People From New York State

"Cuba is not a new-born country, peopled by wood-cutting, bear-righting, agricultural folks, who must be fresh and virtuous in order to exist. It is an old country, time worn, decayed, and debauched by thieving officials and fire and sword."

"The Saxon race is not in a habit of dividing the spoils with a conquered one."

"The Northwest is dotted over with soldiers sleeping out in the snows of this winter because of this mismanagement of the Indian Bureau. With an instance of this incompetency before their eyes nearly half of the time, people in the East ought to understand, and every man who in the West come near enough to get the stench cannot but know it rottenness. It’s unchristian, it’s inhuman, it’s vile. It is the constantly recurring old story—a gross cause of mismanagement. And then the army is called in to be responsible—to protect the lives of the settlers, and in these days to shoot down a people who have the entire sympathy of every soldier in the ranks."

"The Indians are most enlightened, for they have at least one distinct impression regarding government. They know that it never keeps it word. Any old chief will tell you that white men are all liars, and if you press him regarding it, he will prove it, and the only exception he will make is the white soldier."

"After two centuries of civil administration, with its agents, its treachery, its inefficiency, and at time its horrible corruption, where are the Indians? Such as survived the flood of white immigration are living in poverty and ignorance."

"Physically, one is immediately impressed with the underdeveloped state of Havana and Cuba generally, and of the illimitable possibilities. The Spanish officials taxed thrift right out of the island; they took industry by the neck and throttled it. The Church charged a poor man so much to get married that they, for the most part, were compelled to forego that ceremony, and when they were dead they taxed their bones."

"I knew the railroad was coming—I saw men already swarming into the land. I knew the derby hat, the smoking chimneys, the cord binder, and the 30-day note were upon us in a restless surge. I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were about to vanish forever... and the more I considered the subject, the bigger the forever loomed. Without knowing how to do it, I began to record some facts around me, and the more I looked the more the panorama unfolded."

"Art is a she-devil of a mistress, and if at times in earlier days she would not even stoop to my way of thinking, I have preserved and so will continue."

"It is not their first rodeo, one can see, but I should wish they were with mamma and the buckboard, instead of out here in the brush, charging wild bulls."

"He is, of course, one of the most typical American artists we have ever had, and he has portrayed a most characteristic and yet vanishing type of American life. The soldier, the cowboy and rancher, the Indian, the horses and the cattle of the plains, will live in his pictures and bronzes, I verily believe, for all time."

"When we include and listen to diverse ways of thinking, we make the impossible, possible."

"Washington is the most intensely parochial city in the world."

"I'll be voting for the Democrats again in the coming election, however much I don't think they deserve my vote. And I'll pray that someone in America has the courage and the ability to form a new political party. This should not be beyond us. We're an accomplished nation."

"I do not like the Democrats. At all. After the year-long sex panic and the Kavanaugh spectacle, frankly, I loathe them."

"[D]escribed the worship of power as "the new religion in Europe." Anti-Americanism, predicated in part on fascism's mirror image, the revilement of power–especially when that power is somebody else's–answers many of the fundamental needs once filled by the Church. There is a transcendant and common goal."

"[F]ury is an emotion that I pride myself on *controlling.* Civilization depends upon the control of our instincts--aggression foremost among them. May I suggest rolling back the conversation a bit..."

"Picture yourself when you were five. In fact, dig out a photo of little you at that time and tape it to your mirror. How would you treat her, love her, feed her? How would you nurture her if you were the mother of little you? I bet you would protect her fiercely while giving her space to spread her itty-bitty wings. She'd get naps, healthy food, imagination time, and adventures into the wild. If playground bullies hurt her feelings, you'd hug her tears away and give her perspective. When tantrums or meltdowns turned her into a poltergeist, you'd demand a loving time-out in the naughty chair. From this day forward I want you to extend the same compassion to your adult self."

"After a lot of Googling I came across some incredibly inspirational people, in particular Kris Carr, who overnight changed my life. She had changed her diet to manage her cancer and had written a wonderful book all about it, so I ordered the book and immediately realized that if she could come back from that, I could absolutely come back from where I was. So, overnight I started a whole-foods, plant-based diet and gave up all meat, dairy, sugar, gluten, anything processed and all chemicals and additives."

"There's no need to wait for the bad things and bullshit to be over. Change now. Love now. Live now. Don't wait for people to give you permission to live, because they won't. That permission is your birthright, hot stuff; grab it!"

"Going veg is one of the best decisions you can make for your health and the planet. Period. Your organs, blood, bones, teeth, and private parts will thank you."

