Quote of the Day: 31 August 2024 #QotD

“Never give suicidal people ideas was one of my mottos. Oh, all right, I’d never thought of it before, but it would be one of my mottos from now on.” -Athena Hera Sinistra, Darkship Thieves
[Wise thing to refrain from doing. Not that you would actually be responsible, but it can help prevent suffering.]

Quote of the Day: 30 August 2024 #QotD

“[Y]ou should never react to any comment or situation until you had decided exactly what you were going to do. This had the dual attraction of preventing you from saying or doing the wrong thing while at the same time making other people extremely nervous.” -Commander Samuel Vimes (thought), Snuff
[Getting the other person wrongfooted can be a tremendous advantage. Just what you may want.]

Quote of the Day: 29 August 2024 #QotD

“We have not, in fact, proved that science excludes miracles: we have only proved that the question of miracles, like innumerable other questions, excludes laboratory treatment.” -C. S. Lewis
[At least of the type of miracles that we tend to think of when we invoke the word miracle.]

Quote of the Day: 28 August 2024 #QotD

“[I]t happens in all human affairs that we never seek to escape one mischief without falling into another.” -Niccolo Machiavelli
[Distraction is a very effective method of walking yourself into a problem.]

Quote of the Day: 27 August 2024 #QotD

“I’m being accused of modesty, a horrible and thoroughly unnatural crime.” -Ducem Barr, Foundation and Empire
[That comes naturally to some of us, and others resist with their whole souls.]

Quote of the Day: 26 August 2024 #QotD

“I just say things! You’re not supposed to actually pay attention to them!” -Wayne Ferrisborn, The Lost Metal
[That seems to be the attitude of an awful lot of people these days. Never mind what they've said, just know that they've said something, and it means whatever they need it to mean in the moment.]

Quote of the Day: 25 August 2024 #QotD

“Confidence in God’s answers implies accepting that His ways are not our ways and that ‘all things must come to pass in their time.’” -Taylor G. Godoy

Quote of the Day: 24 August 2024 #QotD

“We might agree that ‘equal chances for all’ would be desirable. But that in no way guarantees that we have either the knowledge or the power required to make that goal attainable, without ruinous sacrifices of other desirable goals, ranging from freedom to survival.” -Thomas Sowell
[That hasn't seemed to stop a lot of people from attempting to impose it anyway. So, we have to resist the efforts to impose these things upon us.]

Quote of the Day: 23 August 2024 #QotD

“What kind of life was it, to sit dumbly in the dark, in living fear of death? Better to go out and face it, head-on.” -Lucy Carlyle, The Hollow Boy
[Don't give in to despair. Please. Stand up and find something worth living for, regardless of the negative aspects of life and the world we live in. There are still opportunities for joy.]

Quote of the Day: 22 August 2024 #QotD

“Sometimes clarity is important.” -Pig, Pearls Before Swine
[Probably more often than not, in fact.]

Quote of the Day: 21 August 2024 #QotD

“This is the arresting and dominant fact about modern social discussion; that the quarrel is not merely about the difficulties, but about the aim.” -G. K. Chesterton
[When you cannot agree about the problem it becomes very difficult to find a solution.]

Quote of the Day: 20 August 2024 #QotD

“Sometimes the things that are good for you, in the long run, hurt for a little while when you first get to them.” -Harry Dresden, Cold Days

[Often, even. A lot of the things that would be good for us are difficult at the least. That's part of how they become effective for us.]

Quote of the Day: 19 August 2024 #QotD

“[A] righteous hate can be addictive as the poppy.” -Ratul, The Testimony of the Traitor Ratul
[And there's an awful lot of junkies our there looking for their next hit.]

Quote of the Day: 18 August 2024 #QotD

“My counsel to you is don’t despair! All is well. For with God, nothing is impossible.” -Neil L. Andersen

Quote of the Day: 17 August 2024 #QotD

“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
[Something to consider as we interact with others as well as when we consider their interactions with us.]

Quote of the Day: 16 August 2024 #QotD

“Find out what you want to do, then do it. Never talk yourself into doing something you don’t want. Think it over.” -Samuel C. Russell, Have Space Suit – Will Travel

[While this is good advice, it is hard to live by it entirely. There are times when you are compelled to do something you don't want to do. But you don't have to choose to do things that don't advance you toward your ultimate goals or support your ideals.]

