Sayings
Issue #104 Posted Nov 2016
"The only thing worse than a liar, is a liar who's also a hypocrite!" -- Tennessee Williams
"Protests only work if human rights have been violated. Protesting for not getting your way is just whining." -- A wise person
"The world is not a warm, cozy, nor safe place. Life can be, and usually is, dangerous. You alone are responsible for your well-being, safety, and happiness and that of your family. No one else has any duty or responsibility to make your life safe, easy, or profitable, nor do any duty towards them. The sooner you accept this the better your life can become." -- John S. (Fr. Frog)
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch and do nothing" -- Albert Einstein"
"If you share my values you are my brother or sister. If you find my values repugnant, you are my enemy - I don't care what you look like." - John H.
To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington
"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not." -- Attributed to Jan van de Snepscheut
"I used to think I was just a regular guy, but…
"I was born white, which now, whether I like it or not, makes me a racist. I am a fiscal and moral conservative, which by today's standards, makes me a fascist. I am heterosexual, which according to gay folks, now makes me a homophobe. I am non-union, which makes me a traitor to the working class and an ally of big business. I am a Christian, which now labels me as an infidel. I believe in the 2nd Amendment, which now makes me a member of the vast gun lobby. I am older than 70 and retired, which makes me a useless old man. I think and I reason, therefore I doubt much that the main stream media tells me, which must make me a reactionary. I am proud of my heritage and our inclusive American culture, which makes me a xenophobe. I value my safety and that of my family and I appreciate the police and the legal system, which makes me a right-wing extremist.
"I believe in hard work, fair play, and fair compensation according to each individual's merits, which today makes me an anti-socialist. I (and most of the folks I know), acquired a fair education without student loans (it's called work) and no debt at graduation, which makes me some kind of an odd underachiever. I believe in the defense and protection of the homeland for and by all citizens, which now makes me a militant. Now, a sick old woman is calling me and my friends a basket of deplorables.
"Please help me come to terms with the new me…because I'm just not sure who I am anymore! I would like to thank all my friends for sticking with me through these abrupt, new found changes in my life and my thinking! I just can't imagine or understand what's happened to me so quickly! Funny…it's all just taken place over the last 7 or 8 years! As if all this horse shit isn't enough to deal with…I'm now afraid to go into either restroom!" -- Unknown patriot
"Bad things happen to people who run out of ammunition." -- Lyman L.
"What you do every day is what you believe - the rest is just talk." -- Sign on a church wall
"The first thing we do, kill all the lawyers. The second thing we do, kill all the sociologists and the "community organizers." -- Anon
"Farnam's Code." In your speech be clear, brief, and speak in complete sentences. Get to your point quickly. In this world, the only thing more boring than someone who won't come to the point, is someone who keeps talking after he's made his point! In your relations be relentlessly trustworthy and honest. Where there is trust, no proof is necessary. Where there is none, no proof is possible, and "getting it in writing" won't make much difference! In your presentation be modest and humble. Boasters and braggarts are a bore and never make themselves welcome! In your conflicts show respect to all, but grovel before none. Be prepared to do what is true, good, and right, even when it is not understood, nor popular! In your work be of good service. Live to advance your art. Seek to do more than merely occupy space. Civilization needs to benefit from your presence! In yourself don't pretend. Confront facts, even ugly ones, squarely and honestly. Don't con your friends, and don't con yourself! "Dream worlds" are always anguished and short-lived. In your struggle confront the fact that you are less than perfect! Strive to minimize your blemishes. Against your last day, make sure your flaws die before you do! In your death be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear, so that when their time comes, they weep and whine, because they are unacquainted with the True Way and have no hope. Sing your Death Song only once, then step across the Great Divide, never looking back- like a hero going home. -- John Farnam
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In order to be old and wise you have to have survived being young and stupid." -- UnknownWhen governments fear the people, there is freedom. When people fear the government, there is tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson
"The shallow believe in luck. The strong believe in cause and effect." -- Emerson
"Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want, and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve." -- Edward Albee
"A friend told me that around here they are having trouble seating federal juries. The good people have figured out that the Obama Injustice Dept is so corrupt, and politically driven that a lot of people have decided anyone being charged with anything by them are probably being railroaded." -- Annon
"If we lived in a state where virtue were profitable, common sense would make us saints! But, since we see that abhorrence, anger, pride, and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice, and thought, perhaps we must stand fast a little, even at the risk of being heroes." -- Sir Thomas More
"It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf." -- Thomas Paine, 1776
"Measures which serve to abridge the free competition of foreign articles, have a tendency to occasion an enhancement of prices." -- Alexander Hamilton, 1791
