Monday, December 2, 2013

Thoughts for October 2013


______

back      Index      next
______



  1.  "When the white missionaries came to Africa, the yad the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land." - Desmond Tutu

  2.  The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever. Meanwhile, The National Parks Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us, "Please Do Not Feed the Animals." Their stated reason for this policy is because the animals will grow dependent upon handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves. (Also, bears that become habituated can also become dangerous and have to be relocated or euthanized.)

  3.  "Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good. They told us to treat all men as they treated us; that we should never be the first to break a bargain; that it was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should speak only the truth; that it was a shame for one man to take from another his wife, or his property without paying for it. We were taught to believe that Ah-cumkin-i-ma-me-hut (Great Spirit) sees and hears everything, and that He never forgets; that hereafter He will give every man a spirit home according to his deserts; if he has been a good man he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he wil have a bad home. This I believe, and all my people believe the same." - from Chief Joseph's Own Story (1878)

  4.  Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

  5.  To ignore the facts does not change the facts.

  6.  "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke.

  7.  "He had a feeling that Mandalorians would eventually be regarded as trouble, because they didn't like belonging to anything -- republics, empires, or anything with rules they didn't have a say in making. Sooner or later, that was going to make Mandalore a liability." - from Star Wars: Imperial Commando: 501st, p. 119

  8.  "My friends, I have been asked to show you my heart. I am glad to have a chance to do so. I want the white people to understand my people. Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake. I will tell you all about our people, and then you can judge whether an Indian is a man or not. I believe much blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell you in my way how the Indian sees things. The white man has more words to tell you how they look at him, but it does not requird many words to speak the truth. What I have to say will come from my heart, and I will speak with a straight tongue. Ah-cumkin-i-ma-me-hut (Great Spirit) is looking at me, and will hear me." -- In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat (Joseph), chief of the Wal-lam-watkin banbd of Chute-pe-lu, or Nez Perce, from "Chief Joseph's Own Story" (1878)

  9. "Control, surveillance, checks. Every movement and every comm message logged. All for your own good, all to protect you. And you fell for it. ... The only thing Republic citizens ever really needed protecting from was their own government. And now they've got what they deserve." - from Star Wars: Imperial Commando: 501st, p. 292

10.  "Normal people never do anything of note, nothing magnificent or world changing or on the knife-edge of risk." - from Star Wars: Imperial Commando: 501st, p. 346

11.  "We've had times in our past when we let rotten Mandalores steer us down some ugly paths. It happens, Ny, Ideas take root. Whole societies get swept up in things without thinking, because they're just ideas, right? Just harmless things. But they'd fight to the death to resist if an invading army showed up and tried to force those changes on us. We don't see bad ideas coming until they've done the damage." - from Star Wars: Imperial Commando: 501st, pp. 273-274

12.  You can always pray for someone when you don't have any other way to help.

13.

14.

15.  Think before you speak. Many unkind and hurtful things are said in the name of 'being honest,' with the excuse that 'being honest' will always be respected.

16.  Being kind is more important than being right.

17.  One should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.

18.  "Controlling a population is an economical business.... Ninety percent of the reports of anti-Imperial activity and crime comes from the good citizens themselves spying on their neighbors and denouncing them. The biggest task we face is sifting that information. Far from having to be coerced, far from struggling under the so-called yoke of Imperial oppression -- the average galactic citizen is oly too happy to seize the opportunity to settle scores or merely make a show of being loyal. And I guarantee that ibn years to come, they will deny all knowledge of doing so." -- from Star Wars: Imperial Commando: 501st, p. 116.

19.  You may give without loving, but you can't love without giving.

20.  "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." - Ronald Reagan

21.  One of the late Speaker Tom Foley's maxims was that in Congress, the perfect is often the enemy of the good or even the attainable.

22.  Encouraging the young should never become old.

23.  There are two things to be found in the middle of the road: yellow stripes and dead skunks.

24.  One is truly wise who gains wisdom from the experience of others.

25.  Kind hearts are the gardens; kind thoughts are the roots; kind words are the flowers; kind deeds are the fruits.

26.  A debt is never too old for an honest person to pay.

27.  If we do not come apart and rest awhile,we may just plain come apart. - Vance Havner

28.  A qualified leader is one who has learned to serve.

29.  He is rich who is satisfied with what he has.

30.  Conduct is the best proof of character.

31.  A sunset in one land is a sunrise in another.


No comments:

Post a Comment