TV Quote of the Day (‘Northern Exposure,’ on Human Wants, Needs and Desires)

Ruth-Anne Miller (played by Peg Phillips) to Maurice J. Minnifield (played by Barry Corbin): “You know what Oscar Wilde said? He said, 'nothing human is alien to me'. It's just human. We all have the jungle inside of us. We all have wants and needs and desires, strange as they may seem. If you stop to think about it, we're all pretty creative, cooking up all these fantasies. It's like a kind of poetry.”— Northern Exposure, Season 5, Episode 12, “Mister Sandman,” original air date Jan. 10, 1994, teleplay by Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, directed by Michael Fresco

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Ann, who adored this offbeat series—one that, even in the context of current network TV, remains highly unusual in content.

Spiritual Quote of the Day (William James, on Human Differences in God’s Eyes)

“In God's eyes the differences of social position, of intellect, of culture, of cleanliness, of dress, which different men exhibit, and all the other rarities and exceptions on which they so fantastically pin their pride, must be so small as practically quite to vanish; and all that should remain is the common fact that here we are, a countless multitude of vessels of life, each of us pent in to peculiar difficulties, with which we must severally struggle by using whatever of fortitude and goodness we can summon up. The exercise of the courage, patience, and kindness, must be the significant portion of the whole business; and the distinctions of position can only be a manner of diversifying the phenomenal surface upon which these underground virtues may manifest their effects. At this rate, the deepest human life is everywhere, is eternal. And, if any human attributes exist only in particular individuals, they must belong to the mere trapping and decoration of the surface-show.”—American philosopher and psychologist William James (1842-1910), “What Makes a Life Significant?", in Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals (1889)

Quote of the Day (Rev. John Bennett, on God and the Humanity of Man)

“God does not threaten the humanity of man. On the contrary, the humanity of man can only be threatened if the final word is that he is alone, that he is unknown to any other than his fellows, that he is responsible for no authority above the state or the other powers of the world that shall claim his allegiance. The deepest source of his freedom may still be that he knows that he must ‘obey God rather than men.’”—Canadian-born Protestant theologian, ethicist, and social activist John C. Bennett (1902-1995), “In Defense of God,” Look, April 19, 1966 

The image accompanying this post is, of course, the “Adam’s Creation” panel by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

 

Quote of the Day (Edmund Burke, on How Men Are Ruined)

“All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities.” —Anglo-Irish orator, statesman and political philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Letters on a Regicide Peace (1796)

Quote of the Day (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, on Work and the Human Race)

"The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it." — German man of letters Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe died at age 82 in Weimar, in what was then known as the German Confederation, on this date in 1832, of apparent heart failure. His range of interests and talents was astonishing—not only was he a poet, playwright (Faust), novelist (The Sorrows of Young Werther),critic and memoirist, but also a civil servant and even botanist.  His influence on modern culture—especially Germany’s—was enormous.

Quote of the Day (Charles Dickens, on Human Beings as Mysteries)

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”― English novelist Charles Dickens  (1812-1870), A Tale of Two Cities (1858)