a Few Famous Quotes

1. 64

   SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

   “Nothing just happens in politics. If something happens you can be sure it was planned that way.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt
   
   “Politics, and the fate of mankind, are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness.” —Albert Camus
   
   “If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.” —Will Rogers
   
   “The problem isn’t a shortage of fuel; it’s a surplus of government.” —Ronald Reagan

   replyreport
   1. 71

      thranaxposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      "How fortunate for leaders that men do not think." - Adolf Hitler

      replyreport
      1. 78

         Earl S. Wynnposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I love using that one. I have it on a pin and wear it out to rallies and activist events, lol.
         
         
         
         "I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law."
             -- David Dinkins, New York City Mayor
         
         "Everybody has a right to be stupid, but some people abuse the privilege."
             -- Joseph Stalin

         replyreport
2. 61

   TheCapnposted 15 years ago

   Not a famous quote, but one that seems to capture the tone of the times.
   
   "In the 21st Century, we accept the government's terminal greed and prostitution as you'd accept grey hair. We have the internet. We have George Allen calling people monkeys on YouTube and Hillary Clinton offering handjobs to union stewards to deliver votes in Iowa. Where the country once convulsed over Watergate and Vietnam, we're plugged into a war anyone who hasn't spent the last eight years in a sensory deprivation chamber knew was predicated on a lie. We slept while 400 silly suits voted to play the biggest hand of Texas Hold-em in geopolitical history. And lost very badly. In the Fallout, the best the Chamber's got is to blame one another and distance themselves from the bet. . . Who wouldn't just shrug at the daily front page mess, give it a "meh," down his coffee and drive to work listening to sports radio? Work puts cash in your pocket, which is all you can trust anymore. Vote? Sign me up for whoever's offering the lowest taxes. Can I do it from my Blackberry?"
   -Philalawyer

   replyreport
3. 0

   Zarm Nefilinposted 15 years ago

   "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."  Ben Franklin
   
   "When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny."  Thomas Jefferson
   
   "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds...[we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our miss-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for[ another]... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression."  Thomas Jefferson
   
   "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts as are only injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."  Thomas Jefferson
   
   "Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction."  Jefferson

   replyreport
   1. 63

      Mishaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, I love that one, too. It soooooo well relates to what is going on in US now...

      replyreport
      1. 64

         SparklingJewelposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         At least there is some semblance of liberty in the US, actually still a great deal of it. Can't say much for most of the rest of the world. I still say the glass is half full and not half empty

         replyreport
4. 64

   SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

   thranax---yes....the people need to wake up and stand up and shout...ENOUGH !
   
   zarm--those are wonderful quotes if only we could all agree on what they mean
   
   I was listening to a recording of JFK reading the Constitution the other day, and the section that said the people need to throw out the government that is not working and establish a new one, really stood out for me.
   
   And I am talking about throwing all of them out (all three branches) and start with fresh...but I guess that is too much to ask for.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      TheCapnposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Well, doing so would require sedition and treason to some extent, the government tends to frown upon all that.
      
      We as a people need to own up to the fact that we are collectively apathetic. It's not that the system is corrupt, it's that no one is trying to work within the system to change it. When you have less than half of the populace even showing up to vote, you can hardly argue that the peoples wishes aren't being represent by the government. We live in a country where more than half of the populace just doesn't care.

      replyreport
5. 71

   thranaxposted 15 years ago

   My name is Patrick Fitzgerald ... I like to tear the tops off small animals." -Karl Rove
   
   "Please provide the date of your death." -from an IRS letter
   
   "I have opinions of my own --strong opinions-- but I don't always agree with them."-George Bush
   
   Just a few more from famous people\documents from the last couple years.

   replyreport
6. 61

   TheCapnposted 15 years ago

   I think Dan Quayle has some of the funniest quotes ever.
   
   "I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change."
   
   "For NASA, space is still a high priority."
   
   "A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls. "
   
   And my personal favorite
   
   "I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people. "

   replyreport
7. 64

   SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

   Here is one I really like by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inaugural Speech:
   
   Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
   Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
   It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.
   We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
   Actually, who are you NOT to be?
   You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
   There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so other people won't feel insecure around you.
   We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
   It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
   And as we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
   As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
   
   
   WOW!

   replyreport
8. 64

   SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

   And here is another one from history...which can be applied to our own consciousness aspects of  today. I believe this quote personifies the spiritual purpose of America and Americans, and that includes all people who come here from countries around the world with their concept of the "American dream". It is important to learn from history.
   
   George Washington, August 27th 1776; a letter to his troops I think.
   
   "The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them.
   
   The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance or the most abject submission: this is all we can expect. We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own country's honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.
   
   Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the cause and the aid of the supreme being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on Earth."
   
   George Washington where are you now ?!

   replyreport
9. 70

   William F. Torpeyposted 15 years ago

   My personal favorite:
   
   "Sorry for the long letter. I didn't have time to write a short one."  -- Mark Twain

   replyreport
10. 60

    Eric Graudinsposted 15 years ago

    "Everyone gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense"
    Gertrude Stein, 1874 - 1946
    
    Wonder what she would say now ???

    replyreport
    1. 71

       thranaxposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       She would probably say something like:
       "Common sense? That didn't exist since 1946."

       replyreport
11. 61

    Marian Swiftposted 15 years ago

    This is far, very far from a favorite.  But it needs to be known and remembered.
    
    Hermann Goering at The Nuremberg Trials:
    
    "Naturally the common people don't want war:  Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany.  That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

    replyreport
12. 63

    Mishaposted 15 years ago

    Have to agree with him

    replyreport
13. 69

    Pete Michnerposted 15 years ago

    "I don't know." - Isaac Asimov

    replyreport
14. 64

    SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

    “If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.” —Theodore Roosevelt

    replyreport
15. 64

    SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

    “When World War II ended, the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Our military might was at its peak, and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear weapon, with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination then, who could have opposed us? But the United States followed a different course, one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravished economies of the world, including those of the nations who had been our enemies. May I say, there is absolutely no substance to charges that the United States is guilty of imperialism or attempts to impose its will on other countries, by use of force.” —Ronald Reagan

    replyreport
16. 64

    SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

    “Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that’s now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.”
    —Ronald Reagan

    replyreport
17. 64

    SparklingJewelposted 15 years ago

    “If the government gets into business on any large scale, we soon find that the beneficiaries attempt to play a large part in the control. While in theory it is to serve the public, in practice it will be very largely serving private interests.” —Calvin Coolidge
    
    “There are no persons capable of stooping so low as those who desire to rise in the world.” —Lady Marguerite Blessington
    
    “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against its government.” —Edward Abbey
    
    “If you are desirous to prevent the overrunning of a state by any sect, show it toleration.” —Voltaire
    
    “You can’t stop a politician, even by defeating him.” —Will Rogers

    replyreport