The Fiscal Week

03/02/2010

matt311 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:27:32 +0000

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
- Albert Einstein

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
- Voltaire

temporize

\TEM-puh-ryz\ , intransitive verb;

1. To be indecisive or evasive in order to gain time or delay action.

2. To comply with the time or occasion; to yield to prevailing opinion or circumstances.

3. To engage in discussions or negotiations so as to gain time

03/01/2010

matt311 — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:27:35 +0000

Be fair or foul,or rain or shine, the joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine. Not heaven itself upon the past has power, but what has been, has been and I have had my hour. – John Henry Dryden

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Never answer a critic, unless he’s right.
- Bernard M. Baruch

pablum

\PAB-luhm\ , noun;

Something (as writing or speech) that is trite, insipid, or simplistic.

02/28/2010

matt311 — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:36:51 +0000

One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.
- Kurt Vonnegut

The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.
- Benjamin Disraeli

quixotic

\kwik-SOT-ik\ , adjective;

1. Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals.

2. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable.

02/26/2010

matt311 — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:58:41 +0000

Humor is also a way of saying something serious.
- T. S. Eliot

One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.
- Randall Jarrell

mulct

\MULKT\ , noun;

1. A fine or penalty.

2. To punish for an offense or misdemeanor by imposing a fine or demanding a forfeiture.

3. To obtain by fraud or deception.

02/25/2010

matt311 — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:07:42 +0000

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life your deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists… it is real… it is possible… it’s yours. – Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)

gregarious

\grih-GAIR-ee-us\ , adjective;

Tending to form a group with others of the same kind.

Seeking and enjoying the company of others.

02/24/2010

matt311 — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:47:32 +0000

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

arcanum

\ar-KAY-nuhm\ , noun;

1. A secret; a mystery.

2. Specialized or mysterious knowledge, language, or information that is not accessible to the average person (generally used in the plural).

02/23/2010

matt311 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:55:47 +0000

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.
- Friedrich Engels

Of course the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you–if you don’t play, you can’t win.
- Robert Heinlein

fructuous

\FRUHK-choo-uhs\ , adjective;

Fruitful; productive.

2/22/2010

matt311 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:57:14 +0000

Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
- Charles Mackay

fractious

\FRAK-shuhs\ , adjective;

1. Tending to cause trouble; unruly.

2. Irritable; snappish; cranky.

2/21/2010

matt311 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:13:28 +0000

“We are weighed down, every moment, by the conception and sensation of time. And there are but two means of escaping and forgetting this nightmare: pleasure and work. Pleasure consumes us. Work strengthens us. Let us choose.” Charles Baudelaire

bombast

\BOM-bast\ , noun;

Pompous or pretentious speech or writing.

02/17/2010

matt311 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:23:20 +0000

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
- George F. Will

Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.
- Wernher von Braun

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

- Arthur C. Clarke

You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write. – Saul Bellow

hypnagogic

\hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\ , adjective;

Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of drowsiness preceding sleep.