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Quotes on Poltics
We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.
Just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean that politics will not take an interest in you.
– Pericles
    For more on why these quotes are so important, see Responsibility.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.  I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.  And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves, and the House?
Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation?  Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love?  Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?  No, sir, she has none.  They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other.
Our petitions have been slighted, our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne…we must fight!  I repeat it, sir, we must fight!  An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!
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!
– speech at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, on March 23, 1775
Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.
The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.
– Patrick Henry
It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.
The cause of America is, in a great measure, the cause of all mankind ... O ye that love mankind!  Ye that dare oppose, not only tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!
– Thomas Paine  author of Common Sense, The Ameican Crisis, and Rights of Man.
But of all the views of this law none is more important, none more legitimate, than that of rendering the people the safe, as they are the ultimate, guardians of their own liberty. For this purpose the reading in the first stage, where they will receive their whole education, is proposed, as has been said, to be chiefly historical. History by apprising them of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views.
I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
The natural progress is for government to advance and liberty to yield.
– Thomas Jefferson
But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
– John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775
Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people....
– John Adams, Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law, 1765
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force!  Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
[Freedom is] a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life depends.
The spirit of freedom beat too high in us to submit to slavery.
We have taken up arms in defense of our liberty, our property; our wives and our children:  We are determined to preserve them or die.
The cause of America and of liberty ... against which all the force and artifice of tyranny will never be able to prevail.
Our cause is noble.  It is the cause of mankind!
We mean to support the liberty and independence which have cost us so much blood and treasure to establish.
Express your utmost horror and detestation of the man who wishes, under any specious pretenses, to overturn the liberties of our country.
As the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so ought it be the first to be laid aside when those liberties are firmly established.
Your union ought to be considered as a main prop to your liberty.
Liberty will find itself ... where the Government...[will] maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.
Government ... [is] instituted to protect the consciences of men from oppression.
Everyone will reap the fruit of his labors; every one will enjoy his own acquisitions without molestation and without danger.
[Government] has no more right to put their hands into my pockets, without my consent, than I have to put my hands into yours.
The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.
Government is not reason.  It is not eloquence.  It is a force, like fire:  a dangerous servant and a terrible master.  Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty on the supposition that he may abuse it.
All those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government.
Maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyments of the rights of person and property.
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American People.
It has always been my creed that we should not be left as an awful monument to prove, “that mankind, under the most favorable circumstances, are unequal to the task of governing themselves, and therefore made for a master.”
A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.
We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.
– George Washington, in his first State of the Union address on Jan. 8, 1790
It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.  We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors:  they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence.  It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.
– Samuel Adams
Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty is a well-armed lamb.
– Benjamin Franklin
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
– Daniel Webster
The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave.
– James Burgh, 1774
All power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.  That Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.  That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their Government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution.
The right of the people to keep and bear... arms shall not be infringed.
– James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789
It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our own blood.  The freedom that we shall win through our sacrifice and exertions, we shall be able to preserve with our own strength.
– Subhas Chandra Bose
Americans have the will to resist because you have weapons. If you don't have a gun, freedom of speech has no power.
– Yoshimi Ishikawa
Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands.  But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.  (1859)
We have come to a point where it is loyalty to resist, and treason to submit.  (1859)
My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.  (1872)
I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves … too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism:  "Our country, right or wrong!"  They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism:  "Our country — when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right." (1899)
Carl Schurz
To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.
    For more on why this quote is so important, see Citizen Politicians.
The business of America is business.
– Calvin Coolidge
America is the shining city on the hill.
If not now, when?   If not us, who?
A nation without borders is not a nation.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
– Ronald Reagan
We want our country to be a sanctuary for law-abiding citizens.
We were born free, and we will stay free.
If you want freedom, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, hold on to your sovereignty. If you want peace, love your Nation.
– President Donald Trump
I was shocked to learn that, for the most part, Republicans cared more deeply about their constituents, while Democrats, in my experience, cared more about government power and control.
– David Marcus, head of blockchain with Facebook Inc.
