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Quotations Weblog
November 16th, 1997 by Laura Moncur in Quotations
Last week I attended my ten year high school reunion. After saying that I wouldn’t go,
I went. I had fully decided that when the invitation came, I would return the information
sheet, but, regretfully, not attend. But when the envelope arrived and the information
sheet was completed, I paid the fee to go. I knew instantly that there were people I
wanted to see, so I made a list of their names and awaited the day.
Although I was apprehensive about former enemies, I was not nearly as scared as a few
of my colleagues. Their feelings ranged from worrying about their physical safety to
the desire to show off their improved wealth, appearance, or fame. For them, the
evening was safer than they expected. Most of the bullies and bitches didn’t attend,
and the few that did, were strangely docile.
Almost all of the people I wished to see were there. I reproached myself for not
keeping in touch with these people, but I was very happy to have found them
again. We could start anew. I gathered addresses and made promises about lunches
and dinners.
Seeing the face of a dear friend after being separated for ten years is an odd
feeling. I wish I could describe the combination of regret and joy. Instead, I
can only recommend the following quotes.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “A friend is someone who will help you move. A real friend is someone who will help you move a body.”
- Unknown
“True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.”
Charles Caleb Colton
“Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.”
Cindy Lew
“Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.”
Richard Bach
“False friendship, like the ivy, decays and ruins the walls it embraces; but true friendship gives new life and animation to the object it supports.”
Richard Burton
“I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship.”
Pietro Aretino, letter to Giovanni Pollastra, July 7, 1537
“Old friends, we say, are best, when some sudden disillusionment shakes our faith in a new comrade.”
Gelett Burgess, “Old Friends and New,” 1916
“No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth.”
Robert Southey
For more information about High School Reunions and Friendship, try these links:
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Yahoo’s High School Reunion Pages – Find your high school reunion page (mine
wasn’t there, so this may be only helpful to a few). Most pages include forms to
enter your information, some merely contain e-mail addresses. You too can enjoy the
bliss of finding old friends.
The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
The Friendship Quote Page – A huge collection of quotes regarding friendship, both positive and negative.
The Friendship Page – Links to pages related to friendship. Find an e-mail friend or just read some friendship poetry. You’ll be sick of the word friend by the time you finish with this page.
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November 9th, 1997 by Laura Moncur in Biography
I like to think that my childhood is no different than that of my peers. I pretend
that all children watched Cosmos on Saturday nights on PBS with their fathers, but
I’m sure that is not the case. While I counted the days to Saturday to see Carl
Sagan’s television show, other kids were counting the days to see Dukes of Hazzard.
It explains much of my persona to know that I was raised with the ideas and
philosophies of Carl Sagan.
Nearly a year ago, when Carl Sagan died, many news shows televised brief biographies
of his life. It was then that I realized that I would never be able to do him justice
on a single web page. Here are a few quotes from Mr. Sagan. I hope you can enjoy him
as much as I have my entire life.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English — up to fifty words used in correct context — no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese.”
“Prejudice is making a judgment before you have looked at the facts. Postjudice is making a judgment afterwards. Prejudice is terrible, in the sense that you commit injustices and
you make serious mistakes. Postjudice is not terrible. You can’t be perfect of course; you may
make mistakes also. But it is permissible to make a judgment after you have examined the
evidence. In some circles it is even encouraged.”
The Burden of Skepticism, Skeptical Enquirer, Vol. 12, pg. 46
“In science it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know that’s a really good argument; my
position is mistaken,’ and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old
view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists
are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time
something like that happened in politics or religion.”
1987 CSICOP Keynote Address
“The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.”
“But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.”
“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy
tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than
people.”
“Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense.”
“We have heard so far the voice of life on one small world only. But we have at last begun to listen for other voices in the cosmic fugue.”
Cosmos, One Voice In The Cosmic Fugue, pg. 31
For more information about Carl Sagan, try these links:
- The Carl Sagan Page – A biography and other cool links.
- The following books and tapes are available through Amazon.com:
- The Carl Sagan Honorary Page – More detailed biography of his scientific contributions.
- Contact – The site about the popular summer movie adapted from Carl Sagan’s book.
Interviews with the director, movie transcripts, and an irritating noise from the movie.
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November 2nd, 1997 by Laura Moncur in Biography
This week marks the birthday of Will Rogers. He’s been called the Cowboy Philosopher,
but I never thought of him in that manner. My earliest recollection of anything to do
with this hilarious man dealt primarily with the newspaper. His written word was a
daily feature in my hometown newspaper. I remember reading his columns and loving
every word, never knowing that he had died long before I was ever born. It’s amazing
how well his work stands today.
