Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
Nature, they say, doth dote, And cannot make a man Save on some worn-out plan, Repeating us by rote.
Until several months ago…I viewed ESOP as simply a new variation of the old “profit sharing” schemes which often had served as a bulwark against effective unionization…. The comments you (L.O. Kelso) made on 60 Minutes (March 16, 1975)…impelled me to seek additional information about two-factor theory and ESOP…. I have concluded that (ESOPs) make a helluva lot of sense, and that unions could have served their members far better than they have if they had made an effort to secure a second income for their members through negotiating employee stock ownership programs. [Business Manager, Local 5-6 Gas Workers Union July 24, 1975.]
Magnificent spectacle of human happiness.
If there must always be a laboring population distinct from proprietors and employers, we regard the slave system as decidedly preferable to the system at wages. [ Boston Quarterly , July, 1840.]
Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.
Our Country,--whether bounded by the St. John's and the Sabine, or however otherwise bounded or described, and be the measurements more or less,--still our Country, to be cherished in all our hearts, to be defended by all our hands.
We thought we were done with these things but we were wrong. We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom. We thought the long train would run to the end of Time. We thought the light would increase. Now the long train stands derailed and the bandits loot it. Now the boar and the asp have power in our time. Now the night rolls back on the West and the night is solid. Our fathers and ourselves sowed dragon's teeth. Our children know and suffer the armed men.
Try to put well in practice what you already know; and in so doing, you will in good time, discover the hidden things which you now inquire about. Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know.
In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill-will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold in bondage their fellow-men, not knowing what they do.
Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and parliaments. If we can get rid of the former, we may easily bear the latter.
It is possible to imagine a voluntary economy, an economy that would let people choose their level of work and spending without exploitation or domination…. I would be content with the Kelso-Adler proposal as a way to make the economy voluntary. [“Is There Life After Birth,” The Center Magazine , Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, July 1968.]
To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; and to forgo even ambition when the end is gained — who can say this is not greatness?
They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.
All I ever really want to know is how other people are making it through life—where do they put their body, hour by hour, and how do they cope inside of it.
I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you might nudge the world a little or make a poem that children will speak for you when you are dead.
You and I were long friends: you are now my enemy, and I am yours.
Here was a type of the true elder race, And one of Plutarch's men talked with us face to face.
I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others — that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
The widespread distribution of private property ownership is the cornerstone of American liberty. Without it, neither our free enterprise system nor our republican form of government could long endure. [Platform, 1980 Republican National Convention, Detroit, July 14, 1980.]
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD: So many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.
In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king.
I can get excitement watching rain on a puddle. And then I paint it. Now, I admit, there are not too many people who would find that exciting. But I would. And I want life thrilling and rich. And it is. I make sure it is.
An occasional insurrection will not weigh against the inconveniences of a government of force, such as are monarchies and aristocracies. [Letter Jefferson to T. B. Hollis, July 2, 1787. ME 6:155.]
All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.
Do you have doubts about life? Are you unsure if it is really worth the trouble? Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each person's face as you pass them on the street: those faces are for you. And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. They are as much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing. Stand up and face the east. Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under the sky. It's okay to be unsure. But praise, praise, praise.
I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.
Most of the books, music and movies ever released are not available for sale, anywhere in the world. In the brief time that P2P nets have flourished, the ad-hoc masses of the Internet have managed to put just about everything online. What's more, they've done it far cheaper than any other archiving/revival effort ever.
Of all the devices that have been invented to keep the status-poor in their place, putting them on the dole is by far the most effective. The size of the dole can be controlled so as to keep them always in comparative poverty, and thus unable to compete for higher status in the society; indeed, the fact of being on the dole itself leads to lessened aspiration and pride….A serious program must deal….not only (or even primarily) with pockets of economic poverty, but with the poverty of satisfaction, purpose, and dignity that affects us all. [“Keeping the Poor in Their Place,” New Republic , July 4, 1964.]
Eternal vigilance must be maintained to guard against those who seek to stifle ideas, establish a narrow orthodoxy, and divide our nation along arbitrary lines of race, ethnicity, and religious belief or non-belief.
To kerke the narre from God more farre, Has bene an old-sayd sawe; And he that strives to touche a starre Oft stombles at a strawe.
Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value.
You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things — to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.
I have considered the pension list of the republic a roll of honor.
