thoughtful words

The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist knows it. -- J. Robert Oppenheimer Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. -- Walter Bagehot, "Physics and Politics," 1879 On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good and not quite all the time. -- George Orwell Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. -- George Orwell To be loved, be lovable. -- Ovid The chief product of an automated society is a widespread and deepening sense of boredom. -- Cyril Parkinson The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. -- Ellen Parr If all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world. -- Blaise Pascal I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they (the whites of South Africa) have turned to loving, they will find we (the blacks) are turned to hating. What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another? Who knows for what we live, struggle and die?... Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom. To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man. -- Alan Paton Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack. -- George S. Patton Never tell the people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their integrity. -- George S. Patton Public office is the last refuge of a scoundrel. -- Boies Penrose An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today. Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices. Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it. In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame. -- Laurance Peter Difference of religion breeds more quarrels than difference of politics. -- Wendell Phillips Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. -- Walter Bagehot, "Physics and Politics," 1879 Sometimes democracy must be bathed in blood. -- Augusto Pinochet The measure of a man is what he does with power. -- Pittacus Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theater. -- Roman Polanski Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true. -- Polish proverb One lives in the hope of becoming a memory. -- Antonio Porchia They talk most who have the least to say. -- Mathew Prior A city is a large community where people are lonesome together. -- Herbert Prochnow Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous. -- William Proxmire Practice is the best of all instructors. -- Publilius Syrus If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. Happy campers you have been, happy campers you are, and happy campers you will always be. I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people. -- J. Danforth Quayle A nuclear power plant is infinently safer than eating, because 300 people choke to death on food every year. -- Dixy Lee Ray Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary. I would have voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -- Ronald Reagan The scientists split the atom; now the atom is splitting us. -- Quentin Reynolds The streets are safe in Philadelphia, it's only the people who make them unsafe. -- Frank Rizzo If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought. -- Dennis Roch Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it.... You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week. -- Will Rogers We always love those who admire us, but we do not always love those whom we admire. -- Francois We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. -- Will Rogers Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else. -- Will Rogers No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little. -- Jean Jacques Rousseau The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russel You can outdistance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you. -- Rwandan proverb A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you. -- Francois Sagan A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world. -- George Santayana When the rich make war it's the poor that die. -- Jean-Paul Sartre Assassination is the extreme form of censorship. -- George Bernard Shaw Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?" -- George Bernard Shaw A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. -- Joseph Stalin The time to stop a revolution is at the beginning, not the end. -- Adlai Stevenson There is nothing in this world constant but inconstancy. -- Swift The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. -- Mother Teresa The trouble with the rat-race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. -- Lily Tomlin If you can't convince them, confuse them. It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship. -- Harry S Truman I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. -- Donald Trump Words divide us, actions unite us. -- Slogan of the Tupamaros Man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to. -- Mark Twain There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. -- Mark Twain Good politics are often inextricably intertwined. -- Morris Udall The Vice Presidency is sort of like the last cookie on the plate. Everybody insists he won't take it, but somebody always does. - Bill Vaughan It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. -- Gore Vidal The sports page records people's accomplishments; The front page nothing but their failures. -- Jutice Earl Warren Too much of a good thing is wonderful. -- Mae West No man is rich enough to buy back his past. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. -- Oscar Wilde Only the winners decide what were war crimes. -- Gary Wills If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments. - Earl Wilson Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. -- William Butler Yeats It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees! -- Emiliano Zapata You can't be a Real Country unless you have a BEER and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER -- Frank Zappa True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, and that only. -- La Rochefoucauld, "Maxims," 1665 A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. -- Alexander Pope, "Miscellanies" Respect for the fragility and importance of an individual life is still the mark of an educated man. -- Norman Cousins, Saturday Review, 1954 The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. -- Eleanor Roosevelt Look What I've Learned I've learned - that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them. I've learned - that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back. I've learned - that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. I've learned - that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts. I've learned - that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something. I've learned - that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do. I've learned - that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life. I've learned - that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be. I've learned - that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them. I've learned - that you can keep going long after you think you can't. I've learned - that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. I've learned - that either you control your attitude or it controls you. I've learned - that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place. I've learned - that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. I've learned - that money is a lousy way of keeping score. I've learned - that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time. I've learned - that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up. I've learned - that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. I've learned - that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love. I've learned - that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. I've learned - that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated. I've learned - that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it. I've learned - that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological. I've learned - that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that. I've learned - that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself. I've learned - that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief. I've learned - that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become. I've learned - that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don t love each other And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do. I've learned - that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change. I've learned - that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever. I've learned - that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different. I've learned - that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process. I've learned - that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don t even know you. I've learned - that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help. I've learned - that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being. I've learned - that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon. I've learned - that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe --H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. -- Henry Ford Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blue prints of your ultimate accomplishments. -- Napoleon Hill You can have anything you want -- if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose. -- Abraham Lincoln " It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death! " - Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775. "Yes, the president should resign. He's lied to the American people time and time again and betrayed their trust. Since he has admitted guilt, there's no reason to put the American people through an impeachment. He will serve absolutely no purpose in finishing out his term. The only possible solution is for the president to save some dignity and resign." This is a quote during the Nixon investigation by: William Jefferson Clinton. To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. -- Donald A. Adams " Children are Gods punishment for having sex. And Grandchildren are Gods reward for putting up with them. " -- Ronald Appel " This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. " -- George Bernard Shaw It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice. -- Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Day of Affirmation Address at the University of Capetown, South Africa, 1966 "A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back." Proverbs "Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will still be wiser; teach a just man and he will increase in learning." Proverbs Lessons from Noah's Ark Plan ahead... It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark. Don't listen to critics- do what has to be done. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something REALLY big. Build on high ground. Two heads are better than one. Speed isn't always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board but... so were the snails. If you can't fight or flee---float!! Take care of your animals as if they were the last ones on earth. Don't forget that we're all in the same boat. When things get really deep, don't sit there and complain--shovel!!! Stay below deck during the storm. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals. If you have to start over, have a friend by your side. Don't miss the boat. No matter how bleak it looks, there's always a rainbow on the horizon.