February 5

February 5

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are ~ Theodore Roosevelt

• selected by Kalki

2005

I profoundly believe that there is on this horizon, as yet only dimly perceived, a new dawn of conscience. In that purer light, people will come to see themselves in each other, which is to say they will make themselves known to one another by their similarities rather than by their differences. Man's knowledge of things will begin to be matched by man's knowledge of self. The significance rtt a smaller world will be measured not in terms of military advantage, but in terms of advantage for the human community. It will be the triumph of the heartbeat over the drumbeat. ~ Adlai Stevenson (born 5 February 1900)

• selected by Kalki

2006

What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us — what convictions, what courage, what faith — win or lose. ~ Adlai Stevenson II (born 5 February 1900)

• selected by Kalki

2007

God needeth not the help of a material sword of steel to assist the sword of the Spirit in the affairs of conscience. ~ Roger Williams (early advocate of freedom of conscience in religious matters, and the separation of Church and State, he emigrated from England to America on this date in 1631)

• proposed by Kalki

2008

Let’s talk sense to the American people. Let’s tell them the truth, that there are no gains without pains, that we are now on the eve of great decisions, not easy decisions, like resistance when you're attacked, but a long, patient, costly struggle which alone can assure triumph over the great enemies of man — war, poverty, and tyranny — and the assaults upon human dignity which are the most grievous consequences of each. ~ Adlai Stevenson II

• proposed by Kalki

2009

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. All change is the result of a change in the contemporary state of mind. Don't be afraid of being out of tune with your environment, and above all pray God that you are not afraid to live, to live hard and fast. To my way of thinking it is not the years in your life but the life in your years that count in the long run. You'll have more fun, you'll do more and you'll get more, you'll give more satisfaction the more you know, the more you have worked, and the more you have lived. For yours is a great adventure at a stirring time in the annals of men. ~ Adlai Stevenson II

• proposed by Kalki

2010

Enforced uniformity confounds civil and religious liberty and denies the principles of Christianity and civility. No man shall be required to worship or maintain a worship against his will. ~ Roger Williams

• proposed by Kalki

2011

For my part I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance. ~ Adlai Stevenson II

• proposed by Thenub314

2012

Every age needs men who will redeem the time by living with a vision of the things that are to be. ~ Adlai Stevenson II

• proposed by Kalki

2013

We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed, for our safety, to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work and the love we give our fragile craft.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by bystander

2014

We live in an era of revolution — the revolution of rising expectations.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2015

I think that one of our most important tasks is to convince others that there's nothing to fear in difference; that difference, in fact, is one of the healthiest and most invigorating of human characteristics without which life would become meaningless. Here lies the power of the liberal way: not in making the whole world Unitarian, but in helping ourselves and others to see some of the possibilities inherent in viewpoints other than one's own; in encouraging the free interchange of ideas; in welcoming fresh approaches to the problems of life; in urging the fullest, most vigorous use of critical self-examination.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2016

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2017

We talk a great deal about patriotism. What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility which will enable America to remain master of her power — to walk with it in serenity and wisdom, with self-respect and the respect of all mankind; a patriotism that puts country ahead of self; a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. The dedication of a lifetime — these are words that are easy to utter, but this is a mighty assignment. For it is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2018

The strange alchemy of time has somehow converted the Democrats into the truly conservative party of this country — the party dedicated to conserving all that is best, and building solidly and safely on these foundations. The Republicans, by contrast, are behaving like the radical party — the party of the reckless and the embittered, bent on dismantling institutions which have been built solidly into our social fabric.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2019

The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions. But there is also, it seems to me, a moment at which democracy must prove its capacity to act. Every man has a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with a single set of vocal chords.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2020

I am a lawyer. I think that one of the most fundamental responsibilities, not only of every citizen, but particularly of lawyers, is to give testimony in a court of law, to give it honestly and willingly, and it will be a very unhappy day for Anglo-Saxon justice when a man, even a man in public life, is too timid to state what he knows and what he has heard about a defendant in a criminal trial for fear that defendant might be convicted. That would to me be the ultimate timidity.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2021

In matters of national security emotion is no substitute for intelligence, nor rigidity for prudence. To act coolly, intelligently and prudently in perilous circumstances is the test of a man — and also a nation.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2022

There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress, that I possessed unilateral authority to reject electoral college votes. And I heard this week, President Trump said I had the right to "overturn the election". But President Trump is wrong — I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.

