Quote of the Day: 31 July 2021 #QotD

“Socialism, like the old policy from which it emanates, confounds Government and society. And so, every time we object to a thing being done by Government, it concludes that we object to its being done at all.” -Frédéric Bastiat
[And it is still so today.]

Quote of the Day: 30 July 2021 #QotD

“Do not do that which others can do as well.” -Booker T. Washington
[And with that important message about delegation, we can move on to the remainder of our day.]

Quote of the Day: 29 July 2021 #QotD

“Citizens care for what belongs to them.” -Ann Ralph
[Everyone does, really. It's just more evident when the citizens' right to ownership is respected.]

Quote of the Day: 28 July 2021 #QotD

“When you learn the difference between busywork and your life’s work, that’s the first step on the path of purpose.” -Brenden Burchard
[It is nice to have purpose. And you won't find purpose in busywork.]

Quote of the Day: 27 July 2021 #QotD

“Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major change.” -James Clear
[I'm still pounding away at a few things hoping for those breakthrough moments. More directed practice would probably help.]

Quote of the Day: 26 July 2021 #QotD

“It is difficult to conceive a more clumsy and ineffective machinery for ascertaining truth and doing justice than a jury of twelve men of the average intelligence[.]” -Ambrose Bierce
[And yet, at least until recently, I'd prefer to entrust justice to a team of amateurs than jaded professionals. The change to an essentially hot culture war has put that more in doubt for me that it had been before, though.]

Quote of the Day: 25 July 2021 #QotD

“Waiting upon the Lord implies action. I have learned over the years that our hope in Christ increases when we serve others. Serving as Jesus served, we naturally increase our hope in Him.” -M. Russell Ballard

Quote of the Day: 24 July 2021 #QotD

“We were not put on this planet to close our eyes, stick our fingers in our ears, and tune out all things that challenge, poke at, interrogate, complicate our ideologies & ways of living.” -@lizzywol
[So, we need to find ways of dealing with those things that doesn't involve avoidance.]

Quote of the Day: 23 July 2021 #QotD

“People wanted the world to be a story, because stories had to sound right and they had to make sense. People wanted the world to make sense.” -Terry Pratchett
[Sadly, reality has no need to sound right or make sense. The bad can win, the good can fail, and nothing has to be foreshadowed. It's really quite frustrating.]

Quote of the Day: 22 July 2021 #QotD

“The problem is not that government is spending too little but that it is spending too much. The problem in schooling is that government is spending too much on the wrong things. The problem in health care is that government is spending too much on the wrong things. The end result has been that government has become a self-generating monstrosity.” -Milton Friedman
[I think my only quibble would be that the government is both spending too much and on the wrong things.]

Quote of the Day: 21 July 2021 #QotD

“You don't own other people and you don't own the fruits of their labor either.” -Austin Petersen
[Some refuse to accept this, but it is nevertheless true. And the implications are also often overlooked.]

Quote of the Day: 20 July 2021 #QotD

“Cultural isolation can have effects very similar to the effects of geographic isolation, making it harder for individuals, groups, nations or whole civilizations to keep up with the advances of others.” -Thomas Sowell
[This is why overblown concerns about cultural appropriation are potentially damaging to the majority culture. Without the ability to accept the best ideas of outside cultures, the primary culture will stagnate and regress.]

Quote of the Day: 18 July 2021 #QotD

“Freedom comes with a lot responsibility. A lot of people hate responsibility. This is why they’re so eager to give up their freedom.” -Colion Noir
[I expect that this explains much of the lack of care for our freedoms, but that there is also an aspect of that comes of not having a thorough understanding of those freedoms in the first place. Whether from a lack of education or willful ignorance.]

Quote of the Day: 18 July 2021 #QotD

“[Y]our own personal journey as a child of God did not begin for you as the first flow of earth’s air came rushing into your lungs, and it will not end when you take your last breath of mortality.” -Neil L. Andersen

Quote of the Day: 17 July 2021 #QotD

“You can choose to not listen to someone. You have no right to decide that other people cannot listen to them.” -Robb Allen
[The first part is about personal decisions about content consumption. The second part, on the other had, constitutes censorship. Whether conducted by the government or not.]

