Martin Luther: Quote for August 31, 2008

(When asked to recant his teachings.) Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.

-- Martin Luther

from: Luther (2003)

Joseph Fiennes acted as Martin Luther

Categories: Martin Luther, Joseph Fiennes, Luther

Leo Tolstoy: Quote for August 30, 2008

Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless.

-- Leo Tolstoy

Categories: Leo Tolstoy

Harry "Breaker" Morant: Quote for August 29, 2008

It's a new war for a new century. I suppose this is the first time the enemy hasn't been in uniform. They're farmers. They're people from small towns. They shoot at us from houses and from paddocks. Some of them are women, some of them are children, and some of them... are missionaries.

-- Harry "Breaker" Morant

from: Breaker Morant (1980)

Edward Woodward acted as Harry "Breaker" Morant

Harry Morant was referring to the Boar War (1899 - 1902). Yet, this style of war has become very popular even in the twenty-first century.

Categories: Harry "Breaker" Morant, Edward Woodward, Breaker Morant

Jiminy Cricket: Quote for August 28, 2008

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

-- Jiminy Cricket

Categories: Jiminy Cricket

Joseph Goebbels: Quote for August 27, 2008

What would have become of this movement without its propaganda? And where would our country be heading if truly creative propaganda did not provide its spiritual identity today?

-- Joseph Goebbels

from: The Goebbels Experiment (2005)

Categories: Joseph Goebbels, The Goebbels Experiment

William Jennings Bryan: Quote for August 26, 2008

The chief duty of governments, in so far as they are coercive, is to restrain those who would interfere with the inalienable rights of the individual, among which are the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness and the right to worship God according to the dictates of one's conscience.

-- William Jennings Bryan

Categories: William Jennings Bryan

Henry Drummond: Quote for August 25, 2008

In a child's power to master the multiplication table, there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "amens" and "holy holies" and "hosannas." An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters.

-- Henry Drummond

from: Inherit the Wind (1960)

Spencer Tracy acted as Henry Drummond

Categories: Henry Drummond, Spencer Tracy, Inherit the Wind

Joseph Biden: Quote for August 24, 2008

When this campaign is over, political slogans like 'experience' and 'change' will mean absolutely nothing. The next president has to act.

-- Joseph Biden

Categories: Joseph Biden

Ari Fleischer: Quote for August 23, 2008

President Bush has said Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Tony Blair has said Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Donald Rumsfeld has said Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Richard Butler has said they do. The United Nations has said they do. The experts have said they do. Iraq says they don't. You can choose who you want to believe.

-- Ari Fleischer

Categories: Ari Fleischer

Clarence Darrow: Quote for August 22, 2008

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means.

-- Clarence Darrow

Categories: Clarence Darrow

Jim Jones: Quote for August 21, 2008

Some leading scientists say we have to have euthanasia. Oh no! Oh no! Who's gonna decide who and when a person's going to die? We must never allow that, because this is the kind of thing that ushers in the terror of a Hitler's Germany. We must not allow these kind of things to enter our consciousness.

-- Jim Jones

from: Jonestown (2006 PBS Documentary)

In November of 1978 Jim Jones and 900 of his followers committed suicide.

Categories: Jim Jones, Jonestown

William Shakespeare: Quote for August 20, 2008

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

-- William Shakespeare

Categories: William Shakespeare

Abraham Lincoln: Quote for August 19, 2008

Gentlemen and fellow citizens, I presume you all know who I am. I'm plain Abraham Lincoln. I've been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like the old woman's dance. I'm in favor of a National Bank, internal improvement system, a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. If elected I shall be thankful, if not, it'll be all the same.

-- Abraham Lincoln

from: Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Henry Fonda acted as Abraham Lincoln

Categories: Abraham Lincoln, Henry Fonda, Young Mr. Lincoln

Edward L. Bernays: Quote for August 18, 2008

Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.

-- Edward L. Bernays

Categories: Edward Bernays

Oswald Cabal: Quote for August 17, 2008

Rest enough for the individual man - too much, and too soon - and we call it death. But for Man, no rest and no ending. He must go on, conquest beyond conquest. First this little planet with its winds and ways, and then all the laws of mind and matter that restrain him. Then the planets about him and at last out across immensity to the stars. And when he has conquered all the deeps of space and all the mysteries of time, still he will be beginning.

-- Oswald Cabal

from: Things to Come (1936)

Raymond Massey acted as Oswald Cabal

Categories: Oswald Cabal, Raymond Massey, Things to Come

Max Ehrmann: Quote for August 16, 2008

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

-- Max Ehrmann

Categories: Max Ehrmann