From Plane to Sphere
They all tried.
They tried to free Euclid of every flaw.
At Bach’s time Girolamo Saccheri did
And Adrien-Marie Legendre later.
Unconsoled,
Pitying himself and all mankind,
Farkas Bolyai came back
With broken mast and torn sail.
He came back from the voyage
To the reefs of the infernal Dead Sea.
He traversed the bottomless night,
Devoting his life to the search for truth,
Trying to prove Euclid’s fifth postulate
And reach the parallels.
At the beginning he warned his son
But later he encouraged, even urged him
To come forth with the novel idea
Of non-Euclidean geometry,
For violets react to light in early spring.
And János indeed
Brought forward new theorems.
In eighteen twenty three,
When he was only twenty-one years old,
He solved the timeworn problem.
He created a new universe
By removing points, lines and parallels
From the surface of the plane
And placing them
In the realm of the sphere.
poem by Paul Hartal
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
My Twenty Lines
I just read this poem about using just twenty lines,
and it brought these words to my mind.
Who are they to tell us how many lines we should use to speak?
This is America where we have a law known as freedom of speech.
Just twenty lines tell you something about my life in words.
To me that seem completely absurd.
My life is much more than just twenty lines.
Hell I am thirty nine.
And if they except me to sum up thirty nine years in twenty lines
They are complete outside their minds.
How am I suppose to tell you how I nearly died when I was child?
Or how my mother harsh words took away my smile:
In just twenty lines?
Like I said they must be out of their minds.
I guest I can do if I shorten my life.
I don't have to talk about how much I love my future wife.
But her love is the inspiration for a lot of my poems.
So to not talk about her would be wrong.
I have a lot more to say but I'm out of time.
I reach my limit of my twenty lines.
Out of nothing I have created a strange new universe.
quote by Janos Bolyai
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Three
I got to tell you that he waited all his life
For someone like you to come make the wrong things right
I know he didn't have the answers all the time
But you can't tell me that you've never told a lie
We're almost twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
You tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back now
Was it fun for you to watch him fall apart? (Watch me fall)
And suffocate him while you held him in your arms (in your arms)
I swear to God I wish he never let you in (let you in)
And I just hope we never hear from you again
We're almost twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
you tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back
Wasted on you (wasted on you)
Wasted on you (so much time I've)
Wasted on you (wasted on you)
Wasted on you
On you
On you
Twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
You tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back now
song performed by by Yellowcard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Three
I got to tell you that he waited all his life
For someone like you to come make the wrong things right
I know he didn't have the answers all the time
But you can't tell me that you've never told a lie
We're almost twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
You tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back now
Was it fun for you to watch him fall apart? (Watch me fall)
And suffocate him while you held him in your arms (in your arms)
I swear to God I wish he never let you in (let you in)
And I just hope we never hear from you again
We're almost twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
you tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back
Wasted on you (wasted on you)
Wasted on you (so much time I've)
Wasted on you (wasted on you)
Wasted on you
On you
On you
Twenty-three and you're still mad at me
So much that I said to you and I want to take it back now
Twenty-three and it's so sad to me
You tell the world I'm dead to you
But I know you want me back now
song performed by by Yellowcard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When I Grow Up
When i grow up to be a man
Will i dig the same things that turn me on as a kid?
Will i look back and say that i wish i hadn't done what i did?
Will i joke around and still dig those sounds
When i grow up to be a man?
Will i look for the same things in a woman that i dig in a girl?
(fourteen fifteen)
Will i settle down fast or will i first wanna travel the world?
(sixteen seventeen)
Now i'm young and free, but how will it be
When i grow up to be a man?
Oooooo ooooooo oooooooo
Will my kids be proud or think their old man is really a square?
(eighteen nineteen)
When they're out having fun yeah, will i still wanna have my share?
(twenty twenty-one)
Will i love my wife for the rest of my life
When i grow up to be a man?
What will i be when i grow up to be a man?
(twenty-two twenty-three)
Won't last forever
(twenty-four twenty-five)
It's kind of sad
(twenty-six twenty-seven)
Won't last forever
(twenty-eight twenty-nine)
It's kind of sad
(thirty thirty-one)
Won't last forever
(thirty-two...)
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Years Ago
It's been a long time since I walked
Through this old town
But oh how the memories start to flow
And there's the old movie house
They finally closed it down
You could find me there every Friday night
Twenty years ago.
I worked the counter at the drugstore down the street
But nobody's left there I would know
On Saturday mornings that's where
All my friends would meet
You'd be surprised to know what a dime would buy
Twenty years ago.
