Man is not once-and-for-all

Man is always something more than what he knows of himself. He is not what he is simply once and for all, but is a process...

~ Karl Jaspers

Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

~ Henry Adams

In search of Truth

I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.

~ George Washington

When others asked the truth of me, I was convinced it was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.

~ Anaïs Nin

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.

~ Galileo Galilei

What for centuries raised man above the beast is not the cudgel but the irresistible power of unarmed truth.

~ Boris Pasternak

Cowboy Wisdom

[Emailed to me by Gene, who also appreciates quote collections. Source unknown.]

A Cowboy's Guide to Life

* Don't name a pig you plan to eat.

* Your fences need to be horse high, pig tight, and bull strong.

* Life ain't about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered ... not yelled.

* Meanness don't jest happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Don't sell your mule to buy a plow.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* It's better to be a has-been than a never-was.

* The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm. The colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* If it don't seem like it's worth the effort, it probably ain't.

* It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.

* Sometimes you get and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every mornin'.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Don't worry about bitin' off more 'n you can chew; your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger'n you think.

* Only cows know why they stampede.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there with ya.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

Success: After and Before

External success has to do with people who may see me as a model, or an example, or a representative. As much as I may dislike or want to reject that responsibility, this is something that comes with public success. It's important to give others a sense of hope that it is possible and you can come from really different places in the world and find your own place in the world that's unique for yourself.

~ Amy Tan

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

~ Michael Jordan

Need a good idea?

If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.

~ Linus Pauling

True Patriotism

Our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: 'Our country — when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.'

~ Carl Schurz