Tag: quotes

R is for Resilience

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Blogging from A-Z

In honor of those in Boston and law enforcement who everyday put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

Nothing baffles the schemes of evil people so much as the calm composure of great souls. (Comte de Mirabeau)

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.  (Napoleon Hill)

There exist some evils so terrible and some misfortunes so horrible that we dare not think of them, whilst their very aspect makes us shudder; but if they happen to fall on us, we find ourselves stronger than we imagined, we grapple with our ill luck, and behave better than we expected we should.  (Jean de La Bruyere)

Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you…yet, someone survived…You can do anything you choose to do. (Maya Angelou)

Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.  (Bern William)

That which does not destroy, strengthens.  (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Kindness

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You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa

These are the thoughts that touched me this week, especially after finishing Th1rteen R3asons.  Who knows how important your kindness is to someone? 

Martin Luther King Quotes Quiz

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I love quotes and it’s been awhile since I featured any, so to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. this will be a fill-in the famous MLK quotes quiz.  Leave me the # and the word or words missing.  If you are the first to get it right you will earn an extra entry in TWO book giveaways. No googling – that’s cheating and no fun.  But guesses are always encouraged.  Get to guessing and good luck.

1. Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.  (Veens)

2. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. (Durao)

3. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missles and misguided men. (Durao)

4. Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase. (Durao)

5. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. (Sarah E)

6. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. (Durao)

7. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. (Sarah E)

8. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. (Dr Strangelove)

9. I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.  (Kathy)

10. Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: – ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ (Sarah E)

Answers to last week’s quiz here.

Teaser Tuesday – Joy School

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teasertuesdays3TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

  • Grab your current read.
    Let the book fall open to a random page.
    Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
    You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
    Please avoid spoilers!

“They’re fourteen, and they’re twins, Greg and Marsha.  I believe they are relatives of the devil.”

–Joy School by Elizabeth Berg, page 21

I’m loving this book so far!  Grab your book and leavea comment 🙂

Oscar Winning Quotes Quiz

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Thanks for participating!  10 out 15 is not too bad!

The Oscars are next Sunday.  I looked through the list of past Best Picture winners and chose my favorite 15.  Let’s see if you can guess them by the quotes from the movies I chose.

Here’s how to play…Identify these Best Picture Oscar winning movies and leave a comment with the # and movie,  and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun!  To help you out these are in chronological order (the first one winning an Oscar in the 1930′ s and the last one winning in the 2000’s)

1. “What she needs is a guy that’d take a sock at her once a day, whether it’s coming to her or not.  If you had half the brains you’re supposed to have, you’d have done it yourself long ago.”  It Happened One Night (1934 winner)

2. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”  Casablanca (1943 winner), Mark

3. “You gotta hand it to the Navy; they sure trained that kid how to use those hooks.”

    “They couldn’t train him to put his arms around his girl, or to stroke her hair.”  The Best Years of Our Lives (1946 winner), Hockee

4. “You’re maudlin and full of self-pity.  You’re magnificent!”  All About Eve (1950 winner)

5. “A word to you about escape.  There is no barbed. No stockade.  No watchtower.  They are not necessary.  We are an island in the jungle.  Escape is impossible.  You would die.”  The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957 winner)

6. “The mirror…it’s broken.”

    “Yes I know.  I like it that way.  Makes me look the way I feel.”  The Apartment (1960 winner)

7. “The best of them won’t come for money; they’ll come for me.”  Lawrence of Arabia (1962 winner)

8. “Where the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.”  The Sound of Music (1965 winner), Kathy

9. “Leave the gun.  Take the canolies.”  The Godfather (1972 winner), Don

10. “I think we make a real sharp couple of coconuts- I’m dumb, you’re shy, whaddaya think, huh?” Rocky (1976 winner), Hockee

11. “Bob, I gotta bad feeling on this one all right?  I mean I gotta bad feeling!  I don’t think I”m gonna make it outta here!  D’ya understand what I’m sayin’ to you?

