Giga Games 1/Giga Games.iso/net/usenet/volume4/cookie/part03

Internet Message Format | 1988-05-20 | 62.7 KB

Path: uunet!tektronix!tekgen!tekred!games
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: comp.sources.games
Subject: v04i017:  cookie - another fortune cookie program, Part03/03
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 20 May 88 22:37:22 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Lines: 1339
Approved: [e-mail]

Submitted by: uunet.uu.net!nuchat!sugar!karl (Karl Lehenbauer)
Comp.sources.games: Volume 4, Issue 17
Archive-name: cookie/Part03

    [Part2 of the cookie file.]

#! /bin/sh
# This is a shell archive.  Remove anything before this line, then unpack
# it by saving it into a file and typing "sh file".  To overwrite existing
# files, type "sh file -c".  You can also feed this as standard input via
# unshar, or by typing "sh <file", e.g..  If this archive is complete, you
# will see the following message at the end:
#        "End of archive 3 (of 3)."
# Contents:  cookies.ab
# Wrapped by billr@saab on Fri May 20 15:23:44 1988
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb ; export PATH
if test -f cookies.ab -a "${1}" != "-c" ; then
  echo shar: Will not over-write existing file \"cookies.ab\"
else
echo shar: Extracting \"cookies.ab\" \(61142 characters\)
sed "s/^X//" >cookies.ab <<'END_OF_cookies.ab'
XThe power to destroy a planet is insignificant when compared to the power of
Xthe Force.
X- Darth Vader
X%%
XWhen I left you, I was but the pupil.  Now, I am the master.
X- Darth Vader
X%%
X"Well, well, well!  Well if it isn't fat stinking billy goat Billy Boy in
Xpoison!  How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap stinking chip oil?  Come
Xand get one in the yarbles, if ya have any yarble, ya eunuch jelly thou!"
X- Alex in "Clockwork Orange"
X%%
X"There was nothing I hated more than to see a filthy old drunkie, a howling
Xaway at the sons of his father and going blurp blurp in between as if it were
Xa filthy old orchestra in his stinking rotten guts.  I could never stand to
Xsee anyone like that, especially when they were old like this one was."
X- Alex in "Clockwork Orange"
X%%
X186,000 Miles per Second.  It's not just a good idea.  IT'S THE LAW.
X%%
XStupidity, like virtue, is its own reward.
X%%
XGee, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.
X%%
XChildren begin by loving their parents.  After a time they judge them.  Rarely,
Xif ever, do they forgive them.
X- Oscar Wilde
X%%
XSingle tasking: Just Say No.
X%%
X"Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world."
X- The Beach Boys
X%%
X"Bond reflected that good Americans were fine people and that most of them
Xseemed to come from Texas."
X- Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale"
X%%
X"I think trash is the most important manifestation of culture we have in my
Xlifetime."
X- Johnny Legend
X%%
XBy one count there are some 700 scientists with respectable academic credentials
X(out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence
Xto creation-science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve
Xbut appeared "abruptly."
X- Newsweek, June 29, 1987, pg. 23
X%%
XEven if you can deceive people about a product through misleading statements,
Xsooner or later the product will speak for itself.
X- Hajime Karatsu
X%%
XIn order to succeed in any enterprise, one must be persistent and patient.
XEven if one has to run some risks, one must be brave and strong enough to
Xmeet and overcome vexing challenges to maintain a successful business in
Xthe long run.  I cannot help saying that Americans lack this necessary
Xchallenging spirit today.
X- Hajime Karatsu
X%%
XMemories of you remind me of you.
X- Karl
X%%
XLife.  Don't talk to me about life.
X- Marvin the Paranoid Anroid
X%%
XOn a clear disk you can seek forever.
X%%
XThe world is coming to an end--save your buffers!
X%%
Xgrep me no patterns and I'll tell you no lines.
X%%
XIt is your destiny.
X- Darth Vader
X%%
XHokey religions and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at
Xyour side.
X- Han Solo
X%%
XHow many QA engineers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
X
X3: 1 to screw it in and 2 to say "I told you so" when it doesn't work.
X%%
XHow many NASA managers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
X
X"That's a known problem... don't worry about it."
X%%
XTo be is to program.
X%%
XTo program is to be.
X%%
XI program, therefore I am.
X%%
XPeople are very flexible and learn to adjust to strange
Xsurroundings -- they can become accustomed to read Lisp and
XFortran programs, for example.
X- Leon Sterling and Ehud Shapiro, Art of Prolog, MIT Press
X%%
X"I am your density."
X  -- George McFly in "Back to the Future"
X%%
X"So why don't you make like a tree, and get outta here."
X  -- Biff in "Back to the Future"
X%%
X"Falling in love makes smoking pot all day look like the ultimate in restraint."
X-- Dave Sim, author of Cerebrus.
X%%
XThe existence of god implies a violation of causality.
X%%
X"I may kid around about drugs, but really, I take them seriously."
X- Doctor Graper
X%%
XOperating-system software is the program that orchestrates all the basic
Xfunctions of a computer.
X- The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, September 15, 1987, page 40
X%%
XI pledge allegiance to the flag
Xof the United States of America
Xand to the republic for which it stands,
Xone nation,
Xindivisible,
Xwith liberty
Xand justice for all.
X- Francis Bellamy, 1892
X%%
XPeople think my friend George is weird because he wears sideburns...behind his
Xears.  I think he's weird because he wears false teeth...with braces on them.
X-- Steven Wright
X%%
XMy brother sent me a postcard the other day with this big sattelite photo of
Xthe entire earth on it. On the back it said: "Wish you were here".
X -- Steven Wright
X%%
XYou can't have everything... where would you put it?
X-- Steven Wright
X%%
XI was playing poker the other night... with Tarot cards. I got a full house and
X4 people died.
X-- Steven Wright
X%%
XYou know that feeling when you're leaning back on a stool and it starts to tip
Xover?  Well, that's how I feel all the time.
X-- Steven Wright
X%%
XI came home the other night and tried to open the door with my car keys...and
Xthe building started up.  So I took it out for a drive.  A cop pulled me over
Xfor speeding.  He asked me where I live... "Right here".
X-- Steven Wright
X%%
X"Live or die, I'll make a million."
X-- Reebus Kneebus, before his jump to the center of the earth, Firesign Theater
X%%
XThe typical page layout program is nothing more than an electronic
Xlight table for cutting and pasting documents.
X%%
XThere are bugs and then there are bugs.  And then there are bugs.
X- karl
X%%
XMy computer can beat up your computer.
X- karl
X%%
XKill Ugly Processor Architectures
X- karl
X%%
XKill Ugly Radio
X- Frank Zappa
X%%
X"Just Say No."   - Nancy Reagan
X
X"No."            - Ronald Reagan
X%%
XI believe that part of what propels science is the thirst for wonder.  It's a
Xvery powerful emotion.  All children feel it.  In a first grade classroom
Xeverybody feels it; in a twelfth grade classroom almost nobody feels it, or
Xat least acknowledges it.  Something happens between first and twelfth grade,
Xand it's not just puberty.  Not only do the schools and the media not teach
Xmuch skepticism, there is also little encouragement of this stirring sense
Xof wonder.  Science and pseudoscience both arouse that feeling.  Poor
Xpopularizations of science establish an ecological niche for pseudoscience.
X- Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 12, Fall 87
X%%
XIf science were explained to the average person in a way that is accessible
Xand exciting, there would be no room for pseudoscience.  But there is a kind
Xof Gresham's Law by which in popular culture the bad science drives out the
Xgood.  And for this I think we have to blame, first, the scientific community
Xourselves for not doing a better job of popularizing science, and second, the
Xmedia, which are in this respect almost uniformly dreadful.  Every newspaper
Xin America has a daily astrology column.  How many have even a weekly
Xastronomy column?  And I believe it is also the fault of the educational
Xsystem.  We do not teach how to think.  This is a very serious failure that
Xmay even, in a world rigged with 60,000 nuclear weapons, compromise the human
Xfuture.
X- Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 12, Fall 87
X%%
X"I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience.  And
Xin addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the
Xadditional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.
X- Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 12, Fall 87
X%%
XI'm often asked the question, "Do you think there is extraterrestrial intelli-
Xgence?"  I give the standard arguments -- there are a lot of places out there,
Xand use the word *billions*, and so on.  And then I say it would be astonishing
Xto me if there weren't extraterrestrial intelligence, but of course there is as
Xyet no compelling evidence for it.  And then I'm asked, "Yeah, but what do you
Xreally think?"  I say, "I just told you what I really think."  "Yeah, but
Xwhat's your gut feeling?"  But I try not to think with my gut.  Really, it's
Xokay to reserve judgment until the evidence is in.
X- Carl Sagan, The Burden Of Skepticism, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 12, Fall 87
X%%
XRepel them.  Repel them.  Induce them to relinquish the spheroid.
X- Indiana University fans' chant for their perennially bad football team
X%%
XIf it's working, the diagnostics say it's fine.
XIf it's not working, the diagnostics say it's fine.
X- A proposed addition to rules for realtime programming
X%%
X   It is either through the influence of narcotic potions, of which all
Xprimitive peoples and races speak in hymns, or through the powerful approach
Xof spring, penetrating with joy all of nature, that those Dionysian stirrings
Xarise, which in their intensification lead the individual to forget himself
Xcompletely. . . .Not only does the bond between man and man come to be forged
Xonce again by the magic of the Dionysian rite, but alienated, hostile, or
Xsubjugated nature again celebrates her reconciliation with her prodigal son,
Xman.
X- Fred Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
X%%
XThe characteristic property of hallucinogens, to suspend the boundaries between
Xthe experiencing self and the outer world in an ecstatic, emotional experience,
Xmakes it posible with their help, and after suitable internal and external
Xperparation...to evoke a mystical experience according to plan, so to speak...
XI see the true importance of LSD in the possibility of providing materail aid
Xto meditation aimed at the mystical experience of a deeper, comprehensive
Xreality.  Such a use accords entirely with the essence and working character
Xof LSD as a sacred drug.
X- Dr. Albert Hoffman, the discoverer of LSD
X%%
XI share the belief of many of my contemporaries that the spiritual crisis
Xpervading all spheres of Western industrial society can be remedied only
Xby a change in our world view.  We shall have to shift from the materialistic,
Xdualistic belief that people and their environment are separate, toward a
Xnew conciousness of an all-encompassing reality, which embraces the
Xexperiencing ego, a reality in which people feel their oneness with animate
Xnature and all of creation.
X- Dr. Albert Hoffman
X%%
XDeliberate provocation of mystical experience, particularly by LSD and related
Xhallucinogens, in contrast to spontaneous visionary experiences, entails
Xdangers that must not be underestimated.  Practitioners must take into
Xaccount the peculiar effects of these substances, namely their ability to
Xinfluence our consciousness, the innermost essence of our being.  The history
Xof LSD to date amply demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can
Xensue when its profound effect is misjudged and the substance is mistaken
Xfor a pleasure drug.  Special internal and external advance preperations
Xare required; with them, an LSD experiment can become a meaningful
Xexperience.
X- Dr. Albert Hoffman, the discoverer of LSD
X%%
XI believe that if people would learn to use LSD's vision-inducing capability
Xmore wisely, under suitable conditions, in medical practice and in conjution
Xwith meditation, then in the future this problem child could become a wonder
Xchild.
X- Dr. Albert Hoffman, the discoverer of LSD
X%%
XIn the realm of scientific observation, luck is granted only to those who are
Xprepared.
X- Louis Pasteur
X%%
Xcore error - bus dumped
X%%
XIf imprinted foil seal under cap is broken or missing when purchased, do not
Xuse.
X%%
X"Come on over here, baby, I want to do a thing with you."
X- A Cop, arresting a non-groovy person after the revolution, Firesign Theater
X%%
X"Ahead warp factor 1"
X- Captain Kirk
X%%
X   Fiery energy lanced out, but the beams struck an intangible wall between
Xthe Gubru and the rapidly turning Earth ship.
X
X   "Water!" it shrieked as it read the spectral report.  "A barrier of water
Xvapor!  A civilized race could not have found such a trick in the Library!
XA civilized race could not have stooped so low!  A civilized race would not
Xhave..."
X
X   It screamed as the Gubru ship hit a cloud of drifting snowflakes.
X
X- Startide Rising, by David Brin
X%%
XHarrison's Postulate:
X    For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
X%%
XMr. Cole's Axiom:
X    The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant;
X    the population is growing.
X%%
XFelson's Law:
X    To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from
X    many is research.
X%%
X...Another writer again agreed with all my generalities, but said that as an
Xinveterate skeptic I have closed my mind to the truth.  Most notably I have
Xignored the evidence for an Earth that is six thousand years old.  Well, I
Xhaven't ignored it; I considered the purported evidence and *then* rejected it.
XThere is a difference, and this is a difference, we might say, between
Xprejudice and postjudice.  Prejudice is making a judgment before you have
Xlooked at the facts.  Postjudice is making a judgment afterwards.  Prejudice
Xis terrible, in the sense that you commit injustices and you make serious
Xmistakes.  Postjudice is not terrible.  You can't be perfect of course; you
Xmay make mistakes also.  But it is permissible to make a judgment after you
Xhave examined the evidence.  In some circles it is even encouraged.
X- Carl Sagan, The Burden of Skepticism, Skeptical Enquirer, Vol. 12, pg. 46
X%%
XIf a person (a) is poorly, (b) receives treatment intended to make him better,
Xand (c) gets better, then no power of reasoning known to medical science can
Xconvince him that it may not have been the treatment that restored his health.
X- Sir Peter Medawar, The Art of the Soluble
X%%
XAmerica has been discovered before, but it has always been hushed up.
X- Oscar Wilde
X%%
XUnix:  Some say the learning curve is steep, but you only have to climb it once.
X-karl
X%%
XSometimes, too long is too long.
X- Joe Crowe
X%%
XWhen bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one,
Xan unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
X- Edmund Burke
X%%
XBehind all the political rhetoric being hurled at us from abroad, we are
Xbringing home one unassailable fact -- [terrorism is] a crime by any civilized
Xstandard, committed against innocent people, away from the scene of political
Xconflict, and must be dealt with as a crime. . . .
