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On April 10, 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City, marking a significant milestone in the history of animal welfare in the United States.
The organization was the brainchild of Henry Bergh, a 54-year-old philanthropist and diplomat, who was moved by the cruel treatment of animals he witnessed during his travels and diplomatic postings.
To enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more. For this reason a sleeping apartment should never be furnished with a fire, which is one of the luxurious discomforts of the rich. For the height of this sort of deliciousness is to have nothing but the blanket between you and your snugness and the cold of the outer air. Then there you lie like the one warm spark in the heart of an arctic crystal.
― Herman Melville, Moby Dick
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physical beauty
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, signed a treaty of surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively bringing an end to the American Civil War. This momentous event marked the culmination of a series of battles and campaigns that had left Lee’s once-formidable army depleted and exhausted, unable to continue the fight against the overwhelming forces of the Union Army under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant.
“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own – not of the same blood and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
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“He soon felt that the fulfillment of his desires gave him only one grain of the mountain of happiness he had expected. This fulfillment showed him the eternal error men make in imagining that their happiness depends on the realization of their desires.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
This quote is from Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel, "Anna Karenina," which was first published in 1877. The novel explores themes of love, marriage, social norms, and the search for happiness and meaning in life. The quote specifically addresses the misconception that achieving one’s desires will lead to lasting happiness.
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Imagine pitching a show where the town sheriff communes with spirits through cherry pie, a one-armed man receives messages from a dancing dwarf, and a Log Lady carries cryptic pronouncements carved into wood.
This wasn’t your average whodunit; it was a metaphysical puzzle wrapped in a murder mystery, sprinkled with quirky humor and unsettling chills.
Yet, against all odds, ABC, a network known for its fluffy sitcoms and family dramas, took a colossal gamble, greenlighting “Twin Peaks” and betting on the vision of two audacious creators – the enigmatic filmmaker David Lynch and his writing partner, Mark Frost.
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“Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
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