Men and women in every culture need liberty like they need food and water and air.  Everywhere that freedom arrives, humanity rejoices and everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.
– President George W. Bush, 1 May 2003
The honor of simply being an American – a child not of old borders and ancient alliances, but of ideals and liberty.
– Brian Meade and Don Yaeger, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, page 62
– Hubert Humphrey, Democrat; Vice President 1965-68
Poverty has no causes.  Only prosperity has causes.  Analogically, heat is a result of active processes; it has causes.  But cold is not the result of any processes; it is only the absence of heat.  Just so, the great cold of poverty and economic stagnation is merely the absence of economic development.
Jane Jacobs
    To see in action how true this quote is, and why, see America Rebounds!
The American notion [is] that the end of government is liberty, not happiness or prosperity, or power, or the preservation of an historic inheritance, or the adaptation of national law to national character, or the progress of enlightenment and the promotion of virtue; [and] that the private individual should not feel the pressure of public authority, and should direct his life by the influences that are within him, not around him.
– Lord Acton (1834 - 1902), "The Anglo-American Tradition of Liberty"
Here I stand. I can do no other.
– Martin Luther
Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country and this world.
– Sharon Salzberg
Every time we go into the voting booth, we are choosing the moral and spiritual direction of our nation. That is a privilege and responsibility that should not be abdicated.
– Robert Jeffress
A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.
– James Freeman Clarke
Government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another. – from The Spirit of Laws
– Charles de Montesquieu
America is not a racist country.  Anyone claiming otherise has a vested interest in keeping us divided. The easiest way to maintain power over any group is to keep those within it at war with one another.
– Candace Owens
A lot of people know if they keep people divided they can stay in power and it’s wrong.
– Robert O'Neill, US Navy SEAL, 2021
When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.
– Thomas Sowell
The best way to reform our culture?  100 PERCENT DEFUND ALL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.  And primary/secondary schools too.  No more state and federal funding.  Period.  Make them sell Communism on the free market.  Make them persuade people to pay $100K a year to be taught that Marx understood economics and that one's race defines one's character.  That will end WOKE-ness in three days flat.  I guarantee it.
Leftism is not about reason, rights or serenity.  It's about group-think, hatred and violence.  Force is their only argument.  Don't try to persuade a Democrat.  They're all beyond reason.  Just stop them.
Dr. Michael Hurd
American leadership is necessary for a peaceful and just world.
– former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley
Supporting our bedrock principles isn't a partisan position. It’s an American position.
– Susan Collins, U.S. Senator from Maine
Capitalism is the only economic system which anyone honestly can point to and say, "it has made substantive progress toward its seemingly utopian aims."
– Ralph Benko and Bill Collier, The Capitalist Manifesto
The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.
– Charles-Louis De Secondat
Considering the Democrat Party derives its power from a victim society, what is their motivation to pass legislation which solves that?
Don't predict the future – create it.
In the final year of Obama's Presidency, we lost 17,000 manufacturing jobs he claimed were NEVER coming back. In the 1st year of the Trump Presidency, we've added 171,000 new manufacturing jobs!
No wonder the economy suffers under Democrats. They think business is inherently evil run by inherently evil men and women. Listen to Schumer's and Bernie's comments today. Their HATRED for American business seethes from within them.
In a way I feel sorry for the Left. What must it be like to wake up one day and realize everything you believe in and worked for was wrong?
A criminal nature will cheat even when they don't need to because it gives them pleasure in their twisted minds.
– Bill Mitchell
Other countries care for their mentally ill.  Making them debate on TV is just cruel.
– Andy Borowitz
It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.
William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England
If a man neglects to enforce his rights, he cannot complain if, after a while, the law follows his example.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
– Evelyn Beatrice Hall
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –
        Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –
        Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –
        Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me –
        and there was no one left to speak for me.
– Pastor Martin Niemöller
Dulce et Decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.


Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling


And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.


If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer,
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen
There can be no peace within an enslaved nation.
A European is disarmed in the face of a dictatorship: he may hate it, but he feels that he is wrong and, metaphysically, the State is right. An American would rebel to the bottom of his soul.