X   [I]n our recognition of the nature of terrorism as a crime lies our best hope
Xof dealing with it. . . .
X   [L]et us use the tools that we have.  Let us invoke the cooperation we have
Xthe right to expect around the world, and with that cooperation let us shrink
Xthe dark and dank areas of sanctuary until these cowardly marauders are held
Xto answer as criminals in an open and public trial for the crimes they have
Xcommitted, and receive the punishment they so richly deserve.
X- William H. Webster, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 15 Oct 1985
X%%
X"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst."
X- Thomas Paine
X%%
X"I say we take off; nuke the site from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure."
X- Corporal Hicks, in "Aliens"
X%%
X"There is nothing so deadly as not to hold up to people the opportunity to
Xdo great and wonderful things, if we wish to stimulate them in an active way."
X- Dr. Harold Urey, Nobel Laureate in chemistry
X%%
X"...proper attention to Earthly needs of the poor, the depressed and the
Xdowntrodden, would naturally evolve from dynamic, articulate, spirited
Xawareness of the great goals for Man and the society he conspired to erect."
X- David Baker, paraphrasing Harold Urey, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
X%%
X"Athens built the Acropolis.  Corinth was a commercial city, interested in
Xpurely materialistic things.  Today we admire Athens, visit it, preserve the
Xold temples, yet we hardly ever set foot in Corinth."
X- Dr. Harold Urey, Nobel Laureate in chemistry
X%%
X"Largely because it is so tangible and exciting a program and as such will
Xserve to keep alive the interest and enthusiasm of the whole spectrum of
Xsociety...It is justified because...the program can give a sense of shared
Xadventure and achievement to the society at large."
X- Dr. Colin S. Pittendrigh, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
X%%
XThe challenge of space exploration and particularly of landing men on the moon
Xrepresents the greatest challenge which has ever faced the human race.  Even
Xif there were no clear scientific or other arguments for proceeding with this
Xtask, the whole history of our civilization would still impel men toward the
Xgoal.  In fact, the assembly of the scientific and military with these human
Xarguments creates such an overwhelming case that in can be ignored only by
Xthose who are blind to the teachings of history, or who wish to suspend the
Xdevelopment of civilization at its moment of greatest opportunity and drama.
X- Sir Bernard Lovell, 1962, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
X%%
XThe idea of man leaving this earth and flying to another celestial body and
Xlanding there and stepping out and walking over that body has a fascination
Xand a driving force that can get the country to a level of energy, ambition,
Xand will that I do not see in any other undertaking.  I think if we are
Xhonest with ourselves, we must admit that we needed that impetus extremely
Xstrongly.  I sincerely believe that the space program, with its manned
Xlanding on the moon, if wisely executed, will become the spearhead for a
Xbroad front of courageous and energetic activities in all the fields of
Xendeavour of the human mind - activities which could not be carried out
Xexcept in a mental climate of ambition and confidence which such a spearhead
Xcan give.
X- Dr. Martin Schwarzschild, 1962, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
X%%
XHuman society - man in a group - rises out of its lethargy to new levels of
Xproductivity only under the stimulus of deeply inspiring and commonly
Xappreciated goals.  A lethargic world serves no cause well; a spirited world
Xworking diligently toward earnestly desired goals provides the means and
Xthe strength toward which many ends can be satisfied...to unparalleled
Xsocial accomplishment.
X- Dr. Lloyd V. Berkner, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
X%%
XThe vigor of civilized societies is preserved by the widespread sense that high
Xaims are worth-while.  Vigorous societies harbor a certain extravagance of
Xobjectives, so that men wander beyond the safe provision of personal
Xgratifications.  All strong interests easily become impersonal, the love of
Xa good job well done.  There is a sense of harmony about such an accomplishment,
Xthe Peace brought by something worth-while.
X- Alfred North Whitehead, 1963, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
X%%
XI do not believe that this generation of Americans is willing to resign itself
Xto going to bed each night by the light of a Communist moon...
X- Lyndon B. Johnson
X%%
XLife's the same, except for the shoes.
X- The Cars
X%%
XPurple hum
XAssorted cars
XLaser lights, you bring
X
XAll to prove
XYou're on the move
Xand vanishing
X- The Cars
X%%
XCould be you're crossing the fine line
XA silly driver kind of...off the wall
X
XYou keep it cool when it's t-t-tight
X...eyes wide open when you start to fall.
X- The Cars
X%%
XAdapt.  Enjoy.  Survive.
X%%
XWere there fewer fools, knaves would starve.
X- Anonymous
X%%
XHumanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be
Xlost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.
X- Isaac Asimov
X%%
XAnd the crowd was stilled.  One elderly man, wondering at the sudden silence,
Xturned to the Child and asked him to repeat what he had said.  Wide-eyed,
Xthe Child raised his voice and said once again, "Why, the Emperor has no
Xclothes!  He is naked!"
X- "The Emperor's New Clothes"
X%%
X"Those who believe in astrology are living in houses with foundations of
XSilly Putty."
X-  Dennis Rawlins, astronomer
X%%
XTo date, the firm conclusions of Project Blue Book are:
X   1. no unidentified flying object reported, investigated and evaluated
X      by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our
X      national security;
X   2. there has been no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air
X      Force that sightings categorized as UNIDENTIFIED represent
X      technological developments or principles beyond the range of
X      present-day scientific knowledge; and
X   3. there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized
X      as UNIDENTIFIED are extraterrestrial vehicles.
X- the summary of Project Blue Book, an Air Force study of UFOs from 1950
X  to 1965, as quoted by James Randi in Flim-Flam!
X%%
XThose who believe that they believe in God, but without passion in their
Xhearts, without anguish in mind, without uncertainty, without doubt,
Xwithout an element of despair even in their consolation, believe only
Xin the God idea, not God Himself.
X- Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish philosopher and writer
X%%
XDoubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
X- Kahlil Gibran
X%%
XDoubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.
X- Paul Tillich, German theologian and historian
X%%
XDoubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
X- Voltaire
X%%
XIf only God would give me some clear sign!  Like making a large deposit
Xin my name at a Swiss Bank.
X- Woody Allen
X%%
XI cannot affirm God if I fail to affirm man.  Therefore, I affirm both.
XWithout a belief in human unity I am hungry and incomplete.  Human unity
Xis the fulfillment of diversity.  It is the harmony of opposites.  It is
Xa many-stranded texture, with color and depth.
X- Norman Cousins
X%%
XTo downgrade the human mind is bad theology.
X- C. K. Chesterton
X%%
X...difference of opinion is advantageious in religion.  The several sects
Xperform the office of a common censor morum over each other.  Is uniformity
Xattainable?  Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the
Xintroduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned;
Xyet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
X- Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on Virginia"
X%%
XLife is a process, not a principle, a mystery to be lived, not a problem to
Xbe solved.
X- Gerard Straub, television producer and author (stolen from Frank Herbert??)
X%%
XSo we follow our wandering paths, and the very darkness acts as our guide and
Xour doubts serve to reassure us.
