Monday, December 19, 2011

Betty White on Perspective

It isn't anything I accomplished; it just happened.

Betty White
In response to audience applause for turning 90 in January, 2012 on The Daily Show

Movie Wisdom: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen): You're not the man I knew ten years ago.
Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford): It's not the age, it's the mileage.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981
Written by Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas, and Philip Kaufman
Paramount Pictures

Bob Schieffer on Listening

All the stories I missed was when I was talking instead of listening.

Bob Schieffer
attributed by Tom Friedman

Stephen Colbert on Technology

No computer tells me what to do. When my Garmin GPS tells me to turn right I turn left - I haven't been home in five years.

On the new voice-command computer Monopoly game.

Stephen Colbert
The Colbert Report
Comedy Central

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Goethe on Progress

The day is committed to error and floundering; success and achievement are matters of long range.

Goethe


Source: thinkexist.com

Etta James on American Music

I wanna show that gospel, country, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll are all just really one thing. Those are the American music and that is the American culture.

Etta James


Source: quotesandpoem.com

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Movie Wisdom: Casablanca

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
A croupier hands Renault a pile of money.
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

Captain Renault (Claude Rains) closes Rick's Cafe Americain. 

Casablanca, 1942
Written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Murray Burnett, and Joan Alison
Warner Bros. Pictures


Source: imdb.com

Stephen Colbert on Traditions

Thanksgiving is a magical time of year when families across the country join together to raise America's obesity statistics. Personally, I love Thanksgiving traditions: watching football, making pumpkin pie, and saying the magic phrase that sends your aunt storming out of the dining room to sit in her car.

Stephen Colbert
The Colbert Report

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Wilbur Nesbit on Connection

Forever on Thanksgiving Day, The heart will find the pathway home.

Wilbur D. Nesbit

Source: quotegarden.com

Cicero on Gratitude

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.

Cicero


Source: bellaonline.com

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs on Perspective

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Steve Jobs
Stanford University commencement address, June 2005

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Steve Jobs on Simplicity

That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Steve Jobs
BusinessWeek interview, May 1998

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Thank you, Steve Jobs, and farewell.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Barack Obama on Equilibrium

This is not class warfare. It's math.

Barack Obama
Monday, September 19, 2011
at a White House Rose Garden presentation of his deficit reduction plan that includes, the Buffet Rule, a minimum tax for Americans earning $1 million or more in income.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Joyce Grenfell on Farewells

By Herself and Her Friends

If I should go before the rest of you
Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone,
Nor when I'm gone speak in a Sunday voice
But be the usual selves that I have known.
Weep if you must, Parting is hell,
But Life goes on, So sing as well.

Joyce Grenfell

Source: muchloved.com

Mary Lee Hall on Remembrance

Turn Again To Life

If I should die and leave you here a while,
be not like others sore undone,
who keep long vigil by the silent dust.
For my sake turn again to life and smile,
nerving thy heart and trembling hand
to do something to comfort other hearts than thine.
Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine
and I perchance may therein comfort you.

Mary Lee Hall
 
Source: muchloved.com

Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Freedom

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Four Freedoms
January 6, 1941

Source: americanrhetoric.com

Henri Frederic Amiel on Reslience

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.

Henri Frederic Amiel

Source: wisdomcommons.org

Barack Obama on America

We are Americans, and we are stronger and safer when we stay true to the values, freedoms and diversity that make us unique among nations.

Barack Obama
Weekly Address: Remembering September 11th
September 10, 2011

Source: whitehouse.gov

Bertrand Russell on Outcomes

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Bertrand Russell


Source: quotegarden.com

Bill Clinton on Progress

The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs.  The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists. 

William Jefferson Clinton, 1997

Source: quotegarden.com

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Darren Hardy on Influence

Influence is powerful, and the same qualities and charisma that can influence people toward human enlightenment can also be used to influence people to destruction and great inhumanity.

