Citatepedia^®.com

It is one of the consolations of philosophy that the benefit of showing how to dispense with a concept does not hinge on dispensing with it.

quote by Willard Van Orman Quine
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Interpretation of Nature and

I.

MAN, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature: beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.


II.

Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left to itself can effect much. It is by instruments and helps that the work is done, which are as much wanted for the understanding as for the hand. And as the instruments of the hand either give motion or guide it, so the instruments of the mind supply either suggestions for the understanding or cautions.

III.

Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.

IV.

Towards the effecting of works, all that man can do is to put together or put asunder natural bodies. The rest is done by nature working within.

V.

The study of nature with a view to works is engaged in by the mechanic, the mathematician, the physician, the alchemist, and the magician; but by all (as things now are) with slight endeavour and scanty success.

VI.

It would be an unsound fancy and self-contradictory to expect that things which have never yet been done can be done except by means which have never yet been tried.

VII.

The productions of the mind and hand seem very numerous in books and manufactures. But all this variety lies in an exquisite subtlety and derivations from a few things already known; not in the number of axioms.

VIII.

Moreover the works already known are due to chance and experiment rather than to sciences; for the sciences we now possess are merely systems for the nice ordering and setting forth of things already invented; not methods of invention or directions for new works.

IX.

The cause and root of nearly all evils in the sciences is this -- that while we falsely admire and extol the powers of the human mind we neglect to seek for its true helps.

X.

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding; so that all those specious meditations, speculations, and glosses in which men indulge are quite from the purpose, only there is no one by to observe it.

XI.

As the sciences which we now have do not help us in finding out new works, so neither does the logic which we now have help us in finding out new sciences.

XII.

The logic now in use serves rather to fix and give stability to the errors which have their foundation in commonly received notions than to help the search after truth. So it does more harm than good.

XIII.

[...] Read more

poem by Sir Francis Bacon
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Four little giraffes

Four little giraffes
Stare at a broken hinge
A broken hinge in the door

They sat and pondered
How were they going to fix that hinge?
That broken hinge which was in the door

They were no bob the builder
But surely they could fix it just as well

They hammered and they wrenched
All day and all night long

And with hooves wiping sweat off from brows
And purple tongues slurping up some water by the gallon
Soon that broken hinge was no longer a broken hinge

Yes indeed
They surely weren’t bob the builder
But they sure were one thing
Great hooves for feet, purple tongued hard workers

poem by Storm Pedersen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Benefit Of The Doubt

What became of us
In the night light
Turn to touch your hand
Hands dont understand
Whats a right from wrong
When I think of all the things weve done
Never made the rules
But counting one to ten was easy
Its always happening - slowly, surely happening
Could have been another way
It looked bad from the start
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Could have been another day for pulling the plug
On my heart wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Oh well here we go again acting like old friends
Its hard to compromise
When loves locked in your eyes
Always out to stay then twice as hard to go
But what you reap I sew
And counting one to ten was easy
Its always happening - slowly, surely happening
Could have been another way
It looked bad from the start
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Could have been another day
For pulling the plug on my heart
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Could have been another day
For pulling the plug on my heart - ouch!
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Could have been another way
It looked bad from the start - ouch!
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt
Could have been another day
For pulling the plug on my heart
Oh, wont you give. me give me benefit of the doubt
Could have been another way
It looked bad from the start
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the
Could have been another day
For pulling the plug on my heart
Wont you give me, give me benefit of the doubt

song performed by Haircut 100
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Rubberneckin

(words & music by jones - warren)
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
If your rubberneckin baby well thats all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Its called rubberneckin baby but thats all right with me
Some people say Im wasting time yeh, but they dont really know
I like what I see I see what I like yeh, it gives me such a glow
First thing in the morning, last thing at night
I look, stare everywhere and see everything inside
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
If your rubberneckin baby well thats all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Its called rubberneckin baby but thats all right with me
Some people say Im wasting time yeh, but they dont really know
I like what I see I see what I like yeh, it gives me such a glow
Sittin on the back porch all by myself
Along came mary jane with somebody else
Well, stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Its called rubberneckin baby but thats all right with me
Some people say Im wasting time yeh, but I dont really care
I like what I see, I see what I like yeh, it gives me such a glow
Sittin on the back porch all by myself
Along came mary jane with somebody else
Well, stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Its called rubberneckin baby but thats all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Stop, look and listen baby thats my philosophy
Stop

song performed by Elvis Presley
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Rubberneckin (Original)

Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
If your rubberneckin' baby well that's all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
It's called rubberneckin' baby but that's all right with me
Some people say I'm wasting time yeh, but they don't really know
I like what I see I see what I like yeh, it gives me such a glow
First thing in the morning, last thing at night
I look, stare everywhere and see everything inside
Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
If your rubberneckin' baby well that's all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
It's called rubberneckin' baby but that's all right with me
Some people say I'm wasting time yeh, but they don't really know
I like what I see I see what I like yeh, it gives me such a glow
Sittin' on the back porch all by myself
Along came Mary Jane with somebody else
Well, stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
It's called rubberneckin' baby but that's all right with me
Some people say I'm wasting time yeh, but I don't really care
I like what I see, I see what I like yeh, it gives me such a glow
Sittin' on the back porch all by myself
Along came Mary Jane with somebody else
Well, stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
It's called rubberneckin' baby but that's all right with me
Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
Stop, look and listen baby that's my philosophy
Stop

song performed by Elvis Presley
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Christmas-Eve

I.
OUT of the little chapel I burst
Into the fresh night air again.
I had waited a good five minutes first
In the doorway, to escape the rain
That drove in gusts down the common’s centre,
At the edge of which the chapel stands,
Before I plucked up heart to enter:
Heaven knows how many sorts of hands
Reached past me, groping for the latch
Of the inner door that hung on catch,
More obstinate the more they fumbled,
Till, giving way at last with a scold
Of the crazy hinge, in squeezed or tumbled
One sheep more to the rest in fold,
And left me irresolute, standing sentry
In the sheepfold’s lath-and-plaster entry,
Four feet long by two feet wide,
Partitioned off from the vast inside—
I blocked up half of it at least.
No remedy; the rain kept driving:
They eyed me much as some wild beast,
The congregation, still arriving,
Some of them by the mainroad, white
A long way past me into the night,
Skirting the common, then diverging;
Not a few suddenly emerging
From the common’s self thro’ the paling-gaps,—
—They house in the gravel-pits perhaps,
Where the road stops short with its safeguard border
Of lamps, as tired of such disorder;—
But the most turned in yet more abruptly
From a certain squalid knot of alleys,
Where the town’s bad blood once slept corruptly,
Which now the little chapel rallies
And leads into day again,—its priestliness
Lending itself to hide their beastliness
So cleverly (thanks in part to the mason),
And putting so cheery a whitewashed face on
Those neophytes too much in lack of it,
That, where you cross the common as I did,
And meet the party thus presided,
“Mount Zion,” with Love-lane at the back of it,
They front you as little disconcerted,
As, bound for the hills, her fate averted
And her wicked people made to mind him,
Lot might have marched with Gomorrah behind him.

II.
Well, from the road, the lanes or the common,

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Glass Walls

Glass walls
Of the candy jar
Showing me the colors
Showing me the shapes
Just showing me...

Glass walls
Of the shopping mall
Showing me the colors
Showing me the shapes
Just showing me..

Glass walls
Of the computer screens
Showing me the colors
Showing me the smiles
Showing me the love
Even telling me... and nudging me...

It is only the glass... I can touch...!

poem by Rowving Smith
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Tom & Mary

For the benefit of Tom and Mary
Before our guests arrive
If they haven't found out already
It's gonna blow their minds.
Will they find the strength to find the will to testify?
And for the benefit of Tom and Mary
There's something we can't hide anymore

Everybody here knows the story
Some have fabricated extra parts
See the sisters shouting whispers
Feeding heartache to the sparks.
Put a damper on the party
It will lighten up this room.
And for the benefit of Tom and Mary
They've got to see the truth today

Miss Powersson says here they come
And all the chatter and the smiles have come undone
And you could here a pin drop on the carpet floor
Everyone's pretending not to hear them knocking at the door

For the benefit of Tom and Mary
Before our guests arrive
If they haven't found out already it's gonna blow their minds
If they haven't found our already
And all the seams all seem to show
And for the benefit of Tom and Mary
For the benefit of Tom and Mary
For the benefit of Tom and Mary
We gotta let the truth be known

song performed by Ben Folds Five from Naked Baby Photos
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Feel The Benefit

Reminisce and speculation
You went out on the street without your shoes on
You didnt listen what your momma said
She said you wont feel the benefit, wont feel the benefit
And if we all went out without our shoes on
Tell me where would we be, where would we be
If all the people in the world lost their reason
What would we see, where would we be
If all the entertainers in the world lost their music
What would they play, what could they say
To pacify the crowd, to justify themselves
Wont feel the benefit
Youre like a cloud behind the sun
Like the face behind the clown
Youre moving like the wrinkles in a frown
And you can never look back
A leaf thats borne upon the wind
A cardboard suitcase in your hand
The wanderer soon returns
And finds the colour of the grass is just the same
On the other side of the tracks, oh no
A latin break
Ooh when you smile its like a holiday
Ooh pack your bags and we can get away
Well float on a queen down to rio
Theres no need to shave
Well be stinking like rum in a punch
You can walk on the water
You can dabble in the mumbo jumbo
You can smoke a little ganja
Float like a cloud over rio, rio
You can ride with the gauchos
Swinging your bolas in a red bandana
You can run with the devil
Takin your chances with senorita
You can drink a lot of coffee in brazil
But the bill is gonna make you ill
Feel the benefit
So, you can go out on the street and take your chances
But if you do, you better do it right
Or you wont feel the benefit, wont feel the benefit
Spin the wheel and take your chances
And your number might come up
Though the odds may be in favor of the house
If all the people in the world would say together
Were all black and white, were all day and night
If all the people in the world could sing together
How would it sound, what would we feel
Wed all feel the benefit

song performed by 10 Cc
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Benefit Of This Is Missed

It's better with a bit of innocence.
Better with a benefit of it,
Yes.
It's better with a bit of innocence.
Better with a benefit of it,
And...
So much exposed has people sick.
It's better with a bit of innocence.
And wish they do for peace and quietness.
It's better with a benefit of it!
Yes.

So many are lost for many reasons.
And destroyed by the cost of losing innocence.
Many wish for a taste of more sweetened seasons.
Wanting to reminisce,
A beneift missed.

People wish to unlock their doors to explore.
Remembering when there was an innocence of this.
Many are seeking a life to live adored.
Knowing how beneficial and wanting this more.

So many are lost for many reasons.
And destroyed by the cost of losing innocence.
Many wish for a taste of more sweetened seasons.
Wanting to reminisce,
A beneift missed.

It's better with a bit of innocence.
Better with a benefit of it,
Yes.
It's better with a bit of innocence.
Better with a benefit of it,
And...
So much exposed has people sick.
It's better with a bit of innocence.
And wish they do for peace and quietness.
It's better with a benefit of it!
Yes.
And the benefit of this is missed.

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Why Do Some Live Without A Giving

I've been living in a world,
Many show they do resent...
To be living without giving but expecting they should get.

I've been living in a world,
Many show they do resent...
To be living without giving but expecting they should get.

Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do I?

I've been living in a world,
Many show they do resent...
To be living without giving but expecting they should get.

I've been living in a world,
Many show they do resent...
To be living without giving but expecting they should get.

Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do I?

And they're quick to get the pity.
And this seems to benefit.
And they're quick to get the pity.
And this seems to benefit.

Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do some live without a giving.
Oh why...
Do I?

