The compulsion

The compulsion of sexual attraction may lie not only behind all human culture, but behind all human association.

The essential lesson (Brin)

The essential lesson of tolerance and diversity is not that all ways are morally equal, or that “not-us” is routinely better than “us.” A far saner and more supportable justification for diversity is that we all benefit—both ethically and pragmatically—every time we learn fresh perspectives.

David Brin

Who broadcast my favorite tv shows?

Curious, I broke down my 33 all-time favorite tv shows by the network(s) on which they ran (total is greater than 33 because some programs changed networks during their run—or in the case of UPN and The WB became a new network, The CW). Networks are credited for first run only, not later syndicated rebroadcasts.

I had no idea ABC would come out so well.

NETWORK	TOTAL
ABC	8
BBC	8
Fox	4
syndicated	4
CBS	2
HBO	2
The CW	2
The WB	2
CBC	1
NBC	1
Showtime	1
UPN	1
USA Network	1

Every rule

Within every rule is a calcified misunderstanding.

What are the chances? (Prose)

In an era in which air travelers compare notes on how best to prevent their seatmates from making casual conversation (the eyeshade! the earplugs! the open magazine!) it seems far less likely that one passenger would tell another (as happens in Tolstoy's "The Kreutzer Sonata") a long, tormented account of how sexual jealousy ruined his marriage and his life. Perversely, it's more likely that someone might "share" this confession with a national TV audience. Now that anyone who talks for more than a few seconds—that is, anyone who prevents us from talking for more than a few seconds—is generally regarded as a bore, what are the chances that a group of gentlemen will gather before a fire to exchange the detailed histories of long-past love affairs, as they do in Chekhov's "On Love"?

Francine Prose, Reading Like A Writer

Knowledge

Knowledge increases uncertainty as least as often as it diminishes it. (This is not, however, a reason to avoid knowledge.)

The dissident (Havel)

The dissident does not operate in the realm of genuine power at all. He is not seeking power. He has no desire for office and does not gather votes. He does not attempt to charm the public, he offers nothing and promises nothing. He can offer, if anything, only his own skin—and he offers it solely because he has no other way of affirming the truth he stands for. His actions simply articulate his dignity as a citizen, regardless of the cost. You do not become a "dissident" just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.

Vàclav Havel