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"If the country goes to war Americans will forget tolerance. To fight you must be brutal and ruthless. The spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policman on the beat, the man in the street. Conformity will be the only virtue. And every man who refuses to conform must pay the penalty."
Woodrow Wilson to Frank Cobb before making the decision to declare war on Germany WWI.
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Did you know, Piman, that Woodrow Wilson was an outspoken White Supremacist? (My husband is reading a book right now that talks about little known facts of American History called "Lies My Teacher Told Me"). Interesting stuff. Anyway, as far as good lines go, how's this?:
"I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees" I can't remember who said it, but I read it in a book of memorable quotes by women.
I was unaware of the fact that he was a white supremecist, but how different does that make him from most white men of his generation, both educated and otherwise?
I do now he was one of the last great orators. An unfortunate nearly extinct breed in the age of television and sound bites.
I am reading a WWI history right now called Over There by Byron Farwell. Lot's of great stuff in there.
[This message has been edited by piman (edited January 12, 2000).]
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Actually, there were two schools of thought on the superior position of prominece held by the descendants of European nations at the time.
There were those that held that the White race was superior by nature and destiny to all other races, and believed that it was the duty of White man to suppress and dominate all other races forever.
And then there were those that held that the supremacy of the white man at that point in history was a gift that must be shared with all other races. These thinkers have mostly been ridiculed for their "Little Brown Brother" mentality, but they were in fact more enlightened than most thinkers in this age. The flat truth of the matter was that the European nations and their descendants had accomplished tremendous strides towards a brighter future, both in technology and in civility, embracing positive features of hundreds of other cultures, and remaining a vibrant and vital cultural tradition themselves.
Unfortunately, elements of asian culture, accustomed to long superiority, moved against the European tradition, and destroyed it so effectively that no trace of it still remains in the world today. This is very regretable. However, coming world events will show that they were farsighted to do so. China will again emerge as the natural center of the world, relegating America and Europe to second class nations.
And there is a significant chance that China will embrace some of the better elements of the tradition that they so throughly destroyed.
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War is a vital matter of state. It is the field on which life or death is determined and the road that leads to either survival or ruin, and must be examined with the greatest care.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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The best military policy is to attack stratagies, the next to attack alliances, the next to attack soldiers, and the worst to assault walled cities.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Are you trying to start a war, Survivor? China, the number one nation? I don't think so! This nation may one day hang by a thread but she will not fall. We are a people built of those who refused to take what other nations would force down their throats. We are a nation of fighters. Give us a worthy cause and watch us stand up and fight! Why do you think that in spite of world ridicule we still draw those who long for a better life?
What I look forward to is truely one nation under God! ONE NATION, ONE MULTIFACETED CULTURE.
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Well, apparently not all other possibilities have been exhausted just yet.
Also, defining Americans in a particular sense, namely, those that are willing to do the right thing once everything else fails, I think that you will find that once everything else has failed, the country that future Americans inherit will bear little resemblance to the state in which we now live.
But I do concede that America will endure, as long as there are patriots willing to fight and die for it.
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Small problem with saying that China will become a greater nation than the USA. First of all, technology wise, Americans are great inventors. Sure, we can't keep a secret and all that tech leaks to Asian countiries were it is perfected but...
Then of course one of the main reasons America is considered great is our life style. 3% of the worlds pop consum 30% of the resources. That is what makes people think of America as great. However look at the problem, if 3% use 30% then what would 25% use? If they used a relative ratio to America then they would be using around 250% of the world resources... not possible to say the least. True, China will get a larger economy than America but will they become greater than America? No, at least not under their current government and economic system. And deffinitly not with their current rate of pollution.
As a fun fact, if Chinesse drove cars as much as Americans do the world's supply of oil would be used in in a matter of months... if not days.
quote: Nor of course must they ever be allowed to raise Aristotle's question: whether "democratic behavior" means the behavior that democracies like or the behavior that will preserve a democracy. For if they did, then it could hardly fail to occur to them that these need not be the same.