All my memories from those days come gather round me
What I'd give if they could take me back in time
It almost seems like yesterday
Where do the good times go?
Life was so much easier twenty years ago.
I guess I should stop by Mr. Johnson's hardware store
His only son was my friend Joe
But he joined the army back in 1964
How could we know he would never come back
Twenty years ago...
song performed by by Kenny Rogers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The early study of Euclid made me a hater of geometry.
quote by James Joseph Sylvester
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When I Grew Up
When I grow up to be a man
Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid?
Will I look back and say that I wish I hadnt done what I did?
Will I joke around and still dig those sounds
When I grow up to be a man?
Will I look for the same things in a woman that I dig in a girl?
(fourteen fifteen)
Will I settle down fast or will I first wanna travel the world?
(sixteen seventeen)
Now Im young and free, but how will it be
When I grow up to be a man?
Oooooo ooooooo oooooooo
Will my kids be proud or think their old man is really a square?
(eighteen nineteen)
When theyre out having fun yeah, will I still wanna have my share?
(twenty twenty-one)
Will I love my wife for the rest of my life
When I grow up to be a man?
What will I be when I grow up to be a man?
(twenty-two twenty-three)
Wont last forever
(twenty-four twenty-five)
Its kind of sad
(twenty-six twenty-seven)
Wont last forever
(twenty-eight twenty-nine)
Its kind of sad
(thirty thirty-one)
Wont last forever
(thirty-two...)
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Years And Two Husbands Ago
Lookin' in the bathroom mirror puttin' my makeup on
Maybelline can't hide the lines of time that's gone
I weighed 105 soakin' wet, I'd knock 'em dead in that sun dress
Had it all just too young to know,
That was twenty years and, two husbands ago
I remember when he took my hand and said "I do"
And the kitchen I was standing in, when he said "I'm through"
And I swore I'd never fall back in, put my heart through that again
Never let somebody get that close
But that was twenty years and, two husbands ago
Water under the bridge
I guess that's all life really is, that's just the way it is
Driving the kids to school today, it occurred to me
With all the wrong turns I've made,
I'm where I should be
But I go back there from time to time
Lookin' for that peace of mind,
And find it's always just a dead-end road
Yeah that was twenty years and, two husbands ago
Water under the bridge
I guess that's all life really is, that's just the way it is
Lookin' in the bathroom mirror puttin' my makeup on
song performed by by Lee Ann Womack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Craddock’s Time Theory Age Relative
light years apart
in space time
continuum
youth three-dimensional
stretching into mathematical models
age a fourth dimension
spatial dimensions
our spacetime passing each other
is space and time in a single continuum
our shared Euclidean space
on this plane of existence
is but the trap of physical flesh
our atoms bound at every point
in three-dimensional Euclidean space
by flesh infused fixed points
determined by three coordinates
yet our thoughts are timeless
infinite bound by no scientific laws
they can flow spread be anywhere any time
in universe at instant thought speed
instant in arrival at multiple locations
they enter into realities past curved space
worn holes are for porous slow minds
higher dimensions bypass imagination
non-Euclidean geometry the cage play pen
Einstein’s general theory of relativity
a manifold universe of but three
dimensions of space one of time
denies all time existing simultaneously
within a God state span spun within eternity
supergalatic subatomic levels are but focused lenses
begging new observations into eye opening realities
unperceived ignored unknown awaiting perception orientation
before eureka moment God reloading reality matrix
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Free, Male, & Twenty-one
Were free
Were male
Were twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
Its not enough to be twenty-one and free
Its not the same as male and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
This is such a fine distinction
The career that weve begun
I just made twenty-one
Im old enough to run
For congressman or clerk of the public works
Or dogcatcher or something just as dumb
If I should choose to run
I make no exaggeration
Just a statement of the facts
Now Im second generation
And I am manly to the max
And no one can decree
Just who I have to be
The choice is up to me
And if I could be anything, Id be
Male and twenty-one
Its nice to be a man
I use it all I can
I never had a choice for a higher voice
But I have to say Im glad to be a man
Since this is what I am
Sigmund freud may have a crisis
With his own identity
But theres nothing wrong with me
Because I enjoy being a boy
And all that it will say upon my resume
Free, male, and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
If I could change
Change anything, everything
Everything in the world
Then I would make
Half of the world
Free, male, and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
And I dont believe in heaven
What a let down it would be
And I hope theres not a hell
But there must be a God cause he made me
Free, male, and twenty-one
Theres got to be a God cause he made me
Male and twenty-one
Free, male, and twenty-one
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mathematical discoveries, like springtime violets in the woods, have their season which no man can hasten or retard.
