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December 26

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
There isn't anyone anywhere that isn't Seymour's Fat Lady. Don't you know that? Don't you know that goddam secret yet? And don't you know — listen to me, now — don't you know who that Fat Lady really is? . . . Ah, buddy. Ah, buddy. It's Christ Himself. Christ Himself, buddy. ~ J. D. Salinger
2005
It is not the facts which guide the conduct of men, but their opinions about facts; which may be entirely wrong. We can only make them right by discussion. ~ Norman Angell (born 26 December 1872)
2006
Let us face squarely the paradox that the world which goes to war is a world, usually, genuinely desiring peace. War is the outcome, not mainly of evil intentions, but on the whole, of good intentions which miscarry or are frustrated. It is made, not usually by evil men knowing themselves to be wrong, but is the outcome of policies pursued by good men usually passionately convinced that they are right. ~ Norman Angell
2007
The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not to dominate the world. ~ Harry S. Truman (died 26 December 1972)
2008
Hear from the grave, great Taliessin, hear;
They breathe a soul to animate thy clay.
Bright Rapture calls, and soaring, as she sings,
Waves in the eye of Heav'n her many-colour'd wings.
~ Thomas Gray ~
2009
The obstacles to peace are in the minds and hearts of men.
In the study of matter we can be honest, impartial, true. That is why we succeed in dealing with it. But about the things we care for — which are ourselves, our desires and lusts, our patriotisms and hates — we find a harder test of thinking straight and truly. Yet there is the greater need. Only by intellectual rectitude and in that field shall we be saved. There is no refuge but in truth, in human intelligence, in the unconquerable mind of man. ~ Norman Angell
2010
To each his suff'rings: all are men,
Condemn'd alike to groan,
The tender for another's pain;
Th' unfeeling for his own.
Yet ah! why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise.
~ Thomas Gray ~
2011
The force which makes for war does not derive its strength from the interested motives of evil men; it derives its strength from the disinterested motives of good men. ~ Norman Angell
2012
We’re creators by permission, by grace as it were. No one creates alone, of and by himself. An artist is an instrument that registers something already existent, something which belongs to the whole world, and which, if he is an artist, he is compelled to give back to the world.
~ Henry Miller ~
2013
No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance.
~ Henry Miller ~
2014
Political leaders are never leaders. For leaders we have to look to the Awakeners! Lao Tse, Buddha, Socrates, Jesus, Milarepa, Gurdjiev, Krishnamurti.
~ Henry Miller ~
2015
Bright-eyed Fancy, hov'ring o'er,
Scatters from her pictured urn
Thoughts that breathe and words that burn.
~ Thomas Gray ~
2016
There is survival and survival, the historian learns to his grief. The very worst impulses of humankind can survive generations, centuries, even millennia. And the best of our individual efforts can die with us at the end of a single lifetime.
~ Elizabeth Kostova ~
2017
Any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery.
~ Henry Miller ~
2018
All about us we see a world in revolt; but revolt is negative, a mere finishing-off process. In the midst of destruction we carry with us also our creation, our hopes, our strength, our urge to be fulfilled. The climate changes as the wheel turns, and what is true for the sidereal world is true for man. The last two thousand years have brought about a duality in man such as he never experienced before, and yet the man who dominates this whole period was one who stood for wholeness, one who proclaimed the Holy Ghost. No life in the whole history of man has been so misinterpreted, so woefully misunderstood as Christ's.
~ Henry Miller ~
2019
War has no longer the justification that it makes for the survival of the fittest; it involves the survival of the less fit. The idea that the struggle between nations is a part of the evolutionary law of man's advance involves a profound misreading of the biological analogy.
The warlike nations do not inherit the earth; they represent the decaying human element.
~ Norman Angell ~
2020
Every man is working out his destiny in his own way and nobody can be of any help except by being kind, generous, and patient.
~ Henry Miller ~
2021
The fight for ideals can no longer take the form of fight between nations, because the lines of division on moral questions are within the nations themselves and intersect the political frontiers.
~ Norman Angell ~
2022
Men are more or less reconciled to the thought of death, but they also know that it is not necessary to kill one another. They know it intermittently, just as they know other things which they conveniently proceed to forget where there is danger of having their sleep disturbed. To live without killing is a thought which could electrify the world, if men were only capable of staying awake long enough to let the idea soak in. But man refuses to stay awake because if he did, he would be obliged to become something other than he now is, and the thought of that is apparently too painful for him to endure.
~ Henry Miller ~
2023
One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.
~ Henry Miller ~


