A friend sent me a dozen quotes last night, and I thought a few in particular might have a resonance amongst the auld gang, given some of the aggro of the recent past - hope you enjoy, in the gentle spirit they are offered.
Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
I am firm. You are obstinate. He is a pig-headed fool.
Katherine Whitehorn
Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
GK Chesterton
Life is worth being lived, but not being discussed all the time.
Isabelle Adjani, Time 1979
When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.
Winston Churchill
Good ones, Mav. I recently found myself thinking of The only person's behavior you can control is your own. I can't find an author to attribute it to, so lacking the facts, I'll say Mom.
When the eagles are silent
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt
NPR had a story about bald eagles recently and had some recorded raptor screeches to illustrate it. A registered raptorologist called in to complain that the bird calls they used were not those of a bald eagle but those of a red-tailed hawk. He went on to say that the sound of the bald eagle sounded like a cross between the honk of a goose and the quack of a duck that was being squeezed.
I admire 'winnie, but I can't think of a place where eagles and parrots co-exist.
a place where eagles and parrots co-existLondon Zoo? [/blitz]
where eagles and parrots co-exist.
Mexico, Central and much of South America?
Same countries, of course, but same environments?
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.
Joe Ancis
Thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more or a
hair less in his beard than thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a
man for cracking nuts, having no other reason but because thou
hast hazel eyes; what eye but such an eye, would spy out
such a quarrel? Thy head is full of quarrels, as an egg is full of meat.
Shakespeare
A good word is an easy obligation, but not to speak ill, requires only our silence,
which costs us nothing.
Tillotson
Sweet speaking oft a currish heart reclaims.
Sidney
O wad some pow'r the giftie gie us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It was frae mony a blunder free us,
And foolish notion.
Burns
Open your purse and your mouth cautiously; and your
stock of wealth and reputation shall, at least in repute, be great.
Zimmerman
Discretion in speech is more than eloquence.
Bacon
Immodest words admit of no defense
For want of decency is want of sense.
Earl of Roscommon
Fie! what a spendthrift he is of his tongue!
Shakespeare
Ill seemes (say'd he) if he so valiant be,
That he would be so sterne to stranger wight;
For seldom yet did living creature see
That courtesie and manhood ever disagree.
Spenser
That best portion of a man's good life
His little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of
love.
Wordsworth
The drying up a single tear has more
Of honest fame, than shedding seas of gore.
Byron
Honesty coupled to beauty, is to have honey a sauce to sugar.
Shakespeare
That inexhaustible good nature, which is itself the most
precious gift of Heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled
sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable
in the roughest weather.
Irving
Great souls by instinct to each other turn,
Demand alliance, and in friendship burn.
Addison
Friendship is the only thing in the world concerning the usefulness
of which all mankind are agreed.
Cicero
same environments?
I suspect. YCLIU. Google parrot range and eagle range. The bald eagle covers all of Florida and I know there's parrots in there. There is a swatch of West Africa working into central Africa that is a parrot range that may easily harbor an African eagle of one sort or another. I don't have the spare time to check into it but this is right up your alley.
They did once upon a long ago in Aotearoa, when the mighty hapgornis still lived - what I wouldn't give to have seen that beauty.
I've seen a semi-mummified one in a cave on the West Coast, Max. And I gave $80 for the privilege. Oh, and the loan of the wetsuit and the truck tyre for the blackwater rafting ...
It is easier to punish than to understand
(McDermott)
Innocence has nothing to dread
(Racine)
We lay aside letters never to read them again, and at last we destroy them out of discretion, and so disappears the most beautiful, the most immediate breath of life, irrecoverably for ourselves and others.
(Goethe)
One precedent creates another. They soon accumulate and constitute law. Hi Sparteye
(Junius)
You have not converted a man because you have silenced him
(John Viscount Morley)
It is not enough to do good; one must do it in the right way.
(John Viscount Morley)
Mediocrity has no greater consolation than in the thought that genius is not immortal.
(Goethe)
some more elegantly expressed nuggets of wisdom, guys - thanks!
