Sympathy

"To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian, to help them is."
--Frank A. Clark (1911~) American Humorist, Writer

Press

"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America as an independent press. You know it and I know it.

There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.

The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth;
to lie outright;
to pervert;
to vilify;
to fawn at the feet of mammon, and
to sell his country and his race for his daily bread.

You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."

-- John Swinton (1829-1901) Former Head of Editorial Staff for the New York Times was one of America's best loved newspapermen. Called by his peers "The Dean of his Profession" 1880, At a banquet in his honor Source: Labor's Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979

Obvious

"Everything you've learned in school as 'obvious' becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.
--Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) American Architect, Author

Today

"Hopelessly outnumbered, King Aragorn sought to inspire his men against what seemed like sure defeat against the swarming hordes of their hellish enemies. Riding in front of his gathered, but rather lowly army, he shouted, ‘I see in your eyes the same fear that would break the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. This day, we fight!’"
--J.R.R. Tolkien

Fighting

"I want to keep fighting because it is the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don't fight, I'll eat this planet."
--George Foreman (1949- ) American Boxer

Liberty IV

"To place yourself under an obligation is to sell your liberty."
--Latin Proverb

End

"War would end if the dead could return."
--Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) British Prime Minister (1923-24)

Up

Me transmitte sursum, caledoni! - Beam me up, Scotty!
--(Star Trek) (Latin-English Phrase)

Tests

"You can't choose the ways in which you'll be tested." --Robert J. Sawyer, "Calculating God", 2000

Bitterest

"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."
--Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) American Author

Intentions

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
--Daniel Webster (1782-1852), US Senator

Possessions

"Liberals feel un-worthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen."
--Mort Sahl (1927~) Canadian-born American Humorist, Actor

History IV

"The so-called lessons of history are for the most part the rationalizations of the victors. History is written by the survivors."
--Max Lerner (1902-1992) American Political Columnist, Educator

Blinded

"You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it."
--Malcolm X

All II

"All the world's a cage."
--Jeanne Phillips

Declare

"I have nothing to declare except my genius."
--Oscar Wilde

When II

"When even one American -- who has done nothing wrong --
is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth,
then all Americans are in peril."
-- Harry S. Truman
(1884-1972), 33rd US President
August 14, 1951
Source: Address at the Dedication of the New Washington Headquarters of the
American Legion

Path

"The path is smooth that leadeth on to danger."
--William Shakespeare (1564-1616, British Poet, Playwright, Actor)

Challenge

"Most people rust out due to lack of challenge. Few people rust out due to overuse."
--Author Unknown

Deja Vu V

"Is there any reason why the American people should be taxed to guarantee the debts of banks, any more than they should be taxed to guarantee the debts of other institutions, including merchants, the industries, and the mills of the country?"
--Carter Glass (1858-1946) Newspaper publisher, US Senator (D-VA), author of the Banking Act of 1933, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson.

When

When they took the 4th Amendment, I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs.
When they took the 6th Amendment, I was quiet because I am innocent.
When they took the 2nd Amendment, I was quiet because I don't own a gun.
Now they have taken the 1st Amendment, and I can only be quiet.
--Lyle Myhr

First

"In the ‘60s, the Smothers Brothers were very outspoken about changing the world.  Today the people are cynical and no one has any spirit.  Now, during the strangest time in the history of the world, we consume ourselves with trivia in the news.  We have the illusion of freedom of speech, but nobody as saying anything important.  Every time they take a poll, I wonder if they’re polling the Jerry Springer audience.  People would rather use the First Amendment to talk crude and rude.  There’s a litany of things we need to speak out about like foreign policy and what’s happening to the environment."

--Tommy Smothers

http://www.smothersbrothers.com/press_room/upclose.html

Reasonable

"Can any reasonable man be well disposed toward a government
which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself?"
-- Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804)
Source: at the US Constitutional Convention

Advertising II

"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
--George Orwell

Taps

"Ask the American public if they want
an FBI wiretap and they'll say, 'No.'
If you ask them do they want a feature on their phone
that helps the FBI find their missing child they’ll say, 'Yes.'"
-- Louis Freeh
(1950- ) FBI Director (1993-2001)
Source: Testimony on the Digital Telephony bill, 13 September 1994

Appeal

"Appeal: In law, to put the dice into the box for another throw." --[The Devil's Dictionary] - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1913) American Author, Editor, Journalist

Poetry II

"If there's no money in poetry, neither is there poetry in money."
--Robert Graves (1895-1985) English writer

Meteor

"I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet."
--Jack London (1876-1916) American Novelist

Wars

"Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac."
--George Orwell

Medals

"Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else."
--Robert Graves (1895-1985) English writer