"If your meals consistently revolve around corpse multiple times daily, you might become one sooner than you planned."

"The Karg looked at her with the interested expression of a coroner who sees his customer twitch."

"Too late, I realized how I had trapped myself. I had let sleep in as a guest, and death had slipped through the door."

"Less than total control is no control at all. You will obey my instructions, Mr. Ravel. In every detail. Or I will scrap the project."

"It was a nasty little village, poverty-stricken, ugly, hostile, much like little towns in all times and climes."

"“Impossible!” he said, as if he believed it—or as if he wanted awfully badly to believe it."

"“Are you all right?” Mellia said. “It’s nothing a month in the intensive care unit wouldn’t clear up.”"

"Sure—that’s the concept. It wouldn’t be the first concept that had to be modified in the face of experience."

"An idea was beginning to get through, and he wasn’t liking it very well."

"One nice thing about working with a piece of machinery: you don’t waste time trying to justify your actions."

"The human mind is a pattern, nothing more. The first dim flicker of awareness in the evolving forebrain of Australopithecus carried that pattern in embryo; and down through all the ages, as the human neural engine increased in power and complexity, gained control of its environment in geometrically expanding increments, the pattern never varied. Man clings to his self-orientation as the psychological center of the Universe. He can face any challenge within that framework, suffer any loss, endure any hardship—so long as the structure remains intact. Without it he’s a mind adrift in a trackless infinity—lacking any scale against which to measure his aspirations, his losses, his victories. Even when the light of his intellect shows him that the structure is itself a product of his brain; that infinity knows no scale, and eternity no duration—still he clings to his self-non-self concept, as a philosopher clings to a life he knows must end, to ideals he knows are ephemeral, to causes he knows will be forgotten."

"He turned; she stood in the doorway, clad in an invisible negligee."

"Strange—I go along for months at a time—even years—without so much as a mild concussion—and then bam—slam—bash! They start using my head for a practice dummy. That’s how I can tell that I’m having an adventure."

"“Quelius—you’re nuts—did you know that?” “Of course. That’s quite all right. Better embarked on an exciting insanity than moldering away in dull normality. One thing you can’t deny: we psychotics lead interesting lives.”"

"“M-magic?” Lafayette stuttered. “Nonsense. Electronics.”"

"“None of that, either,” he commanded. “Keep your mind on the immediate problem—just as soon as you figure out what the immediate problem is,” he added."

"“It’s an old trick,” the security chief said. “Reverse cunning, we call it in the security game; indistinguishable from utter stupidity.”"

"Magic, after all? He felt the untrimmed hair at the nape of his neck rising. But then, maybe it was just electronics—magic rationalized."

"Rules had been made, and even enforced from time to time. When the first absolute prohibition of time meddling came along, it was already far too late."

"It was easy to see the mechanics of schizophrenia at work here. From wishing, it was an easy jump to believe."

"“I say, old man, you’re developing something of a persecution complex, I’m afraid—” “That’s easy, when you’re persecuted.”"

"Don’t go female on me now. We don’t have time for nonsense."

"“Him and his pet dragon—” “More folklore, I take it?” “Well, I never actually seen this dragon.” “Hmmm. Funny how nobody I’ve met has seen it, but they all believe in it.”"

"I took all these details in as the mighty carnivore looked me over, yawned, and paced majestically toward me, frowning across at the distant herds like a troubled politician wondering who to pay the bribe to."

"“Take it easy, girl,” I said, and patted her shoulder; I knew my touching her would chill her down again. Not a nice thing to know, but useful."

"“Just what is your position here?” “I’m an adviser to his Majesty.” Nicodaeus smiled blandly. “He thinks I’m a master of magic, of course, but among these feather-heads a little common sense is sufficient to earn one a reputation as a wise man.”"

"“Why do you fight this war?” The alien mind howled out its war slogan—as incomprehensible as an astrologer’s jargon."

"Out of the synthesis of opposites, a cancerous growth called Beauty came into being; obscene antisurvival concepts named Loyalty, Courage, Justice were born into the universe. Wherever the elemental Purities encountered this monstrous hybrid, a battle of extermination was joined. Good could compromise with Evil, but neither could meet with the half-breed, Art."

"Judge a chap on what he does, and not what he is, eh? None of us can help our natural tendencies—and perhaps overcoming one’s instincts is in the end a nobler achievement than not having the impulse in the first place."

"“All right. Let’s begin with the world situation.” “I’d prefer a more cheerful subject—like cancer.”"