When a government holds arbitrary control over the economy, it will necessarily act unjustly, because it will be using force in favor of one group of people at the expense of others.
By what conceivable right can anyone demand that a human being exist for anything but his own joy?
– Ayn Rand
See Ayn Rand's Quotes on personal values
Inside every Progressive is a Totalitarian screaming to get out.
– David Horowitz
Right and Power have very different meanings, and convey very different Ideas.
Richard Bland
Liberty is the very idol of my soul, the parent of virtue, the nurse of heroes, the dispenser of general happiness....
– Arthur Lee
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
And I say to you today my friends, let freedom ring.
– from his speech "I Have a Dream", 28 August 1963
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
As an American I am not so shocked that Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize without any accomplishments to his name, but that America gave him the White House based on the same credentials.
– Newt Gingrich
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
– John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
The destructive work of totalitarian machinery, whether or not this word is used, is usually supported by a special kind of primitive social philosophy.  It proclaims not only that the common good of “society” has priority over the interests of individuals, but that the very existence of individuals as persons is reducible to the existence of the social "whole"; in other words, personal existence is, in a strange sense, unreal.  This is a convenient foundation for any ideology of slavery.
– Leszek Kolakowski, "Totalitarianism and the Virtue of the Lie" (1983)
Socialism means turning over your freedom to your government.
– Tyler Durden
– Winston Churchill
I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.
– Thomas Sowell
History repeats itself. That is one of the things wrong with history.
– Darrow's Observation
Respect for "the system" is what provides a stable civilization.
– Scott Adams
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.
– Jesus, according to John 8:7
Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.
– The Who, Won't Get Fooled Again
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
People crushed by law, have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those who have much to hope and nothing to lose, will always be dangerous.
Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.
– Edmund Burke
A generation which ignores history has no past – and no future.
– Robert Heinlein
Those who learn what history has to teach can build on humanity's successes.
– Scott Crosby
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Ida B. Wells
Where the people fear the government you have tyranny.  Where the government fears the people you have liberty.
– John Basil Barnhill, 1914
Without America, there is no free world.
Canada Free Press
The desire to control the lives and actions of other people is the worst prejudice.
Anyone thinks we should be required to take a certain action should first have it imposed on himself.
Socialism always needs a scapegoat – someone to blame for its lack of success. The failure of Socialism is inevitable, and Socialist rulers need to deflect the blame from thsmselves and their failed policies.
Socialism and any kind of government controls are impediments to productivity – and so by definition cannot be the answer.
Freedom cannot be imposed or granted by a sovereign. Freedom requires first of all that the individual is sovereign.
Having been gained, freedom is protected by education.
When you say that the rights of individuals should be abrogated, it is only fair that such an imposition should first be placed upon yourself.
Regimentation fails to take into account the value of thinking, reason, and knowledge.
You can have freedom, or you can have socialism. Each one destroys the possibility of the other.
Socialism – the rejection of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The freedom which is an American's Right places him above any titled "nobleman", any king, for he has something which they can never possess.
Politically, Freedom – and a government to protect it – is the most important thing.
A proper government exists only because it is authorized by its citizens with its sole purpose being to protect their rights.
– Scott Crosby
See Scott's Quotes on personal values
Quotes on Life in General
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.
– Nelson Mandela
    For more on why this quote is so important, see Education.
Tomorrow is the most important thing. ... It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.
– John Wayne
Adversity is our mother, Prosperity our step-mother.
– Charles de Montesquieu
Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causus
Happy is the one who finds the why of things.
– Virgil
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
– Albert Einstein
Fools take no delight in understanding, but only in displaying what they think.
– Proverbs 18:2
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on not understanding it.
– Upton Sinclair
Do you want to actually get something done, or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with?
– Barack Obama
Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.
– G. Michael Hopf
Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
– Henry Ford
It is the triumph of reason to get on well with those who possess none.
– Hari Seldon, as recorded in Foundation's Fear, by Gregory Benford
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
– Arthur C. Clarke
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
– Emperor Cleon I, as recorded in Foundation's Fear, by Gregory Benford
The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.
– Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
"It turns out that pets also have last wills before they die, but only known to vets who put old and sick animals to sleep."  Twitter user Jesse Dietrich asked a vet what the hardest part of his job was.
The specialist replied without hesitation that the hardest thing for him was seeing how old or sick animals look for their owners before they fall asleep.  The fact is 90% of owners don't want to be in a room with a dying animal.  People leave so they don't see their animals leave.  But they don't realize it's in these last moments of life that their animal needs them the most.
Vets are asking owners to stay close to animals until the end.  "It is inevitable that they die before you.  Remember that you were the center of their lives.  Maybe they were just a part of you.  But they are also your family.  Even if it's hard, don't give up on them.
Don't let them die in a room with a stranger in a place they don't like.  It's very painful for vets to see how pets can't find their owner in the last minutes of their lives.  They don't understand why their master left them.  After all, they needed the consolation of their master.
Veterinarians do their best to make animals not so scared, but they are totally strangers to them.  Don't be a coward because it's too painful for you.  Think about the animal.  Endure that pain for them.  Be with them until the end.
– Tony Lapshinoff
Quotes on Flying
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you will long to return.
– Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519
There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings.
– Wilbur Wright
The Wright brothers created the single greatest cultural force since the invention of writing.  The airplane became the first World Wide Web, bringing people, languages, ideas, and values together.
– Bill Gates
The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious.  And why shouldn't it be?  It is the air the angels breathe.
– Mark Twain
Sometimes, flying feels too God-like to be attained by man.  Sometimes the world from above seems too beautiful, too wonderful, too distant for human eyes to see.
– Charles A. Lindbergh
The good thing about flying solo is it's never boring.
– Steve Fossett
Built into the human psyche we have the desire for liberty.  I think with many people the airplane becomes the metaphor for liberation, for the ultimate sense of freedon.
– Rob Machado
The air is the only place free from prejudice.
– Bessie Coleman
Click here for more about flying
Quotes on Personal Choices
The world doesn't owe you anything.  You have to work for everything you get and you have to appreciate every bit of success the world gives you.
– Taylor Swift
To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.
– Charlie Munger
graphic not found
Logic is a system whereby one may go wrong with confidence.
Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it.  I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.
Every great improvement has come after repeated failures. Virtually nothing comes out right the first time.  Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement.  One fails forward toward success.
The whole fun of living is trying to make something better.
All human development, no matter what form it takes, must be outside the rules; otherwise we would never have anything new.
– Charles Kettering
The sins of the parents are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
– The Bible, Numbers 14:18
The best thing you can do as a father is to make sure your kids see how much you love their mother.
– Matthew McConaughye
If you want to know what a man is like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
– J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better.
– Maya Angelou
graphic not found
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision.
To know one's own desires, their meaning and their costs requires the highest human virtue:  rationality.
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth.  It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world.  It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth.  It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect. ... ! know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is but a speck of dust lost in eternity. I know not and I care not.  For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth.  And my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it.  My happiness is not the means to any end.  It is the end.  It is its own goal.  — Anthem
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.
– Ayn Rand
See Ayn Rand's political Quotes
     
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!
– Benjamin Franklin
You are the Leader you have been waiting for.
– Maria Shriver
I always get to where I am going by walking away from where I have been.
– Winnie the Pooh
You have to expect progress to be made.
– Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo projects
      Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly, page 245
"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.
– William W. Purkey
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
– Mae West
If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you are doing.
– W. Edwards Deming
All changes have to overcome the inertia of a conservative class.
– generalized paraphrasing of statement by A. T. Mahan,
   The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783, page 10
The electric light did not come from the continuous improvement of candles.
– Oren Harari
The Serenity Prayer:
  God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
  the courage to change the things I can,
  and the wisdom to know the difference.
The Genius Prayer:
  God grant me the courage to change the things I cannot accept,
  serenity to accept the things I’ve changed,
  and the wisdom to know I’m different.
Pearls Before Swine, 17 September 2013
– Honda motorcycle ad, 1982
Be brave enough to fail at something new.
