Thursday, March 19, 2009

MEMORABLE QUOTES

I am still working on and gathering information on what I hope will be a significantly interesting piece on government-run health care systems. I apologize for the delay, but the subject is important enough to deserve all the accuracy it can get, so that particular post may be a while in coming. But it WILL be worth the wait! Meanwhile, I present you with a treasure trove of thoughtful, memorable quotes to mull over. Thank you for your patience.


"People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights."
- Indira Gandhi -

"The school is the last expenditure upon which Americans should be willing to economize."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt -

"The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes."
- Aristotle -

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wicked of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."
- John Maynard Keynes -

"When the rich think about the poor, they have poor ideas."
- Evita Peron -

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."
- Teddy Roosevelt -

"We must confront the privileged elite who have destroyed a large part of the world."
- Hugo Chavez -

"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light."
- Helen Keller -

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."
- Margaret Thatcher -

"Poverty is the worst form of violence."
- Mahatma Gandhi -

"Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle or impure butter. The audience that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even for the same performance."
- William O. Douglas -

"We must stop thinking about the individual and start thinking about what is best for society."
- Hillary Rodham Clinton -

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."
- Harry S Truman -

"Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity of which our heritage of religious freedom inspired."
- Robert F. Kennedy -

"Politics is a profession, a serious, complicated and, in its true sense, a noble one."
- Dwight David Eisenhower -

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."
- Mother Teresa -

"Liberalism is, I think, resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative."
- John Kenneth Galbraith -

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- Barack Obama -

"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people."
- Teddy Roosevelt -

"Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt -

"Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism."
- Earl Warren -

"The salary of the chief executive of a large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself."
- John Kenneth Galbraith -

11 comments:

Jessican said...

Thanks, these were great. I really enjoyed the Keynes and Warren quotes.

And, yes, a health care post deserves lots of work. Kudos to you for putting the work in. I've considered such a post, but never felt competent enough to try. I look forward to reading the results of your hard work!

Jack Jodell said...

Thanks for your faith, Jessican. I hope what I can eventually put together will meet your expectations. There seems to be so little available data on foreign systems. I have decided to get direct input from regular citizens, starting with my long time Dutch friend in the Netherlands and including some Canadians and others as well. We'll see where it all leads.

Yellow Dog said...

Damn. You either have a direct pipeline into Bartlett's Secret Quote Archive or you read as much as I do - and retain far more.

Jack Jodell said...

Thanks, Yellow Dog! I have no secret link, but I do use the internet heavily for research. It is truly the best library/sourcebook ever devised! And I trasure great thinkers and good writers, which is why I enjoy your site and the blogosphere so much!

Anonymous said...

I especially like Bobby Kennedy on diversity. Thanks for an interesting post.

Jack Jodell said...

Thanks, Burr. I like that one too, and I am always delighted at the insight and wisdom that our human race can and often does produce!

Anonymous said...

these are great!

mud_rake said...

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wicked of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."
- John Maynard Keynes


Ecce Lux!

Now, if we could only hope that the majority of U.S. citizens would understand that quote and realize that it thoroughly explains the current near-depression we are experiencing, then we will have made some progress.

Alas, I think that the majority have been thoroughly bamboozled by the tricksters, pundits, and politicians into believing that raw capitalism is quite patriotic.

Thanks for the great list of quotes. Accumulated wisdom prevents massive mistakes.

Unknown said...

JACK! You r a delight! Ta for the comment on my last post. Casting off for another day at sea.... LOL

Jack Jodell said...

Thanks, mud_rake! I love your very last sentence, and I hope to present enough accumulated wisdom in my blog to prevent a LOT of mistakes! You are so right about capitalism bamboozling everyone into thinking it is patriotic. For, as the rise of arrogant multinational corporations proves, capitalists have no allegiances to countries or governments and are concerned ONLY with profit and power. The laissez-faire deregulation tendencies which led to our current severe crisis shows how dangerously wrong that mindset is!
--------
Arrrggghhh! Shall we put these lily-livered pirates like John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and Eric Cantor in leg irons and pitch 'em overboard, Gwendolyn? Seems like they're a waste of perfectly good provisions, matey! :-)

SJ said...

@Jack,
This is a fantastic collection of quotes from across the decades. Thank you Jack. We'd all do better to read and re-read these from time to time.
I'll print them out and frame them as a kind of "supplemental 10 commandments" of sanity.
I'm eagerly anticipating your healthcare post Jack.
Have a great weekend.
-SJ