" If someone tells you that the fully armored man of the Middle Ages was so encumbered by his armor that he could not rise if he fell, you may well ask yourself, first, if it is reasonable to assume that professional soldiers would go on wearing armor that kept them from fighting and second, if this theory is in line with what you know of the heavily armored men of your personal acquaintance. "

Niccola Sebastiani

" Efficiency is intelligent laziness. "

Anonymous

" There is no passion like that of a functionary for his function. "

Georges Clemenceau French politician (1841 – 1929)

" The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot. "

Mark Twain, What Is Man? (1906) US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)

" Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours. "

John Locke English empiricist philosopher (1632 – 1704)

" For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds,
And though a late, a sure reward succeeds. "

William Congreve, The Mourning Bride English dramatist (1670 – 1729)

" I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians…and Christian values. What Christians have got to do is take back this country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time, and one state at a time. "

Ralph Reed, Executive Director, the Christian Coalition

" Never has a man who has bent himself been able to make others straight. "

Mencius, Works Chinese Confucian philosopher (371 BC – 289 BC)

" I wasted time, now time doth waste me. "

William Shakespeare, Richard II Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 – 1616)

" Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. "

Ralph Waldo Emerson US essayist & poet (1803 – 1882)

" They wanted facts. Facts! They demanded facts from him, as if facts could explain anything. "

Joseph Conrad English (Polish-Ukrainian-born) novelist (1857 – 1924)

" Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it. "

Colin Powell US general (1937 – )

" There shall be no compulsion in religion. "

Quran 2:263, Quran 2:263

" It is what you learn after you know it all that counts. "

John Wooden US basketball coach (1910 – )

" Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language. "

Ludwig Wittgenstein Austrian philosopher (1889 – 1951)

" The poor on the borderline of starvation live purposeful lives. To be engaged in a desperate struggle for food and shelter is to be wholly free from a sense of futility. "

Eric Hoffer, “The True Believer”, 1951 (1902 – 1983)

" The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive. "

Kenneth Williams, Acid Drops (1980)

" The real question of government versus private enterprise is argued on too philosophical and abstract a basis. Theoretically, planning may be good. But nobody has ever figured out the cause of government stupidity and until they do (and find the cure) all ideal plans will fall into quicksand. "

Richard Feynman US educator & physicist (1918 – 1988)

" The only winner in the War of 1812 was Tchaikovsky. "

Solomon Short

" Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself. "

Robert Ingersoll US agnostic, agnostic apologist, lawyer, & orator (1833 – 1899)

" Truth is generally the best vindication against slander. "

Abraham Lincoln, letter to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, July 18, 1864 16th president of US (1809 – 1865)

" Nothing in this world is to be feared… only understood. "

Marie Curie French (Polish-born) chemist & physicist (1867 – 1934)

" Everything in the world may be endured, except continual prosperity. "

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe German dramatist, novelist, poet, & scientist (1749 – 1832)

" Grub first, then ethics. "

Bertolt Brecht German Communist & dramatist (1898 – 1956)

" We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sadness. "

David Weatherford

" A man cannot be said to succeed in this life who does not satisfy one friend. "

Henry David Thoreau US Transcendentalist author (1817 – 1862)

" The great art of giving consists in this: the gift should cost very little and yet be greatly coveted, so that it may be the more highly appreciated. "

Baltasar Gracian

" Every man has his price. This is not true. But for every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing. To win over certain people to something, it is only necessary to give it a gloss of love of humanity, nobility, gentleness, self-sacrifice – and there is nothing you cannot get them to swallow. To their souls, these are the icing, the tidbit; other kinds of souls have others. "

Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher (1844 – 1900)

" Operationally, God is beginning to resemble not a ruler but the last fading smile of a cosmic Cheshire cat. "

Sir Julian Huxley English administrator & biologist (1887 – 1975)

" Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. "

Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US (1809 – 1865)

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