It wasn’t until I had read his column for over a year that I noticed inconsistencies.
When I highlighted them to my mom, she laughed heartily, replying that the commentaries
that I had been reading were reprints. She pointed to a sentence above his picture
that gave the original date in which it ran. I felt silly, of course, but that was
just the first in a long line of silliness to come.
The following are a few of the many quotes from William Rogers. Enjoy!
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.”
- Illiterate Digest (1924),
“In Hollywood the woods are full of people that learned to write but evidently can’t read; if they could read their stuff, they’d stop writing.”
“When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do – well, that’s Memoirs.”
The Autobiography of Will Rogers (1949)
“The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.”
“You can’t say that civilization don’t advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way.”
New York Times, 23 Dec 1929
“Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.”
“Let Wall Street have a nightmare and the whole country has to help get them back in bed again.”
The Autobiography of Will Rogers (1949)
“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”
New York Times, 29 Apr 1930
“Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing — and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.”
“Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don’t they pass a
constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as
the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on
earth.”
For more information about Will Rogers, try these links:
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October 26th, 1997 by Laura Moncur in Quotations
I love Halloween because it’s the one time of the year when I can put aside my normal
fears of life and choose to temporarily be scared of the things that go bump in the
night again. When did I stop being scared of vampires and start being scared of my
boss? Ok, I can answer that one, but it’s all Ann Rice’s fault. Until Lestat, I was
scared of vampires. But when did witches stop being instruments of terror and start
being a convenient name to call a co-worker? Ok, I can answer that one too, and
Elizabeth Montgomery has some explaining to do.
The following quotes are associated with the fears of adults (my fear of ghosts and
other spirit entities doesn’t count). At Halloween, I spend so much time creating
artificial fear, that I find myself forgetting about the real ones. To bring myself
back to the real stuff, here are some of my favorites.
Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.
- “Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.”
- Sir Francis Bacon, Essays [1625], “Of Death”
“There are many who dare not kill themselves for fear of what the neighbors will say.”
Cyril Connolly
“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth– more than ruin, more even than death.”
Bertrand Russell
“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.”
Eric Hoffer
“To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none.”
Sir Francis Bacon, Essays [1625], “Of Seditions and Troubles”
“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.”
Louis E. Boone
“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.”
Nelson Mandela
“I moved to New York City for my health. I’m paranoid and New York was the only place where my fears were justified.”
Anita Weiss
“A thousand fearful images and dire suggestions glance along the mind when it is moody and discontented with itself. Command them to stand and show themselves, and you presently assert the power of reason over imagination.”
Sir Walter Scott
“For as children tremble and fear everything in the blind darkness, so we in the light sometimes fear what is no more to be feared than the things children in the dark hold in terror and imagine will come true.”
Titus Lucretius Carus [99-55 B.C.], De Rerum Natura, bk. III, l. 87
For more information about Halloween (you’ll have to explore fear on your own), try these links:
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April 14th, 1997 by Michael Moncur in Quotations
Apologies (again) for the long stretch of no new quotes. My “real job” demanded my attention. I’m much better
now.
On this tuesday, April 15th, those of us in the US will all heave a collective sigh as we send our tax forms and a significant portion
of our earthly posessions to the government. (Yes, some of you might have filed already. You probably even get
refunds. Stop gloating.)
In honor of this yearly event, I’ve selected a few quotes that deal with the subject of taxes (and a few that have to do with
money in general). I hope this adds a note of levity to what may otherwise be an unpleasant week. Enjoy them while my wife
and I frantically work to finish our 1040 form…
P. S. For extra credit, copy one or more of these quotes and enclose them with your tax return. I’m sure a few IRS employees
will get a good laugh out of it, after which they’ll be fired for having a sense of humor and forced to switch to a career in politics.
- “The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward.”
- John Maynard Keynes
“OUT-OF-DOORS, n. That part of one’s environment upon which no government has been able to collect taxes.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911
“Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.”
Herman Wouk
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
“The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.”
Will Rogers
“If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that
don’t get wet you can keep.”
Will Rogers
“Giving money and power to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”
P. J. O’Rourke
“Save a little money each month and at the end of the year you’ll be surprised at how little you have.”
Ernest Haskins
“What we should have fought for was representation without taxation.”
Sam Levenson, You Don’t Have to Be in `Who’s Who’ to Know What’s What
“A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.”
Senator Everett Dirksen (1896-1969)
“The only thing that hurts more than paying an income tax is not having to pay an income tax.”
Thomas Robert Dewar (1864-1930)
“I’m living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.”
e e cummings
“Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got
in wages.”
H. L. Mencken
More about Taxes…
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