– John Acuff
You only need one person who is brave and might seem like a fool in the beginning to start a movement.
– Alec Joannou
Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
– Apple ad, 1997
Rebels revel in rewriting reality's restrictions.
– Ryan Lilly
As human beings, we're constantly evaluating our paths – our dreams, our fears, and the simple truth that fulfillment always lies just beyond the veil of what we perceive our limitations to be.
We all struggle, and it's who we decide to become on the other side of struggle that defines our lives and our paths.
– Grant Korgan
        as recorded in Shattered Spine, Unbreakable Spirit, Flying magazine, August 2019
She conquered her demons and wore her scars like wings.
Atticus
There are always possibilities.
– Spock, as recorded in Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan
What you want is irrelevant. What you have chosen is at hand!
– Spock, as recorded in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
A lot of people go through life never quite understanding that if things aren't as wonderful as they should be, it's their own fault.
Life is too short to be living someone else's dream.
– Hugh Hefner
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.
– Thomas Fowell Burton, politician and abolitionist
Only three more days 'til Monday!
– Dennis Thompson, on Friday
I believe in spending what you have to. But I also believe in not spending more than you should.
Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.
The worst of times often create the best opportunities to make good deals.
You need advertising the most when people aren't buying.
– Donald Trump, The Art Of the Deal
The most important thing in life is to love what you are doing, because that is the only way you will ever be good at it.
– Fred Trump, as recorded in The Art Of the Deal, by Donald Trump
Do what you love, but be damned sure it's profitable. If you do work you love, but it doesn't generate income, your business will fail. If you do work you hate, but it generates income, your health will fail... and your business along with it. If you can't do what you love and make it profitable, you've either got a hobby or a headache, not a sustainable business. Don't settle for anything less than passion and profit.
– Steve Pavlina
Change before you have to.
– Jack Welch
Managers do things right – while leaders do the right thing.
– Hunter Harrison, CEO of four railroads,
    as quoted in Railroader, by Howard Green, 2018
Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.
– Socrates
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
If you are going through hell, keep going.
– Winston Churchill
Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
– from the book Dune, by Frank Herbert
Don't deduce their intentions by your fears.
– from "Getting to Yes", by Roger Fisher and William Ury
Folks in those stories had lots of chances to turn back, and they didn't. They kept going, because they were holding onto something [...] that there's some good in this world. [...] And it's worth fighting for.
– Samwise Gamgee, as recorded in The Two Towers, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Oh I know they make fun of me, but all these years the people have thought the joke was on me, but it’s actually on them.  I am sure of myself as a person.  I am sure of my talent.  I’m sure of my love for life and that sort of thing.  I am very content, I like the kind of person that I am.  So, I can afford to piddle around and do-diddle around with makeup and clothes and stuff because I am secure with myself.
– Dolly Parton
For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Man in the Arena
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
– Theodore Roosevelt
I follow up the quest despite of day and night and death and hell.
– Alfred Lord Tennyson

To Dream the Impossible Dream

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
        To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a Heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
   
– Joe Darion from Man of la Mancha  (1972)
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
– Aristotle
Sometimes things are bigger than you, and the best you can hope for is to keep your wings level and have a little patience and a little luck.
– Warren "Wally" Simpson
A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon the world.
– Albert Camus
Real integrity is doing the right thing knowing that nobody is going to know if you did it or not.
– Oprah Winfrey
No one is you and that is your power.
– Dave Grohl
graphic "Think about what you are doing." not found
Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.  Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.
– Arthur Ashe
– Kobe Bryant
In order to get what you want, you have to say no to what you don't want.
– Diamond and Silk
Expect what happens.
– Walt Horstman
"I operate on the physics approach to analysis.  You boil things down to the first principles or fundamental truths in a particular area and then you reason up from there."
– Elon Musk
Think for yourself.
Joan Crosby
Courage is knowing when fear is bad advice.
If you do not set the example for the kind of person you would like to meet, how can you expect others to do so?
If you do not work to make the world the kind of place you want to live in and your family to live in, how can you expect anyone else to join in?
