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April 15

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Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has. Even when you make a tax form out on the level, you don't know when it's through if you are a crook or a martyr. ~ Will Rogers (US income tax filing deadline, April 15)
2005
Here forms, here colours, here the character of every part of the universe are concentrated to a point; and that point is so marvellous a thing … Oh! marvellous, O stupendous Necessity — by thy laws thou dost compel every effect to be the direct result of its cause, by the shortest path. These are miracles... ~ Leonardo da Vinci (born 15 April 1452)
2006
Although to penetrate into the intimate mysteries of nature and thence to learn the true causes of phenomena is not allowed to us, nevertheless it can happen that a certain fictive hypothesis may suffice for explaining many phenomena. ~ Leonhard Euler (born 15 April 1707)
2007
We work in the dark — we do what we can — we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. ~ Henry James
2008
Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue. It is the very atmosphere of the mind; and when the mind is imaginative — much more when it happens to be that of a man of genius — it takes to itself the faintest hints of life, it converts the very pulses of the air into revelations. ~ Henry James
2009

Gentlemen, that is surely true, it is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don't know what it means. But we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth.

~ Benjamin Peirce on Euler's identity ~

2010
Any one who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but rather his memory. Good culture is born of a good disposition; and since the cause is more to be praised than the effect, I will rather praise a good disposition without culture, than good culture without the disposition. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
2011
I am a being of Heaven and Earth,
of thunder and lightning,
of rain and wind,
of the galaxies,
of the suns and the stars
and the void through which they travel.
The essence of nature,
eternal, divine that all men seek to know to hear,
known as the great illusion time,
and the all-prevailing atmosphere.
And now you know my background.
~ eden ahbez ~
2012
This is the law: Every thing existing on the physical plane is an exteriorization of thought, which must be balanced through the one who issued the thought, and in accordance with that one’s responsibility, at the conjunction of time, condition, and place. ~ Harold W. Percival
2013
The acquisition of any knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known.
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2014
A thought has no size in the physical sense but is vast as compared to the physical acts and objects into which it is later precipitated. The power of a thought is enormous and superior to all the successive physical acts, objects, and events that body forth its energy. A thought often endures for a time much greater than the whole life of the man who thought it.
~ Harold W. Percival ~
2015
Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than with the imagination being awake?
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2016
To lie is so vile, that even if it were in speaking well of godly things it would take off something from God's grace; and Truth is so excellent, that if it praises but small things they become noble.
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2017
Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest.
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2018
He who thinks little, errs much.
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2019
If we pretend to respect the artist at all we must allow him his freedom of choice, in the face, in particular cases, of innumerable presumptions that the choice will not fructify. Art derives a considerable part of its beneficial exercise from flying in the face of presumptions, and some of the most interesting experiments of which it is capable are hidden in the bosom of common things.
~ Henry James ~
2020
Doubt comes in at the window, when Inquiry is denied at the door.
~ Benjamin Jowett ~
2021
Life being all inclusion and confusion, and art being all discrimination and selection, the latter, in search of the hard latent value with which it alone is concerned, sniffs round the mass as instinctively and unerringly as a dog suspicious of some buried bone.
~ Henry James ~
2022
From time immemorial to the present day, mankind has been looking for heroes. People always appreciate heroes. They always support those who are brave. And always feel who is fighting for the good. During the 50 days of this war, Ukraine became a hero for the whole free world. For those who have the courage to call a spade a spade. For those who are not poisoned by propaganda. You have all become heroes. All Ukrainian men and women who withstood and do not give up. And who will win. Who will return peace to Ukraine.
~ Volodymyr Zelenskyy ~
2023
Learning acquired in youth arrests the evil of old age; and if you understand that old age has wisdom for its food, you will so conduct yourself in youth that your old age will not lack for nourishment.
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2024
Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful.
~ Leonardo da Vinci ~
2025
Rank or add further suggestions…

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4 : Excellent – should definitely be used. (This is the utmost ranking and should be used by any editor for only one quote at a time for each date.)
3 : Very Good – strong desire to see it used.
2 : Good – some desire to see it used.
1 : Acceptable – but with no particular desire to see it used.
0 : Not acceptable – not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.
An averaging of the rankings provided to each suggestion produces it’s general ranking in considerations for selection of Quote of the Day. The selections made are usually chosen from the top ranked options existing on the page, but the provision of highly ranked late additions, especially in regard to special events (most commonly in regard to the deaths of famous people, or other major social or physical occurrences), always remain an option for final selections.
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Suggestions

[edit]

A tradition is kept alive only by something being added to it. ~ Henry James (born April 15, 1843)

We are divided of course between liking to feel the past strange and liking to feel it familiar. ~ Henry James

  • 3 InvisibleSun 09:17, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
  • 2 Zarbon 23:49, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 15:09, 5 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC) (I would likely give this a 4 if it were being suggested for 31 December.)

Perversely adorable always — and I scarce know why — the late afternoon light in deserted haunts of study; with the secret of supreme dignity lurking, above all, in high, dusky, wainscoted chambers where the sound of one's footfall lingers, to one's pleasure, like a caress, and where portraits of the appurtenant worthies, the heroes and patrons, grow vague in the twilight. It is a tribute to the forces of idealism lurking again and again, over the country, in the amenity of the general Collegiate appearance, that the last thing these conditions overtly suggest, or seem to accept as their imputed virtue, is this precipitation of the young intelligence into the mere vociferous market. ~ Henry James

Don't do the right thing looking for a reward, because it might not come. ~ Hugh Thompson, Jr.

