I aspire to live like John Muir. He really knew what true freedom is. I've read most of his works and attempted to copy some of his adventures (like his first ascent of the Mountaineer's Route on Mt. Whitney and his ascent of Mt. Ritter minus the near-death part). And he was fallible--it is interesting to read some of his stuff on Central Valley irrigated agriculture; and his thoughts on preventing fire have turned out to be harmful in the long run. Following are some of my favorite John Muir quotes.
"I am losing the precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains and learn the news." --Muir, as quoted by Samuel Hall Young in Alaska Days with John Muir
"No two streams are alike. I fancy I could discriminate between Merced water and all others. Merced water is one thing, Tuolumne another, Kings River another, while town water, deadened and lost, is nothing--not water at all." --August, 1875
"The common purity of Nature is
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Apothegms
Nuclear power is "so uneconomical that it is cheaper to write off a newly built nuclear plant than to run it." --Amory Lovins, 1992
A poignant quote in light of Japan's nuclear disaster--not that they needed a man-made disaster on top of two natural ones. Not that anyone needs a technology that is so potentially dangerous in the hands of humans, whether it be the hands of terrorists, governments, or power companies--requiring loss of freedom and excess militarization to lock it up as well as we can against any threat. Now insuring nuclear plants will get even more expensive, and our government will insist on continuing to subsidize it instead of spending the money on safe renewable energy like solar and wind that can come online in a fraction of the time as a nuclear power plant. So, to honor the painful irony of that quote, and celebrate the wondrous insights and inspiration contained in pithy aphorism, I'm reprinting here the apothegms page I used to have on Beyond the Batholith--Essays from the Eastern Sierra, and including new ones as I find them worthy of this page. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
A poignant quote in light of Japan's nuclear disaster--not that they needed a man-made disaster on top of two natural ones. Not that anyone needs a technology that is so potentially dangerous in the hands of humans, whether it be the hands of terrorists, governments, or power companies--requiring loss of freedom and excess militarization to lock it up as well as we can against any threat. Now insuring nuclear plants will get even more expensive, and our government will insist on continuing to subsidize it instead of spending the money on safe renewable energy like solar and wind that can come online in a fraction of the time as a nuclear power plant. So, to honor the painful irony of that quote, and celebrate the wondrous insights and inspiration contained in pithy aphorism, I'm reprinting here the apothegms page I used to have on Beyond the Batholith--Essays from the Eastern Sierra, and including new ones as I find them worthy of this page. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
| apothegm, n. a short, pithy saying; aphorism aphorism, n. a terse saying embodying a general truth or astute observation |
"Humanity now appropriates for its own use more than half of Earth's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)