BIRTHDAYS: 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer and pianist. “Widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven dominates a period of musical history as no one else before or since.” 9th Symphony (1:21)…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: “The mind that is open for questions is open for dissent. In the totalitarian regime the doubting, inquisitive, and imaginative mind has to be suppressed. The totalitarian slave is only allowed to memorize, to salivate when the bell rings.” ― Joost A.M. Meerloo BIRTHDAYS: 1567 Christoph Demantius, German composer. Weissagung des…