"If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws — the first growing out of the last." -- Alexander Hamilton, 1794
"I do recommend and assign Thursday ... next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be." -- George Washington, 1789
"It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1785
"Amplification is the vice of modern oratory." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1824
"There is a rank due to the United States, among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war." -- George Washington, 1793
"In disquisitions of every kind there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasoning must depend." -- Alexander Hamilton, 1788
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it." -- Thomas Paine, 1777
"A universal peace, it is to be feared, is in the catalogue of events, which will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary philosophers, or in the breasts of benevolent enthusiasts." -- James Madison, 11792
"If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme Being and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation." -- Samuel Adams (1780)
"Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1789
"[T]hat form of government which is best contrived to secure an impartial and exact execution of the law, is the best of republics." -- John Adams, 1776
"[I]n the mouths of some [Liberty] means anything, which enervate a necessary government; excite a jealousy of the rulers who are our own choice, and keep society in confusion for want of a power sufficiently concentered to promote good." -- Oliver Ellsworth, 1787
Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1771
"Speak seldom, but to important subjects, except such as particularly relate to your constituents, and, in the former case, make yourself perfectly master of the subject." -- George Washington, 1787
"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1816
"The consciousness of having discharged that duty which we owe to our country is superior to all other considerations." -- George Washington, 1788
"[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life." -- George Washington,, 1790
"Is the relinquishment of the trial by jury and the liberty of the press necessary for your liberty? Will the abandonment of your most sacred rights tend to the security of your liberty?" -- Patrick Henry, 17888
"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1809
"[G]iving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1791
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States." -- Noah Webster, 1787
More Maxims of Francois de La Rochefoucauld
We are deceiving ourselves if we think that only the violent passions, such as ambition and love, can conquer the others. Laziness, sluggish though it is, often manages to dominate them; it wrests from us all of life’s plans and deeds, where it imperceptibly destroys and devours the passions and virtues alike.
We take exception to judges for the most trivial of interests, yet we are quite willing to let our reputation and glory depend on the judgment of men who are utterly opposed to us, because of either jealousy or self-absorption or lack of enlightenment; and it is merely to have them decide in our favor that we risk our peace of mind and our very life in so many ways.
Hardly any man is clever enough to know all the evil he does.
Honors won are down payments for those still to be won.
There are people who have the approval of society, though their only merits are the vices useful for the transactions of daily life.
Often, the pride that rouses so much envy also helps us to mitigate it.
Sometimes it takes as much cleverness to profit from good advice as to give ourselves good advice.
There are some wicked people who would be less dangerous if they had absolutely no goodness.
Some business matters and some illnesses can be aggravated by remedies, at certain times; the really clever thing is to know when it is dangerous to make use of them.
A pretense of simplicity is a subtle imposture.
There are more faults of temperament than of mind.
We always like those who admire us, and we do not always like those whom we admire.
We are very far from knowing all our wishes.
Some follies are catching, like contagious illnesses.
Plenty of people disdain possessions, but few know how to give them away.
It is usually only in matters of little interest that we take the risk of not believing in appearances.
Whatever good is said about us never teaches us anything new.
We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore.
Sometimes in life there are events that you need to be a little foolish to handle.
The reason why lovers are never bored with each other’s company is because they are always talking about themselves.
The extreme pleasure we take in talking about ourselves should make us afraid that we may scarcely be giving any to our listeners.
What usually prevents us from showing the depths of our hearts to our friends is not so much mistrust of them as mistrust of ourselves.
Weak people cannot be sincere.
We cannot long feel as we should toward our friends and benefactors if we allow ourselves the liberty of talking frequently about their faults.
Only those who deserve disdain are afraid of being treated with disdain.
We confess small faults only to convince people that we have no greater ones.
Envy is harder to appease than hatred.
We sometimes think we hate flattery, but what we hate is merely the way it is done.
When our hatred is too intense, it puts us on a lower level than those we hate.
We feel our good and ill fortune only in proportion to our self-love.
To be a great man, you must know how to take advantage of every turn of fortune.
Most men, like plants, have hidden characteristics that are revealed by chance.
We find very few sensible people except those who agree with our own opinion.
What makes us so bitter against people who act cunningly is the fact that they think they are cleverer than we are.
We are nearly always bored with the people whose company should not bore us.
2016-6