The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well.~ reminded me of the (Musical Hall?) gag: "The whole world's mad apart from me and thee... and I'm not too sure about
thee...!"Anyone know the origin of this?
You there, Rhuby?
I heard it long ago, allegedly quoted by "an old Quaker".
More later, but this came across my desk today:
"The Internet offers extensive knowledge, but it does not teach values and when values are disregarded, our very humanity is demeaned. ... Understanding and wisdom are the fruit of a contemplative eye upon the world, and do not come from a mere accumulation of facts, no matter how interesting.
Pope John Paul II, 2002
Dear Keiva: None of us would enjoy a proselytizing didactic haranging ranting Internet. I despise much of the content, but I can chose what I think if worthwhile. I wish I could think of a way to abolish the porn, but can't see satisfactory way of doing so. Viewers just have to decide whether to join the pigs or the scholars.
I must admit that your point is not entirely clear to me, dr. bill.
Edit, after PM's with dr. bill: I take the words as an encouraging reminder (not a religious command) to join the scholars and avoid the pigs.
"Shoot for the moon if ya do hit a potato."
-- My grandpa. No idea if he made it up or heard it from his'n or Billy Sunday.
k
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."-- Leo Tolstoy
Thank you Maveric, for this thread, and for this link- enjoy might browsing too:
http://www.quoteproject.com/subject.asp?subject=95
It is not enough to do good; one must do it in the right way. (John Viscount Morley)
I think I've found my maxim (or whatever the word I'm looking for actually is).
It is not enough to do good; one must do it in the right way. (John Viscount Morley)
I think I've found my maxim (or whatever the word I'm looking for actually is).
Well, I think you could use motto but maxim is a nicer word. And I like that maxim. Can I use it too?
From one Aussie to another, Hello! For all you foreigners out there, this is another method of greeting each other down under, in addition to the stereotypical "G'day"
.
Hev
"no longer a stranger..."
I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.
Neville Chamberlain
Speaking of maxims/mottos : Here's the motto of the Salem Register a newspaper in Salem, Massachusetts, written in "W.W. Story, Life and Letters of Joseph Story" (1851)
Here shall the Press the People's right maintain,
Unaw'd by influence and unbrib'd by gain;
Here patriot Truth her glorious precept draw,
Pleg'd to Religion, Liberty and Law.
My Dad believed in it and quoted it to me and I tried to live up to it during my years in newspapers.
I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.
Neville Chamberlain
Pax Hitleriana
Pax Hitleriana
Who invited Hitler in here? I didn't see him referenced in any article.
Dear AnnaStrophic: Asshole Chamberlin invited Hitler in, and we all paid a terrible price for it.
what's all this then?! a blatant attempt to prematurely invoke Godwin's Law?
http://www.godwinslaw.com/[overheard over the cubicle wall]
"The man is not wholly evil -- he has a Thesaurus in his bay"
Dear tsuwm: Nice counter. But I claim special provocation, apparent praise of Chamberlin.
That was not praise, dr. bill. That was a subtle way of pointing out that generalities, however high-sounding, can be foolish when applied to particular cases.
Or alternatively, that foolish actions in particular cases can be whitewashed with glittering generalities.
The adage expressing this, I believe, is, "The Devil can cite Scripture for his own purposes."
Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
GK Chesterton
When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.maverick Circumstances alter cases. Thomas Chandler Haliburton; but also proverbial
Dear AnnaStrophic
Gotta get up pretty early in the afternoon to pull Dr. Bill's wool over the ice.
Oh, wait, it *is pretty early in the afternoon.
Once, when my son was in kindergarten, during a special presentation in the auditorium, the children got loud and boisterous.
the teacher, Mrs. Kelly, called for the to be quiet.
the noise continued, unabated.. twice more, she called for quiet.
Then she clapped her hands, sharply-- and made a loud cracking noise..all eyes now turn and looked to Mrs.Kelly. she looked sternly at the assembled childen, and now, commanding their attention, sternly advised the to settle down, and stop talking!
Later in the day, i met a mother of another student. She was up set, because her daughter had reported to her, that Mrs Kelly had yelled at her in the auditorium. she asked me if i had seen it, since her daughter said Mrs Kelly did it infront of everyone.
