Faxian (also Fa-Hsien or Fa-hien) was a 4th century Chinese scholar who sought out ancient Sanskrit manuscripts to translate into Chinese. His travels took him throughout the Buddhist kingdoms of Asia. His primary work is the Record of Buddhist Kingdoms.
Xuanzang was a 7th century Chinese scholar who travelled throughout India and spent over 16 years in the area around Patna and Nalanda studying medicine, philosophy, logic, astronomy, grammar, mathematics – and of course, Buddhist texts.
SEVEN DEADLY SINS
Pride * Greed * Lust * Envy * Sloth * Anger * Gluttony
FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES
Prudence * Justice * Temperance * Fortitude
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
Pyramids of Giza
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Colossus of Rhodes
Statue of Zeus at Olympias
Lighthouse of Alexandria
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
BIRTHSTONES
January: Garnet
February: Amethyst
March: Bloodstone
April: Diamond
May: Emerald
June: Pearl, Alexandrite
July: Ruby
August: Sardonyx, Agate
September: Sapphire
October: Opal
November: Topaz
December: Turquoise
Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, battalion commander in the Iraqi town of Abu Hishma: “With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them.” Sunday, December 7, 2003 New York Times Dexter Wilkins, “Tough New Tactics by U.S. Tighten Grip on Iraq Towns.” An utterly insane statement which says everything that is wrong about the U.S. approach to dealing with Iraq.
Although the roads to human power and to human knowledge lie close together, and are nearly the same, nevertheless on account of the pernicious and inveterate habit of dwelling on abstractions, it is safer to begin and raise the sciences from those foundations which have relation to practice, and to let the active part itself be as the seal which prints and determines the contemplative counterpart.
Novum Organum, bk ii, aph iv (1620) in: The Works of Francis Bacon vol. 1, p. 169 (Spedding ed. 1877)
I know no pleasure like that of books, and I read very little. Books are introductions to dreams, and no introductions are necessary for one who freely and naturally enters into conversation with them. I’ve never been able to lose myself in a book; as I’m reading, the commentary of my intellect or imagination has always hindered the narrative flow. After a few minutes it’s I who am writing, and what I write is nowhere to be found.