Stop thief!: 1730

Nor is thy flaxen wig with safety worn;
High on the shoulder, in a basket born
Lurks the sly boy; whose hand to rapine bred,
Plucks off the curling honours of thy head.

Wig theft was a specialized form of robbery. But fear not, because the juvenile criminal justice system had ways of dealing with such crimes:

Breathless he stumbling falls: Ill-fated boy!
Why did not honest work thy youth employ?
Seiz'd by rough hands, he's dragg'd amid the rout,
And stretch'd beneath the pump's incessant spout:
Or plung'd in miry ponds, he gasping lies,
Mud chokes his mouth, and plasters o'er his eyes.

--From Trivia: or, The art of walking the streets of London--

Snarkiness: 750

We have everything good government could possibly want now but good government.

--From The Selected Poems of Tu Fu--

It's not the comment sections of blogs that brings it about, but government.

Let your hair down: 745

You never get what you want in this life, so why not
shake your hair loose on a boat at play in dawn light?

--From The Selected Poems of Li Po--

Children should be taught the importance of decorum; but adults, who've seen the way the world works; how can they take it so seriously? Some people obsess over it, in a way that is, dare I say, childish.

Talking to extraterrestrials: circa 740

Staying the night at Summit-Top Temple,
you can reach out and touch the stars.

I venture no more than a low whisper,
afraid I'll wake the people of heaven.

--From The Selected Poems of Li Po--

Perhaps the universe is filled with intelligent creatures, but clearly we cannot be numbered among them. To imagine a sky filled with sentient beings, all of them angels and none of them demons, how much hubris and stupidity does that take?

Instead of trying to contact them, it is better by far to let them sleep.

Ayn Rand: 1639

My Brethren all attend,
And list to my relation:
This is the day, mark what I say,
Tends to your renovation;
Stay not among the Wicked,
Lest that with them you perish,
But let us to New-England go,
And the Pagan People cherish;

Then for the truths sake come along, come along,
Leave this place of Superstition :
Were it not for we, that the Brethren be,
You would sink into Perdition.

--From Rump: or An Exact collection of the choycest poems--

They were talking about religion, and going Galt over that; but money is our religion, so it's schools of economics that we fight our wars over.

Blogging: 1666

In silent night when rest I took,
For sorrow neer I did not look,
I waken'd was with thundring nois
And Piteous shreiks of dreadfull voice.
That fearfull sound of fire and fire,
Let no man know is my Desire.
I, starting up, the light did spye,
And to my God my heart did cry
To strengthen me in my Distresse
And not to leave me succourlesse.
Then coming out beheld a space,
The flame consume my dwelling place.

--From Upon the burning of our house--

Reading about the lives of other people, who would want to do that? And who would want to give out their personal information?