Thought for Today

"The true portrait of a man is a fusion of what he thinks he is, what others think he is, what he really is and what he tries to be."

~~~~~ Dore Schary

Thought for Today

"It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal... one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly."

~~~~~ Theophile Gautier

Thought for Today

"The discipline of desire is the background of character."

~~~~~ John Locke

Thought for Today

"There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one's self on lies and fables."

~~~~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (expressing his opinion of Obama?)

Thought for Today

"The Few assume to be the deputies, but they are often only the despoilers of the Many."

~~~~~ Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Thought for Today

"Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance."

~~~~~ John Ruskin

Thought for Today

"Here is the secret of inspiration: Tell yourself that thousands and tens of thousands of people, not very intelligent and certainly no more intelligent than the rest of us, have mastered problems as difficult as those that now baffle you."

~~~~~ William Feather

Thought for Today

"Truth never yet fell dead in the streets; it has such affinity with the soul of man, the seed however broadcast will catch somewhere and produce its hundredfold."

~~~~~ Theodore Parker

Thought for Today

"The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage."

~~~~~ Mark Russell

Thought for Today

"Americans are far more remarkable than we give ourselves credit for. We've been so busy damning ourselves for years. We've done it all, and yet we don't take credit for it."

~~~~~ Ray Bradbury

Thought for Today

"Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue."

~~~~~ Saint Francis de Sales

Thought for Today

"The bud of victory is always in the truth."

~~~~~ Benjamin Harrison

Thought for Today

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn."

~~~~~ John Cotton Dana

Thought for Today

"A man with a surplus can control circumstances, but a man without a surplus is controlled by them, and often has no opportunity to exercise judgment."

~~~~~ Marshall Field

Thought for Today

"I would rather be beaten, and be a man, than to be elected and be a little puppy dog."

~~~~~ Davy Crockett

Thought for Today

"In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to whom the idea first occurs."

~~~~~ Francis Darwin

Thought for Today

"Cows are amongst the gentlest of breathing creatures; none show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them; and, in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures."

~~~~~ Thomas de Quincey

Thought for Today

"Self-justification is a treacherous servant."

~~~~~ Wellington Mara

Thought for Today

"There is nothing to winning, really. That is, if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind, and no scruples whatsoever."

~~~~~ Alfred Hitchcock

Thought for Today

"Do not be fooled into believing that because a man is rich he is necessarily smart. There is ample proof to the contrary."

~~~~~ Julius Rosenwald

Thought for Today

"I don't see democracy getting better. I see democracy diminishing. More rules, more legislation. Eventually governments will see everything."

~~~~~ Taki Theodoracopulos

Thought for Today

"When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned."

~~~~~ Herbert Hoover

Thought for Today

"The person that loses their conscience has nothing left worth keeping."

~~~~~ Izaak Walton

Thought for Today

"Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children's faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup."

~~~~~ Sara Teasdale

(Sadly, the same poet who wrote that joyful, sunny verse later chose to take her own life at the age of 48.)

Thought for Today

"Bureaucracies are inherently antidemocratic. Bureaucrats derive their power from their position in the structure, not from their relations with the people they are supposed to serve. The people are not masters of the bureaucracy, but its clients."

~~~~~ Alan Keyes

Thought for Today

"The mechanical and social achievements of our day must not blind our eyes to the fact that, in all that relates to man, his nature and aspirations, we have added little or nothing to what has been so finely said by the great men of old."

~~~~~ James Loeb

Thought for Today

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance."

~~~~~ Bruce Barton

Thought for Today

"Government is an evil; it is only the thoughtlessness and vices of men that make it a necessary evil. When all men are good and wise, government will of itself decay."

~~~~~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Thought for Today

"I would rather be respected than elected."

~~~~~ Charles Edison

Thought for Today

"To expect defeat is nine-tenths of defeat itself."

~~~~~ Francis Marion Crawford

Thought for Today

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

~~~~~ Herman Melville