Quote of the Day: 15 August 2024 #QotD

“It was realism that told Kelly he couldn’t fix all the problems of the world; it was idealism that told him his inability to do so did not preclude him from addressing individual imperfections.” -Tom Clancy
[Just because we can't fix everything doesn't mean we cannot do anything. And criticism that we haven't done everything perfectly is less impactful than the critic thinks it is. Especially if the critic hasn't done anything.]

Quote of the Day: 14 August 2024 #QotD

“Yes, kids are resilient.

“That’s no excuse to be reckless or selfish or refuse to do the work to keep their home life stable.” -Adam Lane Smith

[If I could, I'd ensure every child had a mother and a father who loved one another and used that love to improve the lives of their children. However, I cannot. But I can improve the life of my own children, and seek to make the other children I come in contact with.]

Quote of the Day: 13 August 2024 #QotD

“How can kids know so much and still be so dumb?” -Mom, Calvin and Hobbes
[A question that has perplexed parents for generations.]

Quote of the Day: 12 August 2024 #QotD

“Life is wonderful. It’s a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn’t really anything else.” -Jack Thorne, The Lost World

[There are times when we are reminded that we have a lot to be grateful for. I recently experienced a couple of those at a remove of at least one degree. But a sobering reminder anyway.]

Quote of the Day: 11 August 2024 #QotD

“A life of integrity requires us to first and foremost be true to God.” -Jack N. Gerard

Quote of the Day: 10 August 2024 #QotD

“Forget diamonds or dogs — a girl or boy’s best friend is always a high-powered weapon.” -Athena Hera Sinistra, Darkship Thieves
[They certainly make life more enjoyable.]

Quote of the Day: 9 August 2024 #QotD

“In short, Margolotta, peace is what you have while incubating the next war.” -Havelock Vetinari, Raising Steam
[It sure feels like it sometimes.]

Quote of the Day: 8 August 2024 #QotD

“It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” -C. S. Lewis
[I have nothing to add to this. But I do hope that my fellow citizens will keep this in mind when it comes to choosing our representatives and 'leaders'.]

Quote of the Day: 7 August 2024 #QotD

“Sometimes the best offense was avoiding self-destruction.” -Jason Walker (thought), Seeds of Rebellion
[Usually in a particularly fraught situation. Though you could just be a very clumsy person in and of yourself.]

Quote of the Day: 6 August 2024 #QotD

“[I]t is well known that the friend of a conqueror is but the last victim[.]” -Inchney, Foundation and Empire

[This seems as important to remember as the aphorism about the danegeld and the Dane.]

Quote of the Day: 5 August 2024 #QotD

 

“I ignore social boundaries. It’s endearing.” -Design, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

[Isn't it always the case that we think our own foibles and eccentricities are endearing or adorable and only others' are annoying?]

Quote of the Day: 4 August 2024 #QotD

 

“I invite you to remember the two great commandments, described by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. May the Lord’s instructions inspire us. May our hearts and minds be lifted upward to love the Lord and turned outward to love our neighbor.” -Gary E. Stevenson

Quote of the Day: 3 August 2024 #QotD

 

“It is especially difficult to make the case that inequalities of outcomes can be automatically assumed to have been caused by discrimination by dominant majorities against subordinate minorities, when in fact many subordinate minorities have economically outperformed dominant majorities in many countries around the world and in many periods of history.” -Thomas Sowell

[But facts like this are conveniently overlooked for the benefit of certain politicians and political parties.]

Quote of the Day: 2 August 2024 #QotD

 

“So stop worrying about the past! The past is for ghosts. We’ve all done things that we regret. It’s what’s ahead of us that counts[.]” -Anthony Lockwood, The Screaming Staircase

[At least it is after you've decided to change and make good about the things you previously did, or who you used to be.]

Quote of the Day: 1 August 2024 #QotD

 

“Life have no simple solutions.” -Larry the Croc, Pearls Before Swine

[Simple minds are capable of only simple ideas, but sometimes a simple idea is all that is needed to capture the truth.]