quote by Janos Bolyai
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Years
There are twenty years to go
Twenty ways to know
Who'll wear
Who'll wear the hat
There are twenty years to go
The best of all I hope
Enjoy the ride
The medicine show
Thems the breaks
For we designer fakes
We need to concentrate on more than meets the eye
There are twenty years to go
The faithful and the low
The best of starts, the broken heart, the stone
There are twenty years to go
The punch-drunk and the blow
The worst of starts, the mercy part, the foam
Thems the breaks
Before we designer fakes
We need to concentrate on more than meets the eye
Thems the breaks
Before we designer fakes
But it's you I take cos you're the truth, not I
There are twenty years to go
A golden age I know
But all will pass and end too fast you know
There are twenty years to go
And many friends I hope
Though some may hold the rose
Some hold the rope
That's the end - and that's the start of it
That's the whole - and that's the part of it
That's the high - and that's the heart of it
That's the long - and that's the short of it
That's the best - and that's the test in it
That's the doubt - the doubt, the trust in it
That's the sight - and that's the sound of it
That's the gift - and that's the trick in it
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
You're the truth, not I
song performed by by Placebo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Days And Twenty Nights
I left my home up in the hill far behind me
I left my wife with unpaid bills, she can't find me
I'm trying out the world for size, find that it's not paradise, it's lonely
Now for twenty days and twenty nights I've been alone
And that ain't right without her
City ways are strange to me, I can't make it
For it's not like it ought to be, I can't take it
Gotta face the truth one day, man can't always run away from trouble
No, now for twenty days and twenty nights I've been a fool
And that ain't right, without her
One day soon I'm going back, where she still minds me
And then out of line and off the track, but that's behind me
I fooled around and did it well, but I just couldn't ring the bell , without her, no
It's taken twenty days and twenty nights to prove me wrong and make her right
Twenty days and twenty nights I was wrong and she was right, all along
Oh, I miss her
Oh, how I miss her, oh how I miss her, oh how I miss her
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Days & Twenty Nights
(words & music by weisman - westlake)
I left my home up in the hill far behind me
I left my wife with unpaid bills, she cant find me
Im trying out the world for size, find that its not paradise, its lonely
Now for twenty days and twenty nights Ive been alone
And that aint right without her
City ways are strange to me, I cant make it
For its not like it ought to be, I cant take it
Gotta face the truth one day, man cant always run away from trouble
No, now for twenty days and twenty nights Ive been a fool
And that aint right, without her
One day soon Im going back, where she still minds me
And then out of line and off the track, but thats behind me
I fooled around and did it well, but I just couldnt ring the bell , without her, no
Its taken twenty days and twenty nights to prove me wrong and make her right
Twenty days and twenty nights I was wrong and she was right, all along
Oh, I miss her
Oh, how I miss her, oh how I miss her, oh how I miss her
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty-nine Thousand Four Hundred Seven Sunsets
Twenty-nine thousand four hundred seven sunsets
With one same sun on the one same sea.
In the early days by my mother’s side,
Though she’d often tell me of the sun and of the sea,
I seldom watched, and never for long,
The slow dissolve,
The melt and plunge,
Now you see it, now you don’t-
So many sunsets lost.
Twenty-nine thousand four hundred seven sunsets
With one same sun on the one same sea.
The years of my youth were marked by friends and sport,
Often whole days on the beach-
Raging winds and mammoth waves
Or a still, glass sea, not a cloud in the sky,
And every shade in between.
I rarely fathomed the myriad shapes and colors,
An ever-changing landscape-
So very many sunsets lost.
Twenty-nine thousand four hundred seven sunsets
With one same sun on the one same sea.
The middle-aged years pinned me to my work;
Yet through a window from time to time,
Or on holiday, if I risked the break,
I’d notice how lovely a sunset could be-
So very many sunsets lost forever.
Twenty-nine thousand four hundred seven sunsets
With one same sun on the one same sea.
At last, in these final days, each sunset is anticipated, craved.
Regardless the mood of the sea, it will receive the sun.
No matter the face of the sky, it will let go the same.
The sun itself, always churning, always burning,
Swells with new brilliance, new radiance and splendor
Each time it approaches the sea,
Then morphs into a molten pool on the sea’s surface
Before plunging from view-
Never more a sunset lost.
Twenty-nine thousand four hundred seven sunsets
With one same sun on the one same sea.
Then one glorious day,
The day of my twenty-nine thousand four hundred and sixth sunset,
And I at my usual place along the shore,
Saw the sun rise out of the sea from where it had just set!
The sun rose back up into the sky, and
In the very next moment on the very same day, it set again.
I experienced my twenty-nine thousand four hundred and seventh sunset,
The second in one day!