Some years ago a top Ford official was showing the late Walter Reuther through the very automates plant in Cleveland, Ohio and he said to him jokingly, “Walter, you’ll have a hard time collecting union dues from these machines and Walter said, “you are going to have more trouble trying to sell automobiles to them.” Both of them let it stop there. There was a logical answer to that . . . the owners of the machines could buy automobiles and if you increase the number of owners you increase the number of consumers. Over hundred years ago Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act. There was wide distribution of land and they didn’t confiscate anyone’s privately owned land…. We need an industrial Homestead Act. [Speech to Young Americans for Freedom, July 20, 1974.]
The Congress hereby declares that it is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.
Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real. Love, and so art and morals, is the discovery of reality.
The more you love, the more you can love — and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just.
Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.
We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased, it's just like old times.
The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of a planter — for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation of those who are to come and point the way.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. [ Declaration of Independence , B.1.429, July 4, 1776.]
God never deserted our people. Right through the ages there were Jews. Through the ages they suffered, but it also made us strong.
Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve.
Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.
If you build it, he will come.
If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. - William Jennings Bryan delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech 9 July 1896.
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. [ A Summary View of the Rights of British America , B.1.135, July 1774.]
Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other 'sins' are invented nonsense.
Nobody living can ever stop me As I go walking my freedom highway Nobody living can make me turn back This land is made for you and me.
There seem to be magic days once in a while, with some rare quality of light that hold a body spellbound... Then comes the hard part: how to plan a picture so as to give to others what has happened to you. To render in paint an experience, to suggest the sense of light and color, air and space...
To-morrow comes, true copy of to-day, And empty shadow of what is to be; Yet cheated Hope on future still depends, And ends but only when our being ends.
Thus far, the work had been carried on simply in the interests of science, but Lieut Brooke's method of sounding acquired a high commercial value, when the enterprise of laying down the telegraph-cable between this country and the United States was undertaken. For it became a matter of immense importance to know, not only the depth of the sea over the whole line along which the cable was to be laid, but the exact nature of the bottom, so as to guard against chances of cutting or fraying the strands of that costly rope. The Admiralty consequently ordered Captain Dayman, an old friend and shipmate of mine, to ascertain the depth over the whole line of the cable, and to bring back specimens of the bottom. In former days, such a command as this might have sounded very much like one of the impossible things which the young Prince in the Fairy Tales is ordered to do before he can obtain the hand of the Princess. However, in the months of June and July, 1857, my friend performed the task assigned to nim with great expedition and precision, without, so far as I know, having met with any reward of that kind. The specimens of Atlantic mud which he procured were sent to me to be examined and reported upon.
We walk in circles, so limited by our own anxieties that we can no longer distinguish between true and false, between the gangster's whim and the purest ideal.
True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.
By the declining day, man is a state of loss, save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.
Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose through him.
Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor. He talks as the man of his age talks, that is, with rude wit, a lively sense of the grotesque, a disgust for sham, and a contempt for pettiness.
Louis O. Kelso, possibly the only genuine revolutionary in the United States. July 16, 1971.
There must be understanding between the artist and the people. In the best ages of art that has always been the case. Genius can probably run on ahead and seek out new ways. But the good artists who follow after genius — and I count myself among these — have to restore the lost connection once more.
The splendor of life forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come.
Attempting mischievous and salutary irritation of his peers . . . he [Keynes] may only succeed in becoming an academic idol of our worst cranks and charlatans — not to mention the possibilities of the book as the economic bible of a fascist movement…. [Comments on John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money , in Christian Century , July 22, 1936, pp. 1016, 1017.]
The protection of private property does more than promote market efficiency; it enhances the level of human freedom in the most intimate and personal parts of our lives. [“Rule of Law,” The Wall Street Journal July 27, 1994, p. A11.]
I say that the azure we see in the atmosphere is not its true colour, but is caused by warm moisture evaporated in minute and insensible atoms which the solar rays strike, rendering them luminous against the darkness of the infinite night of the fiery region which lies beyond and includes them. And this may be seen, as I saw it, by him who ascends Mounboso (Monte Rosa), a peak of the Alps which separates France from Italy. The base of this mountain gives birth to the four large rivers which in four different directions water the whole of Europe; and no mountain has its base at so great a height as this. It rises to such a height that it almost lifts itself up above the clouds; snow seldom falls on it, but only hail in summer, when the clouds are at their greatest height, and this hail is preserved there so that were it not for the absorption of the rising and falling clouds, which does not occur twice in an age, a great quantity of ice would be piled up there by the hail, which in the middle of July I found to be very considerable; and I saw above me the dark air, and the sun which struck the mountain shone far lighter than in the plains below, because a lesser quantity of atmosphere lay between the summit of the mountain and the sun.
Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few; by resignation, none.
Oh, tenderly the haughty day Fills his blue urn with fire.
I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
All that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combatted, suppressed — only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle.
To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.
We have to learn to think in a new way. We have to learn to ask ourselves, not what steps can be taken to give military victory to whatever group we prefer, for there no longer are such steps; the question we have to ask ourselves is: what steps can be taken to prevent a military contest of which the issue must be disastrous to all parties?
Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force; that thoughts rule the world.
There are two kinds of truths: those of reasoning and those of fact. The truths of reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible; the truths of fact are contingent and their opposites are possible.
No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere: I see Heaven's glories shine, And Faith shines equal, arming me from Fear.
Were I so tall to reach the pole, Or grasp the ocean with my span, I must be measured by my soul; The mind's the standard of the man.
Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.
"...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.
Our attachment to no nation upon earth should supplant our attachment to liberty. [ Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms , B.1.215, June 26-July 6, 1775.]
I just know that something good is going to happen. I don't know when — but just saying it could even make it happen.
Truth is never ugly when one can find in it what one needs.
Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.
I remember, I remember How my childhood fleeted by,-- The mirth of its December And the warmth of its July.
Of the various executive abilities, no one excited more anxious concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow-citizens in the hands of honest men, with understanding sufficient for their stations. No duty is at the same time more difficult to fulfil. The knowledge of character possessed by a single individual is of necessity limited. To seek out the best through the whole Union, we must resort to the information which from the best of men, acting disinterestedly and with the purest motives, is sometimes incorrect.
Dictatorships can be indeed defined as systems in which there is a prevalence of thinking in destructive rather than in ameliorative terms in dealing with social problems. The ease with which destruction of life is advocated for those considered either socially useless or socially disturbing instead of educational or ameliorative measures may be the first danger sign of loss of creative liberty in thinking, which is the hallmarks of democratic society. [“Medical Science Under Dictatorship,” New England Journal of Medicine , Vol. 241, No. 2, July 14, 1949, p. 47.]
A heart, a heart that hurts, is a heart, a heart that works.
Blue Moon, now I'm no longer alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
From quiet homes and first beginning, Out to the undiscovered ends, There's nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends.
Nous dansons sur un volcan=--We are dancing on a volcano. _M. de Salvandy, just prior to the July Revolution of 1830._
Our system presumes that there are certain principles that are more important than the temper of the times.
It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.
To see ourselves as others see us is a most salutary gift. Hardly less important is the capacity to see others as they see themselves.
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.
That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
Science is the tool of the Western mind, and with it, more doors can be opened than with bare hands. It is part and parcel of our knowledge and obscures our insight only when it holds that the understanding given by it is the only kind there is.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.
I have not yet begun to fight!
Nothing disturbs me more than the downward trend of productivity in our nation today. The consequences of a decrease in productivity are a diminished standard of living, higher labor costs, less competitive prices, and more inflation.… I am fascinated to hear of the impact that ESOPs have had on work-force morale in corporations of all sizes such as Sears Roebuck, Potomac Electric Power, Lowe’s Companies and the Dow Chemical Company.… Few concepts are as basic as the role of workers in our economic structure and their participation in equity ownership. [Statement before Senate Finance Committee, July 20, 1978,]
[C]apital, and the question of who owns it and therefore reaps the benefit of its productiveness, is an extremely important issue that is complementary to the issue of full employment….I see these as twin pillars of our economy: Full employment of our labor resources and widespread ownership of our capital resources. Such twin pillars would go a long way in providing a firm underlying support for future economic growth that would be equitably shared. [Letter to The Washington Post , July 20, 1976.]
Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.
Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country.
It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive — to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.
It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little for his pursuits, and whose sphere and abilities he must go out of himself to appreciate.
I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.
Go put your creed into your deed, Nor speak with double tongue.
There is not a more dangerous experiment than to place property in the hands of one class, and political power in those of another…. If property cannot retain the political power, the political power will draw after it the property. [ North American Review , July, 1820.]