“Men, you are all marksmen—don’t one of you fire until you see the white of their eyes.” – Israel Putnam (1718-1790), at Bunker Hill, 1775; as quoted in R. Frothingham’s History of the Siege of Boston (1873) ch. 5. Note that these words were also attributed to William Prescott (1726-1795)
“It took more than 60 years between when the notion of Artificial Intelligence was first proposed and studied, and for us to reach today’s capabilities. Solving safety of superhuman intelligence—not perfect safety, safety in the sense of ‘not killing literally everyone’—could very reasonably take at least half that long. And the thing about trying this with superhuman intelligence is that if you get that wrong on the first try, you do not get to learn from your mistakes, because you are dead. Humanity does not learn from the mistake and dust itself off and try again, as in other challenges …
“Hang out our banners on the outward walls; The cry is still, ‘They come’; our castle’s strength Will laugh a siege to scorn.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1606) Act 5, Scene 5
“La tyrannie est toujours mieux organisèe que la libertè.” (Translated: Tyranny is always better organized than liberty.) – Charles Pèguy (1873-1914)
“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to …
“The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff …
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair, 1934
“Man… Who trusted God was love indeed And love Creation’s final law— Though Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shrieked against his creed.” – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) ‘In Memoriam A. H. H.’ (1850) canto 56
“Dans les champs de l’observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits prèparès.” (Translated: Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind.) – Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) From an address given on the inauguration of the Faculty of Science, University of Lille, December 7, 1854
“It cannot but happen…that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces…This survival of the fittest implies multiplication of the fittest.” – Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), from Principles of Biology (1865)
“For a man’s house is his castle, et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium [and each man’s home is his safest refuge].” – Sir Edward Coke, The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (1628) Chapter 73, p. 162
“And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he …
“And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked …
“When the people contend for their liberty, they seldom get anything by their victory but new masters.” – George Savile, Marquis of Halifax 1633-1695, from Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections
“None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but licence.” – John Milton 1608-1674, from: The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)
