May 2, 2014 – Presidential Quotes

Match the United States Presidents to the quotes attributed to them. Who said these words and what era in which they were said might surprise you. But regardless of who and when, there are strong leadership truths revealed in them all.

                                            

 “A good leader can’t get too far ahead of his followers.”

 “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

“If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.”

“Here lies the body of my good horse, ‘The General.’ For twenty years he bore me around the circuit of my practice, and in all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same!”

“It is not strange . . . to mistake change for progress.”

“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

“In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.”

“One man with courage is a majority.”

“You ain’t learnin’ nothin’ when you’re talkin’.”

“America is too great for small dreams.”

Presidents listed in alphabetical order (last name).

Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

William McKinley (1897-1901)

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

John Tyler (1841-1845)

George Washington (1789-1797)

Reference: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/presquotes1.html

May 1, 2014 – Bill Buckley…he wouldn’t be too happy today

William F. Buckley (November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American conservative author and commentator. “Conservative” might be putting it a bit lightly. It has been stated that Buckley was “arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century.” I doubt he would be pleased with the current left-leaning of our nation.

                                                    

“I find it easier to believe in God than to believe Hamlet was deduced from the molecular structure of a mutton-chop.”

“Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.”

“Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.”

“To fail to experience gratitude when walking through the corridors of the Metropolitan Museum, when listening to the music of Bach or Beethoven, when exercising our freedom to speak, or … to give, or withhold, our assent, is to fail to recognize how much we have received from the great wellsprings of human talent and concern that gave us Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, our parents, our friends. We need a rebirth of gratitude for those who have cared for us, living and, mostly, dead. The high moments of our way of life are their gifts to us. We must remember them in our thoughts and in our prayers; and in our deeds.”

Amen to that last one especially.

April 30, 2014 – Still living and laughing: Dave Barry

Dave Barry (born July 3, 1947) is a Pulitzer-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody. as well as comedic novels. And, he’s still alive today!

                                                   

“Bill Gates is a very rich man today… and do you want to know why? The answer is one word: versions.” 

“Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.”

 “It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells… to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin.”

 “The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes.”

 “Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face.”

 “‘Escargot’ is French for ‘fat crawling bag of phlegm’.”

And who in the world could possibly disagree with this one???

 “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’”

Want more of Dave Barry? Go to https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6245.Dave_Barry