Thought for Today

"That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly."

~~~~~ Thomas Paine

Thought for Today

"To prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eyes."

~~~~~ John Locke

Thought for Today

"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems – not people; to focus your energies on answers – not excuses."

~~~~~ William Arthur Ward

Thought for Today

"If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more."

~~~~~ John Templeton

Thought for Today

"Wall Street people learn nothing and forget everything."

~~~~~ Benjamin Graham

Thought for Today

"When an action is once done, it is right or wrong for ever; no accidental failure of its good or evil fruits can possibly alter that."

~~~~~ William Kingdon Clifford

Thought for Today

"Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit."

~~~~~ Kin Hubbard

Thought for Today

"There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity."

~~~~~ Nathaniel Branden

Thought for Today

"What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long."

~~~~~ Thomas Sowell

Thought for Today

"Party leads to vicious, corrupt and unprofitable legislation, for the sole purpose of defeating party."

~~~~~ James Fenimore Cooper

Heirloom Jam Cake Recipe

Here in Lebanon, TN, one of the most respected members of our community is JB Leftwich. He is retired from a long and successful career as teacher, journalist, and businessman. Although he is now 91 years old, he still writes a regular weekly column, "Second Thoughts," for The Lebanon Democrat, our local daily newspaper.

In his latest column, Mr. Leftwich mentions a special cake which was one of his mother's specialties, and which his wife still bakes for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. He was kind enough to furnish the recipe. Here it is, exactly as he wrote it:

Grandma's Jam Cake

3 1/2 c. flour
6 whole eggs
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
2 c. seedless blackberry jam
2 c. walnuts
1 c. candied orange peel
1 box raisins
2 tsp soda
2 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp allspice

Directions: Cook in a large stem pan greased and sprinkled with flour and at 250 to 300 degrees for about three hours. While cooking, place pan of water in oven under cake.

Enhance the flavor by placing the baked cake in a closed container with slices of apples scattered about. An ounce of Bourbon in a small open bottle or flask adds another dimension.

Source: JB Leftwich, "Second Thoughts," The Lebanon Democrat, 11/27/09 (republished 12/17/10)

Thought for Today

"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips."

~~~~~ Oliver Goldsmith

Thought for Today

"America is God's Crucible, the great Melting-Pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming!"

~~~~~ Israel Zangwill

Thought for Today

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind."

~~~~~ James Truslow Adams

Thought for Today

"Never ask of money spent
Where the spender thinks it went.
Nobody was ever meant
To remember or invent
What he did with every cent."

~~~~~ Robert Frost

Thought for Today

"There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare."

~~~~~ Sun Tzu

Thought for Today

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty."

~~~~~ John Adams

Thought for Today

“His career delivers this message: It can be wiser to follow than to lead. Let the innovators hit the beaches and take the losses; if you hold back and follow, you can clean up in peace and quiet.”

~~~~~ David Gelernter

Thought for Today

"If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error."

~~~~~ John Kenneth Galbraith

Thought for Today

"Would you bet your paycheck on a weather forecast for tomorrow? If not, then why should this country bet billions on global warming predictions that have even less foundation?"

~~~~~ Thomas Sowell

Thought for Today

'When walking through the "valley of shadows," remember, a shadow is cast by a Light."

~~~~~ Austin O'Malley

Thought for Today

"When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves."

~~~~~ Viktor E. Frankl

Thought for Today

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing."

~~~~~ Thomas A. Edison

Thought for Today

"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding."

~~~~~ Louis D. Brandeis

Thought for Today

"Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone."

~~~~~ Frederic Bastiat

Thought for Today

"If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see."

~~~~~ Henry David Thoreau

Thought for Today

"Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."

~~~~~ Robert A. Heinlein

Thought for Today

"An autobiography usually reveals nothing bad about its writer except his memory."

~~~~~ Franklin P. Jones

Thought for Today

"My experience has been in a short 77 years that in the end when you fight for a desperate cause and have good reasons to fight, you usually win."

~~~~~ Edward Teller

Thought for Today

"The possession of arbitrary power has always, the world over, tended irresistibly to destroy humane sensibility, magnanimity, and truth."

~~~~~ Frederick Law Olmsted

Thought for Today

"The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."

~~~~~ Barry Goldwater

Thought for Today

"As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth."

~~~~~ John Greenleaf Whittier