Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines.

[kennyc]

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV

[covingtoncat73]

“Were he only like his sister—what a difference that would make! For there never was such a sweet and gentle lady! I hear her footsteps, as she goes about the world. I hear the swish-swish-swish of her silken gown and the jingle-jangle of the silver chain about her neck. Her smile is full of comfort and her eyes are kind and happy! How I long to see her!"
"Who, sir?" asked Paramore, puzzled.
"Why, his sister, John. His sister.”
― Susanna Clarke, The Sandman: Book of Dreams

[WT Sharpe]

Crowds, of course, are not always wise. They are more likely to be wise when two principles are followed. The first principle is that groups should be composed of people with knowledge relevant to a topic. The second principle is that the group needs to hold diverse perspectives and bring different knowledge to bear on a topic.
— Richard P. Larrick and Jack B. Soll; professors of management at Duke University. "You Know More than You Think", Scientific American (2 June 2009).

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Crowds, of course, are not always wise. They are more likely to be wise when two principles are followed. The first principle is that groups should be composed of people with knowledge relevant to a topic. The second principle is that the group needs to hold diverse perspectives and bring different knowledge to bear on a topic.
— Richard P. Larrick and Jack B. Soll; professors of management at Duke University. "You Know More than You Think", Scientific American (2 June 2009).

The Art and Witchcraft of Polling.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Crowds, of course, are not always wise. They are more likely to be wise when two principles are followed. The first principle is that groups should be composed of people with knowledge relevant to a topic. The second principle is that the group needs to hold diverse perspectives and bring different knowledge to bear on a topic.
— Richard P. Larrick and Jack B. Soll; professors of management at Duke University. "You Know More than You Think", Scientific American (2 June 2009).

I prefer the Tao of Pratchett:

Besides, the intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it.

-- Jingo p. 436, by Terry Pratchett

The kicking and punching stopped only when it became apparent that all the mob was attacking was itself. And, since the IQ of a mob is the IQ of its most stupid member divided by the number of mobsters, it was never very clear to anyone what had happened.

-- Maskerade p. 287, by Terry Pratchett

[WT Sharpe]

The love of money and the love of learning rarely meet.
— George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633; English metaphysical poet. "Jacula Prudentum" (1640).

[WT Sharpe]

One, on God’s side, is a majority.
— Wendell Phillips (29 November 1811 – 2 February 1884); American abolitionist, Native American advocate and orator. Lecture (1859).

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One, with God, is always a majority, but many a martyr has been burned at the stake while the votes were being counted.
— Thomas Brackett Reed (October 18, 1839 – December 7, 1902); U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Speech (1885).

[covingtoncat73]

"There are such sins on my back it would kill me to turn around." Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) in Penny Dreadful

[covingtoncat73]

"Happiness is the china shop; love is the bull."�
― H. L. Mencken (died this day, January 29, 1956)

[AlexBell]

I'm not sure if this fits the criteria for quotes, but still:

'In signing her letters, and giving her address, Charlotte spelt her last name Brontï. But the monumental statue in the church where they worshipped, where the successive deaths of the whole family are recorded, the name stands as Brontë; and this must be considered the established spelling.'

It's from Biographical Sketches by Harriet Martineau

[BenG]

“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by BenG

“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Love it!

[kennyc]

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
- Langston Hughes

"My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
- Langston Hughes

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by kennyc

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby."
- Langston Hughes

"My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
- Langston Hughes

Beautiful!

[covingtoncat73]

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones