Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796 – 1865) politician, judge, and author

"Hope is a pleasant acquaintance, but an unsafe friend." -- Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796 – 1865) politician, judge, and author

This is not true of Christian hope, which is rather an indispensable companion, especially welcome when the road gets rough. Like many, Haliburton calls hope what is more like wishful thinking, which has no firm foundation. Christian hope on the other hand is founded on the faithfulness of God.

Karl Wallenda

"Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting." - Karl Wallenda

So says the professional tightrope walker!  I would put it differently.

Adlai Stevenson, Statesman (1900-1965)

In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take. -- Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)

Good one!

Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961)

Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you. -Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961)

What does this say about Jung's view of life? Perhaps that the mind-set that is considered normal, i.e., sane, is too constraining and that it is therefore better to be set free from it.

Ingrid Bergman - Actress (1915-1982)

Happiness is good health and a bad memory. -- Ingrid Bergman

Not really true, but clever.

Ray Bradbury, writer (1920-2012)

Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage. -Ray Bradbury, writer (1920-2012)


I don't buy this. It is relativism carried to the extreme!

Lao-Tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature. -Lao-Tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

A nice thought, but not true of our postlapsarian state. It seems to me that a clear-eyed look at a child growing up would make this clear. That this philosopher makes such a claim perhaps is a sign that what he describes is what ought to be but is not.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

All Congressmen should have this emblazoned on their desk.

Edward Everett Hale, author (1822-1909)

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
 -Edward Everett Hale, author (1822-1909)

Good one!

Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate

In the face of suffering, one has no right to turn away, not to see. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1928)

I agree entirely, but I wonder how widespread the sentiment is these days, or how long it will persist in our post-modern age. It seems to me that the prevailing philosophical currents don't support it.

Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Lovemaking is radical, while marriage is conservative. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Genuine lovemaking is indeed radical, and also very fine, whereas sexual intercourse these days is easy and commonplace. And marriage is truly conservative in the root sense of conserving important values. True marriage is also not so common these days.

John Updike, writer (1932-2009)

There is no doubt that I have lots of words inside me; but at moments, like rush-hour traffic at the mouth of a tunnel, they jam. -John Updike, writer (1932-2009)

Me, too!

Eduardo Galeano, journalist and novelist (b. 1940)

The church says: The body is a sin. Science says: The body is a machine. Advertising says: The body is a business. The body says: I am a fiesta. -Eduardo Galeano, journalist and novelist (b. 1940)

The Church does NOT say the body is a sin. On the contrary, the Church says that God Himself took on a body in order to save our bodies. But what the body says depends on the mind and spirit that animates it.