Only fools, liars, and charlatans predict earthquakes
Interpretation
Predicting earthquakes is often considered an unwise pursuit, reserved for those who lack integrity.
Charles Francis Richter's quote highlights the futility and dishonesty involved in attempting to predict earthquakes. It implies that only those who are unwise, deceitful, or pretentious would make such predictions, as the inherently unpredictable nature of earthquakes should be acknowledged with humility and respect.
In practice
In a discussion about the challenges of predicting natural disasters, this quote serves to remind us of the limits of our knowledge.
Magnitude may be compared to the power output in kilowatts of a [radio] broadcasting station; local intensity, on the Mercalli or similar scale, is then comparable to the signal strength noted on a receiver at a given locality. Intensity, like signal strength, will generally fall off with distance from the source; it will also depend on local conditions at the point of observation, and to some extent on the conditions along the path from source to that point.
Refining is inevitable in science when you have made measurements of a phenomenon for a long period of time.
I have a sense of humor; but over the years that sense has developed one blind spot. I can no longer laugh at ignorance or stupidity. Those are our chief enemies, and it is dangerous to make fun of them.
Beware the tyranny of the weak. They just suck you dry.
Throughout our lives, God's grace bestows temporal blessings and spiritual gifts that magnify our abilities and enrich our lives. His grace refines us. His grace helps us become our best selves.
There comes a point in time when you must know that everything you have already given or done is enough. This is not something anyone else can tell you. You must know. Giving without receiving doesn't prove anything except that you know how to be taken advantage of.
Jealousy is comparison. And we have been taught to compare, we have been conditioned to compare, always compare. Somebody else has a better house, somebody else has a more beautiful body, somebody else has more money, somebody else has a more charismatic personality. Compare, go on comparing yourself with everybody else you pass by, and great jealousy will be the outcome; it is the by-product of the conditioning for comparison.
One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions.
Write about the truth. If you write about the truth, somebody's living that. Not just somebody, there's a lot of people.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.