Quote of the Day (Gillian Tett, on Why Voters Should Pay Attention to the Latest Census News)

“Worrying about the state of America's statistics might not seem that urgent, given all the other explosive political rows swirling in Washington. But voters should pay attention. For at the heart of this story are three key questions: can anyone paint an accurate portrait of what America is today? If so, how should this shape voting processes? And can this data be trusted in an era of manipulation, cyber hacks and artificial intelligence?”— British columnist and editor Gillian Tett, “Who Counts?”, The Financial Times, Aug. 22-23, 2026

Movie Quote of the Day (‘The Miracle of Morgan's Creek,’ As a Lawman Vents Frustration With His Teenage Daughter)

Constable Edmund Kockenlocker [played by William Demarest, center] [to his 14-year-old daughter]: “Listen, Zipper-puss! Someday they're just gonna find your hair ribbon and an axe someplace. Nothing else!”— The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943), written and directed by Preston Sturges

Song Lyric of the Day (Paul Simon, on The Lord, ‘My Engineer’)

“The Lord is my engineer
The Lord is the earth I ride on
The Lord is the face in the atmosphere
The path I slip and slide on.”—Grammy winning American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, “The Lord,” in his Seven Psalms CD (2023)

The image of Paul Simon that accompanies this post was taken of him performing live in Mainz, Germany, on July 25, 2008, by Miho.

Photo of the Day: Twilight on NYC and the Hudson River

The other night, at a restaurant near me in Bergen County, NJ, I was given the choice of eating inside or outside. Considering the view just before sunset, as seen in this photo I took then from the Hudson River Walkway in Edgewater, I don’t think my decision to sit with the skyline in view was surprising.

Quote of the Day (Robertson Davies, on the Eye and the Mind)

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”—Canadian man of letters Robertson Davies (1913-1995), Tempest-Tost (1951)

Movie Quote of the Day (‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,’ on ‘A Man With Ideas’)

J. Pierpont (Ponty) Finch [played by Robert Morse, right]: “Sir, if you had a man with ideas….”

J. B. Biggley [played by Rudy Vallee, left]: “Ideas? That's what I look for. I keep hiring a lot of fellows who are supposed to have brilliant ideas, but not one of them will ever do what I tell him.” — How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), based on the novel by Shepherd Mead, adapted into a Pulitzer and Tony-winning musical with book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, movie written and directed by David Swift

Quote of the Day (Roger Rosenblatt, on How ‘Age Concentrates the Mind’)

“Age concentrates the mind. The moment you realize you will no longer do something you’ve done all your life. The moment you realize that you will now need to do something you’ve never had to do before. The moment you realize that what used to be will never be the same. Some of this could lend itself to melancholy. But there is also a bigness to such moments that allows for wonder. A sense that you can’t quite comprehend it all.”— American memoirist, essayist, and novelist Roger Rosenblatt, “The World is a Room with a Piano Waiting to be Played,” The New York Times, Sept. 3, 2026