Darren Hardy
Success Magazine Blog
You ARE Influential
July 5, 2011

Paula Poundstone on Free Speech

It's funny that we think of libraries as quiet demure places where we are shushed by dusty, bun-balancing, bespectacled women. The truth is libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy and community. Librarians have stood up to the Patriot Act, sat down with noisy toddlers and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed.

Paula Poundstone
National spokesperson for Friends of Libraries U.S.A.

Source: statelibraryofiowa.org

Monday, July 4, 2011

William J. Clinton on America

I am pleased to join my fellow Americans across the nation and around the world in celebrating Independence Day.

On this day each year, we gather with family and friends to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. With vision and courage, our Founders stated unequivocally to the world: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These were literally revolutionary concepts, and they fundamentally changed the course of human history.

Today we are living through another period of profound and historic change: change in the way we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another and to the rest of the world. But the truths set down in our Declaration of Independence are immutable, and they continue to light our path into the challenges and possibilities of the future. Equality, individual rights, life, freedom, opportunity: we still cherish these values, and we must continue to reaffirm them daily.

America is a work in progress, and we have strived through decades of challenge and change to become what our Founders envisioned on our first Independence Day. As we continue that endeavor, let us work together to create an America that remains the world's strongest force for peace, justice, and freedom. Let us work for an America that is not driven apart by differences but instead is united around share values and respect for our diversity. Let us work for an America in which every one of us, without regard to race or religious belief or gender or station in life, can achieve our dreams. In this way we will best pay tribute to those who, 220 years ago, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guarantee our freedom.

Best wishes for a memorable Fourth of July.

William J. Clinton
Presidential Proclamation
July 4, 1996

Source: american.edu

Thomas Paine on Commitment

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.

Thomas Paine
The American Crisis, No. 4, September 11, 1777


Source: revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com

Harry S. Truman on America

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.

Harry S. Truman

Source: scrapbook.com

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Reality TV Wisdom: TMZ

Zookeeper Suzi Rapp took a cute...yet potentially vicious freakin' SNOW LEOPARD out of its cage at LAX!  Guess TSA is now cool with wild cats of prey... but a tube o' toothpaste will get ya frisked.

Regarding Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Promotions Director Suzi Rapp, getting a snow leopard cub out of its crate for a supervised stretch at Los Angeles County Airport.

TMZ.com
June 30, 2011
Click here to view.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Abigail Turin on Embracing Change

I've got two resolutions for my house in 2004:

1) To put it on a diet - no excess furniture, no excess anything!

2) To get it drunk more often: more parties, more dancing. It's been taking itself a little too seriously lately.

Abigail Turin
Designer, San Francisco
From Metrolpolitan Home magazine, January/February 2004, Volume 36, No. 1, p. 62, Leaping Forward.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Bruce Springsteen on Ultimate Cool

You wish you could be like him, but you can't.

Bruce Springsteen introducing Clarence Clemons
Concert Footage via The Daily Show, Moment of Zen
June 20, 2011
Comedy Central

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Clarence Clemons on Living Large

My mom used to say to me that the older you get, the more friends you lose. That’s the way life is. You keep doing it until your time comes. I’m trying to enjoy my life, and keep doing what I love to do until my time comes. Hopefully I will inspire somebody along the way to keep it going.

Clarence Clemons
To Ken Shane for The Popdose Interview
October 26, 2009

Source: popdose.com

Thank you, Big Man. Farewell.

Anna Quindlen on Critical Thought

But it’s not simply the obligation to live an examined life, to embrace each moment as though it might be last. It’s also to live each moment as though it might be the first. To throw your arms wide to the new, the unexplored, even to that of which you may be afraid. Don’t cave to the status quo. Don’t trade happiness for deferred gratification. Don’t give up adventure for safety and security. The safe is the enemy of the satisfying. Deferred gratification has a way of being deferred forever. And the status quo, “business-as-usual,” “the-way-things-have-always-been-done” has completely failed us. The last few years have made that eminently clear. How will your audacious and authentic new world work?

Anna Quindlen
Commencement Address, Grinnell College
May 23, 2011

Good advice: Got 5 minutes? Read this address!

