Paradox

“It is a tragic paradox that the very qualities that have led to man’s extraordinary capacity for success are also those most likely to destroy him.”

–Anthony Storr

Save ourselves

Myth: we have to save the earth. Frankly, the earth doesn’t need to be saved. Nature doesn’t give a hoot if human beings are here or not. The planet has survived cataclysmic and catastrophic changes for millions upon millions of years. Over that time, it is widely believed, 99 percent of all species have come and gone while the planet has remained. Saving the environment is really about saving our environment – making it safe for ourselves, our children, and the world as we know it. If more people saw the issue as one of saving themselves, we would probably see increased motivation and commitment to actually do so. -Robert M. Lilienfeld, management consultant and author (b. 1953) and William L. Rathje, archaeologist and author (b. 1945)

via A.Word.A.Day

Ideals to light the world

“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.”

from President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech | Reuters

But not

“For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.”

-Arne Garborg

Propelled

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”

–M. Scott Peck

Rock the vote

“A man without a vote is man without protection.”

–Lyndon B. Johnson

Stop a cloud

“The struggle with evil by means of violence is the same as an attempt to stop a cloud, in order that there may be no rain.”

-Leo Tolstoy

Credulous

“Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.”

–Bertrand Russell

Leader

“Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

New ratio

“War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrenal glands.”

-H.L. Mencken

Lessons of history

“It was our own moral failure and not any accident of chance, that while preserving the appearance of the Republic we lost its reality.”

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

Measure up

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”

–Samuel Johnson

Eternally boring

“It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose for his companions, during all eternity, the dear souls whose highest and only ambition is to obey.”

–Robert Green Ingersoll

Pays together, stays together?

“Money isn’t everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.”

–seen on a bumper sticker

Reason enough

“I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful and that which is love. Therefore, since I have known all of these things, I have found them to be reason enough and—I wish to live. Moreover, because this is so, I wish others to live for generations and generations and generations.”

-Lorraine Hansberry