Right or Wrong

Seen today in the Daily Telegraph in an article by Stephen Bailey discussing the merits of a painting bought by David Milliband's wife for his 40th birthday, was a wonderful quote by Wolfgang Pauli (1900 - 1958) a Swiss (Austrian-born) physicist

'This isn't right. This isn't even wrong.'

when describing a paper submitted by a physicist colleague as if to suggest being wrong would at least mean it was in the approximate area of being right.

Stephen Bailey suggested that the painting bought by Mrs M wasn't even bad - he described it as 'middle-brow junk'!

Three Sussex Churches and a pub.

Last Monday I re-visited the church at Worth for a closer look around inside.

St Nicholas Church at Worth is one of the oldest in the country dating back to Saxon times. Parts of the church probably date to between 950 and 1050 AD, including nearly all the walls of the Nave and three magnificent arches within the church.



The central arch at the east end of the nave is thought to be one of the largest Saxon arches in existence, at 22 feet high and 14 feet wide.



This view shows the arch to the north transept.



The two Saxon windows on the north side are unique in that there are no other known examples in the nave of any church... According to the Worth Church website (http://www.worthchurch.co.uk/) ‘They were set at a great height for a purpose. In the troublesome times through which the church has lived, especially pre-conquest, almost every church was used as a place of safety to which people could flee for sanctuary afforded by solid walls of probably the only stone building in the district. Such high windows offered further protection making it difficult for marauders to gain access’



The archways of the north and south doorways are characteristic of late Saxon work. Some say that the arches were created in this form so that a horseman could ride into the building, make obeisance to the altar or pray, without dismounting, and then ride straight out of the opposite door without turning his mount. The north (or devil's) door was filled in many years ago (see picture above), but the south contains a smaller door.



This picture shows the south doorway from the outside with the third high level Saxon window (on the left) similar to the two in the north wall.



St Peter's Church, Ardingly. The present building dates from the 14th century (1330-1350) and was restored during the Victorian era. The church is built in the Decorated Gothic-style and has been listed at Grade I. The porch dates from about 1500. Unfortunately it was locked when we visited.



St Mary's Church, Balcombe. The oldest part of the church (what is now the south aisle) dates back to the 13th Century whilst the tower was built later in the 15th Century. St. Mary’s was restored The church including the nave and chancel were enlarged in the mid-19th century. It is Grade 1 listed.



The Half Moon in Balcombe where I had a very nice bacon and brie baguette spoilt only by the aroma of bleach from some very enthusiastic cleaning.



On the wall hung a poster which caught our eye.

Cree Indian Prophecy:

"Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

Wisdom from Lin Yutang

Whilst looking for info on the web about Worth Church (see blog of 17/4/10) I came across a website of someone who has visited lots of churches in Sussex and elsewhere. On the home page there was a quote from Lin Yutang.

' Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials. '

I qiute liked this so looked for some more.

Lin Yutang was a Chinese writer and inventor born 10 October 1895 and died 26 March 1976. These are a few of his writings that caught my eye:

'Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.'

'Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks.'

'If one’s bowels move one is happy, and if they don’t move, one is unhappy.'

The original website was http://www.roughwood.net/index.htm

Pearls of wisdom from Lazarus Long

I've waited a while but I need to share these pearls with everyone


• There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know. So why fret about it?

• Never underestimate the power of human stupidity

• A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain.

• Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.

• Waking a person unnecessarily should not be considered a capital crime. For a first offense, that is.

• Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not insure "good" government; it simply insures that it will work. But such governments are rare -- most people want to run things but want no part of the blame

• An elephant: A mouse built to government specifications.

• A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.

• A generation which ignores history has no past -- and no future.

• Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.

• Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house


(from Time Enough For Love, © 1973 Robert A. Heinlein)