Quote of the Day: 6 April 2025 #QotD

“As much as He desires our attention, He will not force us to come to Him.” -L. Todd Budge

Quote of the Day: 5 April 2025 #QotD

“We live in strange days.” -Karno Uttara, Graveyard of Demons
[Of course, we do. But have we ever not? That's the important question.]

Quote of the Day: 4 April 2025 #QotD

“[T]here are much more terrible things than physical injury.” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
[Some of them you can't even conceive of until you are a parent, or intimately connected to another person. I'm sure there are plenty of things that I am entirely unaware of. Blissfully so.]

Quote of the Day: 3 April 2025 #QotD

“Most minds stall dead when faced with facts which conflict with basic beliefs; ‘I-just-can’t-believe-it’ is all one word to highbrows and dimwits alike.” -Elihu Nivens, The Puppet Masters
[And if you don't think this applies to you, you probably aren't being honest with yourself.]

Quote of the Day: 2 April 2025 #QotD

“You have to know the things you don’t know. You have to figure out what the questions are before you can start looking for answers.” -Jack Ryan, Debt of Honor
[Not a new idea, but an important one. You've got to identify the holes in your knowledge before you can know if you have filled all of the relevant ones. Even then, you'll run into the unknown unknowns, or things that you didn't even realize you didn't know you needed to know.]

Quote of the Day: 1 April 2025 #QotD

“When a decision really matters, Rachel, we have to ignore our comforting illusions. We must set aside our wishes and give heed to reality. Nobody can accept the truth while hiding from it.” -Ferrin, Chasing the Prophecy
[Really for everything, but if you've got a decision that matters more than usual, well, then you'd really better face reality.]

Quote of the Day: 31 March 2025 #QotD

“I’m not ‘many men’. I am who I am.” -Taghri, Taghri’s Prize
[Each person you encounter is not the average of the people you think are like them. They are each individuals with their own proclivities, desires, and principles. You would do well to treat them as such.]

Quote of the Day: 30 March 2025 #QotD

“Despite the challenges, heartaches, and difficulties we all face, our loving, wise, and perfect Heavenly Father has designed the plan of happiness such that we are not destined to fail. His plan provides a way for us to rise above our mortal failures.” -Brook P. Hales

Quote of the Day: 29 March 2025 #QotD

“[E]ntertainment has nothing to do with reality. Entertainment is antithetical to reality.” -Henry Wu, Jurassic Park
[I doubt it has nothing to do with reality. Just very little.]

Quote of the Day: 28 March 2025 #QotD

“There are no useless skills, girl. Only talents that have yet to find an application.” -Ella, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
[If there truly are no useless skills, then there are certainly some that are a lot harder to find an application for than others.]

Quote of the Day: 27 March 2025 #QotD

“For the vulgar are always taken by appearances and by results, and the world is made up of the vulgar[.]” -Niccolo Machiavelli
[It is easy to present an appearance that is at odds with reality. Results are harder to fake, but it isn't necessary to do so. You just have to reframe the results in a way that looks favorable to you. Just remember that that is what others are doing as well.]

Quote of the Day: 26 March 2025 #QotD

 
“We are all surrounded by other autonomous people who don’t always behave as we’d like.” -Yusuf al-Falah, The Anatomy of Peace

[And it gets terribly frustrating when we aren't willing to allow them their autonomy. Instead, we want them to behave according to our desires instead of their own.]

Quote of the Day: 25 March 2025 #QotD

“We humans definitely need other people to keep us human.” -Tiffany Aching, The Shepherd’s Crown
[Yes, we do. And preferably a broad cross section of humanity from young to old, from those engaged in physical labor to those who do thought work. It grounds you in a way that helps you retain perspective about what actually matters.]

Quote of the Day: 24 March 2025 #QotD

“I suppose a cry does us all good at times—clears the air as other rain does.” -Mina Harker, Dracula
[It can certainly help clear your thinking and provide a cathartic release. But, you need to not remain wallowing in the sadness.]

Quote of the Day: 23 March 2025 #QotD

“My friends, repentance is joy! Sweet repentance is part of a daily process through which, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept,’ the Lord teaches us to live a life centered in His teachings.” -Jorge M. Alvarado

Quote of the Day: 22 March 2025 #QotD

“There’s nothing like imminent disaster for putting an end to bickering.” -Lucy Carlyle, The Creeping Shadow
[Yup. The threat of immediate death has a remarkable ability to focus the mind on what actually matters.]

