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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

 

You can read more about who wrote it here: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

 

This has become my favorite quote as of late. My sister is working on a particular presidential campaign which has helped me to better understand what I believe, as I do my best to listen to her. We completely disagree with each other but the conversations have been nothing short of stimulating.

 

So what's your favorite quote?

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"If you keep your feet firmly on the ground,

you’ll have trouble putting on your pants!"

 

 

 

 

:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and I have a few others I like too...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to see it, do the other trees make fun of it?

     


  • 5 out of 4 people don’t understand fractions.

     


  • I tried sniffing Coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my nose.

     


  • Sure, the truth hurts, but so does a machete.

     


  • How do “Do not walk on grass†signs get there?

     


  • Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun.

     


(Hope you weren't looking just for erudite quotes & sayings, heehee! ;))

 

Hmmm, I do have my favorite 'real' (i.e., intelligent & inspiring) quotes around somewhere. I need to find them...

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"Anybody who has travelled a narrow passage a few feet ahead of about a ton of snorting, pounding death will appreciate that I didn't dawdle."

--James Herriot

 

He goes on to say: "I was spurred on by the certain knowledge that if Monty (an enormous bull) caught me he would plaster me against the wall as effortlessly as I would squash a ripe plum, and though I was clad in a long oilskin coat and wellingtons I doubt whether an Olympic sprinter in full running kit would have bettered my time."

 

There's a time to dawdle, and there's a time to sprint, no? :laugh:

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

 

--Margeret Mead

 

And for sheer silliness, there is this one from my favorite college professor:

 

Everything in the world is either a potato or not a potato.

 

(The point of that one is to show how silly it is to force either-or comparisons.)

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I just got a new one 2 days ago from a calendar. There is a Mary Englebright picture of 2 little girls in a window. One is a light haired sweetie with a scowl on her face looking away while she rests her chin on her hand. Right next to her is a dark haired cutie with a smile for the world to see and flowers in her hands to give away. The quote to go with it is from Abraham Lincoln

 

"Most folks are as happy as they want to be."

 

Since this picture is an exact replica of my Kate and Bianca, in hair color, attitude, and charm, I want it enlarged and framed to continually remind me that I CANNOT fix my grumpy girl. I can only lead her in the way and that if someone thought to draw a picture of it, it's all ok and good.

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My favorate is:

 

That which does not kill you makes you stronger. ~Neitzsche

 

I feel like I need a reminder of that every day!!! :)

 

Some others I like:

 

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. ~Chinese Proverb

 

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life ~Winston Churchill

 

When I want to read a novel, I write one. ~Benjamin Disraeli

 

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Mahatma Ghandi

 

Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them. ~Leo Tolstoy

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"The God Who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The hand of force can destroy them, but cannot disjoin them." (I think that this was said by Patrick Henry, but I am not sure.)

 

"A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

 

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such as these there is no law."

 

"Death is swallowed up in victory!"

 

(Those last three were from the Bible.)

 

My three basic mottos: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong; so try to set things up so that nothing can go wrong." "Most people are really nice." "Done is good."

 

One of my main concerns: "The good is the enemy of the best."

 

And, found recently on a Christian t shirt--"A blood donor saved my life."

 

Phrase most overused during scoldings (that come out of my own mouth): "In what parallel universe is it OK to....?"

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"It is quite easy to see why a legend is treated, and ought to be treated, more respectfully than a book of history. The legend is generally made by the majority of people in the village, who are sane. The book is generally written by the one man in the village who is mad." G.K. Chesterton

 

Of course this could never apply to our dear SWB ;). I thought she'd giggle too.

 

Jo

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It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf.

H. L. Mencken

 

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Douglas Adams

 

Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.

Cicero

 

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King Jr.

 

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.

Oscar Wilde

 

Remember that as a teenager you are at the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you.

Fran Lebowitz

 

Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.

Mary Tyler Moore

 

There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.

P. J. O'Rourke

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"I'd like to aplogize to everyone in advance for this." -Dean, The Iron Giant

 

You can do it your own way

If it's done just how I say

~ Metallica- Eye of the Beholder

 

Everybody wants to rule the world ~ Tears for Fears

 

"Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy." ~ Benjamin Franklin

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Silly quote...but, I thought it was funny when I ran across it a few years ago.

 

"The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese."

~GK Chesterton

 

Smiles!

~Holly

 

That is funny! And look how cute you are in your avatar! :001_smile: It's great to finally see everyone.

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Let us hope that we are all proceeded by a love story. Film - Sweet Land

 

The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are: first hand, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison

 

Do not kiss your children so they will kiss you back, but so they will kiss their children, and their children's children. Noah benShea

 

 

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Proverbs

 

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. Horace Mann

 

We are not called to be successful, we are called to be faithful. Mother Teresa

 

I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so men will revere Him. Ecclesiastes

 

 

 

These are mine.

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I like this quote: "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."

 

When faced with a big mess: "You're(I'm) gonna need a bigger boat."

 

Also while cleaning: "Out, d@mn'd spot! Out, I say!"

 

Also, my sig line. Yes, it's silly and from Austin Powers but it's funny. I really wish I had a bag of shhh to make my kids quiet sometimes:)

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"I was made that way by a fairy." William of Aquataine

 

 

It's from The Song of Nothing--the author's trying to use all of the devices of Medeival Lit in one poem, & it's ridiculous & hysterical. I like to use it to explain to dh when I do things that are...ridiculous...and maybe not so funny.

