Ralph Higgins

Ralph Higgins
color pencil sketch by Gayle Higgins

Quotes I Like


“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

-Albert Einstein

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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Quotes to Ponder

            As a change of pace, I thought I’d post some quotes and ask you to think about how they apply to our lives.  Please consider the wisdom and truth in these thoughts. Some are metaphorical and require contemplation to understand the message. Of course, I had to add a couple by the master of self-deprecation, Rodney Dangerfield, and the king of political humor, Will Rogers.  Be sure to read the last quote by a wise and loving mother.

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“When a finger points to the moon, the idiot looks at the finger.” 
- Ancient Chinese saying

“Those who trade liberty for security have neither.”
 –John Adams

“There are two theories to arguing with a woman.  Neither works.  
– Will Rogers

“The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living. “ 
- Unknown

“There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.
 -Will Rogers

"Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.” – John Adams

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the American Government take care of him, better take a closer look at the American Indian." – Henry Ford

“I was such an ugly kid.  When I played in the sandbox, the cat kept covering me up.” – Rodney Dangerfield

“After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box.” 
- Italian proverb

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency.” – Part of an article in a Prague newspaper by Prager Zeitungon:

“I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity.  The world will only have a generation of idiots.” – Albert Einstein

“What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!” -  Pericles (430 B.C.)

 "Eloquence may exist without a proportionate degree of wisdom." 
- Edmund Burke

“I was such an ugly baby.  My mother never breastfed me.  She told me that she only liked me as a friend.” – Rodney Dangerfield

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts.”  - Richard Feynman (Physicist)

 “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

"The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions."- Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

"Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression." - James Madison

“A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.”
 - George Bernard Shaw

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams

“I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.” – Will Rogers

“Tolerance is the last virtue of a dying society” – Aristotle

“When small men cast large shadows, it means the sun is about to set”. – Chinese proverb

“All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmond Burke

 "One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived." -Niccolo Machiavelli

 “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” – Irish proverb

“The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.” 
– Will Rogers

“If there is no God, everything is permitted.” – Fyoder Dostoevsky

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." - Thomas Jefferson.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 
- George Santayana

“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” 
- Winston Churchill

 “If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old”
- Will Rogers
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A profound quote that has impacted me came from my mother who told me, “Treat everyone as though it is the last time you will see them.”  She lived that philosophy and exuded love, as my friends who knew her will attest.  Think about it.  At some point you will see everyone for the last time.  The older I get, the more I understand my mother’s wisdom.  

2 comments:

  1. While all of the quotes deserve a good discussion, the one by Edmund Burke, "Eloquence may exist without a proportionate degree of wisdom," is one we should all be cautious of. I'm reminded of this as I listen the Joint Chiefs tell the Senate they will take care of the sexual abuse and rape occurrences, all 26,000 of the yearly ones, because they just took their eye off the ball.
    Also the current eloquence from both ends of the spectrum on almost every subject. Both sides do not show wisdom in that this country survives on compromise to move forward, a direction we have not been approaching. Bless our Founders who had the wisdom to compromise so that we could form the Republic!

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    1. Malcolm - The interesting thing about many of the quotes is that they can be applied in a variety of ways. The Burke quote re: eloquence sans wisdom reminded me of Obama, but it can be applied to politicians on both sides, as you said.

      If you erase all the political correctness and social engineering, and look at the rape problems in the military on the basis of common sense, the solution is simple. Hormones are raging in young people and mixing women with men, homosexuals with straights, will naturally result in problems. But evidently common sense and logic have no place in government.

      When I was in the military, women served in a separate branch and had no contact with us, although we sometimes saw them marching around. That seemed to work pretty well. Hookers suddenly appeared on base the very day we were paid, but tossing women into the barracks probably put them out of work.

      Female politicians and men who never served make policies that negatively affect the military. Even the Marine Corps is bending to social pressure. Now we have the "feminization" of even the military ...Unbelievable.

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