Quote of the Day: 16 July 2021 #QotD

“You can trust your gut about other people—but only after you have seen them in action.” -John Bargh
[Give yourself something to work with besides appearance, because that is not entirely within the person's control.]

Quote of the Day: 15 July 2021 #QotD

“The law has been perverted through the influence of two very different causes—naked greed and misconceived philanthropy.” -Frédéric Bastiat
[Both result in the legal plunder Bastiat has identified as a perversion of the law. Though few implementing their supposed philanthropy will be willing to admit that this is what is going on.]

Quote of the Day: 14 July 2021 #QotD

“There is no defence or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all.” -Booker T. Washington
[This suggests that eliminating advanced courses is not the path to success, but rather in encouraging each individual to live up to the potential that exists within him.]

Quote of the Day: 13 July 2021 #QotD

“If your situation has devolved to the point that you are inducing a slug to vomit as a prelude to your next meal, you are probably beyond my help.” -Douglas Deur
[It's probably a good idea to develop skills that could help in a survival situation, but I may draw the line somewhere before preparing slugs for consumption.]

Quote of the Day: 12 July 2021 #QotD

“If you leave your growth to randomness, you’ll always live in the land of mediocrity.” -Brenden Burchard
[I guess I'd better put some more thought and intentionality into my development.]

Quote of the Day: 11 July 2021 #QotD

“There can be no greater joy than to know that our children love the Lord, no greater peace than that which comes when we feel of His love and understand the meaning of His atoning sacrifice.” -Anne G. Wirthlin

Quote of the Day: 10 July 2021

“It is no disparagement to truth, that it can only prevail where reason prevails.” -Frederick Douglass
[Abandoning reason certainly means the abandonment of truth. And an adherent of unreason will not be persuaded by truth.]

Quote of the Day: 9 July 2021 #QotD

“Science thrives on being challenged. And it changes.” -Sarah Hoyt
[Actual science does, anyway. As opposed to the false religion of "Science!" that accepts as axiomatic (or dogmatic) whatever the adherents want it to say.]

Quote of the Day: 8 July 2021 #QotD

“Nae point in writin’ stuff doon if ye dinna want it read! It’s a sheer waste o’ pencil!” -Rob Anybody, Wintersmith
[There is a purpose to writing. Or to anything we do really.]

Quote of the Day: 7 July 2021 #QotD

“Laws that would adequately protect the foolish from the consequence of their folly would put an end to all commerce.” -Ambrose Bierce
[This probably says more about the depth of potential folly than about anything else.]

Quote of the Day: 6 July 2021 #QotD

“‘Bring me a plate of just the wings from several chickens’ sounds like something a syphilitic Roman emperor would say, but it’s actually a totally normal order at a restaurant.” -Mike Chase

[Just another example of how capitalism has improved the lives of the common man far above that of kings of past generations.]

Quote of the Day: 5 July 2021 #QotD

“On a sinking ship, with more passengers than life preservers, the only truly just solution available is that everyone drowns. But most of us might prefer the unjust solution that as many lives as possible be saved, even if those saved are no more deserving than those who perish.” -Thomas Sowell
[The disparities of life are hard to witness. That does not mean that they are intentionally caused by any person or system. Nor does it mean that we should do all we can to eliminate them.]

Quote of the Day: 4 July 2021 #QotD

“God has given His children moral agency—the power to decide and to act. The most desirable condition for the exercise of that agency is maximum freedom for men and women to act according to their individual choices.” -Dallin H. Oaks
[Happy Independence Day!]

Quote of the Day: 3 July 2021 #QotD

“Talking yourself into irrelevance is not a profound critique of Being. It’s a cheap trick of the rational mind.” -Jordan Peterson
[Buck up, and carry on.]

Quote of the Day: 2 July 2021 #QotD

“Men of honor are a rare and dying breed, my friend. Probably because you’re all busy dying stupidly while more pragmatic men rise to the top.” -Gutch, Destroyer of Worlds

[Hmm. A sentiment to provoke thought.]

Quote of the Day: 1 July 2021 #QotD

“Caring for a fruit tree has the capacity to nail you down to your own nature, to pull you into the turn of the seasons, to steal you away from the distractions that so consume us all.” -Ann Ralph
[Anything that provides a bit of grounding will be beneficial for you, in these days of thoroughly online living.]