Thank The Voters

Now, I came out and I said, I feel great.  I do feel great.  You know, I have had the privilege of representing the state of Louisiana for 12 years.  I've been able to participate in democracy.  And when you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to, but you don't pout.  You don't whine.  You don't claim that the election was stolen.  You don't find a reason.  You don't manufacture some excuse.  You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you've had that privilege.  And that's what I'm doing right now.  

-- Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) conceding defeat after losing his primary (18 May 2026)

Grandkid Grad

A hearty congratulations to my eldest grandson, Joseph Schum, Jr, on his graduation from high school in the class of 2026.  Sunday afternoon he and 14 classmates were part of the 145th commencement ceremony at Bement High School.

He has made a pretty good young man of himself so far, and I look forward to watching him make his impact on the world.

Unable To Recognize Truth

A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others.  When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest form of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal in satisfying his vices.  And it all comes from lying -- to others and to yourself.

-- Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881), Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and philosopher, The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880)

Easy And Safe

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

-- William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 - 1891), US Army general during the American Civil War, Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman (1875) Chapter XXV "Conclusion--Military Lessons Of The War" 

No Occupation

"You're a gentleman," they used to say to him.  "You shouldn't have gone murdering people with a hatchet; that's no occupation for a gentleman."

-- Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881), Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and philosopher, Crime and Punishment (1866)

A Comedy In Long-shot

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

-- Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (1889 - 1977), British comedic actor and director, as quoted in his obituary in The Guardian (28 December 1977)

A Precursor

I believe that faith is a precursor of all our ideas.  Without faith, there never could have evolved hypothesis, theory, science or mathematics.  I believe that faith is an extension of the mind.  It is the key that negates the impossible.  To deny faith is to refute oneself and the spirit that generates all our creative forces.  My faith is in the unknown, in all that we do not understand by reason; I believe that what is beyond our comprehension is a simple fact in other dimensions, and that in the realm of the unknown there is an infinite power for good.

-- Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (1889 - 1977), British comedic actor and director, My Autobiography (1964), p. 291