X- Jean-Pierre de Caussade, eighteenth-century Jesuit priest
X%%
XFaith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurence of the
Ximprobable.
X- H. L. Mencken
X%%
XAnd do you not think that each of you women is an Eve?  The judgement of God
Xupon your sex endures today; and with it invariably endures your position of
Xcriminal at the bar of justice.
X- Tertullian, second-century Christian writer, misogynist
X%%
XI judge a religion as being good or bad based on whether its adherents
Xbecome better people as a result of practicing it.
X- Joe Mullally, computer salesman
X%%
XImitation is the sincerest form of plagarism.
X%%
X"Unibus timeout fatal trap program lost sorry"
X- An error message printed by DEC's RSTS operating system for the PDP-11
X%%
XHow many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
X
XOne to hold the giraffe and one to fill the bathtub with brightly colored
Xpower tools.
X%%
XHow many Bavarian Illuminati does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
X
XThree: one to screw it in, and one to confuse the issue.
X%%
XHow long does it take a DEC field service engineer to change a lightbulb?
X
XIt depends on how many bad ones he brought with him.
X%%
XIt does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God.
XIt neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
X- Thomas Jefferson
X%%
XI do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman
XChurch, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church,
Xnor by any Church that I know of.  My own mind is my own Church.
X- Thomas Paine
X%%
XGod requireth not a uniformity of religion.
X- Roger Williams
X%%
XThe day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being
Xas his Father, in the womb of a virgin will be classified with the fable of
Xthe generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.  But we may hope that the
Xdawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with
Xthis artificial scaffolding and restore to us the primitive and genuine
Xdoctrines of this most venerated Reformer of human errors.
X- Thomas Jefferson
X%%
XLet us, then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind.  Let us
Xrestore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which
Xliberty and even life itself are but dreary things.  And let us reflect
Xthat having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which
Xmankind so long bled, we have yet gained little if we counternance a
Xpolitical intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of a bitter and
Xbloody persecutions.
X- Thomas Jefferson
X%%
XI do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature.
X- Thomas Jefferson
X%%
XThe divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity.  Nowhere
Xin the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths,
XDoctrines, and whole carloads of other foolish trumpery that we find in
XChristianity.
X- John Adams
X%%
XThe Bible is not my Book and Christianity is not my religion.  I could
Xnever give assent to the long complicated statements of Christian dogma.
X- Abraham Lincoln
X%%
XAs to Jesus of Nazareth...I think the system of Morals and his Religion,
Xas he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see;
Xbut I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have,
Xwith most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his
Xdivinity.
X- Benjamin Franklin
X%%
XI would have promised those terrorists a trip to Disneyland if it would have
Xgotten the hostages released.  I thank God they were satisfied with the
Xmissiles and we didn't have to go to that extreme.
X- Oliver North
X%%
XI believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute --
Xwhere no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic)
Xhow to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishoners for whom
Xto vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or
Xpolitical preference--and where no man is denied public office merely
Xbecause his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the
Xpeople who might elect him.
X- from John F. Kennedy's address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association
X  September 12, 1960.
X%%
XThe truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only
Xopposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all other attempts
Xat rational thinking.  Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of
Xknowledge a serpent -- slimy, sneaking and abominable.  Since the earliest
Xdays the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every
Xeffort to liberate the body and mind of man.  It has been, at all times and
Xeverywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad
Xlaws, bad social theories, bad institutions.  It was, for centuries, an
Xapologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.
X- H. L. Mencken
X%%
XThe notion that science does not concern itself with first causes -- that it
Xleaves the field to theology or metaphysics, and confines itself to mere
Xeffects -- this notion has no support in the plain facts.  If it could,
Xscience would explain the origin of life on earth at once--and there is
Xevery reason to believe that it will do so on some not too remote tomorrow.
XTo argue that gaps in knowledge which will confront the seeker must be filled,
Xnot by patient inquiry, but by intuition or revelation, is simply to give
Xignorance a gratuitous and preposterous dignity....
X- H. L. Mencken, 1930
X%%
XThe evidence of the emotions, save in cases where it has strong objective
Xsupport, is really no evidence at all, for every recognizable emotion has
Xits opposite, and if one points one way then another points the other way.
XThus the familiar argument that there is an instinctive desire for immortality,
Xand that this desire proves it to be a fact, becomes puerile when it is
Xrecalled that there is also a powerful and widespread fear of annihilation,
Xand that this fear, on the same principle proves that there is nothing
Xbeyond the grave.  Such childish "proofs" are typically theological, and
Xthey remain theological even when they are adduced by men who like to
Xflatter themselves by believing that they are scientific gents....
X- H. L. Mencken
X%%
XThere is, in fact, no reason to believe that any given natural phenomenon,
Xhowever marvelous it may seem today, will remain forever inexplicable.
XSoon or late the laws governing the production of life itself will be
Xdiscovered in the laboratory, and man may set up business as a creator
Xon his own account.  The thing, indeed, is not only conceivable; it is
Xeven highly probable.
X- H. L. Mencken, 1930
X%%
XThe best that we can do is to be kindly and helpful toward our friends and
Xfellow passengers who are clinging to the same speck of dirt while we are
Xdrifting side by side to our common doom.
X- Clarence Darrow
X%%
XWe're here to give you a computer, not a religion.
X- attributed to Bob Pariseau, at the introduction of the Amiga
X%%
X...there can be no public or private virtue unless the foundation of action is
Xthe practice of truth.
X- George Jacob Holyoake
X%%
X"If you'll excuse me a minute, I'm going to have a cup of coffee."
X- broadcast from Apollo 11's LEM, "Eagle", to Johnson Space Center, Houston
X  July 20, 1969, 7:27 P.M.
X%%
XThe meek are contesting the will.
X%%
XI'm sick of being trodden on!  The Elder Gods say they can make me a man!
XAll it costs is my soul!  I'll do it, cuz NOW I'M MAD!!!
X- Necronomicomics #1, Jack Herman & Jeff Dee
X%%
X   On Krat's main screen appeared the holo image of a man, and several dolphins.
X>From the man's shape, Krat could tell it was a female, probably their leader.
X   "...stupid creatures unworthy of the name `sophonts.'  Foolish, pre-sentient
Xupspring of errant masters.  We slip away from all your armed might, laughing
Xat your clumsiness!  We slip away as we always will, you pathetic creatures.
XAnd now that we have a real head start, you'll never catch us!  What better
Xproof that the Progenitors favor not you, but us!  What better proof..."
X   The taunt went on.  Krat listened, enraged, yet at the same time savoring
Xthe artistry of it.  These men are better than I'd thought.  Their insults
Xare wordy and overblown, but they have talent.  They deserve honorable, slow
Xdeaths.
X- David Brin, Startide Rising
X%%
X"I'm a mean green mother from outer space"
X -- Audrey II, The Little Shop of Horrors
X%%
XLike my parents, I have never been a regular church member or churchgoer.
