Thread: X's signature

My dear X:

This saying, framed, watches over my desk:

"Life is not having and getting, but being and becoming" — Matthew Arnold.

Regards,

Obie

Nothing is absolutely so

There seems to be so much to choose from and yet how does a single quote do justice to the entire man?

Just make it an "X."

Get it? Cause some people's signatures are just that: an X.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

There seems to be so much to choose from and yet how does a single quote do justice to the entire man?

Well, all I know is if this was on my tombstone I wouldn't feel a need for anythign else...




But I guess that really wouln't work as a signature... especially since you'd have to put it in the first person and all.

Actually, I take that back, that'd be a pretty damn cool signature.

There is the classic Socrates with Plato (Apology 21D). It appears to fit your modest and critical-inquisitive attitude hereabouts:

"(κινδυνεύει μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐδέτερος οὐδὲν καλὸν κἀγαθὸν εἰδέναι, ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος μὲν οἴεταί τι εἰδέναι οὐκ εἰδώς, ἐγὼ δέ, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ οἶδα, οὐδὲ οἴομαι· ἔοικα γοῦν τούτου γε σμικρῷ τινι αὐτῷ τούτῳ σοφώτερος εἶναι, ὅτι) ἃ μὴ οἶδα οὐδὲ οἴομαι εἰδέναι"

["(I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because) I do not fancy I know what I do not know."]


To me, Aristotle Metaphysics I.2 v983a seems an apt phrase for under your writings too :

"Πολλά ψεύδονται άοιδοί"

['polla pseudontai aoidoi' - "Poets make up a lot"]

When I am hunting for interesting quotes, I like to go back to random papers I myself have written and grab whatever I think is clever, be it in or out of context. The thing is, I hate reading my own writing, so I don't do this often. I mostly just think it's interesting to see what I have written in the past that I still think is worth repeating.

My favourite professional quote from Sir Francis Galton, father of regression analysis (and eugenics, but let's just ignore that little blip).

Exercising the right of occasional suppression and slight modification, it is truly absurd to see how plastic a limited number of observations become, in the hands of men with preconceived ideas.

James.

I tend to lean toward more modern classics, relative to Aristotle and Plato.

Quites from Heinlein's "Notebooks of Lazarus Long" have always been some of my favories. Two that come to mind immediatley are

* Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.

* It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier.

It's easy to find the whole list of them online, though many can be too long for a sig line. Still, they are usually good for either a chuckle or to make you think. Or both.

- Mark (S-4-C)

Originally Posted by xman

....
I've been using the same signature for many years now and
....
Suggestions are appreciated.

X

Dear X,
Keep it short.