The Wisdom of Libraries

"If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty."

~ Senator JOHN F. KENNEDY, Saturday Review, October 29, 1960, p. 44

Oligarchy or Democracy?

"You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy, but you cannot have both."

~ Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Finding Picasso

"I do not seek. I find."

~ Pablo Picasso

True Teaching

“The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple.”

~Amos Bronson Alcott

Sincere Ignorance and Conscientious Stupidity

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Kissing Moral Horses

“In Westerns you were permitted to kiss your horse but never your girl.”

~ Gary Cooper

Never Surrender

“I never surrendered, because the more you struggle, the more possibilities you have of winning and receiving help. It has always been in the last minutes, when everything seemed lost thast someone came to help me go beyond my limits.”

~ Silver Kane, Dispara, Dispara, Dispara

Apply and Do

"Knowing is not enough, one must apply. Willing is not enough, one must do."

~ Bruce Lee

No Need For Diplomacy

“It would be some time before I fully realized that the United States sees little need for diplomacy. Power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy … The Roman Empire had no need for diplomacy. Nor does the United States.”

~ Boutros-Boutros Ghali

Utopian Politics

"Anyone who deliberately tries to get himself elected to a public office is permanently disqualified from holding one."

~ Sir Thomas More (Utopia)

Wage War

"My home policy: I wage war; my foreign policy: I wage war. All the time I wage war."

~ Georges Clemenceau (1918)

He Knows Nothing

"He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career."

~ George Bernard Shaw

Facts Are Stupid

"Facts are stupid things."

~ Ronald Reagan

Counting Votes

"As long as I count the votes what are you going to do about it? Say."

~ William M. "Boss" Tweed

A Tree Is a Tree

"A tree is a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"

~ Ronald Reagan (1966, opposing the California Redwoods Park)

To Err, to Blame

"To err is human. To blame someone else is politics."

~ Hubert Humphrey

Mind On Fire

"Better your mind on fire than your soul."

~ Thomas Fortenberry

The Purpose of Life

"The purpose of life is to bring forth goodness. Now, in this life."

~ Leo Tolstoy

Equality

"Equality should be a non-issue. It is a universal right. There is no lesser class of humanity."

~ Thomas Fortenberry