Here's to the day when it is May
And care as light as a feather,
When your little shoes and my big boots
Go tramping over the heather.
~ Bliss Carman

Sir king, I have been often accused of harbouring traitorous designs against you, but, as God in heaven is just and true, may this morsel of bread choke me if even in thought I have ever been false to you. ~ Godwin, Earl of Wessex

  • 3 Zarbon 04:41, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC) but leaning toward 0, as this is considered to be a very doubtful attribution.

As a day well spent procures a happy sleep, so a life well employed procures a happy death. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

OR

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

  • 4 for both versions. Zarbon 04:41, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 for either version. InvisibleSun 01:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 for the first version, 2 (leaning toward 3) for the second version.  allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC) (Comment: would it not make more sense to make this quote available on 2 May (the day da Vinci died) rather than 15 April (the day he was born)?)

Avoid studies of which the result dies with the worker. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

OR

Shun those studies in which the work that results dies with the worker. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

  • 3 for both versions. Zarbon 04:41, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 for the first version. - InvisibleSun 01:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC) preferring the first version.
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Those who are in love with practice without knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a ship without rudder or compass and who never can be certain whether he is going. Practice must always be founded on sound theory, and to this Perspective is the guide and the gateway; and without this nothing can be done well in the matter of drawing. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

O neglectful Nature, wherefore art thou thus partial, becoming to some of thy children a tender and benignant mother, to others a most cruel and ruthless stepmother? I see thy children given into slavery to others without ever receiving any benefit, and in lieu of any reward for the services they have done for them they are repaid by the severest punishments. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

The sun gives spirit and life to plants and the earth nourishes them with moisture. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

The senses are of the earth; Reason, stands apart in contemplation. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Wisdom is the daughter of experience. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

  • 3 and lean toward 4. Zarbon 04:41, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 01:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

O Time! consumer of all things; O envious age! thou dost destroy all things and devour all things with the relentless teeth of years, little by little in a slow death. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

The grave will fall in upon him who digs it. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

  • 3 and strong lean toward 4. All my favorite characters plot only to become victims themselves. That is the splendid beauty of their essence. Zarbon 04:41, 9 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 01:51, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Wherever good fortune enters, envy lays siege to the place and attacks it; and when it departs, sorrow and repentance remain behind. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

There will be many men who will move one against another, holding in their hands a cutting tool. But these will not do each other any injury beyond tiring each other; for, when one pushes forward the other will draw back. But woe to him who comes between them! For he will end by being cut in pieces. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people's money to settle the quarrel. ~Abraham Lincoln

  • 3 Lincoln's death dateSuperJew 08:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC) but I remain inclined to generally rate suggestions for death dates less high than birth dates, save when birth dates of people are unknown, or the specific quote is perhaps more relevant to the death date for some reason.
    • I think people are more quoted more after their deaths and they are remembered on their deaths (for example: Jewish death dates (Yahrtzeit), which sadly doesn't have an article on en:wiki and Asian cultures)
  • 1 Zarbon 15:31, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject any thing, is not whether it have any evil in it; but whether it have more of evil, than of good. There are few things wholly evil, or wholly good. Almost every thing, especially of governmental policy, is an inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded. ~Abraham Lincoln

  • (Lincoln's death date) 4 SuperJew 08:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC) 3 SuperJew 14:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 15:31, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way. ~Abraham Lincoln

  • 4 Lincoln's death date SuperJew 08:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 15:31, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes." When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be take pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy ~Abraham Lincoln

  • (Lincoln's death date) 4 SuperJew 08:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC) 3 SuperJew 14:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 13:42, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 15:31, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 (leaning toward 0) allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ~Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address

  • (Lincoln's death date) 4 SuperJew 08:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC) 3 SuperJew 14:00, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 — this has now been used at 19 November the date of the speech1 Kalki this would be more appropriate for either 3 July, the date of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, or perhaps, 19 November the date of the speech (where a small portion of it has already been used).
  • 1 Zarbon 15:31, 15 April 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

But this theory of our government is wholly different from the practical fact.  The fact is that the government, like a highwayman, says to a man: Your money, or your life.  And many, if not most, taxes are paid under the compulsion of that threat.

The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the road side, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets.  But the robbery is none the less a robbery on that account; and it is far more dastardly and shameful.

The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act.  He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit.  He does not pretend to be anything but a robber.  He has not acquired impudence enough to profess to be merely a "protector," and that he takes men's money against their will, merely to enable him to "protect" those infatuated travellers, who feel perfectly able to protect themselves, or do not appreciate his peculiar system of protection.  He is too sensible a man to make such professions as these.  Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do.  He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful "sovereign," on account of the "protection" he affords you.  He does not keep "protecting" you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands.  He is too much of a gentleman to be guilty of such impostures, and insults, and villainies as these.  In short, he does not, in addition to robbing you, attempt to make you either his dupe or his slave.

The proceedings of those robbers and murderers, who call themselves "the government," are directly the opposite of these of the single highwayman.

~ Lysander Spooner ~

  • 4 (tax day) allixpeeke (talk) 23:10, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 12:35, 14 April 2015 (UTC) but with a lean toward 3 or 4, though possibly trimmed a bit — and I might consider more by Spooner later today, must be leaving now...
Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, modesty the knot and truth the twist.

This is the sacred thread of the soul; if you have it, then go ahead and put it on me.

~ Nanak ~



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