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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:04:26 GMT 10
The task on our part is twofold: First, as simple patriotism requires, to separate the false from the real issues; and, secondly, with facts and without rancor, to clarify the real problems for the American public
The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people toler- ate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of govern- ment by an individual, by a group or by any other controlling private power
The second truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if its business system does not provide employment and produce and distribute goods in such a way as to sustain an acceptable standard of living
We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppress- ion, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization
For too many of us the political equality we once had won was meaningless in the face of economic inequality. A small group had concentrated into their own hands an almost complete control over other people's property, other people's money, other people's labor — other people's lives. For too many of us life was no longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the pursuit of happiness
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little
If you treat people right they will treat you right — ninety percent of the timeBro. Franklin Delano Roosevelt32 nd President of the United States (1933 - '45) (Born this day 1882) They [who] seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers... call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:06:02 GMT 10
In this world laws are written for the lofty aim of "the common good" and then acted out in life on the basis of the common greed. In this world irrationality clings to man like his shadow so that the right things get done for the wrong reasons — afterwards, we dredge up the right reasons for justification. It is a world not of angels but of angles, where men speak of moral principles but act on power principles; a world where we are always moral and our enemies always immoral; a world where "reconciliation" means that when one side gets the power and the other side gets reconciled to it, then we have reconciliation
The cry of the Have-Nots has never been "give us our hearts," but always "get off our backs"; they ask not for love but for breathing space
Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a non- existent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict
Men don't like to step abruptly out of the security of familiar experience; they need a bridge to cross from their own experience to a new way. A revolutionary organizer must shake up the prevailing patterns of their lives — agitate, create disenchantment and discontent with the current values, to produce, if not a passion for change, at least a passive, affirmative, non-challenging climate
Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution
In this book [Rules for Radicals] we are concerned with how to create mass organ- izations to seize power and give it to the people; to realize the democratic dream of equality, justice, peace, cooperation, equal and full opportunities for education, full and useful employment, health, and the creation of those circumstances in which man can have the chance to live by values that give meaning to life
The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternativeSaul AlinskyAmerican community organiser and writer ( Rules for Radicals) (Born this day 1909) Ridicule is man's most potent weapon
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:06:44 GMT 10
Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind
The unrecorded past is none other than our old friend, the tree in the primeval forest which fell without being heard
If there have been mute inglorious Miltons in rural villages, presume- ably there have been unrealized Washingtons born in unpropitious times
When it comes to leaders we have, if anything, a superabundance — hundreds of Pied Pipers … ready and anxious to lead the population. They are scurrying around, collecting consensus, gathering as wide an acceptance as possible. But what they are not doing, very notably, is standing still and saying, ' This is what I believe. This I will do and that I will not do. This is my code of behavior and that is outside it. This is excellent and that is trash.' There is an abdication of moral leadership in the sense of a general unwillingness to state standards
Human beings of any age need to approve of themselves; the bad times in history come when they cannot
When the gap between ideal and real becomes too wide, the system breaks down
War is the unfolding of miscalculationsBarbara W TuchmanAmerican historian and author ( The Guns of August) (Born this day 1912) Honor wears different coats to different eyes
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:07:32 GMT 10
1 of 2:It is not the trappings that make the prince, nor, indeed, the sword that makes the warrior
For man to be worthy of any rank, he must strive first to be a man
Once you have courage to look upon evil, seeing it for what it is and naming it by its true name, it is powerless against you, and you can destroy it
Is there worse evil than that which goes in the mask of good?