XIt doesn't seem plausible to me that there is the kind of God who
Xwatches over human affairs, listens to prayers, and tries to guide
Xpeople to follow His precepts -- there is just too much misery and
Xcruelty for that.  On the other hand, I respect and envy the people
Xwho get inspiration from their religions.
X- Benjamin Spock
X%%
XAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.
X- Andy Finkel, computer guy
X%%
XBeing schizophrenic is better than living alone.
X%%
XNOWPRINT. NOWPRINT. Clemclone, back to the shadows again.
X- The Firesign Theater
X%%
XYes, many primitive people still believe this myth...But in today's technical
Xvastness of the future, we can guess that surely things were much different.
X- The Firesign Theater
X%%
X...this is an awesome sight.  The entire rebel resistance buried under six
Xmillion hardbound copies of "The Naked Lunch."
X- The Firesign Theater
X%%
XWe want to create puppets that pull their own strings.
X- Ann Marion
X%%
XI know engineers.  They love to change things.
X- Dr. McCoy
X%%
XOn our campus the UNIX system has proved to be not only an effective software
Xtool, but an agent of technical and social change within the University.
X- John Lions (U. of Toronto (?))
X%%
XThose who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.
X- Henry Spencer, University of Toronto Unix hack
X%%
X"You know why there are so few sophisticated computer terrorists in the United
XStates?  Because your hackers have so much mobility into the establishment.
XHere, there is no such mobility.  If you have the slightest bit of intellectual
Xintegrity you cannot support the government.... That's why the best computer
Xminds belong to the opposition."
X- an anonymous member of the outlawed Polish trade union, Solidarity
X%%
X"Every Solidarity center had piles and piles of paper .... everyone was
Xeating paper and a policeman was at the door.  Now all you have to do is
Xbend a disk."
X- an anonymous member of the outlawed Polish trade union, Solidarity,
X  commenting on the benefits of using computers in support of their movement
X%%
XClothes make the man.  Naked people have little or no influence on society.
X- Mark Twain
X%%
XThe sooner all the animals are extinct, the sooner we'll find their money.
X- Ed Bluestone
X%%
XHe's dead, Jim.
X%%
XNew York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you.
X- David Letterman
X%%
XYou can do more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word.
X- Al Capone
X%%
XThe fountain code has been tightened slightly so you can no longer dip objects
Xinto a fountain or drink from one while you are floating in mid-air due to
Xlevitation.
X
XTeleporting to hell via a teleportation trap will no longer occur if the
Xcharacter does not have fire resistance.
X
X- README file from the NetHack game
X%%
XRemember, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.
X- Frank Zappa
X%%
XI think that all right-thinking people in this country are sick and
Xtired of being told that ordinary decent people are fed up in this
Xcountry with being sick and tired.  I'm certainly not.  But I'm
Xsick and tired of being told that I am.
X- Monty Python
X%%
X"There is no statute of limitations on stupidity."
X-- Randomly produced by a computer program called Markov3.
X%%
XThere is a time in the tides of men,
XWhich, taken at its flood, leads on to success.
XOn the other hand, don't count on it.
X- T. K. Lawson
X%%
XTo follow foolish precedents, and wink
XWith both our eyes, is easier than to think.
X- William Cowper
X%%
XIt is the quality rather than the quantity that matters.
X- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. - A.D. 65)
X%%
XOne may be able to quibble about the quality of a single experiment, or
Xabout the veracity of a given experimenter, but, taking all the supportive
Xexperiments together, the weight of evidence is so strong as readily to
Xmerit a wise man's reflection.
X- Professor William Tiller, parapsychologist, Standford University,
X  commenting on psi research
X%%
XNothing ever becomes real until it is experienced.
X- John Keats
X%%
XYour good nature will bring you unbounded happiness.
X%%
X"Our journey toward the stars has progressed swiftly.
X
XIn 1926 Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-propelled rocket,
Xachieving an altitude of 41 feet.  In 1962 John Glenn orbited the earth.
X
XIn 1969, only 66 years after Orville Wright flew two feet off the ground
Xfor 12 seconds, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and I rocketed to the moon
Xin Apollo 11."
X-- Michael Collins
X   Former astronaut and past Director of the National Air and Space Museum
X%%
XMost people exhibit what political scientists call "the conservatism of the
Xpeasantry."  Don't lose what you've got.  Don't change.  Don't take a chance,
Xbecause you might end up starving to death.  Play it safe.  Buy just as much
Xas you need.  Don't waste time.
X
XWhen  we think about risk, human beings and corporations realize in their
Xheads that risks are necessary to grow, to survive.  But when it comes down
Xto keeping good people when the crunch comes, or investing money in
Xsomething untried, only the brave reach deep into their pockets and play
Xthe game as it must be played.
X
X- David Lammers, "Yakitori", Electronic Engineering Times, January 18, 1988
X%%
X"We can't schedule an orgy, it might be construed as fighting"
X--Stanley Sutton
X%%
XWeekends were made for programming.
X- Karl
X%%
X"Once he had one leg in the White House and the nation trembled under his
Xroars.  Now he is a tinpot pope in the Coca-Cola belt and a brother to the
Xforlorn pastors who belabor halfwits in galvanized iron tabernacles behind
Xthe railroad yards."
X- H. L. Mencken, writing of William Jennings Bryan, counsel for the supporters
X  of Tennessee's anti-evolution law at the Scopes "Monkey Trial" in 1925.
X%%
X...we must counterpose the overwhelming judgment provided by consistent
Xobservations and inferences by the thousands.  The earth is billions of
Xyears old and its living creatures are linked by ties of evolutionary
Xdescent.  Scientists stand accused of promoting dogma by so stating, but
Xdo we brand people illiberal when they proclaim that the earth is neither
Xflat nor at the center of the universe?  Science *has* taught us some
Xthings with confidence!  Evolution on an ancient earth is as well
Xestablished as our planet's shape and position.  Our continuing struggle
Xto understand how evolution happens (the "theory of evolution") does not
Xcast our documentation of its occurrence -- the "fact of evolution" --
Xinto doubt.
X- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Verdict on Creationism", The Skeptical Inquirer,
X  Vol XII No. 2
X%%
XThis was the ultimate form of ostentation among technology freaks -- to have
Xa system so complete and sophisticated that nothing showed; no machines,
Xno wires, no controls.
X- Michael Swanwick, "Vacuum Flowers"
X%%
XMen ought to know that from the brain and from the brain only arise our
Xpleasures, joys, laughter, and jests as well as our sorrows, pains, griefs
Xand tears.  ... It is the same thing which makes us mad or delirious, inspires
Xus with dread and fear, whether by night or by day, brings us sleeplessness,
Xinopportune mistakes, aimless anxieties, absent-mindedness and acts that are
Xcontrary to habit...
X- Hippocrates (c. 460-c. 377 B.C.), The Sacred Disease
X%%
XModern psychology takes completely for granted that behavior and neural function
Xare perfectly correlated, that one is completely caused by the other.  There is
Xno separate soul or lifeforce to stick a finger into the brain now and then and
Xmake neural cells do what they would not otherwise.  Actually, of course, this
Xis a working assumption only....It is quite conceivable that someday the
Xassumption will have to be rejected.  But it is important also to see that we
Xhave not reached that day yet: the working assumption is a necessary one and
Xthere is no real evidence opposed to it.  Our failure to solve a problem so
Xfar does not make it insoluble.  One cannot logically be a determinist in
Xphysics and biology, and a mystic in psychology.
