social progress rests essentially upon death

--- August Comte, quoted by Bobby Duffy in the essay "The Bunk of Generational Talk," WSJ, Oct 22, 2021

From the WSJ piece:

For the 19th-century French sociologist Auguste Comte, the generation was a key factor in “the basic speed of human development.” “We should not hide the fact that our social progress rests essentially upon death; which is to say that the successive steps of humanity necessarily require a continuous renovation…from one generation to the next,” Comte wrote. Generations differ from one another, and that’s a good thing, since it prevents society turning into a “stagnant pond.”

A monkey, in its mother’s eyes, is a gazelle.

 --- an Arabic proverb, quoted in a NYT story about Palestinian olive oil.

“Look, everybody thinks their oil is the best,” he said, “but the olive oil from Rameh is smooth and doesn’t burn. It’s like a ripe fruit: pungent but sweet.”

As Mazen Ali put it, referencing an Arabic proverb, “A monkey, in its mother’s eyes, is a gazelle.” Mr. Ali, 60, is the co-founder of a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the region’s olive trees. Though he is from the neighboring village of Deir Hanna, even he acknowledged that Rameh’s oil is exceptional.

For the Greek version, see Swish! Swish! Swish! Patrick Leigh Fermor on the Mani olive harvest in the LRB:

‘Stavro,’ [his companion Petro] said as we set off. ‘Deep Mani olives are good. I’m not saying they’re not. But the best are the ones in the Outer Mani. The whole world knows it. It’s not just because I come from those parts – far from it. But it’s everybody’s opinion.’

‘So be it,’ Stavro said. He gave me a secret dig with his elbow and the ghost of a wink. I asked Petro where the best in the Outer Mani come from. ‘From Liasínova,’ he answered without hesitation. There was a scarcely audible chuckle from Barba Stavro. I asked Petro where he came from. ‘Me? You mean where do I come from?’ Then, in airy tones of slight surprise at the unexpected coincidence, he said: ‘From there. From Liasínova, that’s to say.’

It was a splendid illustration of local prejudice. But now, after many years and mature consideration, I think there was a lot in what he said. Certainly, the best olives in Greece come from the Outer Mani; and definitely from the region of Liasínova. But from Liasínova itself? I think a truly impartial and objective opinion might place the actual pinpoint of unsurpassable excellence a little further down the coast – only three or four kilometres away. More towards Kardamyli, perhaps.

Patrick Leigh Fermor's house, in case you didn't know, was in Kardamyli :-)

beware the vividness of transient events

 --- Carl von Clausewitz, quoted by Colin Powell, in a profile on Powell by Peter Grier

From the CSMonitor story:

Asked in an interview how he dealt – for years and years – with the firehose of news, opinions, advice, and criticism that washes over any top U.S. official, General Powell quoted one of the U.S. Army’s favorite military theoreticians, 19th-century German Gen. Carl von Clausewitz. 

“There’s a great Clausewitzian expression which says ‘beware the vividness of transient events,’” General Powell said. “There are lots of transient events out there, and I am trying to beware of their vividness.”

Lenni Brenner in an Oct 2001 piece ascribes the quote to Colin Powell’s (with Joseph Persico), autobiography, My American Journey, 1995, p. 419:

I consoled myself with the words of Clausewitz: ‘The vividness of transient impressions must not make us forget that such truth they maintain is of a lesser stamp.'

I haven't been able to track down the original.