Quote of the Day: 27 April 2024 #QotD

“You know, the less you talk, the more people assume that what you’re not saying is important.” -Phillip McCall, Off to Be the Wizard
[Always a good ide to let people think as well of you as you are able to pull off. And if it's as simple as remaining silent why not try?]

Quote of the Day: 26 April 2024 #QotD

“[G]uilt has a great number of friends and keeps their addresses handy for quick summons.” -Hoid, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
[It is so easy to fall into self-loathing or some milder variant thereof when reminiscing about events of the past. Particularly those that are less than exemplary.]

Quote of the Day: 25 April 2024 #QotD

“It is hard to think of any power exercised by human beings over other human beings that has not been abused.” -Thomas Sowell
[I'm not aware of any, but I haven't really gone looking for one either.]

Quote of the Day: 24 April 2024 #QotD

“Not everything is a diagnosable issue.” -Adam Lane Smith
[And it is foolish to treat everything as though it is.]

Quote of the Day: 23 April 2024 #QotD

“[W]hat’s the point of even having a world if you’re not going to pass it on to the next generation?” -Ryland Grace, Project Hail Mary
[This is applicable to more than just the physical world we inhabit, but also the philosophical world of culture we should, and in some cases must pass on to our children.]

Quote of the Day: 22 April 2024 #QotD

“In the best Utopia, I must be prepared for the moral fall of any man in any position at any moment; especially for my fall from my position at this moment.” -G. K. Chesterton
[Acknowledging the possibility of my own fall helps in preventing it. If I deny that possibility, I then ignore any indication that I may be on my way to that result. On the other hand, in seeing that as possible I allow myself to see what could happen to draw me toward that end.]

Quote of the Day: 21 April 2024 #QotD

“Giving place in our hearts or minds for unkind feelings or thoughts will produce unkind words and actions, whether on social media or in our homes, causing the Spirit of the Lord to withdraw from our hearts.” -Ulisses Soares

Quote of the Day: 20 April 2024 #QotD

“As a rule, people aren’t good at handling power.” -Harry Dresden, Cold Days
[Those who don't want it tend to be the best suited to wielding it, but least likely to end up with it. The reverse is true, too. Sadly.]

Quote of the Day: 19 April 2024 #QotD

“The ugly truth is gun control zealots don’t care about stopping crime, any more than criminals care about breaking laws.” -Larry Correia

[What they actually care about is all in the second word of their movement. They want control. Pure and simple.]

Quote of the Day: 18 April 2024 #QotD

“It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies[.]” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
[It really ought to be the position of everyone. But there are many who'd prefer to be lied to, rather than to hear the reality of the situation.]

Quote of the Day: 17 April 2024 #QotD

“[T]he pursuit of science, despite its social benefits, is itself not a social virtue; its practitioners can be men so self-centered as to be lacking in social responsibility.” -Maj. Reid, Starship Troopers
[Science is amoral. The morals are applied, or not, by those practicing science. Therefore, the right and wrong are determined outside of the realm of science.]

Quote of the Day: 16 April 2024 #QotD

“Oftentimes our heart tells us what the mind has yet to understand.” -Sharlene Habermeyer
[This is why it is important to listen to both your heart and your mind. Where one is dominant over the other to the point of domineering you end up in an unhealthy situation. But as they begin to work in tandem, you will find yourself moving in good directions.]

Quote of the Day: 15 April 2024 #QotD

“I’m going to get in bed now and avoid the rush.” -Hobbes, Calvin and Hobbes
[About what I'd like to do. Not that I'll get to.]

Quote of the Day: 14 April 2024 #QotD

“God hears every prayer we offer and responds to each of them according to the path He has outlined for our perfection.” -Jeffrey R. Holland

Quote of the Day: 13 April 2024 #QotD

“[T]he world lives between those who say it cannot be done and those who say that it can. And in my experience, those who say that it can be done are usually telling the truth.” -Havelock Vetinari, Raising Steam
[A determined individual with a vision of possibility is more likely to succeed than to fail. Regardless of the endeavor.]

