The Art of Tetman Callis

“Poverty is exile in one’s native land, While wealth will make a stranger feel at home.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“What are the three things whose ugliness cannot be set aside? Stupidity, a mean nature, and lying.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“A king cannot be called a king unless he is bountiful and just, a good and generous ruler, who treats his subjects well, maintaining the laws and customs with which they are familiar. He should establish justice among them, avoiding bloodshed and protecting them from harm. He should be marked out by his constant attention […]

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“While facts can be verified or refuted—and we should do so expeditiously and relentlessly—we must also recognize the possibility that more complex truths are often in the eyes of the beholder. This fact of human cognition doesn’t necessarily imply that relativism is correct or desirable; not all truths are equally valid. But because the particular […]

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Corpses float on the surface of the sea, While in the lowest depths are found the pearls. – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“Sorrow follows whoever thinks of himself as Time’s favorite.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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God has produced no finer sight than that Which shows two lovers on a single bed, Embracing one another in content, Pillowing each other with their wrists and arms. For when hearts are united in their love, It is cold iron on which their critics strike. You who blame the lovers for their love, Have […]

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“Wine has many uses. It helps you to digest food, dispels care, cures wind, purifies the blood, clears the complexion and restores the body. It emboldens cowards and encourages copulation.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“If you look at the moon, you’ll dream of the animals, and they’ll tell you they’re sorry they died, and they miss you.” – Liam, Facebook, May 29, 2017

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“Implying that actual news is synonymous with truth is bound to be erroneous: In reality, journalism is the first, not final, draft of history—provisional, revisable, susceptible to mistakes and at times falsehoods, despite the efforts of even the most scrupulous reporters.” – Sam Tanenhaus, “Who Stopped McCarthy?”

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The Limits to Human Survival: The Four Threes 1. Three minutes without oxygen. 2. Three days without water. 3. Three weeks without food. 4. Three months without companionship. – from Christy Gutowski, “7 Days Lost”

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“You know ‘journalist’ and ‘justice’ both begin with the same letter?” – Mister Caution, Alphaville

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“When people do not understand something, they tend to take a negative view of it and assume the worst.” – Justice Michael B. Hyman, Wing v. Chicago Transit Authority, 2016 IL App (1st) 153517 (Dec. 29, 2016)

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“A court abuses its discretion when it fails to exercise any discretion.” – Justice Mark Cady, State v. Hager (Iowa 2001)

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“When the plain language of two statutes is conflicting, courts will attempt to construe them together if such a construction is reasonable. With that said, legislative intent remains paramount. To that end, the more specific statute controls over the general statute, and the more recently enacted statute prevails over the older statute.” – Justice Terrence […]

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“During a local election in Belgium in 2003, a single scrambled bit of information, almost certainly caused by an errant [subatomic solar wind or cosmic ray] particle, added 4,096 votes to one candidate’s tally. Since this gave an impossibly high total, the mistake was easily spotted. But had the particle hit a different part of […]

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“Were it not for misdeeds there would be no forgiveness.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“Leave a place where there is injustice; Abandon the house to lament its builder. You can find another land in place of that one, But you will never find another life. Do not let the blows of fate concern you; Every misfortune will reach its end. Whoever is fated to die in a certain land […]

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“Three things are better than three other things. The day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth, a live dog is better than a dead lion, and the grave is better than poverty.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“Toil and hardship together with a lack of means teach a man bad manners and stupidity.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“There is many a grave sin that only shame has kept me from committing.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“A story is told that a powerful king of the Israelites was sitting one day on his royal throne when he saw a man coming in through the palace door with an appearance that was both unpleasing and awesome. The king shrank back in fear at this as the man approached, but then, jumping up […]

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“In the old days a certain king wanted to ride out one day with a number of his courtiers and officers of state in order to show off his splendid trappings to his people. He ordered his emirs and the great men of his state to prepare themselves to accompany him. He ordered the master […]

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“This is the age of the ugly and puffed-up, who are characterized by stupidity and cruelty, full of hatred and hostility.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“Hasten to do whatever good deed occurs to you For generosity is not always possible. How many a man has held back from a generous action He could have done, and then has been restrained by poverty.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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When a man is short of money, distressed and preoccupied, he cannot be blamed for what he says, as this does not come from his heart.” – The Arabian Nights (trans. Lyons, et al.)

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“If a rich man says something wrong, the people say: ‘You may be right, and what you say is not impossible,’ But if a poor man speaks the truth, they say: ‘You are a liar; what you say is wrong.’ Money invests a man with dignity and beauty in all lands. Money is the tongue […]

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“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” – Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

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