“Mountains are finite and despite their appearance … fragile.”
–Yvon Chouinard, quoted in Mountaineers: Great Tales of Bravery and Conquest. Smithsonian Institution. New York: DK Publishing, 2011. Quote on page 303.
“The upper class has a higher propensity for unethical behavior, being more likely to believe – as did Gordon Gekko in the movie ‘Wall Street’ – that ‘greed is good,’ according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley.
In seven separate studies conducted on the UC Berkeley campus, in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide, UC Berkeley researchers consistently found that upper-class participants were more likely to lie and cheat when gambling or negotiating; cut people off when driving, and endorse unethical behavior in the workplace.”
–Yasmin Anwar. “Upper Class More Likely to Be Scofflaws Due to Greed, Study Finds. The Berkleyan Feb. 27, 2012. UC Berkeley News Center. Web.
“Even though PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] is triggered by a stressful incident, it is really of disease of memory. The problem isn’t the trauma–it’s that the trauma can’t be forgotten. Most memories, and their associated emotions, fade with time. But PTSD memories remain horribly intense, bleeding into the present and ruining the future.”
–Jonah Lehrer. “The Forgetting Pill.” Wired March 2012: 84-93, 120. Quote on page 87.
“Will You Look Death in the Eye?
An unearthly chill creeps through the air. The Wizard stops reading his ancient tome and gazes cautiously over his shoulder. The Warrior feels an unfamiliar fear as he draws his mighty sword. A shadow has fallen across the countryside. Death himself wanders the land. Can the heroes fulfill their epic quests with the spectre of the Grim Reaper hounding their every move?”
–Product description on the back of the box for Talisman: Reaper Expansion. Fantasy Flight Games. Web.
“That is the greatest challenge of science fiction–taking intellectual premises, be they science extrapolated a hundred years into the future or social issues 1,000 years ahead, and making them seem current. Make them seem important. Make them about now without being blatant about it.
The best science fiction posits a world that’s not recognizable, yet makes it real. The best science fiction is addictive, rich, and lively. The best science fiction invites conversation and thought, as well as an emotion-packed thrill ride.
And as I listened to my non-SF friends wax poetic about the new Battlestar, I realized that the show accomplishes all that and more.”
–Kristine Kathryn Rusch. “Cheez Whiz and the Future: Battlestar Galactica and Me.” So Say We All: An Unauthorized Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica. Ed. Richard Hatch, Tee Morris, and Glenn Yeffeth. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006. Quote on page 202.
“That evening Jung, who has been living with diabetes since the age of 4, went to bed at about 9:30 p.m. About 90 minutes later, she started to have a diabetic seizure. That’s when, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, ‘Pudding [a cat Jung had adopted only hours before] planted his weight on her chest and, when he could not wake her, began swatting her face and biting her nose.’
Jung came to her senses enough to yell out to her son for assistance. At that point, Pudding jumped up onto Ethan’s bed and startled him into action. He immediately rushed to get his mom the help she needed.
‘Her doctor said she could have gone into a coma and not come out of it if much more time had gone by,’ Counihan said. ‘The fact that Pudding did what he did without knowing her that well is just amazing to me.'”
–Laura T. Coffey. “Cat Named Pudding Rescues Owner Hours after His Adoption.” Today. MSN. Feb. 23, 2012. Web.
“Cat Catcher is a ‘mouse-on-a-wire’ toy that will give your cat plenty of practice to help keep your house rodent free. The mouse is attached to the end of a flexible 6” wand. Your cat will feel like its chasing a real mouse! Not only is this great practice for the real thing, it’s great exercise and fun for your cat. Mouse toy is replaceable when worn out.”
–Product description of the Cat Catcher. Spirit Essences: Holistic Remedies for Animals. Web.
“And so the matter of Madame Seraphine’s mysterious death seemed to fade away.”
–Deanna Raybourn. The Dark Inquiry Ontario: Mira, 2011. Kindle edition. Quote in chapter nine.
“The humanities, such as classical and modern languages and literature, history, and philosophy, have as an overall goal the exploration and explanation of the human experience.”
–Christine A. Hult. Researching and Writing Across the Curriculum. 3d edition. New York: Pearson, 2006. Quote on page 149.
“As for why Watson and the other researchers would condition any infant, healthy or not, to experience fear and afterward not even attempt to decondition the baby to prevent him from carrying those fears forever, we have Watson’s own explanation: If it yielded scientifically useful results, then it wasn’t cruel. These are Watson’s words: ‘They will be worth all they cost if through them we can find a method which will help us remove fear.'”
–Tom Bartlett. “A New Twist in the Sad Saga of Little Albert.” The Chronicle of Higher Education Jan. 25, 2012. Web.