X- D. O. Hebb, Organization of Behavior:  A Neuropsychological Theory, 1949
X%%
XPrevalent beliefs that knowledge can be tapped from previous incarnations or
Xfrom a "universal mind" (the repository of all past wisdom and creativity)
Xnot only are implausible but also unfairly demean the stunning achievements
Xof individual human brains.
X- Barry L. Beyerstein, "The Brain and Consciousness: Implications for Psi
X  Phenomena", The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 163-171
X%%
X... Fortunately, the responsibility for providing evidence is on the part of
Xthe person making the claim, not the critic.  It is not the responsibility
Xof UFO skeptics to prove that a UFO has never existed, nor is it the
Xresponsibility of paranormal-health-claims skeptics to prove that crystals
Xor colored lights never healed anyone.  The skeptic's role is to point out
Xclaims that are not adequately supported by acceptable evidcence and to
Xprovide plausible alternative explanations that are more in keeping with
Xthe accepted body of scientific evidence. ...
X- Thomas L. Creed, The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, pg. 215
X%%
X"Ada is the work of an architect, not a computer scientist."
X- Jean Icbiah, inventor of Ada, weenie
X%%
XExtraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.  There are many examples of
Xoutsiders who eventually overthrew entrenched scientific orthodoxies, but
Xthey prevailed with irrefutable data.  More often, egregious findings that
Xcontradict well-established research turn out to be artifacts.  I have
Xargued that accepting psychic powers, reincarnation, "cosmic conciousness,"
Xand the like, would entail fundamental revisions of the foundations of
Xneuroscience.  Before abandoning materialist theories of mind that have paid
Xhandsome dividends, we should insist on better evidence for psi phenomena
Xthan presently exists, especially when neurology and psychology themselves
Xoffer more plausible alternatives.
X- Barry L. Beyerstein, "The Brain and Conciousness: Implications for Psi
X   Phenomena", The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 163-171
X%%
XEvolution is a bankrupt speculative philosophy, not a scientific fact.
XOnly a spiritually bankrupt society could ever believe it. ... Only
Xatheists could accept this Satanic theory.
X- Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, "The Pre-Adamic Creation and Evolution"
X%%
XEvolution is as much a fact as the earth turning on its axis and going around
Xthe sun.  At one time this was called the Copernican theory; but, when
Xevidence for a theory becomes so overwhelming that no informed person
Xcan doubt it, it is customary for scientists to call it a fact.  That all
Xpresent life descended from earlier forms, over vast stretches of geologic
Xtime, is as firmly established as Copernican cosmology.  Biologists differ
Xonly with respect to theories about how the process operates.
X- Martin Gardner, "Irving Kristol and the Facts of Life",
X   The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 128-131
X%%
X...It is sad to find him belaboring the science community for its united
Xopposition to ignorant creationists who want teachers and textbooks to
Xgive equal time to crank arguments that have advanced not a step beyond
Xthe flyblown rhetoric of Bishop Wilberforce and William Jennings Bryan.
X- Martin Gardner, "Irving Kristol and the Facts of Life",
X   The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 128-131
X%%
X... The book is worth attention for only two reasons:  (1) it attacks
Xattempts to expose sham paranormal studies; and (2) it is very well and
Xplausibly written and so rather harder to dismiss or refute by simple
Xjeering.
X- Harry Eagar, reviewing "Beyond the Quantum" by Michael Talbot,
X   The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII No. 2, ppg. 200-201
X%%
Xe-credibility: the non-guaranteeable likelihood that the electronic data
Xyou're seeing is genuine rather than somebody's made-up crap.
X- karl
X%%
XWhenever people agree with me, I always think I must be wrong.
X- Oscar Wilde
X%%
XShit Happens.
X%%
XMy mother is a fish.
X- William Faulkner
X%%
XThe further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it
Xseems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the
Xfear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving
Xafter rational knowledge.
X- Albert Einstein
X$$
XThe more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events, the firmer
Xbecomes his conviction that there is no room left by the side of this ordered
Xregularity for causes of a different nature.  For him neither the rule of
Xhuman nor the rule of divine will exists as an independent cause of natural
Xevents.  To be sure, the doctrine of a personal God interfering with natural
Xevents could never be refuted, in the real sense, by science, for this
Xdoctrine can always take refuge in those domains in which scientific knowledge
Xhas not yet been able to set foot.
X
XBut I am persuaded that such behavior on the part of the representatives
Xof religion would not only be unworthy but also fatal.  For a doctrine which
Xis able to maintain itself not in clear light, but only in the dark, will
Xof necessity lose its effect on mankind, with incalculable harm to human
Xprogress.  In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion
Xmust have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is,
Xgive up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast
Xpowers in the hands of priests.  In their labors they will have to avail
Xthemselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the
XTrue, and the Beautiful in humanity itself.  This is, to be sure, a more
Xdifficult but an incomparably more worthy task.
X- Albert Einstein
X%%
XAnyone who knows history, particularly the history of Europe, will, I think,
Xrecognize that the domination of education or of government by any one
Xparticular religious faith is never a happy arrangement for the people.
X- Eleanor Roosevelt
X%%
XMost non-Catholics know that the Catholic schools are rendering a greater
Xservice to our nation than the public schools in which subversive textbooks
Xhave been used, in which Communist-minded teachers have taught, and from
Xwhose classrooms Christ and even God Himself are barred.
X- Our Sunday Visitor, an American-Catholic newspaper, circa 1949
X%%
XThose of us who believe in the right of any human being to belong to whatever
Xchurch he sees fit, and to worship God in his own way, cannot be accused
Xof prejudice when we do not want to see public education connected with
Xreligious control of the schools, which are paid for by taxpayers' money.
X- Eleanor Roosevelt
X%%
XSpiritual leadership should remain spiritual leadership and the temporal
Xpower should not become too important in any church.
X- Eleanor Roosevelt
X%%
XTruth has always been found to promote the best interests of mankind...
X- Percy Bysshe Shelley
X%%
XIf atheism is to be used to express the state of mind in which God is
Xidentified with the unknowable, and theology is pronounced to be a
Xcollection of meaningless words about unintelligible chimeras, then
XI have no doubt, and I think few people doubt, that atheists are as
Xplentiful as blackberries...
X- Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), literary essayist, author
X%%
XIt is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone to believe anything upon
Xinsufficient evidence.
X- W. K. Clifford, British philosopher, circa 1876
X%%
XWhy, when no honest man will deny in private that every ultimate problem is
Xwrapped in the profoundest mystery, do honest men proclaim in pulpits
Xthat unhesitating certainty is the duty of the most foolish and ignorant?
