Counting Counter Quotes: Reasonable vs Unreasonable & Confucianism

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of counter quotes, exploring how various sayings can be juxtaposed against one another. Participants share quotes and propose counter quotes, often highlighting the complexity and duality of wisdom in proverbs. The scope includes philosophical reflections, cultural sayings, and humorous exchanges.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that every proverb has an opposite, prompting a playful exchange of counter quotes.
  • One participant notes the saying, "The reasonable man adapts to the world around him, while the unreasonable person tries to change the world to suit him," and invites counter quotes.
  • Another participant counters with various proverbs, such as "Silence is golden," and "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down," illustrating the nuanced interpretations of similar ideas.
  • There are humorous attempts to create new proverbs, with some participants questioning the validity of invented sayings.
  • Several participants engage in playful banter about the nature of proverbs, including the idea that "too many cooks spoil the broth" and its counterpoints.
  • Quotes from notable figures, such as Aristotle and Seneca, are presented alongside counter quotes, emphasizing the philosophical underpinnings of the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the nature of proverbs or the validity of invented sayings. Multiple competing views and interpretations remain throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the origins of certain quotes, and there are unresolved questions about the definitions and interpretations of proverbs. The playful nature of the discussion leads to a mix of serious and humorous contributions.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in philosophy, linguistics, cultural sayings, or those who enjoy playful exchanges about language and wisdom may find this discussion engaging.

  • #31
Try this one:

"You can't have your cake, and eat it too"

as a kid that one drove me nuts, I'm Like, what the heck are you supposed to do with it then!? heh
 
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  • #32
Ivan Seeking said:
"The reasonable man adapts to the world around him, while the unreasonable person tries to change the world to suit him. Conclusion: Change only occurs because of unreasonable people."
Wow! That 1 is great!:smile:




light_bulb said:
he who laughs last laughs best.

He who laughs last thinks slowest!:redface:
 
  • #33
hypatia said:
Together we stand, divided we fall.

CQ:Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.”
or
No crowd ever waited at the gates of patience.

Q: Only the tent pitched by your own hands will stand.
 
  • #34
Ivan Seeking said:
Q: Only the tent pitched by your own hands will stand.

CQ: Many hands make light work.

Q: Happiness depends upon ourselves. - Aristotle
 
  • #35
Type 7 said:
CQ: Many hands make light work.

Q: Happiness depends upon ourselves. - Aristotle

cq: no man is an island

q: The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. The Republic, bk. IV, 425 – B
 
  • #36
Lisa! said:
Wow! That 1 is great!:smile:
He who laughs last thinks slowest!:redface:

:smile: :smile: how many physicists does it take to screw in a light bulb
 
  • #37
Ivan Seeking said:
cq: no man is an island

q: The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. The Republic, bk. IV, 425 – B

CQ: Let early education be a sort of amusement you will then be better able to find out the natural bent. Plato, The Republic, Bk I, 537.

(Hmm...seems Plato contradicted himself :smile:)

Q: A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment. Seneca, Epistles 123, 3.
 
  • #38
Moonbear said:
Q: A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment. Seneca, Epistles 123, 3.

CQ: He will never have true friends who is afraid of making enemies

Q: If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it. -- The Histories of Herodotus, bk. II, ch. 173

---modern: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
 
  • #39
Ivan Seeking said:
CQ: He will never have true friends who is afraid of making enemies

Q: If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it. -- The Histories of Herodotus, bk. II, ch. 173

---modern: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

CQ: I don't like work--no man does, but I like what is in the work, the chance to find yourself. -- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Q: "Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
 
  • #40
Ivan Seeking said:
Together we stand, divided we fall.
CQ:Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.”
or
No crowd ever waited at the gates of patience.

I prefer: "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups"
www.despair.com forever!
 
  • #41
"with friends like that who needs enemies"
 
  • #42
franznietzsche said:
CQ: I don't like work--no man does, but I like what is in the work, the chance to find yourself. -- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Q: "Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

cq: “The error of one moment becomes the sorrow of a whole life” - chinese proverb

q: If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error - John Kenneth Galbraith
 
  • #43
Ivan Seeking said:
cq: “The error of one moment becomes the sorrow of a whole life” - chinese proverb

q: If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error - John Kenneth Galbraith

cq:The tyrant has fallen Iraq is free.....:smile: Proof of the Galbraith Quote.
George W Bush

Q: There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
James Thurber
 
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  • #44
edward said:
cq:The tyrant has fallen Iraq is free.....:smile: Proof of the Galbraith Quote.
George W Bush

Q: There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
James Thurber

CQ: In the beginning there was nothing. God said, "Let there be light!" And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. ~Ellen DeGeneres

Q: "The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continual lying to other men and to himself." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
 
  • #45
franznietzsche said:
CQ: In the beginning there was nothing. God said, "Let there be light!" And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better. ~Ellen DeGeneres

Q: "The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continual lying to other men and to himself." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

CQ:Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. - Albert Einstein

Q: Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind - Albert Einstein
 
  • #46
Ivan Seeking said:
CQ:Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. - Albert Einstein

Q: Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind - Albert Einstein

CQ: "A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."
Friedrich Nietzsche

Q: He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche
 
  • #47
CQ: The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. - Eistein

Q: The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil - Hannah Arendt.
 
  • #48
when you dance with the devil it's not the devil who changes.
 
  • #49
light_bulb said:
when you dance with the devil it's not the devil who changes.

cq:We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell - Oscar Wilde

q: 2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2. - Grabel's law
 
  • #50
life is what you make it.
 
  • #51
Ivan Seeking said:
cq:We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell - Oscar Wilde

q: 2 is not equal to 3, not even for large values of 2. - Grabel's law


CQ: Two rights don't make a wrong, but three makes a left.

Q:I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.
Oscar Wilde
 
  • #52
are these motd's? :rolleyes: just wondering.
 

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