But, alas, in most of us good and bad are closely woven as the threads on a loom; greater wisdom than mine is needed for the judging
Are you slow-witted? I'm so sorry for you. It's terrible to be dull and stupid
Forgive me ... I called you an idiot. I spoke too hastily. You are not. Had I given it more thought, I would have called you a scoundrelLloyd AlexanderAmerican author ( The Chronicles of Prydain) (Born this day 1924) Neither refuse to give help when it is needed ... nor refuse to accept it when it is offered
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:08:12 GMT 10
2 of 2:Craftsmanship isn't like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it's empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains
Is there not glory enough in living the days given to us? You should know there is adventure in simply being among those we love and the things we love, and beauty, too
A taste for adventure is by no means a masculine monopoly
How easy it is to think well of ourselves. Until the moment is upon us, we can never be certain
Do you not believe that animals know grief and fear and pain? The world of men is not an easy one for them
I have learned there is greater honor in a field well plowed than in a field steeped in blood
The deeds of a man, not the words of a prophecy, are what shape his destinyLloyd Alexander(Born this day 1924) Thinking is a bit uncomfortable, but you'll get used to it. A matter of time and practice
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:09:00 GMT 10
Ask the right questions if you're to find the right answers
Integrity is so perishable in the summer months of success
As a mother you have got to have a view for now and a view for the future
Zionism is a brutal, racist ideology. And it is a brutal racist regime
I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression
And I salute that record and I salute all of you for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period when Nixon and McCarthy launched a worldwide witch-hunt against those who tried to express in their lives and their work the truth that they believe in. I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism
I've opened my mouth on a lot of subjects. And I thought the more prestige you get, I'd have the power to do what I like. It's not trueVanessa Redgrave, CBEEnglish actress and Human Rights activist (Born this day 1937) I think that any citizen can understand that you must raise your voice and do the best you can to speak out
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:09:44 GMT 10
There's no question in my mind but that rights are never won unless people are willing to fight for them
We are very upset. We are seeing extremists using bullets and bombs to get their way in our democracy. We believe the auth- orities must consider this political terrorism and act as if it is
We cannot have a time when those of us who are protesting current policies are going to be compared to terrorists or their values. We have to stand up now before we have a period of silencing all meaningful discussion in our country
In the '60s, to say this obvious fact that women were treated unequally was to make yourself the object of scorn and ridicule
The anti-gay rhetoric is constant
Toys today are more stereotyped than they were 20 years ago; the market is even more segmented. And they can go into their own kitchen anytime they want, for God's sake. On the other hand, maybe it doesn't matter because girls are doing everything anyway, even being soldiers
We have to get away from what the politicians are saying and get women's lives back in the pictureEleanor SmealUS feminist (president NOW) (Born this day 1939) Move over a little more gracefully, boys!
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:11:13 GMT 10
Science is like literature, a continuing dialog among diverse and conflicting voices, no one ever wholly right or wholly wrong, but a steady conversation forever provisional and personal and living
It is one thing to speak of embracing the new, the fresh, the strange. It is another to feel that one is an insect, crawling across a page of the Encyclopedia Britannica, knowing only that something vast is passing by beneath, all without your sensing more than a yawning vacancy
We fondly imagine that evolution drives toward higher intelligence. But eagles would think evolution favored flight, elephants would naturally prefer the importance of great strength. Sharks would feel that swimming was the ultimate desirable trait, and eminent Victorians would be quite convinced that evolution preferred Victorians
Definitions, her grandmother once said, had to be like a fat man's belt — big enough to cover the subject but elastic enough to allow for change
Yes, perhaps that was it. For decades now the picture of the world painted by the scien- tists had become strange, distant, unbelievable. Far easier, then, to ignore it than try to understand. Things were too complicated. Why bother? Turn on the telly, luv. Right
There was something about such reflex stupidity that never failed to irritate him
It was an example of what he thought of as the Law of Controversy: Passion was inversely proportional to the amount of real information availableGregory BenfordUS science fiction author & astrophysicist (Born this day 1941) They will do anything for the worker, except become one
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:12:08 GMT 10
The US should assert its military dominance over the world to shape “the international security order in line with American principles and interests, "push for "regime change" in Iraq and China, among other countries, and "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars… While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."
The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all things considered, one would not normally choose to go. But, we go where the business is
My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators [of Iraq] In Iraq, a ruthless dictator cultivated weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. He gave support to terrorists, had an established relationship with al Qaeda, and his regime is no more
I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency
Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy
There are a lot of lessons we want to learn out of this process in terms of what works. I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina exerciseDick Cheney, US Vice President (2001 / 2009) (Born this day 1941) Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us
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Post by Tamrin on Jan 30, 2014 9:13:31 GMT 10
Truth never damages a cause that is just
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained
Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice
If one has no affection for a person or a system, one should feel free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection so long as he does not contemplate, promote, or incite violence
I’m a lover of my own liberty, and so I would do nothing to restrict yours. I simply want to please my own conscience, which is God
We need to be the change we wish to see in the worldMohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” GandhiIndian lawyer, spiritual and political leader (Assassinated this day by Hindu extremists 1948) Hey Ram!(last words)
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