Any person who has the brains to think and the nerve to act for the benefit of the people of the country is considered a radical by those who are content with stagnation and willing to endure disaster. The future is not a gift, it is an achievement. -- Robert Kennedy What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. -- Micah 6:8 It is impossible for an exceptionally good man to be exceptionally rich. -- Plato Success is that place in life's road where Preparation and Opportunity meet, but too few people recognize it, because it often comes disguised as Hard Work. -- anon "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." The “Leavenings” annotations here and throughout the platform have been selected at the whim of the Editor. For useful collections of similar material, the reader should refer to the beautifully printed series of chapbooks “trotty Veck Messengers,” published at Saranac Lake, New York through the first half of the 20th century by two anonymous men wishing to spread encouragement and good cheer. “trotty Veck” is a character in Dickens’ “The Chimes.” The man who cannot settle in his mind where he ought to stand, but merely stays astride the fence, is certain to prove himself of little worth to either side. But he alone will be of value who, though sometimes pressure may be brought to bear, knows in his heart where he should stand and then, despite the consequences, stands firmly there. Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. To relieve the misfortunes of our fellow creatures is concuring with the Deity; it is godlike; but, if we provide encouragement for laziness, and supports for folly, may we not be found fighting against the order of God and Nature, which perhaps has appointed want and misery as proper punishment for, and cautions against, as well as necessary consequences of idleness and extravagance? Whenever we attempt to amend the scheme of Providence, and to interfere with the government of the world, we had need be very circumspect, lest we do more harm than good. Social Justice implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society, and that society has a duty to enable them to participate in this way. It's amazing what you can accomplish, if you don't care who gets the credit. Electile Dysfunction: The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either of the major parties. ....democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. Folks, all politics is applesauce. It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. The democracy wll cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might do, by fearing to attempt. Adam in the Garden Adam was moping around in the Garden of Eden, feeling very lonely. God asked, “What is wrong with you.” Adam told God that he had no one to talk to. So, God told Adam that he would make him a companion, and that the companion would be a woman. There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader and converting measures in opposition to each other…. How few aim at the good of the whole, without aiming too much at the prosperity of the parts. I Asked God I asked God to grant me patience. I asked God to give me happiness. I asked God to spare me pain. I asked God to make my spirit grow. I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life. I asked God to help me love others, as much as he loves me. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams Many people succumb to the temptation to worship Mammon. But look: "Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it." “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but so often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”—Helen Keller “For, under God, we are determined that whatsoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our exit, we will die free men.”—Josiah Quincy “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”—Thomas Paine “The happiness of society is the end of government.”—John Adams “Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter.”—Samuel Adams They may see the good you do as self-serving. "Whatever Fortune brings, don't be afraid of doing things." "truth, Justice, and The Constitution" — John C. Calhoun "All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble" "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tommorrow." — anon "Any person who has the brains to think and the nerve to act for the benefit of the people of the country is considered a radical by those who are content with stagnation and willing to endure disaster." — William Randolph Hearst "We will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." —Martin Luther King "There is nothing more difficult to carry out, more doubtful of success, or more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new order of things." Niccolo Machiavelli Excellence can be attained if you.... Care more than others think wise “ The surest signs of a healthy society are open and free debates. We must be able to agree to disagree. In a democracy protecting the rights of our adversaries is as important and protecting the rights of our advocates. “ I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion. Thomas Jefferson “It is not the symphony of voices in sweet concert that I enjoy, but the cacaphony of democracy, the brouhahas and the donnybrooks, the full-throated roar of a free people busy using their right of freedom of speech. Molly Ivins “All I want is the same thing you want: To have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people. Jimmy Carter There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of
humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream ... they
are right. It is the American dream. Prohibitionists generally subscribe to the proposition that all human rights dervive, ultimately, from a Creator and not from man-made government. This idea was well stated by Senator Joseph Biden: "As a child of God, I believe my rights are not derived from the Constitution. My rights are not derived from any government. My rights are not derived from any majority. My rights are because I exist. They were given to me and each of my fellow citizens by our Creator and they represent the essence of human dignity." Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.Reinhold Niebuhr. Invictus
The Quitter, by Robert Service
The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from support of a cause we believe to be just. Abraham Lincoln
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