Quote of the Day: 12 April 2024 #QotD

“No generation can bequeath to its successor what it has not got.” -C. S. Lewis
[So preserve for yourself, and your progeny, those things that you value in society. Hopefully, much of it can be passed on to subsequent generations.]

Quote of the Day: 11 April 2024 #QotD

“It’s amazing how quickly we get used to weirdness when it’s our own weirdness.” -Martin Banks, Off to Be the Wizard
[The weird things I do aren't actually weird. They're just my idiosyncrasies, or quirky behaviors. Didn't you know?]

Quote of the Day: 10 April 2024 #QotD

“Humans are incredibly malleable. Despite my breadth of experience, I’ve never stopped being surprised at how durable human beings can be. They can survive in almost any environment. They can recover from debilitating loss. They can be crushed physically, mentally, emotionally—and still ask you how your day is going.” -Hoid, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

[Just another example of how we're adaptable. Even to things that should be damaging.]

Quote of the Day: 9 April 2024 #QotD

“The advantages that some people have, in a given endeavor, are not just disadvantages to everyone else. These advantages also benefit all the people who pay for the product or service provided by that endeavor.” -Thomas Sowell
[Otherwise known as learning not to cut off your nose to spite your face.]

Quote of the Day: 8 April 2024 #QotD

“A partial eclipse is like a cool sunset. A total eclipse is like someone broke the sky.” -Randall Munroe
[Happy Eclipse Day! May you find the sun only occluded by the moon, and not by anything else.]

Quote of the Day: 7 April 2024 #QotD

“An understanding of God’s fabulous plan takes the mystery out of life and the uncertainty out of our future. It allows each of us to choose how we will live here on earth and where we will live forever.” -Russell M. Nelson

Quote of the Day: 6 April 2024 #QotD

“Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.” -Ryland Grace, Project Hail Mary
[We are so infinitely adaptable. It is rather remarkable.]

Quote of the Day: 5 April 2024 #QotD

“One searches for truth, but it may be that one pursues instinctively the more extraordinary truths.” -G. K. Chesterton
[This is not inherently bad, as long as we continue to accrue the more mundane truths along the way.]

Quote of the Day: 4 April 2024 #QotD

“I may have had good reasons. I may have had the best of intentions.

“But intentions aren’t enough, no matter how good they are. Intentions can lead you to a place where you’re able to make a choice.

“It’s the choice that counts.” -Harry Dresden, Ghost Story

[As another Harry was told 'it is our choices that count.' It only matters what you intended to have happen if that is what you make happen. If you enact the opposite, your intentions don't matter a whit.]

Quote of the Day: 3 April 2024 #QotD

“Humans aren't interchangeable cogs for some big machine, and every attempt to make them that way usually ends up with some dictator bulldozing lots of people into mass graves.” -Larry Correia
[But there are plenty of folks for whom that is a desirable effect rather than a detriment. They simply don't realize they will be among the first against the wall when the time comes.]

Quote of the Day: 2 April 2024 #QotD

“I don’t go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me.” -Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
[Don't we all usually think that of ourselves. But if we were a bit more introspective or self-aware we could probably admit to ourselves that we do go looking for trouble. At least some of the time.]

Quote of the Day: 1 April 2024 #QotD

“Revolution is a science only a few are competent to practice.… Correctly organized and properly timed it is a bloodless coup. Done clumsily or prematurely and the result is civil war, mob violence, purges, terror.” -Bernardo de la Paz, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
[Happy April Fools Day!

The best way I found to avoid being a fool of the highest order, is not to advocate for revolution. There's a definite chance we replace what we've got with something far worse.]

Quote of the Day: 31 March 2024 #QotD

“Towering above all mankind stands Jesus the Christ, the King of glory, the unblemished Messiah, the Lord Emmanuel. In the hour of deepest sorrow we draw hope and peace and certitude from the words of the angel that Easter morning, ‘He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.’” -Gordon B. Hinckley
[Happy Easter!

He is risen!]

Quote of the Day: 30 March 2024 #QotD

“Imagination causes people to seek and find solutions to problems, as well as to recognize and act on presented opportunities.” -Sharlene Habermeyer
[Playful people are fun, and great to have around. They figure things out, and sometimes those things are very useful.]

