Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines.

[Ea]

Beppe, it loooks a bit to me as if you would readily consider all female goddesses aspects of one "ur-goddess". Especially because you include Athena - it appears as oversimplifying things. Older theorists tended to look for a unifying theory and understanding, but newer research has moved away from that.

I'd like you to consider if you would likewise consider all male gods to be aspects of an equivalent "ur-god"? And if so, why - and if not, why not?

[beppe]

Originally Posted by Ea

Beppe, it loooks a bit to me as if you would readily consider all female goddesses aspects of one "ur-goddess". Especially because you include Athena - it appears as oversimplifying things. Older theorists tended to look for a unifying theory and understanding, but newer research has moved away from that.

I'd like you to consider if you would likewise consider all male gods to be aspects of an equivalent "ur-god"? And if so, why - and if not, why not?

That Athena has the snake. Like the first one in my little show (that has 2), and like some representations of the holy virgin holding the head of the snake under a foot. So that Athena is right in the descending line from the old mother. We are talking about myths.

if the prefix ur- means ancient Mesopotamian cultures (about 7 to 10 thousand years old) those had already turned to the king concept. My mother goes way back.
When the gods arrive they are already a religion, expression of a system of power (irrigation management in the fertile half moon between Tiger and Euphrates). I don't have any idea about how it worked with the 5 river country (actual Pakistan)

I never encounter a hint that made me think of an equivalent male-something from which all male gods take form. (note that I avoid the world god in discussing the primitive forms of devotion, using although as a figure of speech I may use goddess to refer to her, like Romeo talking to Julietta says bright angel).

It might be that the term god rises with religion that raises with a power system. While very primitive forms of adressing the transcendent did not use the concept of "god". who knows. No scripture yet at those times. When the concept of god is documented the power system/ religion s already operative.

[WT Sharpe]

.....If there's one thing I hope you take away from your visit to my world, whether you care to read about all I've lived or whether you stop right here, it's this: There are two things that will get you through life, and those things are simple and human and anyone can have them. They're laughter and learning. If they're a part of your life, you will always have a reason to keep living. If anyone out there has found a better way to make this world a better place to be, lay it on me, I'm here. Speak up, because I'm always listening and I'm always eager to learn.
..........— Tracy Morgan (1968 - ), American actor and comedian. I Am the New Black by Tracy Morgan with Anthony Bozza (2009).

[kennyc]

Great quote Tom!

[WT Sharpe]

.....On account of you I hear an evil report among strangers. My enemies examine all that I do; if I break wind they smell it at Rome. If in drink you should do some harm, do you not know how you would brand me and this house and the town and the Evangelic faith? Other men when drunk are happy and mild, as my father was; they sing and joke, but you fall into a fury. Such men ought to flee drink like a poison, for it is a deadly poison to such natures. Men of better humor may indulge more freely in liquor.
..........— Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), German priest, professor of theology, "Father of the Protestant Reformation." Quoted in The life and letters of Martin Luther (1911) by Preserved Smith (1880-1941). Smith writes that it was said by Luther as a warning to a young relative, Hans Polner, who was a frequent abuser of alcohol and who displayed an angry temperament whenever he drank. Martin Luther lived in Wittenberg at the time, and this may be the source for the more famous version of that quote, "If I break wind in Wittenberg, they smell it in Rome." It is quoted that way in a 1957 Time magazine book review of The Reformation by Will Durant, but as no source was mentioned in that article, I consider the comment by the Time reviewer to be mere gossip. In An Introduction to the History of Psychology (6th Edition, March 11, 2008), the author, B. R. Hergenhahn, quotes it with the phrase "in Wittenberg" as well, but he sources the quote to page 355 of the Preserved Smith book, which makes no mention of that phrase. I have no idea where Preserved Smith obtained the quote.

[WT Sharpe]

WARNING: Colorful language.

Spoiler:

.....Under the covers with a flashlight or in my corner of the attic—I sought solace in books. It was from books that I started to get an inkling of the kinds of assholes I was dealing with.
..........— Craig Ferguson (1962 - ), Scottish-American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, producer, director and actor. American on Purpose (2009).

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

WARNING: Colorful language.

Spoiler:

.....Under the covers with a flashlight or in my corner of the attic—I sought solace in books. It was from books that I started to get an inkling of the kinds of assholes I was dealing with.
..........— Craig Ferguson (1962 - ), Scottish-American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, producer, director and actor. American on Purpose (2009).

&

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

&

Why is it that so many of the best things ever said were said so colorfully?

[kennyc]

Cause they are simple and touch those inner shared emotions.

[FlorenceArt]

It's already in my signature, but maybe someday I will replace it with something else, so I'd like to repeat it, because I do think it's a very profound quote.

"The thing about witchcraft," said Mistress Weatherwax, "is that it's not like school at all. First you get the test, and then afterward you spend years findin' out how you passed it. It's a bit like life in that respect."

Terry Pratchett (The Wee Free Men)

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Cause they are simple and touch those inner shared emotions.

Like bathroom humor! (Sorry, Florence!)

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Like bathroom humor! (Sorry, Florence!)

I wouldn't put it quite like that....

[WT Sharpe]

.....The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinion.
..........— James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), American poet, critic, diplomat. Address, Birmingham, England (October 6, 1884). Quoted in The Great Thoughts (1985, Introduction and a new compilation ©1996 by David Laskin) by George Seldes. My Study Windows, (1871) "Abraham Lincoln," pg. 166. (Also quoted in The Great Quotations (1961) by George Seldes.)

[Sparrow]

As addresses go; 'Birmingham, England' is a pretty poor effort - Birmingham is a big place, and that is just way too vague.

[BenG]

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.

--Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson(US essayist & poet)