Oh why...
Do some people get the pity.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Deepness In The Throat

Like a deepness in your throat
I'm here to make you choke.
A miss step to the abiding course
Scream of the divorce of those of fantasy and the real.
No concept is ever a far cry from the from the truth.
Of the abused
Mentally used
Confused
Bitter
Sour
Anger
Ha te
In everything we relate
So do not agitate

Look at yourself making so many miscalculations
In your proclamations
As am I
We speak, we learn
We follow through
Like an oppression upon the chest
Looky their its sitting on that shelf
Just reach for it.

Like a deepness in your throat
I'm here to make you choke.
A miss step to the abiding course
Scream of the divorce of those of fantasy and the real.
No concept is ever a far cry from the from the truth.
Of the abused
Mentally used
Confused
Bitter
Sour
Anger
Ha te
In everything we relate
So do not agitate

Bang bang the drugs take effect
Are you hallucinating yet.
Don't fret
You'll be soon enough
Think you got it rough
Come on now be tough
Stand up for yourself
Emotional distrust

Like a deepness in your throat
I'm here to make you choke.

[...] Read more

poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Letting go of the bad and showing the world who i am

I am tired of feeling hurt
I am tired of feeling used
I am tired of feeling unworth
I am letting go of you
I am letting go of pain
I am letting go of shame
I am letting go of darkness
I am letting go of bitterness
I am letting go of all the bad and only waiting for the good
I am taking in the light and coming out from underneath my hood
I will show the world my eyes and my smile
I am showing the world My laughter and ability to be wild
I am showing the world its wrong and that I will go on
I am showing the world I am in control
I am showing the world all the things i'm letting go
I am showing the world my joy and my tears
I am showing the world my screams and my fears
I am showing the world who i am and where I've been
I am showing the world all that i can
I will show the world who i am inside and out
I will show the world i don't care if its me they talk about

poem by Jean Pullman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Climbing From Ruts

Not 'who' is he?
But 'what' is he?
To know.
Before the showing?
To have that showing...
Grow.
To be known.

Not 'who' is she?
But 'what' is she?
To know.
Before the showing?
To have that showing...
Grow.
To be known.

They are the ones,
Unstung.
And freed,
From under a thumb.

They are the ones,
Unstung.
And freed,
From under a thumb.

Climbing from ruts.
Undone.
And looking up.
Undone.
And taking risks,
Unlimited...
Others may sit and resist.

Climbing from ruts.
Undone.
And looking up.
Undone.
And taking risks,
Unlimited...
Others may sit and resist.

They are the ones,
Unstung.
And freed,
From under a thumb.

Not 'who' is he?
But 'what' is he?
To know.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Grew To Believe

I did not awaken with dreams to write.
Or decide I was creative.
I awakened each day trying to fight it,
This appetite I had.
Especially when I thought that I had,
Something I should not want to have.

Few people I knew were encouraged to express,
An acceptance of their gifts.
I grew up in the projects.
And those who were 'different' were made to feel it.

Few people I knew were encouraged to express,
A happiness with talents they possessed.
With a gladness from others...
Who did not address an envy with a jealousness.

But a showing of a knowing that I knew,
Grew...
Inside of me.
Yes,
A showing of a knowing that I knew...
Grew!

A showing of a knowing that I knew,
Grew...
Inside of me.
Yes,
A showing of a knowing that I knew...
Grew,
To believe.

I did not awaken with dreams to write.
Or decide I was creative.
I awakened each day trying to fight it,
This appetite I had.
But...
A showing of a knowing that I knew,
Grew...
Inside of me.
Yes,
A showing of a knowing that I knew...
Grew,
To believe.

A showing of a knowing that I knew,
Grew...
Inside of me.

A showing of a knowing that I knew...

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

No benefit

No benefit
No benefit.

You are cooking
You are eating
You are sitting
You are meeting.

No benefit
No benefit.

No body is there
To share
You have not
Shared anybody.