 

Here's the poem, if you're interested:

 

Here's a song about absolutely nothing.

It's not about me, not about anyone else,

It's not about love, not about being young,

Not about anything else, either.

It came to me while I was asleep,

Riding along on my horse.

I don't know exactly when I was born.

I'm not happy, I'm not angry,

I'm not a stranger here; I don't belong here.

I can't help being like this:

I was made like it by a fairy on a mountaintop.

I don't know if I'm asleep or awake unless someone

tells me.

My heart's almost broken, it's so sad.

And all this doesn't matter a mouse to me--

I swear it, by Saint Martial.

I love someone...I don't know who she is,

Because I've never seen her.

She hasn't doen anything to please me,

Or to upset me, and I don't care.

I've never seen her, but I love her, truly.

She's not yet done what she should to me,

Or what she shouldn't.

When I don't see her, then I'm happy.

She's not worth a cock to me,

Because I know one who's gentler,

And prettier, and richer, as well.

I don't know where she lives,

Whether up in the heights or down in the fields.

I dare not tell you the wrongs that she does me,

It hurts me too much.

And it hurts me to stay here! So, I'm leaving.

I made the poem.

I don't know what it's about.

I'm going to send it to someone,

Who'll send it with someone else,

To someone over in Anjou.

Perhaps he'll be able to send me the Key from

his little box

And unravel this riddle.

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"If you keep your feet firmly on the ground,

you’ll have trouble putting on your pants!"

 

 

 

 

:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and I have a few others I like too...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to see it, do the other trees make fun of it?

     

     

     

  • 5 out of 4 people don’t understand fractions.

     

     

     

  • I tried sniffing Coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my nose.

     

     

     

  • Sure, the truth hurts, but so does a machete.

     

     

     

  • How do “Do not walk on grass†signs get there?

     

     

     

  • Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun.

     

     

     

(Hope you weren't looking just for erudite quotes & sayings, heehee! ;))

 

Hmmm, I do have my favorite 'real' (i.e., intelligent & inspiring) quotes around somewhere. I need to find them...

 

:lol:

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“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the

intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well

preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,

chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body

thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming

“WOO HOO what a ride

 

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." -- Terry Pratchett

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"The sign of an educated mind is the ability to entertain a thought without accepting it." -Aristotle

 

I also like:

 

"You wouldn't be so concerned with what people thought of you if you realized how seldom they did." - ?

 

"You wouldn't call me passive aggressive if you realized how it made me feel." -Roy Blount

 

"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two are a law firm, and three or more are a congress." -John Adams

 

"There is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program." -Milton Friedman

 

"As long as I don't write about government, religion, politics, and other institutions, I am free to print anything." -Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais

 

"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." -W. Somerset Maugham

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I've been asked the origin of this buy a rep-giver. I heard it said in my family over and over and I assumed it was a modernized Willy the Shake, or possibly Twain, who was frequently quoted in our home. I have googled all sorts of permutation of this and parts of the phrase and nothing....

 

Anyone know where it is from?

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I used this as my motto for years in my 20's and had forgotten it almost completely. I'm getting really old!

 

"I would rather be ashes than dust.

I would rather my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze

Than that it be stifled in dry rot.

Man's chief purpose is to live, not to exist.

I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.

I shall use my time."

 

Don't remember the author--maybe Jack London?

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My fave Einsteins are probably

 

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"

 

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistant one"

 

""The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

 

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity... and I'm not so sure about the the universe."

 

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

 

"Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!"

 

and

 

"A human being is a part of a whole (called by us "universe"), a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

 

Einstein Rocked!! :D

 

 

Not a big fan of this guy (other than Narnia) but this is one of the best quotes I've got:

 

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body" - C S Lewis

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Lyrics:

 

Do you see what I see?

Truth is an offence,

You silence for your confidence

 

Do you hear what I hear?

Doors are slamming shut,

Limit your imagination, keep you where they must

 

Do you feel what I feel?

Bittering distress,

Who decides what you express?

 

Do you take what I take?

Endurance is the word,

Moving back instead of forward seems to me absurd

 

Doesn't matter what you see,

Or into it what you read,

You can do it your own way,

If it's done just how I say

 

Independence limited,

Freedom of choice,

A Choice is made for you my friend,

Freedom of speech,

Speech is words that they will bend,

Freedom with their exception

 

Do you fear what I fear?

Living properly,

Truths to you are lies to me

 

Do you choose what I choose?

More alternatives,

Energy derives from both the plus and negatives

 

Do you need what I need?

Boundaries overthrown,

Look inside, to each his own

 

Do you trust what I trust?

Me, myself, and I,

Penetrate the smoke screen, I see through the selfish lie

 

Doesn't matter what you see,

Or into it what you read,

You can do it your own way,

If it's done just how I say

 

Independence limited,

Freedom of choice,

A Choice is made for you my friend,

Freedom of speech,

Speech is words that they will bend,

Freedom with their exception

 

Do you know what I know?

Your money and your wealth,

You silence just to hear yourself

 

Do you want what I want?

Desire not a thing,

I hunger after independence, lengthen freedom's ring

 

Doesn't matter what you see,

Or into it what you read,

You can do it your own way,

If it's done just how I say

 

Independence limited,

Freedom of choice,

AChoice is made for you my friend,

Freedom of speech,

Speech is words that they will bend,

Freedom with their exception

 

Doesn't matter what you see,

Or into it what you read,

You can do it your own way,

If it's done just how I say

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