Nothing doth more hurt a State than that cunning men pass for wise.
                                                  -- Francis Bacon, statesman

Narrow Minds and Wide Mouths are Often Found Together
                                                            --Anon

Happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the road.
                                                            -- Anon

It is impossible for an exceptionally good man to be exceptionally rich.                                                             -- Anon

The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.
                                                           -- Anon

The following maxims were included as an exercise in the textbook  Principles of Typesetting (Ottmar Mergenthaler School of Printing, Unit 1, Lesson sp2-6)

Eleven Things to Remember
The Success of :Perseverance
 The Pleasure of Working
 The Value of Time
The Dignity of Simplicity
The Worth of Character
The Influence of Example
The Power of Kindness
The Improvement of Talent
 The Obligation of Duty
The Wisdom of Economy
The Joy of Originating

“Good Enough” isn’t Good Enough
Anon
My child, beware of “good enough.”  It isn’t made of sterling stuff.  It’s something anyone can do, it marks the many from the few.  The flaw which may escape the eye, and temporarily get by, shall weaken underneath the strain, and wreck the ship, the car, or plane. With “good enough” the car breaks down, and one falls short of high renown.
     My child, remember and be wise:  In “good enough” disaster lies.  With “good enough” the shirkers stop, in every factory and shop; with “good enough” the failures rest, and lose the one who gives the best.  Who stops at “good enough” shall find, suc-cess has left him far behind.  For this is true of you and your stuff – only the best is “good enough.”

In making a world full of purity, safety, and prosperity people are not rivals but companions.  Those who see their happiness but in the sorrow of others and their welfare and safety but in others' insecurity, those who see themselves superior to others, are out of the path of humanity and are in Evil's cause.
 
         -- President  Mahmoud Amadinejad of Iran, speaking to The United Nations
                                                          23 September 2010


"Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things."
"Rank does not confer priviledge or give power.  It imposes responsibility."
"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes."
        —Peter Drucker (management theorist)

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could do for themselves.
    —Abraham Lincoln

"A decision is what a man makes when he can't find anybody to serve on a committee."
        —Fletcher Knebel 

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."
        —Nicollo Machiavelli

If "Pro" is the opposite of "Con," then is "Congress" the opposite of "Progress?"
    —graffitum seen in the men's room of the Capitol Building

"Poli" in Latin means "many," and "tics" are "blood-sucking creatures."  Therefore:  In legislative assemblies we find "politics."—anon

“Those who stand out do so because they stand on the shoulders of others.”
— Isaac Newton

“A time comes when silence is betrayal.  Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war.  Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Every nation must have its legalized form of gambling. We have our Wall Street.”
Will Rogers


“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.” — Ben Franklin


"Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever. ” — Diogenes


Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
                                                            -- Anon

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not: Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not:  Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not:  The world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
—Calvin Coolidge


My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.


"Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on office, a rottenness begins in his conduct."
—Thomas Jefferson

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." —Friedrich Nietzsche


Live your life that that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. (If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.)  Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
—Tecumseh (Shawnee Chief)


"I have one life and one chance to make it count for something. .... I'm free to choose what that something is, and the something I've chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands -- this is not optional -- my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have, to try to make a difference." — Jimmy Carter

If you are ignorant, enquire;
If you stray, return;
If you do wrong, repent;
And if you are angry, restrain yourself.
anon

“If you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded.” — Franklin

“The law of worthy national life, like the law of worthy individual life, is fundamentally the law of strife. It may be strife military, it may be strife civic, but certainly it is only through strife, through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things.”—Theodore Roosevelt.

Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all the times you can
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can.
        — John Wesley (Founder of Methodism)

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value from joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” — Mark Twain

Character is what you are in the dark — Dwight Moody, evangelist

“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness or abilities that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” — William Penn

“Give me, oh Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy thought can drag downwards; an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.” — Thomas Aquinas

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”— Theodore Roosevelt.

“... clothe yourselves in humility in your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.” — I Peter 5:5 (NAB)

“What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility ... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” — Adlai Stevenson

President Harry Truman once was asked if he regretted having given his oppenents hell."I never gave anyone hell," replied Truman. "I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell."

“God has given us two hands -- one to receive with, and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.” — Billy Graham, evangelist

“The world is divided into people who do things and people who get the credit. Try, if you can, to belong to the first class. There's far less competition.”
— Dwight Morrow, social commentator

“The real fruits of citizenship do not come overnight. They come by dedicating oneself to the problems of our communities and our nation week after week, month after month, year after year.” — Ralph Nader, social reformer

“If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there” — Koran

“Give us the courage to either be hot or cold, to stand for something lest we fall for anything. Save us from hot heads that would lead us to act foolishly and from cold feet that would keep up from acting at all. Save us from the sin of worrying, lest stomach ulcers be the badge of our lack of faith.” — Peter Marshall, Chaplain of Congress

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” — Gandhi

“Violence is as American as apple pie.” — H. Rap Brown, Black activist

“Television is a medium, because well done is rare.”— anon

“A good leg will fail. A straight back will stoop. A black beard will turn white. A curled pate will grow bald. A fair face will wither. A full eye will wax hollow. But a good heart is the sun and the moon .. for it shines bright and never changes, but keeps his course truly.”
— Shakespeare

“ If you aren't part of the solution, then you must be part of the precipitate.”
— A chemist's maxim

RISKS
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk dispair.
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, live.
Only a person who risks is free.
— anonymous

“Whatever the world may say or do, my part is to keep myself good; just as a gold piece, or an emerald, or a purple robe insists perpetually, "Whatever the world may say or do, my part is to remain an emerald and keep my color true.” — Marcus Aurelius, in "Meditations"

“Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
— Horace Mann

“It matters naught to try and fail, and try and fail again, but it matters much to try and fail, and fail to try again.” — Shakespeare

“Stop trying to be different. You do not have to be different to be good; to be good is different enough”. — Max Freed, quoted by A.J. Lerner

“Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.” — Emerson

“The just cause needs no argument; it carries its own weight. But the
unjust cause, because it is sick, requires clever medicine.— Euripides.

“The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each
party is worse than the other.— Will Rogers

“To escape criticism:  Do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”Elbert Hubbard, reformer

“Gambling is a way to get nothing for something.” — anon

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