Tuesday, September 02, 2008

A Few Favorite Quotations

It is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong man or woman stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. (T.Roosevelt)[modified]

"I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men's hearts. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder." Mohandas K. Ghandi, Autobiography.

"Desire life like water, yet drink death like wine." G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy.

"With enough courage you don't have to worry about reputation." Rhett Butler, Gone WithThe Wind.

"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself must be either a beast or a god." Aristotle, Politics.

"Words had to change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them. Reckless audacity came to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice; moderation was held to be a cloak for unmanliness; ability to see all sides of a question, inaptness to act on any...The advocate of extreme measures was always trustworthy; his opponent a man to be suspected...." Thucydides (circa 420 BCE) (Interesting, how "BCE" might also refer to the Bush/Cheney Era.), The Peloponnesian War.

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