– Scott Crosby
See Scott's political Quotes
Change is coming. Fortune Cookie Wisdom
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
A great pleasure is doing what others say you can't.
One way to learn more is not to hide your ignorance.
The respect and help of influential people will soon be yours.
Do not be bitter, deceptive, or petty.
Your self-confidence shines and makes a great impression on others.
Someone is admiring you from afar.
Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible.
Every man is a volume if you know how to read him.
We will not know the worth of water 'til the well is dry.
You are tasting the sweets of success.
Wealth is all around you.  Do not be afraid to take the chance you are about to be given.
You will never regret the present, if you live it to its fullest.
Your charming smile is attracting everyone around you.
Good to begin well, better to end well.
You are an exciting and inspiring person.
Graffiti -- i.e., quotes whose author is unknown
Socialism takes, Capitalism creates
When you vote, you control the government.
When you don't, the government controls you.
When government takes away citizens' right to bear arms it becomes citizens' duty to take away government's right to govern.
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.
Coaches are not usually better at their subject matter; they are good at directing the player's thinking to make him be better at what he does.
Corruptio Optima Pessima – Corruption of the best is the worst.
Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.
Everyone you meet brightens UP your olie, some when you meet them and some when they leave!
Several years ago I saw a saying on the back of a shirt that read, "The hope of the world is the belief that ONE person can make a difference."  You may be that one person that makes a difference.  To the world, you may be just ONE person, but to ONE person, YOU may be the WORLD.  Go out today and Make a Difference!
Every Saint has a Past and Every sinner has a Future.  Do you have a Past?  You certainly have a Future.
If you FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS in whatever you do, it won't be long til they start coming true.  May YOUR dreams start coming true TODAY.
Sometimes, we need heroes in our lives.  Sometimes, we need to be heroes to others.
"Dead last finish" is greater than "Did not finish", which trumps "Did not start".
Everything you want is on the other side of fear.
Life is all about how you handle Plan B.
Happy people don't necessarily have everything, they just make the most of everything they have!
Don't look back; you're not going that way.
Use good ideas whatever the source – the lowliest janitor, or someone you despise – good ideas are mental food.
"Obsessed" is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.
How to be successful in two easy steps:
    1. Never tell anyone everything you know.
Luck favors the prepared.
Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, "Get the hell out of my way, I've got things to do."
What did you do today to bring yourself one step closer to your goal?
Defeat your enemies with success.
If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.
You don't always get what you wish for, you get what you work for.
Innovation is not just something new.
Innovation is something that adds additional value.
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a gift.  That's why we call it the PRESENT.
May today be the best day of your life and may every day after today be better than the day before.
Success is not having a good idea.
Success is implementing a good idea.
Work smarter, not harder.
Champions are made in the off-season.
Excuses are for people who don't want it bad enough.
Don't let someone who gave up on his dreams talk you out of going after yours.
If you want something you've never had, then you've got to do something you've never done.
To keep doing the same thing and expect different results is insanity.
A FINE is a TAX for doing something BAD, a TAX is a FINE for doing something GOOD.
If you're searching for that one person who will change your life…take a look in the mirror.
Be the kind of person you want to meet.
Three Simple Rules In Life
1. If you do not go after what you want, you will never have it.
2. If you do not ask, the answer will always be "No."
3. If you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
In life you are either a passenger or a pilot ... it is your choice.
We are participants, not spectators.
Some days you get the bear; some days the bear gets you.
If you never try, the bear always wins.
Love what you have, before life teaches you to love what you have lost.
When I was five years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life.
When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "Happy."
They told me I didn't understand the assignment.
I told them they didn't understand life.
The thing about smart people is that they seem like crazy people to dumb people.
Webster's dictionary has every word in the English language in it, but it's not a very good read.  It's how you select your words and put them in a row that makes you interesting or not.  Words can build someone up or tear them down.  For example, you could say to your wife, "When I gaze into your eyes, the hands of Time stand still."  Or you could say, "You've got a face that could stop a clock."  In both of these cases, the clock has stopped.  One of these statements will build her up, the other will tear her down.  Select your words carefully, make everything you say interesting, not just words.
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