sylvester

“Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics.”
― David L. Goodstein, States of Matter

“A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization?” The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon.

Margaret Mead thought for a moment, then she said, “A healed femur.”

A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend.

Mead explained that where the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest—rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.”
― Ira Byock

“What is a debt, anyway? A debt is just the perversion of a promise. It is a promise corrupted by both math and violence.”
― David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years

“Existence is wasted on the living."
"You're stoned."
She takes another pull of the cigarette. "What do you think happens when we die? You believe in Heaven and Hell and all that shit?"
We're outside of a Catholic church, sitting on a bench next to a statue of Mary. "This is the closest I ever got to a church. Wasn't even baptized," I say.
"So?”
― A.S. King, Dig