Random Quotations

If you visit this space you realize that I’m driven by the written word. So here, in no particular thematic order (I think we’ll use author’s last names to organize), are some things that caught my eye.
Guarantee: all quotes stumbled upon randomly and transcribed as accurately as possible.

Kingsley Amis (16 April 1922-22 October 1995)

“…even the best planner can’t think of everything.” Lucky Jim

Jorge Luis Borges (24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986)
“The man does not exist who, outside his own specialty, is not credulous…” The Secret Miracle

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October, 1869-30 January 1948)
“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”

Andrew Gelman (11 February 1965–)
” The (Lance) Armstrong Principle: If you push people to promise more than they can deliver, they’re motivated to cheat.”

Christopher Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011)
“The noble title of “dissident” must be earned rather than claimed; it connotes sacrifice and risk rather than mere disagreement, and it has been consecrated by many exemplary and courageous men and women.”
Letters to a Young Contrarian

Abraham Lincoln (12 February, 1809-15 April, 1865)
“Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose—and you allow him to make war at pleasure.”
Letter to William H. Herndon

James Madison (16 March, 1751-28 June, 1836)
“Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged against provisions against danger, real or pretended from abroad.”
Letter to Thomas Jefferson

Padgett Powell (25 April, 1952-)

“A child says nothing matters, but it takes an adult to say it doesn’t matter that nothing matters.”  You and Me

Bruce Springsteen (23 September, 1949-)
“You cannot underestimate the fine power of self-loathing in all of this. You think, I don’t like anything I’m seeing. I don’t like anything I’m doing, but I need to change myself. I need to transform myself. I do not know a single artist who does not run on that fuel. If you are extremely pleased with yourself, nobody would be fucking doing it.”-In The New Yorker, July 30, 2012