PASSION
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. — George Bernard Shaw
The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground…. — Unknown
The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream…. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin. — Benjamin Elijah Mays
ACTION
Whatever thy hand findest to do, do it with all thy heart. — Jesus Christ
Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. — Will Rogers
You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. — Henry Ford
The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. — Chinese Proverb
Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold — but so does a hard-boiled egg. — Unknown
The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions. — Ellen Glasgow
TAKING CHANCES
Don’t be afraid to take one large step because you can’t cross a chasm in two small leaps. — Lloyd George
Use the talents you possess — for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best. — Unknown
There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? — Robert Francis Kennedy, 1968 presidential campaign
All great truths begin as blasphemies. — George Bernard Shaw
The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. — Mark Twain
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. — Thomas Sowell
OPTIMISM
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. — Sir Winston Churchill
You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. — “Ziggy”
HONESTY
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. — Warren Buffett
That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong. — William J. H. Boetcker
Live so that your friends can defend you but never have to. — Arnold H. Glasgow
If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything. — Mark Twain
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. — Rowan Atkinson
SUCCESS
I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs, but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom. — George S. Patton”
WISDOM
The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld
You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right. A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought. — Warren BuffettWise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. — Plato
Never argue with a fool. Someone watching may not be able to tell the difference. — Anonymous
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. — Socrates
The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. — Winston Churchill
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward. — Unknown
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him. — Galileo Galilei
Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. — Josh Billings
Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding. — Proverbs 4:7
LEADERSHIP
Learn to obey before you command. — Solon
When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set. — Lin Yutang
HUMOR
Drawing on my fine command of language, I said nothing. — Peter Benchley
Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves for we shall never cease to be amused. — Unknown
POLITICS
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. — Robert Orben
For every action there is an equal and opposite government program. — Bob Wells
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. — John Adams
If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. — Mark Twain
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. — Mark Twain
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you! — Pericles
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money. –Margaret Thatcher
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress. — Will Rogers
MONEY
The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money. — Unknown
Great blog! Very thought provoking stuff here. Stumbled across it tonight on facebook…..just when I thought facebook was absolutely useless!
Liked your analysis of the debt as it relates to who occupies the white house and congress. Your idea(I guess we could actually say fact) that the debt problem gets better with a republican House makes a lot of sense. It also appears that in general the debt gets better when we have a “stalemate” with neither party being in complete control. I believe the republican party would win most of the national elections if they could only understand that most people are moderates. But when given the choice beteween left wing and right wing, a bigger majority will side with the left. The republican party has unfortunately sucuumed to the “I’m more conservative than you are” dogma and the religious right, and are just not reflective of our society today. If the republican party would simply move slightly back to the middle they would be so much better off. I would vote for a guy like Rudolph Guiliani(sp) in a minute, but guys like him will be chewed up and spit out in todays republican party simply because they aren’t “conservative” enough. It’s a shame, really. I’d be interested in your take on this. I have a love hate relationship with politics. I have a degree in political science, and considered law school until I figured out lawyers are just paid whores. Not that they do not serve a very useful purpose, but that just wasn’t where I saw myself living a fulfilling life. So, I find it all very interesting and intriguing, while at the same time completely disgusting. lol