Comprehension

The great temptation of

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The great temptation of Big Data is that we can stop worrying about comprehension and focus on preventive action instead. Instead of wasting precious public resources on understanding the ‘why’ – i.e., exploring the reasons as to why terrorists become terrorists – one can focus on predicting the ‘when’ so that a timely intervention could … Read more

Only by following out

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Only by following out the injunction of our great predecessor [William Harvey] to search out and study the secrets of Nature by way of experiment, can we hope to attain to a comprehension of ‘the wisdom of the body and the understanding of the heart,’ and thereby to the mastery of disease and pain, which … Read more

I refer to the

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I refer to the misunderstanding of Soviet Russia as an aggressive power, militaristically and ideologically bent upon world domination ‘seeing’, to quote a recent speech of the British Prime Minister, ‘the rest of the world as its rightful fiefdom.’ How any rational person, viewing objectively the history of the last thirty-five years, could entertain this … Read more

Popularity doesn’t bother me.

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Popularity doesn’t bother me. It attests to the affection and comprehension of the public. The important thing is to retain the pioneer spirit. I profoundly love the profession, and I work on each film as if it were the first – and the last. Giving the best of myself. Many of the ‘greats’ ask their … Read more

Never before had I

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Never before had I known the sudden quiver of understanding that travels from word to brain to heart, the way a new language can move, coil, swim into life under the eyes, the almost savage leap of comprehension, the instantaneous, joyful release of meaning, the way the words shed their printed bodies in a flash … Read more

An individual can be

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An individual can be truly moral only when they are their own master. From the moment when they awaken to a comprehension of that which is equitable and good it is for them to direct their own movements, to seek in the their conscience reasons for their actions, and to perform them simply, without either … Read more

I still believe in

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I still believe in man in spite of man. I believe in language even though it has been wounded, deformed, and perverted by the enemies of mankind. And I continue to cling to words because it is up to us to transform them into instruments of comprehension rather than contempt. It is up to us … Read more