Here's a couple of quotes from the remarkable book I'm reading right now, Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse. Mostly I want to preserve them for myself. > To be prepared against surprise is to be _trained_. To be prepared for surprise is to be _educated_. > Only by free self-concealment can persons believe that they obey the law because the law is powerful; in fact, the law is powerful for persons only because they obey it. We do not proceed through a traffic intersection _because_ the signal changes, but _when_ it changes. And one that's especially relevant to today's society: > Conflict with other societies is, in fact, an effective way for a society to restrain its own culture. Powerful societies do not silence their poietai [original thinkers, artists, etc.] in order that they may go to war; they go to war as a way of silencing their poietai. tags: [grommes](http://technorati.com/tag/grommes), [books](http://technorati.com/tag/books),[quotes](http://technorati.com/tag/quotes)