XIs it not a spectacle to make the angels laugh?  We are a company of
Xignorant beings, feeling our way through mists and darkness, learning only
Xbe incessantly repeated blunders, obtaining a glimmering of truth by
Xfalling into every conceivable error, dimly discerning light enough for
Xour daily needs, but hopelessly differing whenever we attempt to describe
Xthe ultimate origin or end of our paths; and yet, when one of us ventures
Xto declare that we don't know the map of the universe as well as the map
Xof our infintesimal parish, he is hooted, reviled, and perhaps told that
Xhe will be damned to all eternity for his faithlessness...
X- Leslie Stephen, "An agnostic's Apology", Fortnightly Review, 1876
X%%
XTill then we shall be content to admit openly, what you (religionists)
Xwhisper under your breath or hide in technical jargon, that the ancient
Xsecret is a secret still; that man knows nothing of the Infinite and
XAbsolute; and that, knowing nothing, he had better not be dogmatic about
Xhis ignorance.  And, meanwhile, we will endeavour to be as charitable as
Xpossible, and whilst you trumpet forth officially your contempt for our
Xskepticism, we will at least try to believe that you are imposed upon
Xby your own bluster.
X- Leslie Stephen, "An agnostic's Apology", Fortnightly Review, 1876
X%%
XMarriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly.
X- Voltaire
X%%
XWhat is tolerance? -- it is the consequence of humanity.  We are all formed
Xof frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly --
Xthat is the first law of nature.
X- Voltaire
X%%
XIt is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because
Xhe is not of the same opinion, is a monster.
X- Voltaire
X%%
XI simply try to aid in letting the light of historical truth into that
Xdecaying mass of outworn thought which attaches the modern world to
Xmedieval conceptions of Christianity, and which still lingers among us --
Xa most serious barrier to religion and morals, and a menace to the whole
Xnormal evolution of society.
X- Andrew D. White, author, first president of Cornell University, 1896
X%%
XThe man scarce lives who is not more credulous than he ought to be.... The
Xnatural disposition is always to believe.  It is acquired wisdom and experience
Xonly that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough.
X- Adam Smith
X%%
XI put the shotgun in an Adidas bag and padded it out with four pairs of tennis
Xsocks, not my style at all, but that was what I was aiming for:  If they think
Xyou're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude.  I'm a
Xvery technical boy.  So I decided to get as crude as possible.  These days,
Xthough, you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to
Xcrudeness.
X- Johnny Mnemonic, by William Gibson
X%%
XHowever, on religious issures there can be little or no compromise.
XThere is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious
Xbeliefs.  There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than
XJese Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being.
XBut like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf
Xshould be used sparingly.  The religious factions that are growing
Xthroughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom.
XThey are trying to force government leaders into following their position
X100 percent.  If you disagree with these religious groups on a
Xparticular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of
Xmoney or votes or both.  I'm frankly sick and tired of the political
Xpreachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be
Xa moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C," and "D."  Just who do
Xthey think they are?  And from where do they presume to claim the
Xright to dictate their moral beliefs to me?  And I am even more angry as
Xa legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who
Xthinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll
Xcall in the Senate.  I am warning them today:  I will fight them every
Xstep of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all
XAmericans in the name of "conservatism."
X- Senator Barry Goldwater, from the Congressional Record, September 16, 1981
X%%
X"I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell's ass."
X- Senator Barry Goldwater, when asked what he thought of Jerry Falwell's
Xsuggestion that all good Christians should be against Sandra Day O'Connor's
Xnomination to the Supreme Court
X%%
X...And no philosophy, sadly, has all the answers.  No matter how assured
Xwe may be about certain aspects of our belief, there are always painful
Xinconsistencies, exceptions, and contradictions.  This is true in religion as
Xit is in politics, and is self-evident to all except fanatics and the naive.
XAs for the fanatics, whose number is legion in our own time, we might be
Xadvised to leave them to heaven.  They will not, unfortunately, do us the
Xsame courtesy.  They attack us and each other, and whatever their
Xprotestations to peaceful intent, the bloody record of history makes clear
Xthat they are easily disposed to restore to the sword.  My own belief in
XGod, then, is just that -- a matter of belief, not knowledge.  My respect
Xfor Jesus Christ arises from the fact that He seems to have been the
Xmost virtuous inhabitant of Planet Earth.  But even well-educated Christians
Xare frustated in their thirst for certainty about the beloved figure
Xof Jesus because of the undeniable ambiguity of the scriptural record.
XSuch ambiguity is not apparent to children or fanatics, but every
Xrecognized Bible scholar is perfectly aware of it.  Some Christians, alas,
Xresort to formal lying to obscure such reality.
X- Steve Allen, comdeian, from an essay in the book "The Courage of
X  Conviction", edited by Philip Berman
X%%
X...it still remains true that as a set of cognitive beliefs about the
Xexistence of God in any recognizable sense continuous with the great
Xsystems of the past, religious doctrines constitute a speculative
Xhypothesis of an extremely low order of probability.
X- Sidney Hook
X%%
XA fanatic is a person who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
X- Winston Churchill
X%%
XWe're fighting against humanism, we're fighting against liberalism...
Xwe are fighting against all the systems of Satan that are destroying
Xour nation today...our battle is with Satan himself.
X- Jerry Falwell
X%%
XThey [preachers] dread the advance of science as witches do the approach
Xof daylight and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversions
Xof the duperies on which they live.
X- Thomas Jefferson
X%%
XSaints should always be judged guilty until they are proven innocent.
X- George Orwell
X%%
XAs I argued in "Beloved Son", a book about my son Brian and the subject
Xof religious communes and cults, one result of proper early instruction
Xin the methods of rational thought will be to make sudden mindless
Xconversions -- to anything -- less likely.  Brian now realizes this and
Xhas, after eleven years, left the sect he was associated with.  The
Xproblem is that once the untrained mind has made a formal commitment to
Xa religious philosophy -- and it does not matter whether that philosophy
Xis generally reasonable and high-minded or utterly bizarre and
Xirrational -- the powers of reason are suprisingly ineffective in
Xchanging the believer's mind.
X- Steve Allen, comdeian, from an essay in the book "The Courage of
X  Conviction", edited by Philip Berman
X%%
XNothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult
Xthan to understand him.
X- Fyodor Dostoevski
X%%
XWe may not be able to persuade Hindus that Jesus and not Vishnu should
Xgovern their spiritual horizon, nor Moslems that Lord Buddha is at the
Xcenter of their spiritual universe, nor Hebrews that Mohammed is a major
Xprohpet, nor Christians that Shinto best expresses their spiritual
Xconcerns, to say nothing of the fact that we may not be able to get
XChristians to agree among themselves about their relationship to God.
XBut all will agree on a proposition that they possess profound spiritual
Xresources.  If, in addition, we can get them to accept the further
Xproposition that whatever form the Deity may have in their own theology,
Xthe Deity is not only external, but internal and acts through them, and
Xthey themselves give proof or disproof of the Deity in what they do and
Xthink; if this further proposition can be accepted, then we come that
Xmuch closer to a truly religious situation on earth.
X- Norman Cousins, from his book "Human Options"
X%%
XThe Messiah will come.  There will be a resurrection of the dead -- all
Xthe things that Jews believed in before they got so damn sophisticated.
X- Rabbi Meir Kahane
X%%
XThe world is no nursery.
