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Here are a few words I read at various places and times that made an impression and stayed with me. It's like graffiti apray painted bright orange on a wall. Some words have been painted over as the personal meaning replaced the author's original intent.

In the future, graffiti may be the only way we can communicate honestly, away from the surveillance cameras. There are places where words like these are censored, because they may inspire thoughts readers are not supposed to have. This is why they are valuable.

Minims

Fortune favors the lucky.

It is difficult to repair a watch while falling from an airplane.

It is better to remain childless than to father an orphan.

Yiddish proverb

Mann tracht un Gott lacht.

A College Libertarian newsletter byline

Alone and unafraid in a world I made.

A line from Bob Dylan's song "Absolutely Sweet Marie"

To live outside the law, you must be honest.

From a book I can't find on the Internet

Pessimism: same as optimism, but more realistic.

The first stanza of "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

"Frankenstein's Monster" by Marvin Bell

-"Bigger than Life."

Bigger than the best, but not the best,
who can take history by the throat
and squeeze the steam from the new bread,
turn glass to sand, and grind the gears
of planets to oil and oil to water,
until the earth is rid of that Creator
who dared to make a thing without a soul.

I walked because of Science and a scientist.
I stood because he had it in his thought
that life should come from what is dead,
should turn time back and dry your tears.
I, who was made from brick and mortar,
meant to be inferior, was greater.
Given the parts, I assumed the role.

I am the dark body that cannot rest
free from an hysterical note,
made as I was to symbolize your dread.
Through the magnifying lens of fear
you watch me in your son and by your daughter.
While you disperse in every dark theatre
in streams of light, inside you I am whole.

The last line of "Sonnet 87" by William Shakespeare

In dream a king, but waking no such matter.

A line from "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns

The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

A few lines from "Moesta et Errabunda" by Charles Baudelaire

Mais le vert paradis des amours enfantines,
Les courses, les chansons, les baisers, les bouquets,
Les violons vibrant derrière les collines,
Avec les brocs de vin, le soir, dans les bosquets,
— Mais le vert paradis des amours enfantines,

L'innocent paradis, plein de plaisirs furtifs,
Est-il déjà plus loin que l'Inde et que la Chine?

A stanza from "The Prophecy of Dante" by Lord Byron

CANTO II

Oh! my own beauteous land! so long laid low,
So long the grave of thy own children's hopes,
When there is but required a single blow
To break the chain, yet — yet the Avenger stops,
And Doubt and Discord step 'twixt thine and thee,
And join their strength to that which with thee copes;
What is there wanting then to set thee free,
And show thy beauty in its fullest light,
And make the Alps impassable?
We, Her Sons, may do this with one deed — — Unite.

The last two lines of "Grace" by Phillis Levin

When waters whose whispers are lost in waves
Intimate worlds we will never enter.

Notes

• "Minims" written and illustrated by Tom Weller
  
  "Minim ['mInIm] n: a statement expressed in proverbial or sentential form but having no general application or practical use whatever — compare MAXIM."

• Yiddish Proverb
  
  The English translation I read was, "Man strives and God laugths." The correct translation may be "plans," not "strives."

• A College Libertarian newsletter byline
  
  It was a Cornell University campus newsletter. A movie influence along the same lines, why I took up running, is, "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner."

• A line from Bob Dylan's song "Absolutely Sweet Marie"
  
  Bob Dylan convinced me not to break the law if I can help it.

• From a book I can't find on the Internet
  
  I believe I read this quote from a book that was mentioned in Time Magazine. Searching for the book online, I got this humorless response from Google's Search Labs | AI Overview:

  "No, pessimism is not the same as optimism but more realistic. Pessimism and realism are distinct concepts. Pessimism is an outlook that anticipates the worst outcomes, while realism acknowledges both positive and negative aspects of a situation while focusing on solutions. Here's a more detailed explanation:

  • Pessimism: Pessimists tend to focus on the negative aspects of a situation and anticipate the worst possible outcomes.

  • Realism Realists acknowledge both positive and negative aspects of a situation and try to find solutions or make the best of the circumstances. They are grounded in reality and do not rely on hope or fear to shape their view of the world. Realistic Optimism:

  • Realistic Optimism: Some people combine a positive outlook with a grounded understanding of the world. They acknowledge potential risks and challenges but maintain a hopeful perspective and strive for positive outcomes, according to Forbes.

  In essence, while a realist may acknowledge the potential for negative outcomes, they don't dwell on them as pessimists do. Realists strive to find solutions and make the best of the situation, while pessimists may focus on the negative and be less motivated to take action."

  Setting aside one's personal outlook on life, and the fear AI designers probably have about influencing it, I have a simple counter argument. Rumsfield wasn't entirely wrong about "unknown unknowns," at least from an engineering perspective. Does "optimistic realism" apply here? Isn't it smarter to plan for the pessimistic outcome, just in case?

• "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats
  

  The poem the public domain.

• "The Iris of Creation" by Marvin Bell

  From the Rights & Permissions page on the Copper Canyon Press website, "We encourage certain personal uses, such as sharing a poem on social media. These uses do not require specific permission or payment. We do ask that the use be appropriately acknowledged by including the poem title, the author’s name, and a link to the book, preferably to the listing here on our website."

• "Sonnet 87: Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing" by William Shakespeare
  

  The poem is in the public domain.

• "To a mouse" by Robert Burns
  

  "On Turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785."

  The poem is in the public domain.

• "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
  

  The poem is in the public domain.

• "Moesta et Errabunda" by Charles Baudelaire
  

  If you live in China or India, childhood's green paradise is farther than France or Spain.

  The poem is in the public domain.

• "The Prophecy of Dante" by Lord Byron
  

  In my opinion, "We, your children, may..." would make more sense, but the line ran out of syllables.

  The poem is in the public domain.

• "Grace" by Phillis Levin

  The poem is not in the public domain, but only the last two lines were quoted.