Source: grinnell.edu

Conan O'Brien on Resilience

No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you.  In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that.  But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Speech, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Redefinition

Way back in the 1940’s there was a very funny man named Jack Benny.  He was a giant star and easily one of the greatest comedians of his generation.  And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny.  In some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn’t.  He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms, along with a changing medium, pulled him in a different direction.  And yet his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation.  David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not, and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman.   And none of us are --- my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways.  But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.  It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Embracing Life

Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42.  One’s dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address, Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Conan O'Brien on Facing Fear

It’s simple: there are few things more liberating in this life than having your worst fear realized.

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Monday, June 13, 2011

Conan O'Brien on Disclosure

Nietzsche famously said “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But what he failed to stress is that IT ALMOST KILLS YOU. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is  “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you  watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning.“ 

Conan O'Brien
Commencement Address to Dartmouth College
June 12, 2011

Source: teamcoco.com

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Rabbi Sherwin Wine on Patriotism

There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God. It secretly adores coercion and conformity. Despite our constitution, despite the legacy of the Enlightenment, it appeals to millions of Americans and threatens our freedom.

The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity.

This second vision is our vision. It is the vision of a free society. We must be bold enough to proclaim it and strong enough to defend it against all its enemies.

Rabbi Sherwin Wine

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Mohandas K. Gandhi on Mindfulness

The Roots of Violence:
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Source: wisdomquotes.com 

Howard Zinn on Perspective

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Howard Zinn

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Khalil Gibran on Grief

When you are sorrowful
look into your heart
and you shall see that
you are weeping
for that which has been
your delight

Khalil Gibran

Source: memories-are-forever.org

Marketing Profs on Facing Fears

The only way out is through.

Marketing Profs
Get to the Po!nt,
Vol. 4, No. 21, May 27, 2011

Source: marketingprofs.com

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Will Rogers on Modern Times

Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke

Will Rogers
1879 - 1935 

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Will Rogers on Honesty

I have always noticed that people will never laugh at anything that is not based on truth.

Will Rogers

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Ethel Barrymore on Perspective

You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.

Ethel Barrymore

Source: wisdomquotes.com

e.e. cummings on gratitude

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

e.e. cummings

Source: quotegarden.com

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Fred Alan Wolf on Faith

The quantum leap... is to be taken both literally and figuratively.  In its literal sense, the quantum leap is the tiny but explosive jump that a particle of matter undergoes in moving from one plane to another.  The new physics - quantum physics - indicates that all particles composing the physical universe must move in that fashion or cease to exist.  Since you and I are composed of atomic annd subatomic matter, we, too, must "take the quantum leap."

In the figurative sense, taking the quantum leap means taking a risk, going off into an uncharted territory with no guide to follow.  Such a venture is an uncertain affair at best.  It also means risking something that no one else would are risk.

Fred Alan Wolf
Taking the Quantum Leap
©1981

Friday, May 20, 2011

Joseph Campbell on Rapture

Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.

Joseph Campbell

Leonardo da Vinci on Cats

The smallest feline is a masterpiece.

Leonardo da Vinci

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Linda Foor on Acceptance

Cats become a part of every meditation.

Linda Foor

Helen Keller on True Love

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

Helen Keller

James Taylor on Letting Go

You Can Close Your Eyes

Well, the sun is surely sinking down
But the moon is slowly rising
So this old world must still be spinning 'round
And I still love you

So close your eyes
You can close your eyes
It's alright
I don't know no love songs
And I can't sing the blues anymore
But I can sing this song
And you can sing this song
When I'm gone

It won't be long before another day
We're gonna have a good time
And no one's going to take that time away
You can stay as long as you like

So close your eyes
You can close your eyes
It's alright
I don't know no love songs
And I can't sing the blues anymore
But I can sing this song
And you can sing this song
When I'm gone

James Taylor
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, 1971

For Sam, thank you and farewell

Source: jamestaylor.com

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Edward R. Murrow on Critical Thought

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.

Edward R. Murrow

Source: goodreads.com

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Gordon Ramsey on Business

If you don't know your market, you're never going to get bums on seats.

