Random Quotes

The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.
John Kenneth Galbraith

Grief is the price we pay for love. Queen Elizabeth 2 Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty. Henry Ford Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got. --Sophia Loren We need not all agree, but if we disagree, let us not be disagreeable in our disagreements. Martin R. DeHaa So soon as a fashion is universal, it is out of date. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status. Dr. Laurence J. Peter If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion. George Bernard Shaw I can answer you in two words, im-possible. Samuel Goldwyn Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self. --Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytto A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.--Albert Einstein A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently. Saint Augustine of Hippo Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is. Barbara Bush Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time. Goethe There is a strength in the union even of very sorry men. Homer He who laughs last has not yet heard the bad news. Bertolt Brecht If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them. Isaac Asimov Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others. Robert Louis Stevenson Little evil would be done in the world, if evil never could be done in the name of good, religion, or right. There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible. Henry Ford That's right. 'Tain't yours, and 'tain't mine. Mark Twain (when friend said that a certain rich man's money was "tainted" Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds... I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. Winston Churchill Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it. William Somerset Maugham Science or religion cannot solve or defeat the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve and the wonder that we are trying to defeat. All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific. School is a drill for the battle of life. If you fail in the drill you will fail in the battle. In politics stupidity is not a handicap. Napoleon

    We owe a lot to the peoples of the Mid East,
    who taught us how to count,
    without which no worthwhile
    scientific discovery could have been made.
     --Albert Einstein.


    Try not to become a man of success,
     but rather try to become a man of value.
    Albert Einstein
   
    Life is an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time,
    and sometimes you weep.
    Carl Sandburg

    A great many people
   think they are thinking,
   when they are merely,
   rearranging their prejudices.
 
     The optimist proclaims that we live in the best,
     of all possible worlds;
     and the pessimist fears this is true.
   
     Nothing is too high for a man to reach,
     but he must climb with care and confidence.
     Hans Christian Andersen

     Men marry women with the hope they will never change.
     Women marry men with the hope they will change. 
     Invaribly they are both disappointed.
     Albert Einstein

     Problems cannot be solved,
     by the level of awareness that created them.
     Albert Einstein
 
     Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

     A question that sometimes drives me hazy:
     am I or are the others crazy?
     Albert Einstein

     Abstract art is the product of the untalented,
     sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.  
       
     Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience:

    this is the ideal life.

     Mark Twain, 11/30/1835 - 04/21/1910      

   
     You do not really understand something,
     unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
     Albert Einstein
   
     Success is the ability, to go from failure to another,
     with no lass of enthusiasm
     Winston Churchill
   
     The difference between genius and stupidity;
      is that genius has it's limits.
     Albert Einstein

     Nothing is as frustrating,
     as arguing with someone,
     who knows what he is talking about.
     Sam Ewing

     A lie gets half way around the world,
     before the truth has a chance to get it's pants on.
     Winston Churchill
   
     I do not feel obliged to believe,
   that the mother, who endowed us;
   with the sense of reason, and intellect;
   untended us to forgo their use.   
   I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my
     imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge.
    Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the Cosmos.

     Elbert Einstein.


    Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world.
      I know because I've done it thousands of times.

      The human mind does not want to--ever-- GIVE UP.

     I am ready to meet my maker, but whether my maker is
     prepared the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
     Winston Churchill

     If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples;
    then you and I still each have one apple. But, if you have an idea,
    and I have an idea, and we exchange these ideas;
     then each of us will have two ideas.--George Bernard Shaw.

     You see things; and you say, "Why?"

      But I dream things that never were,

      and I say, " Why not?"--George Bernard Shaw

     Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute,

     and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, 

     and it seems like minutes. That's relativity--Albert Einstein

    In the USA,TRUTH is more a stranger

   than fiction.--Mark Twain

    When we remember we are all mad,

    the mysteries disappear 

    and life stands explained.--Mark Twain

    Suppose you were an idiot.

   And suppose you were a member of Government.

   But I repeat myself.--Mark Twain

     It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, 

     we have three benefits: freedom of speech,

      freedom of thought,

      and the wisdom never to use either.--Mark Twain

     Don't part with your illusions. 

     When they are gone you may still exist,

     but you have ceased to live.--Mark Twain

     Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.--Mark Twain

     

     The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.

      --John Kenneth Galbraith

     It's not how much you have that makes people look up to you, it's who you are.
     --Elvis Presley

     

     Jealous: Unduly concerned about the preservation

     of that which can be lost only if not worth keeping.

     --Ambrose Bierce

     I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.--Albert Einstein

     Politics: The conduct of public affairs,
    for private advantage.

