August 11 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003

A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular. ~ Adlai Stevenson

selected by Nanobug

2004

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others. ~ Dag Hammarskjöld

selected by Kalki

2005

I do not believe that the tendency is to make men and women brave and glorious when you tell them that there are certain ideas upon certain subjects that they must never express; that they must go through life with a pretence as a shield; that their neighbors will think much more of them if they will only keep still; and that above all is a God who despises one who honestly expresses what he believes. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll (born 11 August 1833)

proposed by Kalki

2006

Love is the magician, the enchanter, that changes worthless things to Joy, and makes royal kings and queens of common clay. It is the perfume of that wondrous flower, the heart, and without that sacred passion, that divine swoon, we are less than beasts; but with it, earth is heaven, and we are gods. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

proposed by Kalki

2007

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments — there are consequences. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

proposed by Jeff Q

2008

There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

proposed by Jeff Q

2009

If the world ever advances beyond what it is today, it must be led by men who express their real opinions. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

proposed by Kalki

2010
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Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll
- used 16 June 2004, selected by Kalki

You cannot choose your battlefield,
God does that for you;
But you can plant a standard
Where a standard never flew.
~ Nathalia Crane ~
- used on 1 November 2007, proposed by Kalki

Suggestions

The only real game — I think — in the world is baseball. ~ Babe Ruth, in honour of his 500th homerun, scored that day

3 ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 05:58, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
2 significant for USA but not really for anyone else AllanHainey 12:00, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
- For the record, the first voter is not from the US (unless you count Israel as the 51st state). ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 16:04, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
3 121a0012 00:29, August 7, 2005 (UTC)
2 Kalki 20:44, 10 August 2005 (UTC)
1 TomPhil 11:53, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
1 ~ Jeff Q (talk) 03:27, 7 August 2007 (UTC); for 2007 only, given Barry Bonds likely imminent new record
0 Zarbon 15:23, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

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Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. - Andrew Carnegie, died this day

3 AllanHainey 12:00, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
2 Kalki 20:44, 10 August 2005 (UTC)
2 ~ Jeff Q (talk) 03:27, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
3 - Should be transferred to November 25, Carnegie's birthdate. - InvisibleSun 21:14, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 15:23, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

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I have made up my mind that if there is a God, he will be merciful to the merciful. Upon that rock I stand. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll (date of birth)

2 Kalki 12:05, 7 August 2005 (UTC) with a lean toward 3 or 4.
2 ~ Jeff Q (talk) 03:27, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:14, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 15:23, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

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An enemy forgiven is more dangerous than a thousand foes. ~ Rodolfo Graziani

4 and I love this quote because of the magnificently climactic idea behind it...an enemy left alive can evolve into a dangerous man of vengeance. I love the imagery depicted by this quote, pertaining to say that the only incapable foe is the dead foe. Hence, forgiving a foe may create a deadlier one in turn. Zarbon 04:49, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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If one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise leader, you must embrace a larger view of the Force. ~ from Star Wars as Darth Sidious Ian McDiarmid (born August 11)

3 because this is what I strongly believe. This is most likely the most meaningful, most moral quotation in the history of Star Wars. Do not be dogmatic, dogma is the death of learning. This quote should seriously be taken into consideration. Zarbon 14:38, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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Wipe them out, all of them. ~ from Star Wars as Darth Sidious Ian McDiarmid (born August 11)

3 Zarbon 05:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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I can feel your anger. It gives you focus. It makes you stronger. ~ from Star Wars as Darth Sidious Ian McDiarmid (born August 11)

3 Zarbon 05:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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Remember back to your early teachings. All who gain power are afraid to lose it. Even the Jedi. ~ from Star Wars as Darth Sidious Ian McDiarmid (born August 11)

3 Zarbon 05:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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Good is a point of view, Anakin. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power. ~ from Star Wars as Darth Sidious Ian McDiarmid (born August 11)

3 because this quote pretty much defines what I believe, especially "Good is a point of view" this quote is brilliance defined. Zarbon 05:46, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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We must reverse this psychology (of needing guns for home defense). We can do it by passing a law that says anyone found in possession of a handgun except a legitimate officer of the law goes to jail- period! ~ Carl Rowan

2 Zarbon 14:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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Outside his own ever-narrowing field of specialization, a scientist is a layman. What members of an academy of science have in common is a certain form of semiparasitic living. ~ Erwin Chargaff

2 Zarbon 14:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:29, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

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Standing in the presence of the Unknown, all have the same right to think, and all are equally interested in the great questions of origin and destiny. All I claim, all I plead for, is liberty of thought and expression. That is all. I do not pretend to tell what is absolutely true, but what I think is true. I do not pretend to tell all the truth.
I do not claim that I have floated level with the heights of thought, or that I have descended to the very depths of things. I simply claim that what ideas I have, I have a right to express; and that any man who denies that right to me is an intellectual thief and robber. That is all. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

3 Kalki 00:52, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

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All the martyrs in the history of the world are not sufficient to establish the correctness of an opinion. Martyrdom, as a rule, establishes the sincerity of the martyr, — never the correctness of his thought. Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a truth. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

3 Kalki 00:52, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

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While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the hopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this discord will result a perfect harmony; that every evil will in some mysterious way become a good, and that above and over all there is a being who, in some way, will reclaim and glorify every one of the children of men; but for those who heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost impossible; that damnation is almost certain; that the highway of the universe leads to hell; who fill life with fear and death with horror; who curse the cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain other than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

3 Kalki 00:52, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

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The rights of all are equal: justice, poised and balanced in eternal calm, will shake from the golden scales in which are weighed the acts of men, the very dust of prejudice and caste: No race, no color, no previous condition, can change the rights of men. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

3 Kalki 00:52, 10 August 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.

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Wait until the world is free before you write a creed.
In this creed there will be but one word — Liberty. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

4 Kalki 00:52, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

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Quoternity