Chef Gordon Ramsey

Source: BBC Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares

Mary Kay Ash on Conviction

Many people have gone a lot farther than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.

Mary Kay Ash

Source: ziglar.com

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Dog Wisdom

Bark as if no one can hear you.
Catch the ball on the fly.
Lick like there's no end to kissing.
Sleep on a sofa nearby.
Jump like the sky is the limit.
Sit by the fire with friends.
Stay with the ones who love you.
Run like the road never ends.

Dog Philosophy
Author Unknown

Source: signals.com

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

If you want to succeed in business, avoid "business as usual."

Fortune Cookie from Q2 Bistro, Westerville Ohio

Howard Zinn on Courage

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Howard Zinn

Source: wisdomquotes.com

Edward R.Murrow on Stewardship

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

Edward R. Murrow

Source: quotegarden.com

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Incubus on Self-Determination

Drive

Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear
Take the wheel and steer

It's driven me before and seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal
But lately I'm beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel

Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there

So, if I decide to waiver my chance
To be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine
And hold my own and drive?

It's driven me before and it seems to be the way
That everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that when
I drive myself my light is found

Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there

Would you choose water over wine?
Hold the wheel and drive

Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there

Incubus: Brandon Charles Boyd, Michael Aaron Einziger, Alex Katunich, Christopher Kilmore, Jose Athony Pasillas II
Make Yourself, 1999

Copyright: © EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. © HUNGLIKEYORA MUSIC

Source: enjoyincubus.com

Law and Order Wisdom

Mike Logan: Oh, the Patriot Act, yeah, well, I read that in its original title: 1984.

Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) to Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) regarding access to information and the post 9.11.01 reactive "Patriot" Act.

Charlie Rubin, Writer
Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Stress Position
Season 4, Episode 13, February 13, 2005
Wolf Films, NBC Universal Television

To read or revisit (check your library):
1984 written by George Orwell, copyright 1949
Animal Farm written by George Orwell, copyright 1946

Source: tv.com

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Joseph Campbell on Transcendence

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

Joseph Campbell

Monday, January 17, 2011

Martin Luther King, Jr. on Aspiration

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source: goodreads.com

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Franklin Delano Roosevelt on America

Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Source: thinkexist.com

Bruce Lee on Fortitude

I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.

Bruce Lee

Source: thinkexist.com

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Robert Frost on Reflection

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost


Source: poetryfoundation.org Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright 1923, © 1969 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost. Reprinted with the permission of Henry
Holt and Company, LLC. Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)

Wendy Feiereisen on Grief

Grief
You don't get over it
You just get through it
You don't get by it
Because you can't get around it
It doesn't just "get better"
It just gets different
Every day...
Grief puts on a new face.

Wendy Feiereisen
Grief ©2005®

Source: care2.com
from the book I Wasn't Ready To Say Goodbye, by Brook Noel & Pamela D. Blair, PH.D.

Leo Buscaglia on Grief

I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.

Leo Buscaglia
 
Source: journey-through-grief.com

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

John F.Kennedy on Discourse

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

John F. Kennedy

Source: quotegarden.com

John F.Kennedy on Civility

So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

John F. Kennedy
Inaugural address, January 20, 1961
Read the Speech.

For our Congress - be Americans first. - LJF.

Source: ourdocuments.gov

Jon Stewart on Rhetoric

I do think it's important to watch our rhetoric. I think it's a worthwhile goal not to conflate our political opponents with enemies if for no other reason than to draw a better distinction between the manifestos of paranoid madmen and what passes for acceptable political and pundit speak. It would be really nice if the ramblings of crazy people didn't in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on TV. Let's, at least, make troubled individuals easier to spot.

Reflecting on the shooting of Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords, where 13 other people were wounded and 6 killed at a grocery store in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday, January 8, 2011.  The act of one individual American.

Jon Stewart
The Daily Show
January 10, 2011
Comedy Central

Source: thedailyshow.com

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Mark Twain on Human Nature

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.

Mark Twain

Source: quotegarden.com

Hal Borland on Perspective

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

Hal Borland

Source: quotegarden.com