"Though it flies in the face of almost universally accepted wisdom, moderately disorganized people, institutions, and systems frequently turn out to be more efficient, more resilient, more creative, and in general more effective than highly organized ones."
E. Abrahamson and D. H. Freedman, A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder (New York: Little, Brown, 2006, p. 5.
I told you so!
Chaos — 1870
AQQ
"The French, like true artists, always regarded war as one of the fine arts."
The Education of Henry Adams, (1918) Cap. XIX. "Chaos (1870)".
The Glory of Knowledge
"There is a glory, greater than, the glory of wealth, and power, and arms, and conquest — the glory of loving, getting, cherishing, diffusing, perpetuating knowledge . . ."
Robert J. Breckinridge, (1853) Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kentucky.
Molly and Jane Cloud
Boone County, Kentucky, Court Orders, 3rd. day of October 1825:
"On motion of Jane Cloud and for reasons offered the court She is released from the payment of Poll tax here after for her old negro woman named Molly on account of her age & infirmity." [CO/ C-2]
Back When Weather Meant Something
AQQ
"Medieval man had to live by daylight. At night he could travel only by the intermittent moon. Few trades could be carried on by artificial light. Winter in the north was the time of repose, of fireside diversions, of song and storytelling. It was also the time of hardship, perpetual chill, scanty, monotonous, vitaminless food, further restricted by Lenten fast. So when spring came, it roused people to a pagan frenzy. After the harshness of winter, the sun shone blessedly down, sap flowed, as did the lusty blood. Most love poems were timed with the spring. Weather really meant something in those days."
Morris Bishop, The Middle Ages (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968), p. 126-127.
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