Quote of the Day: 21 March 2025 #QotD

“It was a sign of decaying culture, of course, that dams had been built against the further development of ideas.” -Bail Channis, Second Foundation
[What dams against new ideas have you encountered? I know I've run into a few, and now I know what they signify.]

Quote of the Day: 20 March 2025 #QotD

“What fun is it being ‘cool’ if you can’t wear a sombrero?” -Hobbes, Calvin and Hobbes
[If you truly are 'cool' you can wear a sombrero if you want to. What someone else thinks won't matter to you, thus enhancing your coolness. So, go do the silly or fun things you are passionate about. The people who matter will either not care or be inspired by your freedom and enthusiasm.]

Quote of the Day: 19 March 2025 #QotD

“We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!” -Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
[Disruptions of the routine are such a hassle. It's hard to get done what you need to get done when there's no way to predict what is going to happen next.]

Quote of the Day: 18 March 2025 #QotD

“She’s always complainin’ about my exploding things. This time I saved her hide by doin’ it. Plus, I made the explosion smaller. That’s gonna break her brain. I made it smaller, and it was still the biggest one what ever was.” -Wayne Ferrisborn, The Lost Metal
[Sometimes we surprise those who know us by doing the thing they ask us to do in entirely unexpected ways. Other times, we just get to have a bunch of fun.]

Quote of the Day: 17 March 2025 #QotD

“There is nothing moral about forcing people to do things you refuse to do on your own.” -Robb Allen
[But there are people who think there is. Just look at all the 'good' that they are getting done with other people's effort or money. Certainly, that justifies their actions, right?]

Quote of the Day: 16 March 2025 #QotD

“Whether we are well-known or forgotten, trials will inevitably come to each one of us. As we turn to the Savior, He can ‘consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain’ and help us respond to our trials in a way that facilitates our spiritual progression.” -Aroldo B. Cavalcante
 

Quote of the Day: 15 March 2025 #QotD

“Computers are tricky.

“Even more so when you turn them on.” -@MorlockP

[A machine that does exactly what you tell it to do, and not what you meant to tell it to do? There's definitely potential for confusion and hijinks there.]

Quote of the Day: 14 March 2025 #QotD

“No one has less regard for wealth, power, or birthright than a cat.” -Lukan Gardova (thought), The Silverblood Promise
[There may be some entity that has less regard, but if there is one with less regard and as much personality and intelligence I would be very surprised.]

Quote of the Day: 13 March 2025 #QotD

“But human vices have no monopoly as causes of economic and other disparities.” -Thomas Sowell
[Though, they do have an effect. But it would be stupid to say that they are the only thing that has an effect.]

Quote of the Day: 12 March 2025 #QotD

“The sad news I have to give you is that there is no genetic inheritance of liberty. Liberty is not natural to humans in a state of nature, and we must struggle for it every step of the way.” -Sarah Hoyt
[But, that makes the liberty we enjoy that much sweeter because we have each worked for it. Or at least those cognizant enough to be aware of what's going on have.]

Quote of the Day: 11 March 2025 #QotD

“You know you’re old when you have to sneak up on your own brain.” -Rat, Pearls Before Swine
[And I'm not quite sure how to accomplish it.]

Quote of the Day: 10 March 2025 #QotD

“Seemingly from the dawn of man all nations have had governments; and all nations have been ashamed of them.” -G. K. Chesterton
[It is one of those times when Americans are likely to be ashamed of their government. Which just might be all the time.]

Quote of the Day: 9 March 2025 #QotD

“Through the Savior’s redemptive sacrifice, each of us can repent and seek forgiveness and become clean. Repentance, a foundational principle of the gospel, is essential for our spiritual development and resilience as we navigate life’s challenges.” -D. Martin Goury

Quote of the Day: 8 March 2025 #QotD

“[B]elieve you me, everyone can be equally wrong.” -Harry Dresden, Cold Days
[Well, perhaps not equally. But that doesn't mean that it's not possible for everyone to be wrong at the same time.]

Quote of the Day: 7 March 2025 #QotD

“Take any group that represents a giant swath of the country and there’s going to be every possible type of jerk, malcontent, and doofus represented in that sample.” -Larry Correia
[This means that you have people who are nominally on your side who are damaging other people's perception of whatever group you are a part of. It also means that your perception of other people is affected by those people in whatever group you are thinking about.]

Quote of the Day: 6 March 2025 #QotD

“You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
[Worrying about someone's blood purity status is almost always an indicator that you've gone off track somewhere or other.]

Quote of the Day: 5 March 2025 #QotD

“[W]hatever you do, do not let the past be a straitjacket!” -Bernardo de la Paz, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
[We've got to learn to respect the past, while still being willing to take novel approaches to failed positions.]

