I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then
finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the
great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
The free expression of the hopes and aspirations of a people is the greatest
and only safety in a sane society.
Emma Goldman (1869 - 1940)
[The Blues] was a celebration of life, or breathing, of muscle-flexing, of
eye-blinking, of licking-the-chops, in spite of everything the world might
do to you. It was a defiance of the undertaker. It was a refusal to go
under, a stubborn hanging on, a shout of praise to the circulatory system,
hosannas for the sweat-glands, hymns to the guts that ache when they’re
hollow. Glory be, brother! Hallelujah, the sun’s shining! Praise be the
almighty pulse! Ain’t nobody going to wash us away. We here, and we going
to stay put - don’t recognize no eviction notices from the good green earth.
Spirit’s still in us, and it sure must get to jump.
Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow (1899 - 1972)