Just a thought, why would you think it is necessary to drive cars and consume vast amounts of resources per capita in order to be a great nation?
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Simple, great nations are made great because they look great. In basic terms that means mass consumtion. To be great a nation must have a better life style than other nations, which is easiest obtained through mass consumption. Think of all the great nations through out history, Rome, England, France, Greece, ect. Notice how each of them consumed a lot for the time they existed? THAT is what makes a nation great, not military might, not technology.
For a quote... this is from the greatest history teacher in the world in regards to writing essays, but works for most things in general
"It should be like a girl's skirt, long enough to cover everything but short enough to keep it interesting."
quote:Society provided all that was required without the need for individual effort, leaving a long life-time to spend satisfying their least desre. Some gave way to their most hedonistic impulses. The corruption turned quickly to wanton abandon. No life was spared in the pursuit of pleasures both murderous and perverse. A sickness of concupiscence overtook the race. Blood flowed through the streets amidst the roar of the crowd.
Great societies don't start out with a philosophy of conspicuous consumption. They just tend to end that way.
quote:And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of this precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
Then said Isaiah to Hezedkiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
Then said Hezekaih to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
Would you believe that I just flipped my scriptures open to Isaiah and came up with that without even looking for it?
quote:And they said also: We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in one day.
Okay, I knew that one already and just looked it up. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I find ultra long skirts more interesting than short ones.
Speaking of which, I was once talking to a woman that made wedding dresses, and she told about this one time that she had made the most incredible flowing wedding gown for this woman, with yards of train and everything. Anyway, she had it hung inside a protective plastic, and the woman came in to pick it up. Well, she came to the dress, and saw that there was an extra yard and a half of plastic sheathing, and so she picked up a pair of scissors and sheared right through the extra plastic, not realizing that it wasn't extra, and destroyed the dress. Isn't that terrible?
quote:I saw her pick up the scissors and I shouted at her not to cut it. But I was on the other side of the store and she didn't pay any attention to me until it was too late.... But I had warned her, so she still had to pay for the dress....
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Hey, Jordan, don't a lot of rich Americans live in Belize?
As far as preserving democracy, my husband told me about an incident in South America (I know that there have been several like this), in which "our interests" were threatened, (read-- "our money"), so a company of Marines were sent to that country to "protect American citizens". An American diplomat was sent down with them, so that there would be even *one* American citizen for them to protect, so that the Marines could actually protect "our interests" (money). I know that governments do this sort of thing all the time, but should they? Sigh....
A *great* quote from a friend of mine, "Stupidity should be painful."
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I think in the case I just mentioned, it was. That dress was like a few thousand dollars, and you know that's gotta hurt (plus, it was her wedding dress )
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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My interpretation is this: if something happens to you it is within your power to deal with it as it should be dealt with. That's the first part. That if you're never tasked beyond your scope then every task is within your scope. The second part is that whatever your soul faces, either it has earned it or it has deserved it. No room for bitterness in that scheme of things. No "why me?" And no pride either. The soul has to accept what it faces as its just desert, or its earnings. But this is about the soul, not about the body and what happens to that. And what faces the soul is not always the same thing as what faces the body. To me, the quote is about acceptance and strength... but it is a many-faceted statement and can be interpreted different ways. Does that answer your question?
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Well, no, it didn't answer my question, since I just was asking which way my quote went, since I can never remember. But it was an interesting thought in its own right.
I tend to take a different view. I don't see how my soul has earned any of what I've got, nor how I face even a fraction of what I deserve. But I also suspect that the meanings are shaded differently in the original. I think that God has given us all that we were prepared to recieve, and tasked us with all that we are capable of doing.
Just as a side note, I find it interesting that Islam uses the name Allah, which is akin to Eloah, the basis for Elohim. It's interesting not least because where many people think of Jehovah or YHVH as being the name of God, as taken from the....
Well, it's just very interesting.
quote:Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
I'm not sure why I mention that now, but it's one of those quotes that just sticks with you.