X- Sigmund Freud
X%%
XIf one inquires why the American tradition is so strong against any
Xconnection of State and Church, why it dreads even the rudiments of
Xreligious teaching in state-maintained schools, the immediate and
Xsuperficial answer is not far to seek....
XThe cause lay largely in the diversity and vitality of the various
Xdenominations, each fairly sure that, with a fair field and no favor,
Xit could make its own way; and each animated by a jealous fear that,
Xif any connection of State and Church were permitted, some rival
Xdenomination would get an unfair advantage.
X- John Dewey (1859-1953), American philosopher,
X  from "Democracy in the Schools", 1908
X%%
XAlready the spirit of our schooling is permeated with the feeling that
Xevery subject, every topic, every fact, every professed truth must be
Xsubmitted to a certain publicity and impartiality.  All proffered
Xsamples of learning must go to the same assay-room and be subjected to
Xcommon tests.  It is the essence of all dogmatic faiths to hold that
Xany such "show-down" is sacrilegious and perverse.  The characteristic
Xof religion, from their point of view, is that it is intellectually
Xsecret, not public; peculiarly revealed, not generall known;
Xauthoritatively declared, not communicated and tested in ordinary
Xways...It is pertinent to point out that, as long as religion is
Xconceived as it is now by the great majority of professed religionists,
Xthere is something self-contradictory in speaking of education in
Xreligion in the same sense in which we speak of education in topics
Xwhere the method of free inquiry has made its way.  The "religious"
Xwould be the last to be willing that either the history of the
Xcontent of religion should be taught in this spirit; while those
Xto whom the scientific standpoint is not merely a technical device,
Xbut is the embodiment of the integrity of mind, must protest against
Xits being taught in any other spirit.
X- John Dewey (1859-1953), American philosopher,
X  from "Democracy in the Schools", 1908
X%%
XIn the broad and final sense all institutions are educational in the
Xsense that they operate to form the attitudes, dispositions, abilities
Xand disabilities that constitute a concrete personality...Whether this
Xeducative process is carried on in a predominantly democratic or non-
Xdemocratic way becomes, therefore, a question of transcendent importance
Xnot only for education itself but for its final effect upon all the
Xinterests and activites of a society that is committed to the democratic
Xway of life.
X- John Dewey (1859-1953), American philosopher
X%%
XHistory shows that the human mind, fed by constant accessions of knowledge,
Xperiodically grows too large for its theoretical coverings, and bursts
Xthem asunder to appear in new habiliments, as the feeding and growing
Xgrub, at intervals, casts its too narrow skin and assumes another...
XTruly the imago state of Man seems to be terribly distant, but every
Xmoult is a step gained.
X- Charles Darwin, from "Origin of the Species"
X%%
X...I would go so far as to suggest that, were it not for our ego and
Xconcern to be different, the African apes would be included in our
Xfamily, the Hominidae.
X- Richard Leakey
X%%
XIt is inconceivable that a judicious observer from another solar system
Xwould see in our species -- which has tended to be cruel, destructive,
Xwasteful, and irrational -- the crown and apex of cosmic evolution.
XViewing us as the culmination of *anything* is grotesque; viewing us
Xas a transitional species makes more sense -- and gives us more hope.
X- Betty McCollister, "Our Transitional Species",
X  Free Inquiry magazine, Vol. 8, No. 1
X%%
X"Well, you see, it's such a transitional creature.  It's a piss-poor
Xreptile and not very much of a bird."
X- Melvin Konner, from "The Tangled Wing", quoting a zoologist who has
Xstudied the archeopteryz and found it "very much like people"
X%%
X"Creation science" has not entered the curriculum for a reason so simple
Xand so basic that we often forget to mention it: because it is false, and
Xbecause good teachers understand exactly why it is false.  What could be
Xmore destructive of that most fragile yet most precious commodity in our
Xentire intellectualy heritage -- good teaching -- than a bill forcing
Xhonorable teachers to sully their sacred trust by granting equal treatment
Xto a doctrine not only known to be false, but calculated to undermine any
Xgeneral understanding of science as an enterprise?
X-- Stephen Jay Gould, "The Skeptical Inquirer", Vol. 12, page 186
X%%
XIt is not well to be thought of as one who meekly submits to insolence and
Xintimidation.
X%%
X"Regardless of the legal speed limit, your Buick must be operated at
Xspeeds faster than 85 MPH (140kph)."
X-- presumable misprint from the 1987 Buick Grand National owners manual.
X%%
X"Your attitude determines your attitude."
X-- Zig Ziglar, self-improvement doofus
X%%
XIn arguing that current theories of brain function cast suspicion on ESP,
Xpsychokinesis, reincarnation, and so on, I am frequently challenged with
Xthe most popular of all neuro-mythologies -- the notion that we ordinarily
Xuse only 10 percent of our brains...
X
XThis "cerebral spare tire" concept continues to nourish the clientele of
X"pop psychologists" and their many recycling self-improvement schemes.  As
Xa metaphor for the fact that few of us fully exploit our talents, who could
Xdeny it?  As a refuge for occultists seeking a neural basis of the miraculous,
Xit leaves much to be desired.
X-- Barry L. Beyerstein, "The Brain and Conciousness:  Implications for
X   Psi Phenomena", The Skeptical Enquirer, Vol. XII, No. 2, pg. 171
X%%
XThufir's a Harkonnen now.
X%%
X"By long-standing tradition, I take this opportunity to savage other
Xdesigners in the thin disguise of good, clean fun."
X-- P. J. Plauger, from his April Fool's column in April 88's "Computer Language"
X%%
X"If you want to eat hippopautamus, you've got to pay the freight."
X-- some IBM guy
X%%
XParkinson's Law:  Work expands to fill the time alloted it.
X%%
XKarl's version of Parkinson's Law:  Work expands to exceed the time alloted it.
X%%
XIt is better to never have tried anything than to have tried something and
Xfailed.
X- motto of jerks, weenies and losers everywhere
X%%
X"Our journeys to the stars will be made on spaceships created by determined,
Xhardworking scientists and engineers applying the principles of science, not
Xaboard flying saucers piloted by little gray aliens from some other dimension."
X-- Robert A. Baker, "The Aliens Among Us:  Hypnotic Regression Revisited",
X   The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. XII, No. 2
X%%
X"...all the good computer designs are bootlegged; the formally planned products,
Xif they are built at all, are dogs!"
X-- David E. Lundstrom, "A Few Good Men From Univac", MIT Press, 1987
END_OF_cookies.ab
if test 61142 -ne `wc -c <cookies.ab`; then
    echo shar: \"cookies.ab\" unpacked with wrong size!
fi
# end of overwriting check
fi
echo shar: End of archive 3 \(of 3\).
cp /dev/null ark3isdone
MISSING=""
for I in 1 2 3 ; do
    if test ! -f ark${I}isdone ; then
    MISSING="${MISSING} ${I}"
    fi
done
if test "${MISSING}" = "" ; then
    echo You have unpacked all 3 archives.
    rm -f ark[1-9]isdone
else
    echo You still need to unpack the following archives:
    echo "        " ${MISSING}
fi
##  End of shell archive.
exit 0