Oh glorious day!
A sunset gained.
Twenty-nine thousand four hundred seven sunsets
With one same sun on the one same sea.
(In 2 Kings 20: 9-11 the Lord made the shadow go back 10 steps. Certainly, at that exact moment, somewhere in the world, someone saw the sun dissolve on the horizon and then rise again.)
Twenty Four
Twenty four oceans
Twenty four skies
Twenty four failures
Twenty four tries
Twenty four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
Twenty four drop outs
At the end of the day
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And I'm not who I thought I was twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
Twenty four reasons to admit that Im wrong
With all my excuses still twenty four strong
See I'm not copping out not copping out not copping out
When You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now
And You're raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I wan to be one today
Centered and true
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now
And You're raising the dead in me
I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You're raising the dead in me
Twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts.
I'm not copping out. Not copping out. Not copping out.
song performed by by Switchfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Married Man's A Fool
(Willie McTell)
Had a friend, Louie Brown, he was a deacon
Just as wise as he could be
Now I realized he could read the Good Book
Back from Revelations down to Genesis
You know last Sunday morning we was over to the church
My buddy wants to take him a stand
And he looks out upon that whole congregation
The Good Book in his hand
Now he cast his eye about, and then he looks over in the Amen Corner
All the sisters commenced to shout [What'd he say ?]
He said a married man's a fool to think that his wife love nobody else but him
She stick by you all your life the chances is mighty slim
Now you read the Good Book, chapter twenty-one:
Every married woman got to have a little fun
Read on over chapter twenty-two:
It's a sin to let that woman make a fool outta you
Now you read a little further, chapter twenty-three:
She two-time you, brother, like she double-crossed me
Read on back, over chapter ten:
She shimmy one time, you got the problem again
'Cause a married man's a fool to think that his wife
Loves nobody else but him, I mean, loves nobody else but him
Well, a married man's a fool to think that his wife
Loves nobody else but him
She stands by you all your life the chances is mighty and slim
Now you read on over twenty-fifth page:
Married womens, Lord, is hard to engage
Read kinda careful, chapter twenty-six:
Back door slamming you got to learn to get it fixed
Read on out, chapter twenty-eight:
Who's that back slidin' out through the back gate ?
I believe I'll close on chapter twenty-nine:
Woman get tired of the same man all the time
'Cause a married man's fool to think that his wife love nobody else but him
song performed by by Ry Cooder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Twenty Years
I burned the bridge. There's no going back.
Would never be ten or fifteen again.
Opening my eyes to a blood red sky
Designed with black and all shades of darkness
Inscribed in it was 'Welcome To Life'
I cried and cried, everyone smiled and grinned
I really don't wanna be here but ssshh
You can't say that, life is for living
The dead hath no friendship with the living
Holding the back of hope's hand
On the other hand holding tightly
The photograph of the days of my life.
I run for my dear...not so dear life
Here comes the seasons changing on me again
When it rains, it pours, I drown, and become rain
When it shines, it burns, I ignite, and become passion
There's been no rain, I prayed
Took an umbrella, with faith in my chest
I chilled under the sky for an answer
It didn't rain, so I went for a gin
Twenty years. Twenty failures. One cynic.
Pure Russian water wash through my bleeding soul.
Twenty years looking for something
Not sure what, the whole world is moving
I'm standing, chilling, and stilling
A confused fish, stuck in life, a tough shore
Death and nothingness, the peaceful ocean
How do you fill up an empty heart?
Twenty years with an empty side
The best way to give your life a meaning
Is to give someone's life a meaning
Twenty years, I've sounded an alarm
To the higher heavens, to the Only one
But how do you give what you don't have?
Twenty years. Twenty heartbreaks. Twenty failures. Twenty prayers.
Twenty kisses. Twenty goodbyes.
Twenty attempts. Still breathing.
Twenty caresses by Him who wooed me young
He who loves and chases me old
Yet His absence is chilling and silence, killing.
Twenty years. Of clueless motions.
And the crowds' mental insanity.
Twenty years. History has told her story.
Time is penning my story.
I repeat again; I wish I knew
At any point knew how life should be lived.
Twenty years. Prince Charming. Remained a frog, or perhaps had disdain for sleeping beauty.
Twenty years. The rain is pouring, my heart is needing
But the umbrella's missing.
Disney made me dream...weak...love
My prince charming in shining armour is...a...fairy...in a child's tale.
Gloom is norm. Loneliness is my bestie.
Twenty years. What do you want to be in Twenty years?
I wish you well.
Me? I'm just searching...for the sea.
poem by Jenim Dibie
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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