The eminent Catholic scholar, Michael Novak, has died. His quiet genius influenced many of the more popular names you may know. In any case, there is a nice tribute to him below.
One of the best quotes from him on the possibility of humans creating some utopia: “To know oneself is to disbelieve in utopia. To seek realism is to learn mercy.”
“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”
HT: Thomas Kidd
From Pastor Derwin Gray:
“The church should be a tutor to the world of what racial reconciliation looks like.”
“Teamwork makes the dream work.”
“And as reasoning is not the source, whence either disputant derives his tenets; it is vain to expect, that any logic, which speaks not to the affections, will ever engage him to embrace sounder principles.”
(As quoted in Haidt, The Righteous Mind, p. 57)
“No other country houses so many gorgeous frauds and imbeciles as the United States, and in consequence no other country is so amusing. Thus my patriotism is impeccable, though perhaps not orthodox. I love my country as a small boy loves the circus.”
H.L. Mencken as Quoted in Writers to Read: Nine Names that Belong on Your Shelf by Douglas Wilson
https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Read-Names-Belong-Bookshelf/dp/1433545837
“All leaders lead by example whether they intend to or not.”
John Quincy Adams
(From the terrific book, Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World by Ian Bremmer, p. 191.)
Stay tuned for my review and/or interview…
“Most men die at 27; we just bury them at 72.”
~Mark Twain
(HT: Pastor Daniel Montgomery)
From Ryan Holiday (www.ryanholiday.net):
“The nine-time Grammy– and Pulitzer Prize–winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis once advised a promising young musician on the mindset required in the lifelong study of music: ‘Humility engenders learning because it beats back the arrogance that puts blinders on. It leaves you open for truths to reveal themselves. You don’t stand in your own way. . . . Do you know how you can tell when someone is truly humble? I believe there’s one simple test: because they consistently observe and listen, the humble improve. They don’t assume, ‘I know the way.’ No matter what you’ve done up to this point, you better still be a student. If you’re not still learning, you’re already dying.”
Finishing up J.C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone by Iain Murray.
https://www.amazon.com/J-C-Ryle-Prepared-Stand-Alone/dp/1848716788
Some pithy wisdom from Ryle:
“What we weave in time we wear in eternity.”
“It matters little how we die, but it matters much how we live.”
And one of my favorites:
“It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.”
