April 4 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

Where there is great love there are always miracles. ~ Willa Cather

selected by Kalki

2005

It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth...
When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.
~ Maya Angelou (born 4 April 1928)

selected by Kalki

2006

There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory. ~ Sir Francis Drake (knighted 4 April 1581)

selected by Kalki

2007

He who learns must suffer
And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget
Falls drop by drop upon the heart,
And in our own despite, against our will,
Comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.
~ Aeschylus ~ (Quoted, in variant form, by Robert F. Kennedy in a speech, 4 April 1968, after learning of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., which occurred that day.)

proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

All we are saying is give peace a chance. ~ John Lennon (50th anniversary of the first use of what became the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo, and later the "Peace symbol" in a march by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, 4 April 1958.)
proposed by Kalki

2009

The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men. ~ Black Elk

proposed by Kalki

2010

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. ~ Maya Angelou
- used 31 May 2004, selected by Kalki

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. ~ Maya Angelou
- used 23 October 2004, selected by Kalki

Also for this day have been included suggestions focusing on the theme of Peace, made to commemorate the first public use of what became the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo, and later one of the most recognized of the "Peace symbols" in a march by the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, 4 April 1958.)

Suggestions

A military man can scarcely pride himself on having "smitten a sleeping enemy"; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack. ~ Isoroku Yamamoto (born April 4)

3 because it is better to face your enemy head on rather than strike them behind their back. Beautiful quotation. Zarbon 05:55, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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I must have the gentleman to haul and draw with the mariner, and the mariner with the gentleman. What! let us show ourselves to be of a company and let us not give occasion to the enemy to rejoice at our decay and overthrow. ~ Sir Francis Drake

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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Without courage we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. ~ Maya Angelou

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
~ Maya Angelou ~

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
~ Maya Angelou ~

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
3 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
~ Maya Angelou ~

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace. ~ Andre Gide

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 although I personally don't think it's "easy" to stir a man's passion for combat. That is a gift in and of itself. A true military tactician would never admit to that as it takes much coordination and practice to convince men to fight with honor. Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. ~ Baruch Spinoza

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. ~ Moshe Dayan

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 but relation to date? Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace. ~ William Gladstone

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
2 but relation to date? Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ~ Isaiah, II:4

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward an eventual 4.
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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The goal toward which all history tends is peace, not peace through the medium of war, not peace through a process of universal intimidation, not peace through a program of mutual impoverishment, not peace by any means that leaves the world too weak or too frightened to go on fighting, but peace pure and simple based on that will to peace which has animated the overwhelming majority of mankind through countless ages. This will to peace does not arise out of a cowardly desire to preserve one's life and property, but out of conviction that the fullest development of the highest powers of men can be achieved only in a world of peace. ~ Robert Maynard Hutchins

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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Peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings. ~ John F. Kennedy with a strong lean toward 4.

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world. ~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
2 but relation to date? Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace. When the true spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant, it becomes an inner experience with unlimited possibilities. Only when this really happens — when the spirit of peace awakens and takes possession of men's hearts, can humanity be saved from perishing. ~ Albert Schweitzer

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) Peace quote and date of death.
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but on the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war. Somehow, we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race, which no one can win, to a positive contest to harness humanity's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all the nations of the world. In short, we must shift the arms race into a peace race. If we have a will — and determination — to mount such a peace offensive, we will unlock hitherto tightly sealed doors of hope and transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

3 Kalki 04:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4, as a Peace quote and date of death.
1 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear. ~ Isidore of Seville

2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
2 Kalki 08:00, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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And without music there can be no perfect knowledge, for there is nothing without it. For even the universe itself is said to have been put together with a certain harmony of sounds, and the very heavens revolve under the guidance of harmony. ~ Isidore of Seville

2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
3 Kalki 08:00, 31 March 2009 (UTC) but I would trim off the initial "And"
3 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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It was the men I deceived the most that I loved the most. ~ Marguerite Duras

3 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
1 Kalki 08:00, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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Accordingly, death is a harbor of peace for the just, but is believed a shipwreck for the wicked. ~ Ambrose

2 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
2 Kalki 08:00, 31 March 2009 (UTC) but would trim off "Accordingly"
2 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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It is not death therefore that is burdensome, but the fear of death. ~ Ambrose

4 Zarbon 03:26, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
1 Kalki 08:00, 31 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 2 (death remains burdensome, though fear of death can be more so.)
- But that's exactly what the quote is saying. It's saying that fear of death is oftentimes worse than death itself. - Zarbon 22:16, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

The statement as phrased states "it is not" burdensome — but I don't accept that this is the case for death any more than it is for ignorance or confusion, no matter how little fear one might have of either them or of death. ~ Kalki 23:58, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

2 InvisibleSun 21:43, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

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Mathematics is the science which draws necessary conclusions. ~ Benjamin Peirce (born 4 April 1809)

3 Kalki 11:07, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

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What is man? ... a strange union of matter and mind! A machine for converting material into spiritual force. ~ Benjamin Peirce (born 4 April 1809)

3 Kalki 11:07, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

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