Quote of the Day: 29 March 2024 #QotD

“A day can really slip by when you’re deliberately avoiding what you’re supposed to do.” -Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

[Yes, it can. There are certainly other ways to pass time, but that is one of the more effective at making it seem to disappear.]

Quote of the Day: 28 March 2024 #QotD

“Confusion always helped, when it wasn’t yours[.]” -Trevor Likely (thought), Unseen Academicals
[There are ways to capitalize on the confusion of others. It is also wise to consider if there is a chance that your confusion is being capitalized on.]

Quote of the Day: 27 March 2024 #QotD

“Rigorous pursuit of the truth, without regard to criticism, has never been more essential.” -Elon Musk
[I don't know how to actually achieve this. It's hard to actually disregard criticism. But we must learn how to proceed anyway.]

Quote of the Day: 26 March 2024 #QotD

“Conquest doesn’t remove countries. It removes lines on a map. Unity requires something else.” -Nomad, The Sunlit Man
[It is hard to provide a compelling unifying message. Perhaps that is why so few try. On the other hand, it is pretty simple to divide folks by appealing to their sense of self or group pride.]

Quote of the Day: 25 March 2024 #QotD

“I was afraid of going too far; but can one ever, really, go too far with flattery? A depressing thought! One must take it to heart and avoid the pitfall oneself.” -Mark Easterbrook, The Pale Horse
[It is easy to succumb to the wiles of flattery. Too easy. Our pride is a tenacious tempter.] 

Quote of the Day: 24 March 2024 #QotD

“When others receive benefits because of their diligent choices, we cannot rightly conclude that we have been treated unfairly when we have had the same opportunity.” -Dale G. Renlund

Quote of the Day: 23 March 2024 #QotD

“Trying to understand causation is not necessarily the same as looking for someone to blame.” -Thomas Sowell
[It is essential to learn what has caused something if you want to prevent it.]

Quote of the Day: 22 March 2024 #QotD

“I’m smart enough now to know I’m stupid. That’s progress.” -Ryland Grace, Project Hail Mary
[Always better to know your limits than to proceed in ignorance.]

Quote of the Day: 21 March 2024 #QotD

“A man's friend likes him but leaves him as he is: his wife loves him and is always trying to turn him into somebody else.” -G. K. Chesterton
[And neither is wrong or a lack of love. Just a different manner of expressing love for the individual.]

Quote of the Day: 20 March 2024 #QotD

“Abusers like to isolate their victims. People who feel that they are completely alone tend not to fight back.” -Harry Dresden, Ghost Stories
[Please recognize this. If this is being done to you, take action to counteract it. You can leave the situation, or do something else. But please do something.]

Quote of the Day: 19 March 2024 #QotD

“When children say it’s time to leave, they mean, ‘It’s time to leave.’ When grownups say so, they really mean, ‘It’s time to begin thinking about leaving sometime in the near future.’” -Andrew Peterson
[Children have yet to learn to couch their meaning in polite language. Adults have forgotten that straightforward speech is sometimes warranted.]

Quote of the Day: 18 March 2024 #QotD

“[T]he trouble with ‘lessons from history’ is that we usually read them best after falling flat on our chins.” -Lt. Juan Rico, Starship Troopers
[It's hard to know what lessons we need to know, until we need to know them.]

Quote of the Day: 17 March 2024 #QotD

“Jesus Christ will meet us where we are as we are. This is the _why_ of the garden, the cross, and the tomb. The Savior was sent to help us overcome.” -Emily Belle Freeman

Quote of the Day: 16 March 2024 #QotD

“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” -Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
[It is also instructive to take a look at the people he considers to be his inferiors, and whether or not you agree with his assessment. Quite often you'll find yourself amongst the number.]

Quote of the Day: 15 March 2024 #QotD

“Very few ideas are realized through the efforts of one person, so being able to work well with others, share and communicate opinions, and collaborate on issues become essential assets in the workforce today.” -Sharlene Habermeyer
[This can be learned in many ways: sports, music, engineering competitions, etc. So, as long as you do something, you're probably on the right path.]

