William Johnson Sollas famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

The age of the earth was thus increased from a mere score of millions [of years] to a thousand millions and more, and the geologist who had before been bankrupt in time now found himself suddenly transformed into a capitalist with more millions in the bank than he knew how to dispose of ... More cautious people, like myself, too cautious, perhaps, are anxious first of all to make sure that the new [radioactive] clock is not as much too fast as Lord Kelvin's was too slow.
-- William Johnson Sollas

#Years #People #Anxiety
If catastrophic geology had at times pushed Nature to almost indecent extremes of haste, uniformitarian geology, on the other hand, had erred in the opposite direction, and pictured Nature when she was 'young and wantoned [sic] in her prime', as moving with the lame sedateness of advanced middle age. It became necessary, therefore, as Dr. [Samuel] Haughton expresses it, 'to hurry up the phenomena'.
-- William Johnson Sollas

#Nature #Moving #Hands

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide. Now, of my threescore years and ten, Twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more. And since to look at things in bloom Fifty springs are little room, About the woodlands I will go To see the cherry hung with snow.
If you imagine writing 1,000 words a day, which most journalists do, that would be a very long book a year.
I am shy to admit that I have followed the advice given all those years ago by a wise archbishop to a bewildered young man: that moments of unbelief 'don't matter,' that if you return to a practice of the faith, faith will return.
Often we want people to pray for us and help us, but we always defeat our object when we look too much to them and lean upon them. The true secret of union is for both to look upon God, and in the act of looking past themselves to Him they are unconsciously united.
My goal has been to encourage jointness, to push people to think of affiliations rather than to operate as solo entrepreneurs.
Universities are not here to be mediums for the coercion of other people, they're here to be mediums for the free exchange of ideas.
Major sports are major parts of society. It's not anomalous to have people who love sports come from other parts of that society.
People seldom refuse help, if one offers it in the right way.
Science fiction is a field of writing where, month after month, every printed word implies to hundreds of thousands of people: 'There is change. Look, today's fantastic story is tomorrow's fact.
In fact most of what we call anxiety is overconcern about what someone thinks of you.

William Johnson Sollas famous quotes

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