2024
Rank or add further suggestions…

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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.
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Suggestions

[edit]

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. ~ Harry S. Truman (Date of death)

  • 3 ~ UDScott 23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
  • 3 - Mister Six 11:10, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
    • This was already used, as the second Wikiquote quote of the day, on 12 July 2003 ~ Kalki 23:53, 25 December 2005 (UTC) -->

Every nation sincerely desires peace; and all nations pursue courses which if persisted in, must make peace impossible. ~ Norman Angell (date of birth)

  • 2 Kalki 23:32, 25 December 2008 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 23:53, 25 December 2005 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
  • 3 InvisibleSun 16:14, 25 December 2007 (UTC)
  • 2 Zarbon 20:33, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile,
The short and simple annals of the poor.
~ Thomas Gray (born December 26, 1716)

  • 4 InvisibleSun 16:14, 25 December 2007 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 23:32, 25 December 2008 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 18:01, 25 December 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
  • 1 Zarbon 20:33, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. ~ Mao Zedong (born December 26)

  • 4 and this was brought up on many other dates but it's nice to keep it on his birthday. The other dates were December 16 and September 9. I gave it a 4 in the other occasions as well. Zarbon 06:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
    • I would also like to mention that MosheZadka gave this one a 3 on the date of September 9. UDScott, InivisibleSun, and Kalki all gave it a 2 on the date of December 16. Zarbon 16:35, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki (talk · contributions) 18:18, 22 December 2009 (UTC) * 2 Kalki 14:09, 25 December 2008 (UTC) I do appreciate the significance of this quote, but have no strong desire to use it anytime soon.

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed. ~ Mao Zedong (born December 26)

  • 3 because this is highly true, both are intertwined and a part of each other. Zarbon 06:47, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
    • SOURCE: The Logic of Violence in Civil War - Page 38 by Stathis N. Kalyvas - History - 2006
  • 2 Kalki 14:09, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Without an army for the people, there is nothing for the people. ~ Mao Zedong (born December 26)

  • 3 because the army is what maintains and sustains. It is the epitome of power. Zarbon 05:25, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 14:09, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Behind the steps that Misery treads
Approaching Comfort view:
The hues of bliss more brightly glow
Chastised by sabler tints of woe,
And blended form, with artful strife,
The strength and harmony of life.
~ Thomas Gray ~

  • 3 Kalki 17:21, 25 December 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
  • 2 Zarbon 23:17, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Sweet is the breath of vernal shower,
The bee's collected treasures sweet,
Sweet music's melting fall, but sweeter yet
The still small voice of gratitude.
~ Thomas Gray ~

  • 3 Kalki 17:21, 25 December 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
  • 2 Zarbon 23:17, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Ideas have consequences, and totally erroneous ideas are likely to have destructive consequences. ~ Steve Allen (born 26 December 1921)

As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of the science. Whenever any result is sought by its aid, the question will then arise — by what course of calculation can these results be arrived at by the machine in the shortest time? ~ Charles Babbage (born 26 December 1791)

In this age, which believes that there is a short-cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way, in the long run, is the easiest. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

The truly great writer does not want to write. He wants the world to be a place in which he can live the life of the imagination. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

The man who looks for security, even in the mind, is like a man who would chop off his limbs in order to have artificial ones which will give him no pain or trouble. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or the critic makes of them is not my concern. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything Godlike about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

Do anything, but let it produce joy. Do anything, but let it yield ecstasy. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. ~ Henry Miller (born 26 December 1891)

As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws. ~ Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

Never before had I known the sudden quiver of understanding that travels from word to brain to heart, the way a new language can move, coil, swim into life under the eyes, the almost savage leap of comprehension, the instantaneous, joyful release of meaning, the way the words shed their printed bodies in a flash of heat and light. ~ Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian

Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend. ~ Mao Zedong

Unconsciously we are moving into a new realm of being; what we have brought to perfection, in our zeal to escape the true reality, is a complete arsenal of destruction; when we have rid ourselves of the suicidal mania for a beyond we shall begin the life of here and now which is reality and which is sufficient unto itself. We shall have no need for art or religion because we shall be in ourselves a work of art.
~ Henry Miller ~
The fact is that the truth of harmony and human brotherhood derives not from an absorbed trance but from an awakened prajna or wisdom; and its validity depends not on any dramatic ecstatic visions but it belongs to man’s deeper vision and even to his natural reason unspoilt by theologies of exclusiveness.
~ Ram Swarup ~
Great truths have to be seen and lived and revealed again and again.
~ Ram Swarup ~


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