No benefit
No benefit.

poem by Gajanan Mishra
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

After Breaking Up We Make Up Enough

After breaking up we make up enough.
And doing this as if,
There is a benefit...
To us that comes with splitting.

After breaking up we make up enough.
To do it once again,
With a making of love!

To split up to forget it,
With a making of love.
To forgive and then admit it,
With a making of love.
To remember we both miss...
Our making of love.
And doing this as if...
There is a benefit.

And after breaking up we do make up enough.
And doing it as if...
This is a benefit.

To split up and then forget it,
With a making of love.
To forgive and then admit it,
With a making of love.
To remember we both miss...
Our making of love.
And doing it as if,
There is a benefit.

We break up to admit it,
No one else could we love.
We break up to admit it,
No one else could we love.
We break up to admit it,
No one else could we love.
And doing this as if...
There is a benefit.

After breaking up we make up enough.
To come together.
After breaking up we make up enough.
To come together.
After breaking up we make up enough.
To come together.
And doing this as if...
There is a benefit.

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Get Up Off Your Pity Pot To Stop It

To wiggle out from under all doubts,
With a hanging them out to dry...
In front of passersby to eye,
Is intended to get attention.

Give those petty bits of pity,
To solicit empathy...
Away.
Today.
And...
Throw those doubts you've picked to pity,
With that selfishness that doesn't pay...
To get attention to gain.

Just get up off your pity pot to stop it.
And...
Get up off your pity pot to drop.

Just get up off your pity pot to stop it.
'Cause,
Believe this or not...
Very few are into pity.
And believe this or not...
Pity does not benefit.

Fight those doubts to stop and dropp them.
'Cause no pity benefits.
Fight those doubts to stop and dropp them.
'Cause no pity benefits.
And...
Believe this or not,
Very few are into pity.
And believe this or not...
Pity does not benefit.

Just get up off your pity pot to stop it.
'Cause,
Believe this or not...
Very few are into pity.
And believe this or not...
Pity does not benefit.

Give those petty bits of pity,
To solicit empathy...
Away.
Today.
And...
Throw those doubts you've picked to pity,
With that selfishness that doesn't pay...
To get attention to gain.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Go On and Slam The Door

Huffin' with a puffin' isn't something that one plans on.
Nor is it considered as a wish that came and has gone.

You can throw a fit!
But how does that,
Benefit need?
Go on and slam the door!

Huffin' with a puffin' isn't something that one plans on.
Nor is it considered as a wish that came and has gone.
You can throw a fit!
But how does that,
Benefit need?

Go on and slam the door!
Its all been done before.
Your rudeness I'll ignore...
And your nasty snapping.

Go on and slam the door!
Its all been done before.
Your rudeness I'll ignore...
And your nasty snapping.

You can throw a fit!
But how does that,
Benefit need?

Huffin' with a puffin' isn't something that one plans on.
Nor is it considered as a wish that came and has gone.
You can throw a fit!
But how does that,
Benefit need?

Go on and slam the door!
You can throw a fit!
But how does that,
Benefit need?

Go on and slam the door!
Its all been done before.
You can throw a fit!
But how does that,
Benefit need?

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Leaving Ugliness To Forget

Needed...
Is much more love.
Needed...
Is faith and hope.
With a touch one gives,
To hug!

And needed,
Is a bit more patience.
And not all that ugliness...
Pushed from anyone's lips.

Needed...
Are a few recipes.
Those kind that mixes joy...
With a rise to increase peace.

And what we need,
Is an empathy believed.
We are together here...
And not bits of eaten cheese.

Needed...
Is much more love.

Needed...
Is faith and hope.
With a touch one gives,
With lots of hugs!

And needed,
Is a bit more patience.
And not all that ugliness...
Just to push,
From anyone's lips.

We don't need that ugliness,
Just to push,
From anyone's lips.

No no no no!
We don't need that ugliness...
Just to push,
From anyone's lips.

Oh no oh no no...
We don't need that ugliness.
An ugliness like this,
To forget!

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!