I explained what i had seen, and added, both my son and her daughter were among the children who were talking and misbehaving.
She thought for moment, and commented-- Ah, Jodie thought she was personally being repremanded, because she was one of the misbehaving children. Jodie took the general admonishment personally. she was no longer upset with Mrs. Kelly.
This collection of gentle words was just that.. until some people started to take it personally.. now it is on its way to being an other ugly mess. please stop.
Non sequiturs within non sequiturs.
"Circumstances alter cases."
--me
Dr Bill, I'm pleased that you thought of me, but I haven't commented in this thread. In fact, I have about 500 posts to catch up on and a real-life deadline to meet before I can return to any kind of posting regularity.
But, as long as I'm here: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
--Walt Kelly
Mav! I just realized that you paid me a lovely compliment with your title Keiva's unbella. But I hereby redirect the compliment to dear Helen. un bella, italian = a beautiful one
unbella
With a healthy dose of gender confusion to boot. Portobella mushrooms, anyone?
Or mebbe negation, as in unbeautiful
thank alot faldage.. you know i don't have to hang around here to be insulted..
i can garner all the insults i want any time i want, closer to home!
hang around here to be insulted.
I did not comment, I merely reported.
Portobella mushroomsAccording to bartelby, I believe they are either
port
abell
a or
port
obell
o, but not
port
obell
a -- a nit picked solely for purposes of the next post.
portabella mushroomsYou know I don't have to hang around here to be insultedStick around, mia bella Helen, and we shall make a little mush room for ourselves ...
[closing the porta ...
]
[
http://www.bartleby.com/61/34/M0493400.html; definition 3]
Dear Faldage, and AnnaStrophic: My blurry vision has screwed me again. I can't even blame it on being intoxicated with Rum Shots. I despise the stuff. I remember a lab tech that used to hang her pectoral perfections on my shoulders when I was teaching her to read slides. I put a fifth of rum into her ,and a quart of Coke into me and she was still saying No.All those Cuba Libres to no avail. So I am the King of Non Sequiturs. I am filing an Abdication Application. Befogged Chagrined Benighted Bill
so following that,
it would be
unobello (or is it unbello?)
or
unabella(what about annabella?-- i thought that name meant beautiful lady)
or did you intend to call me a
a man (who is a)beautiful (woman)? in which case you are wrong! i might not be a beauty, but i am all female!
i thought this was gentle words, not a thread about Chicks with D***s!
portobella -- a nit picked solely for purposes of the next post.
Duh!
un bella
Well faldage, I admittedly had conflicting priorities here. But why let grammatical precision take precedence over thanking mav for a compliment, and making a compliment to a dear lady?
Venuta qui, cara mia...[too busy to continue the discussion further -e
]
Yer, I prefer cheap, myself, loike.
why let grammatical precision take precedence over thanking mav for a compliment
Or why interpret something as an insult when it can just as easily be interpreted as a compliment?
The mushroom peddlers use all four combinations.
Yer, I prefer cheap, myself, loike.
And I prefer not to consume anything which is known as a fungus ... er yuck!
Hev
"no longer a stranger..."
or unabella(what about annabella?-- i thought that name meant beautiful lady)A "few" years back I was doing the lead in the children's version of "Androcles and the Lion." The lovely Princess is named Isabella. So there's a line in the show that I
always hated, but to this day it sticks in my head and haunts me, to be blurped out at odd times. This is one of them. Here's my line to her as Androcles:
Lovely, lovely Isabella,
I stand outside with no umbrella! 
Every rehearsal I'd look at the director in incredulity and ask, "Do I really
have to say that?" [Yes, you do!] "No chance of cutting it, huh?" [Nope, 'fraid not!] "Thank you."
Thanks, Helen (my lovely unabella!
) for remindin' me of that!
In honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday today:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; ... let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds, ... —to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves ...
-- Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address. March 4, 1865.
A few words in that address "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, are seen in the Veterans Administration seal at the entrance to may VA hospitals.