Just one more thing

is an excellent book by Peter Falk (isbn 978-0-099-50955-4). As usual I'm going to quote from a few pages

My object is to keep you awake.

I didn't stay in college the full four years. I quit after three months and joined the Merchant Marines. Men with one eye were not drafted and in the Merchant Marines they were not allowed to work on deck or below deck, but they could work in the kitchen. I sailed out as third cook. My specialty was pork chops.

About the third time I was late, even before I hit my seat, LaGallienne froze me with a question: "Why are you always late?" I said I had to drive down from Hartford. She asked coldly, "What do you do there? There are no theatres in Hartford. How do you make a living?" I told the truth. "I'm not an actor." She snapped back "Well you should be, now sit down."

I remember vividly that particular performance when for the first time I was suddenly startled by a new totally unexpected sound - a rich, deep authentic snore. Holy jamolies. There is someone on this stage that is sleeping - really sleeping.

I have never been arrested in the United States but I have been arrested in Paris, Moscow, Havana, Genoa, Belgrade, and Trieste.

Did he want to be buried or cremated? His answer to them was brief - "Surprise me."

"Here and there you'll find a raisin."

I was struck very early by the dramatic possibilities of playing a man who housed within himself two opposite traits.

For me The Princess Bride was a movie without a blemish, perfect for both kids and adults.

An Introduction to General Systems Thinking

is an excellent book by Jerry Weinberg (isbn 0-932633-49-8). As usual I'm going to quote from a few pages. I know I've snippeted this book before, but I read it again and a really good book deserves a repeat snippet.

The average scientist is good for at most one revolution.

"Proof" in its original sense was a test applied to substances to determine if they are of satisfactory quality... Over the centuries, the meaning of the word "prove" began to shift, eliminating the negative possibilities...

They know "better" - which is to say that their illusion is stronger.

We drive more slowly at night to give us more time to observe potentially dangerous situations.

More probable states are more likely to be observed than less probable states, unless specific constraints exist to keep them from occurring.

Things we see more frequently are more frequent: 1. because there is some physical reason to favor certain states, or 2. because there is some mental reason.

The Axiom of Experience can, like all of our principles, be turned around, to become a definition of what we mean by the word "like": Two things are alike if one in the present can be substituted for one in the past.

a "boundary" may not be infinitely thin, precisely so it can partake of both system and environment. Rather than separating, such a boundary connects.

We can learn, if nothing else, proper caution in our speech, which will inevitably lead to proper caution in our thought...