thought for the day

[nagarifle]

The second vice is lying; the first is running in debt. ~ Benjamin Franklin

[nagarifle]

Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

[nagarifle]

In politics it is necessary either to betray one's country or the electorate. I prefer to betray the electorate. ~
Charles de Gaulle

[nagarifle]

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure , the process is its own reward. ~
Amelia Earhart

[nagarifle]

The mind is like a parachute it only functions when it is open.

who said that?

[nagarifle]

Persecutors fear loss of control. Rescuers fear loss of purpose. Rescuers need Victims, someone to protect or fix to bolster their self-esteem. ~
David Emerald

[nagarifle]

When you disarm your subjects you offend them by showing that either from cowardliness or lack of faith, you distrust them; and either conclusion will induce them to hate you. ~ Niccolo Machiavelli

[nagarifle]

It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
Anonymous

[nagarifle]

Astronauts cannot burp in zero gravity, but they can still fart.

unknown

[airgun_novice]

THE OTHER 9-11
===============

KAPAA, HI, USA, September 10, 2011 (HPI): September 11 was the day Swami Vivekananda gave his opening address to the Chicago Parliament of Worlds Religions, many years before. In it he mentions violence and intolerance, and the grief they bring to the human race. A message of harmony and humanity on this 10th anniversary of the attacks.

WELCOME ADDRESS - Chicago, September 11, 1893.

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me." Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

[nagarifle]

It is little wonder that rape is one of the least-reported crimes. Perhaps it is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused and, in reality, it is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety. ~
Freda Adler

[TwoRivers]

The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns something that is useful and which never will grow dim or doubtful.
Mark Twain

[prashantsingh]

I got this one in the form of an sms sometime back from a friend.
Was looking around if it has been posted before.

"The Rifle is a noble weapon.......
It entices it's bearer into primeval forests, mountains and deserts untenanted by man."

How true.

[nagarifle]

Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible. ~
Anonymous

[nagarifle]

“We then all believed we would be saved. The Devil was down there and so was God. I didn’t see either but I felt both. They were in a battle for our souls. And God won.”

Chilean miner Mario Sepulveda