[This message has been edited by Survivor (edited March 06, 2000).]
quote:Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.
Have you ever been at the point of acclaim and center of admiration and suddenly seen that your pleasure was in yourself and would die with that moment?
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It's a weird experience. I mean, one moment you're reveling, and the next moment you just feel so different.
quote:If he had not been bitten with this idea they might all be peacefully asleep on board; tomorrow men would be dead who but for him would still be alive.
quote:The report of the cartridge sounded an instant later. As he somersaulted into a clump of nettles in the ditch bottom, he remembered vividly the scent of bean flowers at sunset. He had not known that the men had a gun.
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Just on the America/China issue. America's greatest strength stems from the diversity of people. Even though we don't always tolerate or respect, we all realize (to a degree) that we are all the other countries' second sons and wannabes. It's like alloy, all of the metals melted together make a stronger beam than the pure iron and steel ones.
Plus, we have a whole lot more raw meterial at our disposal than China, considering how much size we have on it.
My quote:
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
-- Einstein
(I did a bit of research on him, so I have a lot of quotes )
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"Television is the opiate of the people." Sometimes mistakenly attributed to Karl Marx. It's also a not very subtle form of thought control, and a powerful conformist influence on both the rising generation and the political attitudes of most Americans.
Diversity is good, but it doesn't always provide might. And people are always the most vital natural resource.
Blech, now I have to wash out my mouth to get rid of the taste of stale cliches. Thanks so much for making me say that Ptah, bleh spuat. I'm just going to get some lemonade now.
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All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.--Ambrose Bierce
As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks.--Anonymous
Don't you wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'brightness', but it doesn't work.--Gallagher
Due to budgetary restraints the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. We apologize if this inconveniences you in any way.--Anonymous
I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.--Robert McCloskey
I make it a policy to try never to make a complete idiot of myself twice in the same way. After all, there's always all kinds of new ways to make a complete idiot of myself. Why repeat the old ones?--Margot Dalton
In times like these it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.--Paul Harvey
We've heard that a million monkeys at a keyboard could produce the Complete Works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.--Robert Wilensky
Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.--Tom Wilson
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I can't believe that we've left this at the bottom of the heap for so long. You know, you should all search the existing threads before starting new ones to ask questions that have already been explored...now somebody find that thread about Utopian societies that I forgot to look up before I posted my latest thread.
quote:If You Find Yourself Struggling with Loneliness, You're Not Alone. And Yet You Are Alone. So Very Alone.
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I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely, and the noble-minded, as from time to time they pass my gate.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
[This message has been edited by spcpthook (edited March 24, 2006).]
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As long as we keep it on the subject of written quotes, it is a discussion about writing. Whether or not it is "open" probably depends on whether you have any good quotes to contribute.
Really, because sometimes you need a thread that isn't compatible with milk or White Russians
quote:America's greatest strength stems from the diversity of people. Even though we don't always tolerate or respect, we all realize (to a degree) that we are all the other countries' second sons and wannabes. It's like alloy, all of the metals melted together make a stronger beam than the pure iron and steel ones.
But our Founding Fathers weren't concerned with diversity:
quote:With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice, that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people; a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty and independence.
(John Jay, in The Federalist, Number II, October, 1737)
Diversity is overrated as it is generally regarded today. Instead of E Pluribus Unum, "Out of Many, One," we've been plagued with Al Gore's bastardization of the motto on the Great Seal of the U.S. He said in a speech, "We can build a collective civic space large enough for all our separate identities, that we can be e pluribus unum -- out of one, many."
Making the one into the many is a Balkanization that can have no good end. Diversity is only a strength when everyone is pulling together.
quote:Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will life up his fellow....And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
(Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12)
quote:Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
(Amos 3:3)
We're tending too much to stand-alone iron and steel, and dangerously lacking in alloy.
[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited March 24, 2006).]
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Ptah, bleh spuat. I'm just going to get some lemonade now.