The Little Sewing Girl-Robert Service (1874-1958), the Ayrshire Poet

From Robert W. Service Home Page:

All works by Robert Service are in the Public Domain; They Are Not  Owned by and so Cannot be Attributed Too, Controlled by,  or Claimed by; ANY Person and /or Publishing Company In The United States of The Americas, including Amazon and Bryant McGill.

The Little Sewing Girl
The humble garret where I dwell
Is in that Quarter called the Latin;
It isn't spacious -- truth to tell,
There's hardly room to swing a cat in.
But what of that! It's there I fight
For food and fame, my Muse inviting,
And all the day and half the night
You'll find me writing, writing, writing.

Now, it was in the month of May
As, wrestling with a rhyme rheumatic,
I chanced to look across the way,
And lo! within a neighbor attic,
A hand drew back the window shade,
And there, a picture glad and glowing,
I saw a sweet and slender maid,
And she was sewing, sewing, sewing.

So poor the room, so small, so scant,
Yet somehow oh, so bright and airy.
There was a pink geranium plant,
Likewise a very pert canary.
And in the maiden's heart it seemed
Some fount of gladness must be springing,
For as alone I sadly dreamed
I heard her singing, singing, singing.

God love her! how it cheered me then
To see her there so brave and pretty;
So she with needle, I with pen,
We slaved and sang above the city.
And as across my streams of ink
I watched her from a poet's distance,
She stitched and sang . . . I scarcely think
She was aware of my existence.

And then one day she sang no more.
That put me out, there's no denying.
I looked -- she laboured as before,
But, bless me! she was crying, crying.
Her poor canary chirped in vain;
Her pink geranium drooped in sorrow;
'Of course,' said I, 'she'll sing again.
Maybe,' I sighed, 'she will to-morrow.'

Poor child; 'twas finished with her song:
Day after day her tears were flowing;
And as I wondered what was wrong
She pined and peaked above her sewing.
And then one day the blind she drew,
Ah! though I sought with vain endeavor
To pierce the darkness, well I knew
My sewing-girl had gone for ever.

And as I sit alone to-night
My eyes unto her room are turning . . .
I'd give the sum of all I write
Once more to see her candle burning,
Once more to glimpse her happy face,
And while my rhymes of cheer I'm ringing,
Across the sunny sweep of space
To hear her singing, singing, singing.
--Robert W. Service

The Cat With Wings-Robert Service (1874-1958)

From Robert W. Service Home Page:

All works by Robert Service are in the Public Domain; They Are Not  Owned by and so Cannot be Attributed Too, Controlled by,  or Claimed by; ANY Person and /or Publishing Company In The United States of The Americas, including Amazon and Bryant McGill.

The Cat With Wings

You never saw a cat with wings,
I’ll bet a dollar—well, I did;
’Twas one of those fantastic things
One runs across in old Madrid.
A walloping big tom it was,
(Maybe of the Angora line),
With silken ears and velvet paws,
And silver hair, superbly fine.

It sprawled upon a crimson mat,
Yet though crowds came to gaze on it,
It was a supercilious cat,
And didn’t seem to mind a bit.
It looked at us with dim disdain,
And indolently seemed to sigh:
“There’s not another cat in Spain
One half so marvelous as I.”

Its owner gently stroked its head,
And tickled it with fingers light.
“Ah no, it cannot fly,” he said;
“But see—it has the wings all right.”
Then tenderly from off its back
He raised, despite its feline fears,
Appendages that seemed to lack
Vitality—like rabbit’s ears.

And then the vision that I had
Of Tabbie soaring through the night,
Quick vanished, and I felt so sad
For that poor pussy’s piteous plight.
For though frustration has it stings,
Its mockeries in Hope’s despite,
The hell of hells is to have wings
Yet be denied the bliss of flight.

--Robert W. Service

A B C's of Christmas

---

A is for Angels With halos so bright Whose carols were heard On that first Christmas NightB is for Bells So merrily ringing Joy to the world Is the message they're bringing C is for Candles That so brightly shine To give a warm welcome To your friends and mine D is for Doorway With garlands of green To make Christmas merry As far as they're seen E is for Evergreens With fragrance so rare So plentiful at Christmas Their scent fills the air F is for Fun The whole season long From trimming the tree To singing a song G is for Greetings A merry "hello" With a heart full of love For people we know H is for Holly With berries so red To make into wreaths To hang overhead I is for Ice On snow covered hills Where sledding is fun Along with the spills J is for Jesus The Christ child to dear We honor his birth On Christmas each year K is for Kris Kringle So merrily he stands He is who they call Santa In so many lands L is for Lanterns I am sure that their light Helped Mary and Joseph That first Christmas NightM is for Mary Her heart full of love For her little son Jesus Who came from above

