Quotes Of The Day: William Blake

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".In 2002, Blake was placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Although he lived in London his entire life (except for three years spent in Felpham), he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God" or "human existence itself". {more}

Image via wiki

"I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create."

---

"You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough."

---

"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."

---

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."

---

"Do what you will, this world's a fiction and is made up of contradiction."

---

"What is now proved was once only imagined."

---

"To generalize is to be an idiot."

--

"A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent."

---

"Active Evil is better than Passive Good."

---

"Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you."

---

"The fool who persists in his folly will become wise."

---

"The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really does."

---

"Prisons are built with stones of Law. Brothels with the bricks of religion."

---

"Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that called Body is a portion of Soul discerned by the five Senses, the chief inlets of Soul in this age."

---

"It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God only."

---

"To the eyes of a miser a guinea is more beautiful than the sun, and a bag worn with the use of money has more beautiful proportions than a vine filled with grapes."

---

Read more ...

Inspiring Quotes By George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and commitment to democratic socialism.

Commonly ranked as one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century and as one of the most important chroniclers of English culture of his generation, Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. He is best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945). His book Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, is widely acclaimed, as are his numerous essays on politics, literature, language, and culture. In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". {more}

Image via: Wiki

"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

---

"Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

---

"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

---

"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."

---

"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting."

---

"All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome."

---

"One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes a revolution in order to establish a dictatorship."

---

"Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac."

---

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

---

"All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting."

---

"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

---

"The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection."

---

"Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness."

---

"On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time."

---

"The aim of a joke is not to degrade the human being, but to remind him that he is already degraded."

---

"Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows."

---

"War is a way of shattering to pieces... materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable and... too intelligent."

---

"As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me."

---

Read more ...

Remembering Bruce Lee - 25 Rare Pictures & Quotes

Today is the birthday of the famous martial artists and movie star Bruce Lee. On that occasion Irongangsta presents 27 rare pictures of him. 

Some of the pictures are shots from Lee's movies and are showing the violent, wild, passionate and aggressive side of Bruce Lee while the rest are family photos revealing to some extend the personal life of the actor. Enjoy.

“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”

― Bruce Lee

"Real living is living for others."

Bruce Lee 

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

Bruce Lee

"To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person."

Bruce Lee

"Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential."

Bruce Lee 

“To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever.”

Bruce Lee

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

Bruce Lee 

"To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person."

Bruce Lee

"You just wait. I'm going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world."

Bruce Lee 

"Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system."

Bruce Lee

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."

Bruce Lee 

"Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick."

Bruce Lee 

"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities."

Bruce Lee 

The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.

Bruce Lee 

"I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine."

Bruce Lee 

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

Bruce Lee

Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being "wholly" and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come. The danger of training with the heavy bag is that it doesn't react to one’s attack and sometimes there is a tendency to thoughtlessness. One will punch the bag carelessly, and would be vulnerable in a real situation if this became a habit.

Bruce Lee

Question: What are your thoughts when facing an opponent? 

Bruce: There is no opponent. 

Question: Why is that? 

Bruce: Because the word ''l'' does not exist. A good fight should be like a small play...but played seriously. When the opponent expands, l contract. When he contracts, l expand. And when there is an opportunity... l do not hit...it hits all by itself (shows his fist). Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it.

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

Bruce Lee

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.”

Bruce Lee

“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”

Bruce Lee

“In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup.”

Bruce Lee

“I am not teaching you anything. I just help you to explore yourself.”

Bruce Lee

“Choose the positive. You have choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.”

Bruce Lee

"If you think a thing is impossible, you’ll make it impossible.”

Bruce Lee

“Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”

Bruce Lee

Read more ...