“[H]indsight was always negative because you rarely looked back to reconsider things that had gone right.” -Jack Ryan (thought), Debt of Honor
[Usually only doing so when compelled by some policy or another. That is why you learn more from failures than from successes as well.]

Quote of the Day: 3 March 2025 #QtoD

“Today, as always, there is much support for tariffs—euphemistically labeled ‘protection,’ a good label for a bad cause.” -Milton Friedman
[The threat of tariffs has recently been used effectively. But that doesn't make them a good thing. They are largely a tax on the citizenry of the country levying the tariffs, and hit in unexpected ways. We would be better off economically by eliminating tariffs.]

Quote of the Day: 2 March 2025 #QotD

“The sentiment is clear: the Savior numbers each of us and watches over us. This watchcare is not trivial or insignificant. Rather, it is exalting, elevating, and eternal.” -David L. Buckner

Quote of the Day: 1 March 2025 #QotD

“I performed accidental exploratory surgery on the inside of my palm with a drill bit and it turns out there’s just a lot of blood and pain in there.” -Mike Chase
[Ooh! Ouch. Glad it wasn't me.]

Quote of the Day: 28 February 2025 #QotD

“Too much change is as destructive as too little.” -Ian Malcolm, The Lost World
[It can be a matter of what change you care for, and how destructive in what ways you are willing to accept.]

Quote of the Day: 27 February 2025 #QotD

“People can be good or bad one by one. Society is almost always awful.” -Master Yute, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
[True. Sadly.]

Quote of the Day: 26 February 2025 #QotD

“Between an armed and an unarmed man no proportion holds, and it is contrary to reason to expect that the armed man should voluntarily submit to him who is unarmed, or that the unarmed man should stand secure among armed retainers.” -Niccolo Machiavelli
[Even in the 16th century it was known that armed men stood a better chance of living their lives how they wanted to than unarmed men. We really ought to be able to maintain our arms, and it shouldn't be controversial.]

Quote of the Day: 25 February 2025 #QotD

“The best leaders are those whom people want to follow.” -Yusuf al-Falah, The Anatomy of Peace
[Finding a leader worth following, though, can be difficult.]

Quote of the Day: 24 February 2025 #QotD

“If’n people do wrong things, well, why would they be surprised if bad things then happen to them?” -Nanny Ogg, The Shepherd’s Crown
[And yet they are. So much surprise. And then there's the blowback as the perpetrators of the current bad things get theirs.]

Quote of the Day: 23 February 2025 #QotD

“His hand will always be there for us, even if we cannot see it or feel it at first, because He was chosen by our Heavenly Father to be our Savior, the Redeemer of all humankind.” -Juan Pablo Villar

Quote of the Day: 22 February 2025 #QotD

“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.” -Lucy Westenra, Dracula
[I'm not sure any such people actually exist. But if they do, I would like to learn their secrets.]

Quote of the Day: 21 February 2025 #QotD

“In my eyes, refusing cake is an immoral act.” -George Cubbins, The Creeping Shadow
[I've seen folks who take this attitude to an unhealthy degree. Then again, cake can be quite enjoyable.]

Quote of the Day: 20 February 2025 #QotD

“Married life had taught Toran the futility of arguing with a female in a dark-brown mood.” -Isaac Asimov
[But it may be necessary to convince the spectators. There are reasons to fight beyond winning against a particular foe.]

Quote of the Day: 19 February 2025 #QotD

“If you can’t win by reason, go for volume.” -Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes
[An approach taken by many these days. To the consternation of all of the rest of us.]

Quote of the Day: 18 February 2025 #QotD

“[I]t is horrible being all alone.” -Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
[It surely is. I am of a more introverted bent than most and even I don't want to be all alone. I need other people in my life. I am convinced we all do.]

Quote of the Day: 17 February 2025 #QotD

“City folk, particularly politicians, were intimidated by small arms. They preferred to kill people with more modern weapons, like poverty and despair.” -Waxillium Ladrian, The Lost Metal
[That's why they're afraid of them. Particularly in the hands of the 'common folk'. Democratized violence is anathema to a certain variety of person. Well, I don't much care. I'll keep mine.]

Quote of the Day: 16 February 2025 #QotD

“Like salt can lose its essence, we can also lose our spiritual vitality if our faith in Jesus Christ becomes casual. We may look the same on the outside, but without a strong inner faith, we lose our ability to make a difference in the world and bring out the best in those around us.” -José A. Teixeira