N is for Noel The angels did sing To herald the birth of Jesus, our kingO is for Ornaments So shining and bright With lights on the tree To sparkle at night P is for Packages With ribbons so gay All 'round the tree For our Christmas Day Q is for Quiet Christmas Eve Night With snow covered hills Glistening so bright R is for Reindeer Who pull Santa's sleigh To your house, to my house They know the way S is for Shepherds Who first saw the star Over Bethlehem's manger And followed it far T is for Trees We decorate so gay Then wait for ol' Santa To hurry our way U is for Universe Where Christmas brings joy To all in world To each girl and each boy V is for Visiting Friends near and far We travel by plane Or by bus, or by car W is for Wise Men Who brought gifts so rare And knelt down and worshiped The child they found there X is for X-mas Or Christmas by full name No matter the language It all means the same Y is for Yule Logs Whose bright sparks fly high To give a warm welcome To friends passing byZ is for Zeal We show at this time In giving to others And loving mankind

Is There A Santa Clause?

---

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

       Dear Editor, I am 8 years old.

         Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. 

          Papa says "If you see it in The Sun it's so."

          Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?

                                             

                                             Virginia O'Hanlon

                                   115 West Ninety-fifth St.

VIRGINIA, Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.This article originally appeared on the editorial page of the New York Sun, September 21, 1897, and was reprinted for many years in the December 24 editions of the newspaper.

Can Santa Be Black? by B. J. Wrights

---

It happened in the kindergarten class,
Right at the table where they were having snack.
Joanie asked the question and they all sat back:
"Mr. Slater? Can Santa Claus be black?"

Poor Mr. Slater didn't know what to say,
Christmas vacation was twenty days away.
There were snowflakes to cut and
Window wreaths to be hung,
Christmas cards to be painted,
And Christmas songs to be sung.

He hadn't time to think
What Christmas was about,
In twenty more days,
School would be out!
Why couldn't they wait
And ask their questions then,
When mommies and daddies
Were home to answer them?
"Mr. Slater? Can Santa be thin?"
"Is Santa Clause always a him?"

Mr. Slater looked at twenty pairs of eyes,
Twenty children of every shape and size.
He ate a bit of cracker and finished his drink.
"Children," he said,
"I'll need some time to think."
As soon as class was over,
He ran down the hall,
Skidded 'round a corner,
Crashed into a wall.
Ran up the steps to the second floor,
Rapped on the window of the principal's door.

"Ms. Frazer, Ms. Frazer, what can I do?
The children asked these questions
That now I ask of you:

'Can Santa Claus be black?'
'Can Santa Claus be thin?'
'Does Santa always have to be a him?'"

"Mr. Slater, it's a difficult task
To find answers to the questions you ask.
I think with these I'll need some assistance,
But I'll get you the answers with a little persistence."

Ms. Frazer turned in her swivel chair,
Picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Dare.
Mr. Dare was the head of the P.T.A.,
He called for a meeting the very next day.

"Thank you for coming,"
He began with a greeting.
"I'd like to get right to the point of this meeting.
Mr. Slater, in charge of the kindergarten class,
Needs the answers to some questions
And he needs them fast."

"'Can Santa be black?'
"'Can Santa be thin?'
"'Does Santa always have to be a him?'"

The parents didn't know what to say,
Christmas vacation was nineteen days away.
There were cookies to bake and lights to string,
Gifts to wrap and carols to sing.

They hadn't time to think
What Christmas was about,
In nineteen more days
School would be out!
Why did children have to ask questions when
Parents had no time to sit and answer them?

"Well, Parents?
Are there any suggestions?
Do we have any answers
To these difficult questions?"

"Who knows best
What Christmas is about?
Let's ask Santa!"
Someone called out in a shout.

The secretary of the P.T.A.
Sent a letter to Santa the very next day.
The reply came back very, very fast,
Addressed to Mr. Slater
And the kindergarten class.

Dear Mr. Slater, Dear Girls, Dear Boys,
Once a storywriter caught me bringing you toys.
The year he spied me opening my sack,
My skin was white, my boots were black.
You probably know how that story goes . . .
I laid a finger aside my nose?
All these years, needlessly,
That story worries children who don't have a chimney.
All year long I listen to the news,
Read people's thoughts, see people's views.
At the end of the year, when I see what's needed most,
I take that shape, like a Christmas ghost.
I can pass through keyholes, windows and locks,
Apartment buildings, hospitals, tents, and trailer lots.

One year I used a wheelchair in place of my sleigh,
Once I was blind and had to feel my way.
It's hard to understand when I don't leave a toy:
You can't unwrap a gift like hope or health or joy.
My skin has been black, white, yellow, red, brown;
My eyes have been slanted, crossed, and round.
Sometimes I have been a she:
All these things are a part of me.
You may not believe all this is true,
But that's okay, boys and girls, because . . .
I believe in you.