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CARL
SAGAN QUOTES
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"You don't take
the country to war on the wings of a lie." --
Thomas L. Friedman -- NY Times -- 2003
Submitted
by riprap
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"The
probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter
us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."
-- Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), 16th US President,
Republican
I like this
because it has within it a way of living. There is the obvious
problem of ensuring that the cause in question is just, but
for most people, given enough information, deciding what is
just is not that big a problem. To support something because
someone else supports it, or because it has personal benefit,
or because not to support it would cause personal loss, is wrong.
In news_garden
there is a tendency for polarization of thought, left right
in politics. I find this a problem because it leads to defending
a political orientation rather than defending policies put forward
by a particular political group. I don’t know much about
the American system of politics because I’m not American,
however I am aware that the founding fathers of America were
concerned at the possibility of “political parties”
rather than free thinking individuals being the dominant force.
Democracy
only works when a people trust each other enough to support
the majority even though they disagree with the majority. This
requires that certain principles be held within that society
that makes it a society. Self-evident truths, a foundation on
which society agrees to be a society. A democracy cannot be
competitive, the minority does not loose the majority does not
win.
America
is a very competitive society, which in itself is not a bad
thing. However certain things require that people support a
cause irrespective of whether they think they will be successful.
Some things are that basic to a society that to loose them would
be worse than continuing on without them. This is expressed
in the following quote:
". .
. I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty,
if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made,
as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again
able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war,
and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years,
if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to
try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government–every
man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together
in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their
native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost
of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many
old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip
of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of the Nazi rule,
we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall
fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength
in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may
be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing
grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even
if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large
part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond
the seas, armed and guarded by the British fleet, would carry
on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with
all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation
of the old." --
June 4, 1940 Winston Churchill
Terrorism is
evil. It is a crime against humanity. It defies democratic principles.
However to fight terrorism is not possible with superior military
strength. Terrorism is not a military force. It is a criminal
force, an ideology. Terrorism is an evil that seeks to destroy
justice. If an unjust attempt is made to destroy terrorism,
terrorism wins. In my opinion the response by President Bush
to the 9/11 terrorist attack was wrong. Declaring “war
on terror” was a mistake. Unfortunately that decision
has now led to the present crisis in world affairs. And we the
people can only wait to see where that decision will take us.
Submitted
by Wilf
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"The
jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always
stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking,
speaking, and writing. Liberty cannot be preserved without a
general knowledge among the people, who have … a right,
an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to
that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the characters
and conduct of their rulers." -- John Adams
Submitted
by Alllie
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"The
only security of all is in a free press. The force of public
opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed.
The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary,
to keep the waters pure." --
Thomas Jefferson
Submitted
by Alllie
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"Falling
in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling
the common sense." -- Helen Rowland
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"You
come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing
an imperfect person perfectly."--
Sam Keen
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"Love
is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain
empties."
-- Jule Renard
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"The
great tragedy of science is the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis
by ugly fact." -- Aldous Huxley
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"The
secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity."
-- Aldous Huxley
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"There
are three easy ways of losing money - racing is the quickest,
women the most pleasant, and farming the most certain."
-- Lord Amherst
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"Whatever
women must do they must do twice as well as men to be thought
half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." --
Charlotte Whitton
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"It
is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations."
-- Sir Winston Churchill
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"The
metric system did not really catch on in the United States,
unless you count the increasing popularity of the 9 millimeter
bullet."
-- Dave Barry
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"I
was so poor growing up ... if I wasn't a boy ...I'd have
had nothing to play with." -- Rodney Dangerfield
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"Women
and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should
relax and get used to the idea." -- Robert
A. Heinlein
Submitted
by JediBabe
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"The
heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise man
is in his heart. " -- Benjamin Franklin
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"In
passing, also, I would like to say that the first time Adam
had a chance he laid the blame on a woman." --
Nancy Astor
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"If
you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."
-- Margaret Fuller
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"Don't
compromise yourself. You are all you've got." --
Janis Joplin
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"If
you have a sense of purpose and a sense of direction, I believe
people will follow you. Democracy isn't just about deducing
what the people want. Democracy is leading the people as well."
-- Margaret Thatcher
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"Democracy
is not a spectator sport." --
Marian Wright Edelman
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"Every
democratic system evolves its own conventions. It is not only
the water but the banks which make the river." --
Indira Gandhi
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"Democracies
have been, and governments called, free; but the spirit of independence
and the consciousness of unalienable rights, were never before
transfused into the minds of a whole people....The feeling of
equality which they proudly cherish does not proceed from an
ignorance of their station, but from the knowledge of their
rights; and it is this knowledge which will render it so exceedingly
difficult for any tyrant ever to triumph over the liberties
of our country." --
Sarah Josepha Hale
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"I
myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism
is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express
sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." --
Rebecca West
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"Whether
women are better than men I cannot say -- but I can say they
are certainly no worse" --
Golda Meir
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"I
have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage
and a career."
-- Gloria Steinhem
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"Men
are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their
strengths." -- Lois
Wyse
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"Some
of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry." --
Gloria Steinem
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"The
people I'm furious with are the women's liberationists. They
keep getting up on soapboxes and proclaiming that women are
brighter than men. It's true, but it should be kept quiet or
it ruins the whole racket."
-- Anita Loos
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"Women
have got to make the world safe for men since men have made
it so darned unsafe for women."--
Nancy Astor
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"Justice
is better than chivalry if we cannot have both." --
Alice Stone Blackwell
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"It's
so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that's what
I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be
cherished, that every flower is to bloom." --
Alice Walker
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