~ Mike Pence ~

• proposed by Kalki, regarding recent remarks on significant historical events.

2023

A wise man does not try to hurry history. Many wars have been avoided by patience and many have been precipitated by reckless haste.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2024

We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2025

The whole notion of loyalty inquisitions is a national characteristic of the police state, not of democracy. The history of Soviet Russia is a modern example of this ancient practice. I must, in good conscience, protest against any unnecessary suppression of our rights as free men. We must not burn down the house to kill the rats.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2026

As an American I believe in generosity, in liberty, in the rights of man. These are social and political faiths that are part of me, as they are, I suppose, part of all of us. Such beliefs are easy to express. But part of me too is my relation to all life, my religion. And this is not so easy to talk about. Religious experience is highly intimate and, for me, ready words are not at hand. I am profoundly aware of the magnitude of the universe, that all is ruled by law, including my finite person. I believe in the infinite wisdom that envelops and embraces me and from which I take direction, purpose, strength.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• proposed by Kalki

2027

Rank or add further suggestions…

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Suggestions

DOB: William S. Burroughs · Barbara Hershey · Dwight L. Moody · Johan Ludvig Runeberg · Carl Spitzweg · Adlai Stevenson II · Elizabeth Swados

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Men's consciences ought in no sort to be violated, urged, or constrained. ~ Roger Williams

• 3 Kalki 20:58, 5 February 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 21:42, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Zarbon 21:51, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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I'm Ready, I'm Ready, I'm Ready! ~ Spongebob Squarepants

—This unsigned comment is by 69.253.95.224 (talk • contribs) .

• 1 Kalki 07:58, 4 February 2008 (UTC) (minor quote, no clear relation to the date)
• 0 Zarbon 21:51, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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A paranoid man is a man who knows a little about what's going on. ~ William S. Burroughs

• 3 Kalki 12:55, 22 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 2.5 ~ DanielTom (talk) 22:18, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

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A functioning police state needs no police. ~ William S. Burroughs

• 3 Kalki 12:55, 22 October 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.

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Hell hath no vociferous fury than an endangered parasite. ~ William S. Burroughs

• 3 Kalki 12:55, 22 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

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From symbiosis to parasitism is a short step. The word is now a virus. The flu virus may have once been a healthy lung cell. It is now a parasitic organism that invades and damages the central nervous system. Modern man has lost the option of silence. Try halting sub-vocal speech. Try to achieve even ten seconds of inner silence. You will encounter a resisting organism that forces you to talk. That organism is the word. ~ William S. Burroughs

• 3 Kalki 12:55, 22 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

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The problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in the age old problems of dog versus cat, bird versus bird, or even bird versus worm. In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control feline delinquency.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often sinister threats to the bill of rights, to freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak, of anti-communism.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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Laws are never as effective as habits.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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The really basic thing in government is policy. Bad administration, to be sure, can destroy good policy, but good administration can never save bad policy.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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The early years of the United Nations have been difficult ones, but what did we expect? That peace would drift down from the skies like soft snow? That there would be no ordeal, no anguish, no testing, in this greatest of all human undertakings? Any great institution or idea must suffer its pains of birth and growth. We will not lose faith in the United Nations. We see it as a living thing and we will work and pray for its full growth and development. We want it to become what it was intended to be — a world society of nations under law, not merely law backed by force, but law backed by justice and popular consent.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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I have said what I meant and meant what I said. I have not done as well as I should like to have done, but I have done my best, frankly and forthrightly; no man can do more, and you are entitled to no less.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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I'm not an old, experienced hand at politics. But I am now seasoned enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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I have learned that In quiet places, reason abounds, that in quiet people there is vision and purpose, that many things are revealed to the humble that are hidden from the great.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Americans are suckers for good news.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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Freedom is not an ideal, it is not even a protection, if it means nothing more than freedom to stagnate, to live without dreams, to have no greater aim than a second car and another television set.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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There are worse things than losing an election; the worst thing is to lose one's convictions and not tell the people the truth.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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The journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step. So we must never neglect any work of peace within our reach, however small.

~ Adlai Stevenson II ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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When you stop growing you start dying.

~ William S. Burroughs ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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Communication must become total and conscious before we can stop it.

~ William S. Burroughs ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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Most of the trouble in the world has been caused by ten to twenty percent of folks who can't mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus.

~ William S. Burroughs ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:19, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

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