    “Everybody gotta die some time, Red.”  Platoon (1986 winner), Hockee

12. “I’m an excellent driver.”  Rain Man (1988 winner), Hockee

13. “I do wish we could chat longer, but I’m having an old friend for dinner.”  The Silence of the Lanbs (1991 winner), Mark

14. “But we have the white wizard.  That’s got to count for something.”  Lord of the Rings:Return of the King (2003 winner), Tonya

15. “It’s the sense of touch.  In any real city, you walk, you know?  You brush past each other, people bump into you.  In L.A. nobody touches you.  We’re always behind this metal and glass.  I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so that we can feel something.” Crash (2005 winner), Jason

Who’s that Prez Quiz?

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CONGRATS MARK!  Have you been studying?

In honor of the the new President  this week’s quiz is full of quotes from past Presidents (of the United States!) and one from our new President.

Here’s how to play…Identify the President and leave a comment with the # and the name and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! 

Possible Presidents left-Wilson, Eisenhower,  Truman, Washington, Nixon, Clinton, CArter,  Kennedy

1.” A man is not finished when he is defeated.  He is finished when he quits.”–RICHARD NIXON

2.” We cannot be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of the weapons of war.”–JIMMY CARTER

3. “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”  RONALD REAGAN, Mark

4. “I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.”  ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Mark

5. “You can’t know too much, but you can say too much.”  CALVIN COOLIDGE,  Janet

6. “Do not pray for easy lives.  Pray to be stronger men.”–JOHN F KENNEDY

7. “Success is not the measure of a man but a triumph over those who choose to hold him back.”–BILL CLINTON

8. “I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.”–WOODROW WILSON

9. “I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center.” —DWIGHT D EISENHOWER

10. “Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’  liberty’s teeth.”–GEORGE WASHINGTON

11. “Every nation in every region now has a decision to make.  Either you are with us, or are you with the terrorists.”  GEORGE W BUSH, Elena

12. “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”     FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT, Jason

13. “I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances…This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.”  GERALD FORD, Kathy

14. “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”–HARRY S TRUMAN

15. Americans…still believe in America where anything’s possible-they just don’t think their leaders do.”  BARACK OBAMA, Mark

Christmas is coming

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“Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it ‘white’.” –Bing Crosby

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” –Garrison Keillor

“At Christmas, all roads lead home.”  –Marjorie Holmes

Vote!

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“The world will not change until we do.” – Jim Wallis

“Change is a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat.”  – Prince Phillip of England

“Change is often rejuvenating, invigorating, fun…and necessary.”  – Lynn Povich

“If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it.  You have an obligation to change it.” – Marian Wright Edelman

Both candidates represent some sort of change, although I happen to think that one represents more real  change than the other.  But, that is for you to decide.  And you may not want change at all. 

 I’m very excited at the prospect of an overwhelming voter turnout.  It will mean a busy day for me tomorrow, but a satisfying one.  Please be nice to your poll workers 🙂

 

After your vote, go here and get a free book from me.

Authors on politics

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I saw this quote today and couldn’t help but pass it along.  I’m also including a quote from the insightful Douglas Adams which I also find fitting during this election season.  It is important to vote and I hope you have all voted or will be voting on November 4 – even if your vote isn’t the same as mine.  It’s so easy to get discouraged by all the lies being told this late in the campaign, but I’m hoping we voters can prove that we care about the truth and we care enough to vote.

“I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”  – Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”   – Douglas Adams, author

A few words on censorship

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“All of us can think of a book… that we hope none of our children or any other children have taken off the shelf. But if I have the right to remove that book from the shelf – that work I abhor – then you also have exactly the same right and so does everyone else. And then we have no books left on the shelf for any of us.”
— Katherine Paterson, American author of childrens books (1932-)

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”
— Mark Twain

“The sooner we all learn to make a decision between disapproval and censorship, the better off society will be… Censorship cannot get at the real evil, and it is an evil in itself.”
— Granville Hicks (1901-1982)