Quote of the Day: 14 March 2024 #QotD

“You have two seconds to improve my mood.” -Dad, Calvin and Hobbes
[These ultimatums rarely, if ever, have a positive effect.]

Quote of the Day: 13 March 2024 #QotD

“It is hard to understand nothing, but the multiverse is full of it.” -Terry Pratchett
[Tremendously so, and in places you may not expect. Like the minds of your neighbors.]

Quote of the Day: 12 March 2024 #QotD

“This hat was too cool to pass up.” -Jason Fox, FoxTrot
[Sometimes, the right accessory makes the decision for you.]

Quote of the Day: 11 March 2024 #QotD

“You can’t taste a memory without tainting it with who you have become.” -Hoid, Tress of the Emerald Sea
[Every time we access a memory we leave it slightly altered. Until, eventually, it no longer resembles the actual event. We can preserve some of that by recording it, but our memory doesn't work on a read only basis.]

Quote of the Day: 10 March 2024 #QotD

“It is not even enough to be convinced of the gospel; we must act so that we are converted by it.” -Dallin H. Oaks

Quote of the Day: 9 March 2024 #QotD

“Reading is to the mind as aerobics is to the heart and lungs. Because you have performed this emotional exercise, you will be better able to handle the little stresses in your day-to-day life.” -David Farland
[While it is true that the man who can read and does not has no advantage over the man who cannot read, the man who does read, and especially the one who reads often, has every advantage over both of them. Not only because he reads, but that the reading enhances him each time he engages in the practice.]

Quote of the Day: 8 March 2024 #QotD

“The fact that we cannot do everything does not mean that we should do nothing. But it does suggest that we need to make very sure that we have our facts straight, so that we do not make things worse, while trying to make them better.” -Thomas Sowell
[It's that second part that so many people have a hard time with. No, they are certain that as long as we are doing something (and almost certainly the thing they want to do) then things can only improve.]

Quote of the Day: 7 March 2024 #QotD

“Being in the White House Press Corps is essentially ceremonial. It entails—as all ceremonial roles do—ceaseless repetition, stultifying dullness and swollen self-regard.” -P. J. O’Rourke
[Really any 'journalist', but especially the White House Press Corps.]

Quote of the Day: 6 March 2024 #QotD

“The long words are not the hard words, it is the short words that are hard.” -G. K. Chesterton
[If you can't explain it for a child it is possible you don't understand it well enough yet.]

Quote of the Day: 5 March 2024 #QotD

“People always equate beauty with good, but it just ain’t so.” -Harry Dresden, Cold Days
[And being aware of this can help give you the chance to mitigate the effect, if you choose to.]

Quote of the Day: 4 March 2024 #QotD

“Maps of Faerie are unreliable, and may not be depended upon.” -Neil Gaiman
[Most maps are unreliable to at least some degree. But when the map is of a fictional, and notoriously changeable place ... Well, you get the idea.]

Quote of the Day: 3 March 2024 #QotD

“[A]nything broken can be mended through Jesus Christ.” -Carlos A. Godoy

Quote of the Day: 2 March 2024 #QotD

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.” -Bernardo de la Paz, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
[This applies to whatever you want him to pay for, but is especially egregious when what you want him to pay for is your sense of having done a good thing for someone else by making him pay for it.]

Quote of the Day: 1 March 2024 #QotD

“[T]ime will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead[.]” -J.K. Rowling
[There's a whole lot of unpleasantness coming, and I'm not sure I want time slowed down for it or not.]

Quote of the Day: 29 February 2024 #QotD

“[Music] gives our children a critically important outlet for their emotions and feelings; it helps to develop their sense of creativity and wonderment, and gives them sensitivity to the world and people around them.” -Sharlene Habermeyer
[This is whether the children use others' performances of that music, play it themselves, or improvise an expression of their emotions. The more they know, the better they are able to express themselves.]

Quote of the Day: 28 February 2024 #QotD

“I can’t wait until I’m old enough to ‘putter around.’” -Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes
[Every man has an innate need to putter.]