Belarus and Belorussian

Belarus and Belorussian

Belarus

Belarus (i/bɛləˈruːs/ bel-ə-rooss; Belarusian: Белару́сь Bielarus’ pronounced [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ]; Russian: Белару́сь, tr. Belarus’; IPA: [bʲɪlɐˈrusʲ]), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Hrodna (Grodno), Homiel (Gomel), Mahilyow (Mogilev) and Vitsebsk (Vitebsk). Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing.

Belarus' two official languages are Russian and Belarusian; Russian is the main language, used by 72% of the population, while Belarusian, the second official language, is only used by 11.9%. Minorities also speak Polish, Ukrainian and Eastern Yiddish.

Belarusian language

Belarusian (/bɛləˈruːsiən/; беларуская мова, Belarusian pronunciation: [bʲelaˈruskaja ˈmova], BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova) is an official language of Belarus, along with Russian, and is spoken abroad, chiefly in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Prior to Belarus gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the language was known in English as Byelorussian or Belorussian, transliterating the Russian name, белорусский язык, or alternatively as White Ruthenian (/ruːˈθiːniən/) or White Russian. Following independence, it also became known as Belarusian.

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Belorussian proverbs>

Adivce

¶ Ү kaлaмyтнай вадa лecнo ca лobи.
It is good fishing in streamy water.

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References

Belarus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus

Belarusian language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarusian_language

Voltaire (1694-1778)

Voltaire (1694-1778)

François-Marie Arouet (French: [fʁɑ̃.swa ma.ʁi aʁ.wɛ]; 21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire (pronounced: [vɔl.tɛːʁ]), was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, free trade and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poetry, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws with harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.

Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures (along with Montesquieu, John Locke, Richard Price, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Émilie du Châtelet) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.

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@ La vertu s'avilit à se justifier.
Virtue debases in justifying itself. [Oedipe, act II, scene IV (1718).]

@ On doit des egards aux vivants; on ne doit aux morts que la verite.
We should be considerate to the living; to the dead we owe only the truth. [Letter to M. de Grenonville (1719).]

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atelier_de_Nicolas_de_Largillière,_portrait_de_Voltaire,_détail_(musée_Carnavalet)_-002.jpg
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire

Cousin Woodman

Cousin Woodman

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Quotes·Quotations by Cousin Woodman

Experience

¶ Good judgement comes from experience, and experience--well, that comes from poor judgement.

Afrikaans

Official
language in
South Africa

Recognised
minority
language in
Namibia

Afrikaans

Afrikaans /ɑːfrɪˈkɑːns/ or /æfrɪˈkɑːns/ is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and to a lesser extent, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It is an offshoot of several Dutch dialects spoken by the mainly Dutch settlers of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop independently in the course of the 18th century. Hence, historically, it is a daughter language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as "Cape Dutch" (a term also used to refer collectively to the early Cape settlers) or "kitchen Dutch" (a derogatory term used to refer to Afrikaans in its earlier days). It is the first language of most of the Afrikaner people.

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Quotes·Quotations by Afrikaans proverbs

Adivice

¶ Een swaeltjie maak nog geen somer nie.
The appearance of a single sign of a favourable event is not yet a definite indication of its coming.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaans

Betty Bender

Betty Bender

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Quotes·Quotations by Betty Bender

Work

¶ When people go to work, they shouldn't have to leave their hearts at home.

Phaedrus (15BC-50AD)

Phaedrus (15BC-50AD, fabulist)

Gaius Julius Phaedrus (/ˈfiːdrəs/; c. 15 BC – c. 50 AD), Roman fabulist, was probably a Thracian slave, born in Pydna of Roman Macedonia and lived in the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. He is recognized as the first writer to Latinize entire books of fables, retelling in iambic metre the Greek prose Aesopic tales.

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Quotes·Quotations by Phaedrus

Appearance

¶ Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaedrus_(fabulist)

Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)

Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)

Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967) was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark Gable, in the epic American Civil War drama Gone with the Wind.

She was a prolific stage performer, frequently in collaboration with her then-husband, Laurence Olivier, who directed her in several of her roles. During her 30-year stage career, she played roles ranging from the heroines of Noël Coward and George Bernard Shaw comedies to classic Shakespearean characters such as Ophelia, Cleopatra, Juliet and Lady Macbeth.

Lauded for her beauty, Leigh felt that it sometimes prevented her from being taken seriously as an actress. However, ill health proved to be her greatest obstacle. For much of her adult life Leigh suffered from bipolar disorder. She earned a reputation for being difficult to work with, and her career suffered periods of inactivity. She also suffered recurrent bouts of chronic tuberculosis, first diagnosed in the mid-1940s. Leigh and Olivier divorced in 1960, and she worked sporadically in film and theatre until her death from tuberculosis in 1967.

She is ranked 16th on AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list, unveiled on 15 June 1999 by the American Film Institute.

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Quotes·Quotation by Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind (1939)

¶ As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.

¶ I can't let him go. I can't. There must be some way to bring him back. Oh, I can't think about this now! I'll go crazy if I do! I'll think about it tomorrow. But I must think about it. I must think about it. What is there to do? What is there that matters? Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day!

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

¶ Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Leigh

Vitruvius

Vitruvius

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born ca. 80/70 BC?; died ca. 25 BC) was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC.

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@ Owing to this favor I need to have no fear of want to the end of my life, and being thus laid under obligation I began to write this work for you, because I saw that you have built and are now building extensively, and that in future also you will take care that our public and private buildings shall be worthy to go down to posterity by the side of your other splendid achievements. [Preface, Sec. 3 (dedication to Imperator Caesar)]

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http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vitruvius

Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein)

Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein)

Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character, the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley. He is a scientist who, after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature (often referred to as Frankenstein's monster, or incorrectly as Frankenstein).

Film

Victor Frankenstein's first unofficial appearance on screen was in a 1910 film (produced by Thomas Edison) in which he seemed more a magician.

The character's first significant film appearance was in Universal Pictures' 1931 film adaptation, directed by James Whale. Here, the character is renamed Henry Frankenstein (a later film shows his tombstone bearing the name "Heinrich") and is played by British actor Colin Clive opposite Boris Karloff as the Creature. Clive reprised his role in the 1935 sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, which reunited Clive, Whale and Karloff, as well as first giving Frankenstein the official title of Baron. Although not present in the following sequels due to Clive's death in 1937, Henry made a cameo appearance in 1939's Son of Frankenstein, as an oil painting in the Frankenstein family library, and was the title character, in spite of having only a cameo, in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). It is in these films that the character became known as "Dr. Frankenstein," as the novel's character never finished his education.

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Quotes·Quotations by Victor Frankenstein

Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein from Frankenstein (1931)

¶ Look! It's moving. It's sha — it's... it's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive! It's alive, it's alive, it's alive! It's ALIVE!

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Frankenstein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Clive

Vito Corleone (The Godfather)

Vito Corleone (The Godfather)

Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito Corleone as the greatest movie character in history. He was also selected as the 10th greatest movie character by Empire Magazine.

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Quotes·Quotation by Vito Corleone

Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather

¶ I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Vito_Corleone