Thursday, August 31, 2006

Cynicism

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.

-- George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born dramatist, critic, novelist, and Nobel laureate (1856-1950)

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Looking For Trouble

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.

-- Ernest Benn

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

An Idealist

An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.

-- H. L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

Monday, August 28, 2006

A Cynic

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

-- H. L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

Friday, August 25, 2006

Moral Standards

Whenever 'A' attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon 'B', 'A' is most likely a scoundrel.

-- H. L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

Thursday, August 24, 2006

All Men Are Frauds

All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.

-- H. L. Mencken

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Common Sense

It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.

-- H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

Common Sense

It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.

-- H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Reality Must Take Precedence

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.

-- Richard Feynmann

Monday, August 21, 2006

Under The Law

With all its defects, delays and inconveniences, men have discovered no technique for long preserving free government except that the Executive be under the law, and that the law be made by parliamentary deliberations.

-- Supreme Court Justice J. Jackson's concurring opinion in Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer

Friday, August 18, 2006

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Drugs And Dreams

I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough.

-- Maurits Cornelis Escher, 1898 - 1972

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Nothing Is Enough

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.

-- Epicurus (c.341-270 BC, Greek philosopher)

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Monday, August 14, 2006

Under Control

If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

-- Mario Andretti (1940-, Italian-born American auto racer)

Friday, August 11, 2006

Unfit

We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.

-- Judith Martin, (Miss Manners)

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Never Be A Civilized Country

This will never be a civilized country until we spend more money for books than we do on chewing gum.

-- Elbert Hubbard

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Hesitate To Say Anything Nice

I hesitate to say anything nice about him, for fear that it would be used against him. And that's a terrible commentary on the state of politics and the political climate today.

-- Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, on Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut. New York Times, July 16, 2006

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

An Insult Instead Of A Stone

The first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the founder of civilization.

-- Sigmund Freud, neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis (1856-1939)

Monday, August 07, 2006

The Right To Be Let Alone

The right to be let alone -- the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.

-- Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, (November 13, 1856 - October 3, 1941)

Friday, August 04, 2006

A Gift Of God

Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God's gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.

-- Freeman Dyson

Thursday, August 03, 2006

True Civilization

The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself.

-- Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (1833-1899)

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

War Is Hell

It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.

-- William Tecumseh Sherman, Union General in the American Civil War (1820-1891)

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Landis

One day before he was the leader, then he was defeated. But he was no coward, and thanks to his great heart, it is a very great performance.

-- Jean-Marie LeBlanc, director of the Tour de France, on the performance of Floyd Landis. New York Times, 7/26/07

--

Landis had the overall lead after the first really tough mountain stage in the Alps. He then lost the lead by eight minutes the next day, falling into 11th place. It appeared that his chances of winning were over.

The very next day Landis rode a solo, 145-km breakaway on the final mountain stage, winning by 7:30 and rising to second place, 30 seconds out. Two days later, in the final stage before the arrival in Paris, Landis won the individual time trial by a minute and a half, ultimately winning the overall by 59 seconds in one of the closest, most back-and-forth tours ever. Unfortunately, several days later it was revealed that Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone on the day of his epic comeback.