"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
 - Emily Dickinson
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A healthy technology will be as much art as machinery. Currently,
however, the elimination of the qualitative and artistic dimension from
consideration, leaving us with a naked skeleton of logic and algorithm,
is more or less what defines technology. - Steve Talbott, NetFuture
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If art interprets our dreams, the computer executes them
in the guise of programs! - Alan J. Perlis, SICP
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Happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat.
 - Julia Roberts in the "Notting Hill" movie, with reference
    to a Chagall painting
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I hope I can make it across the border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope. - Red, "The Shawshank Redemption" movie, 1994
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Sure I'll pick Shakespeare apart any day, with or without regular
expressions. I'll even put his Collected Works on an operating table
under bright lights, and cut into it with a scalpel, just to hear the
romantics bleat.
 - Kirby Urner, April 2005
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In the "A Bicentennial Man" film of a robot's search to become more
human, we feel more strongly the precious gift of our own humanity.
That is all we can ask of any work of art.
 - Austin C. Beeman, December 2001
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For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
 - William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1600
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But when I'm alone in the half-light of the canyon,
all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul and memories,
and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm
and the hope that a fish will rise.
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
 - Norman Maclean, A river runs through it, 1976
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What is this life if, full of care,
we have no time to stand and stare.
 - W.H. Davies, Leisure
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I don't think [artists] are there to be the "voice of the People",
even if it sometimes seems to work that way. I think artists are
there to amaze, to inspire, to challenge, and to open our minds and
hearts. On a basic, tribal level, I think the artist should be the
shaman. All too often, in our culture, he's the village idiot.
 - Joe Jackson, A Cure for Gravity, 1999
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Q: What are you doing?
A: Spinning counterclockwise
   Each turn robs the planet of angular momentum
   Slowing its spin the tiniest bit
   Lenghtening the night, pushing back the dawn
   Giving me a little more time here
   With you
 - Randall Munroe, http://xkcd.com/162/ , September 2006
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Watch Firefly, see Serenity, tell your friends.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Any questions? Shiny.
 - Greg Robinson, August 2005
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Questa donna deve avere pensieri meravigliosi, perché coi pensieri e con
gli sguardi di lei fuoriesce l'oro dalla sua testa, e io amo quell'oro e
non lo temo, e con lei sono più alto e più felice, e se porto la tuta e
sono sporco va tutto bene (benissimo, benissimo); e con in mano la mia
scopa di saggina potrei gettarmi e sparire in una torma di giannizzeri
e avrei paura solo del tempo perduto lontano da lei. - Tamas, July 2008
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The ads that Fox ran for Firefly were the only knowledge I had of
the show, not being on-line yet. [...] I will say, I was not excited
about it until, well, the first 5 minutes of the first show. I said,
This Is GOOD. And then, when they kicked the guy into the engine,
I realized, This Was The Show. - C. O. Jones, January 2009
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What is the end goal of art? Many would say it is to inspire, shock,
provoke, etc. I say art is to educate. [...] Art should improve the
human condition by helping people become better people - to learn
leadership and stewardship; to eschew revenge and domination.
 - Clark Aldrich, January 2010
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The goal of Art is not self-expression. Consequently, being a profes-
sional artist, especially as dedicated to early on in one's life,
is as intellectually flawed as being a professional teacher or a
professional politician. It necessarily focuses on style over
substance, and technique over wisdom. - Clark Aldrich, January 2010
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Most people in the world get paid for the time and effort they put
into something. There's no reason artists can't be paid this way,
except for the fact that publishers want to keep ripping them off.
 - Stephen Downes, April 2010