In praise of quotes

A novel in every sentence! 

I’ve been collecting quotes for years.  Here are some of my favorites.  No particular topic.  BTW, “The Quotations Page is a good place to get a quote of the day. 

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (referring to the benefits of openness and transparency).

If we had been born in Constantinople, then most of us would have said: ‘There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.’ If our parents had lived on the banks of the Ganges, we would have been worshipers of Siva, longing for the heaven of Nirvana. As a rule, children love their parents, believe what they teach, and take great pride in saying that the religion of mother is good enough for them.

Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician and lecturer

Why should we take advice on sex from the Pope? If he knows anything about it, he shouldn’t.

George Bernard Shaw

“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss in enthusiasm.”

Winston Churchill

“The best time to plant a tree… was twenty years ago. The second best time is today.”

Chinese Proverb

As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious.

Alfred North Whitehead

The besetting sin of political and media types is that about 98 percent of their public conversation is utterly dishonest. The language is inflated, …

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Religion-Lite as a gateway religion to fundamentalism

I just can’t help periodically visiting the site of Focus on the Family, at least once in a while.  They address many good topics over there—I often disagree with their conclusions, though not always (I almost always disagree with their attempted intrusions into government).  They offer some solid good advice on parenting, marriage and career, some of it without much religion.  Sometimes it reads like almost entirely like pop psychology.  

For instance, in the current article on Mary Cheney, there is no condemnation, no fire and brim stone, only concern.  Actually, lots of concern.  Most of it about the absence of a father-figure in a child’s life.  This is a legitimate concern, though it seems a bit hollow coming from an organization which is quintessentially homophobic.  But they keep their deeper concerns about gays and inerrant bible passages in check in this particular article.  Certainly, there is no discussion about hell. 

Another current FOTF article features “Worldviews.”    The ostensible concern is that “The Lion King” does not teach biblical Christianity, “despite a handful of good moral lessons.  Again, no rampant condemnation.  Instead, the article warns that

the notion of the “circle of life,” that history is circular and the present is heavily influenced by the spirits of one’s ancestors, is closer to Eastern pantheism or native spiritualism than the linear view of history presented in the Bible.

On a lark, I read a FOTF article on “Marijuana — inhaled intellectual impairment.”  The gist of the article is that marijuana …

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The worst menace to American kids. It’s not Mark Foley.

According to this salon.com post by Bill Maher, the worst menace isn't Mark Foley.  Not by a long shot.  Focus, instead on legions of corporate and government predators.  Though this was written in October 2006, I didn't notice it until today.  As always, Maher doesn't pull any punches: [Foley] was…

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“The God that Wasn’t There”: complete video now online

This is a video I own in DVD version.  It is now able to be viewed on-line.  It's a succinct and potent presentation narrated by Brian Flemming, a former fundamentalist.   Flemming pulls no punches while he examines believers and the origins of belief.   On the cover of the DVD, Flemming…

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Rumsfeld again claims link between 9/11 and Iraq invasion during his farewell tour

It makes me wonder whether anyone is buything this line of bull anymore.  I wonder how the families of the soldiers killed in Iraq are reacting to this lie these days.  Maybe it gives some of them solace, because the alternative would be so incredibly crushing. My thoughts?  Good-bye.  Good riddance. 

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