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.
* * *
“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
“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)
“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
“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
“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
* * *
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.
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.
ReplyDeleteAlso 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!
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.
DeleteIf 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.