Friday, 14 August
1:02am, 14 Aug 2009
Notes, comments (view)
 

“ How quickly do we grow accustomed to wonders. I am reminded of the Isaac Asimov story “Nightfall”, about the planet where the stars were visible only once in a thousand years. So awesome was the sight that it drove men mad. We who can see the stars every night glance up casually at the cosmos and then quickly down again, searching for a Dairy Queen.

—

Roger Ebert (via kaylynashley)

Asimov’s Nightfall was written in response to a passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s short essay Nature: “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.”

I’d also recommend reading Paul Hawken’s 2009 Commencement Address (which references Emerson’s point).

Anand Thakker

I'm a high school teacher, who used to be a software developer. I like learning and uncertainty. This is one of the places I come to think.
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