quotes at random, no. 45 - some essays

[fiefoe]

"Gifts" / Ralph Waldo Emerson
__ Nature does not cocker us: we are children, not pets: she is not fond: everything is dealt to us without fear or favor, after severe universal laws.
__ Necessity does everything well.  {I'd like to pair this with "Nothing preserves like neglect." }
__ ... society in so far to its primary basis, when a man's biography is conveyed in his gift, and every man's wealth is an index of his merit.

"Positano Bites Deep" / John Steinbeck
__ This was outrageous to a seafaring town. The whole population gathered, dug the Moslem up, put him on course and covered him up again.

"Apologia to My Second Child" / John Hodgman
__ The only child in a family without want is the apex of Western civilization.
__ By having you, unnamed male child, I have chosen to give you both less so that at the end, as point by point, the shape of our family disappears, you will not have lost everything.

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