Rambler Marlin

Ah, the romance of the open road… More information here.

Samad va Fulad Zereh div (dir. Jalal Moghadam, 1971)

More information here, and the whole film, I think, here.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919-1980)

More information here.

Bruisyard Hall

Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (1872-1925)

More information here.

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831-1896)

More information here.

On the Goodness of the Supreme Being

Orpheus, for so the Gentiles call'd thy name,
Israel's sweet Psalmist, who alone couldst wake
Th'inanimate to motion; who alone
The joyful hillocks, the applauding rocks,
And floods with musical persuasion drew;
Thou who to hail and snow gav'st voice and sound,
And mad'st the mute melodious! — greater yet
Was thy divinest skill, and rul'd o'er more
Than art or nature; for thy tuneful touch
Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul,
And quell'd the evil Angel: — in this breast
Some portion of thy genuine spirit breathe,
And lift me from myself, each thought impure
Banish; each low idea raise, refine,
Enlarge, and sanctify; — so shall the muse
Above the stars aspire, and aim to praise
Her God on earth, as he is prais'd in heaven. […]

For the rest, see here.

I saw the world...

I saw the world a great orchestra filled with angels whose instruments were of gold. And I saw the organ on the top of the axis round which all should turn, but nothing turned and nothing moved and the angels stirred not and all was as still as a stone, and I was myself also, like the rest, as still as a stone.
Then I saw some huge, cloud-like forms nearing, and behold! it was the Lord bringing two of his children by the hand.
"O Papa!" said one, "isn't it pretty?"
"Yes, my dear," said the Lord, "and if you drop a penny into the box the figures will work."
Then I saw that what I had taken for the keyboard of the organ was no keyboard but only a slit, and one of the little Lords dropped a plaque of metal into it. And then the angels played and the world turned round and the people began killing one another and the two little Lords clapped their hands and were delighted.

Honesty

Honesty consists not in never stealing but in knowing where to stop in stealing, and how to make good use of what one does steal. It is only great proprietors who can steal well and wisely. A good stealer, a good user of what he takes, is ipso facto a good inventor. Two men can invent after a fashion to one who knows how to make the best use of what has been done already.

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This article was amended on 16 October 2013 to correct the date for the invention of the cotton gin and remove a reference to Andy Warhol.