February 20
2004
- There can be no Friendship where there is no Freedom. Friendship loves a free Air, and will not be penned up in streight and narrow Enclosures. It will speak freely, and act so too; and take nothing ill where no ill is meant; nay, where it is, ’twill easily forgive, and forget too, upon small Acknowledgments. ~ William Penn
- selected by Kalki
2005
- All in all is all we are. ~ Kurt Cobain (born 20 February 1967)
- selected by Kalki
2006
- We picked up everything we could get our hands on. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug-collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.
The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. ~ Hunter S. Thompson (died 20 February 2005)- proposed by Sir John Alexander Macdonald
2007
- If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. ~ Frederick Douglass
- proposed by Kalki
2008
- Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must pay for all they get. ~ Frederick Douglass (died February 20, 1895; born February 1817/1818, birthdate unknown)
- proposed by InvisibleSun
2009
- No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. ~ Frederick Douglass
- proposed by InvisibleSun
2010
Suggestions
Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears. At least, such is my experience. ~ Frederick Douglass- 3 InvisibleSun 17:36, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
- 3 Kalki 21:38, 13 February 2007 (UTC) but perhaps extending it, or replacing it with the extension: "I have often sung to drown my sorrow, but seldom to express my happiness. Crying for joy, and singing for joy, were alike uncommon to me while in the jaws of slavery. The singing of a man cast away upon a desolate island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion." (of either option I am still inclined to rank them at 3).
- I would also rate the alternative as a 3. - InvisibleSun 21:26, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
- 1 Zarbon 22:32, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
----
I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery — the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;" I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgement is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just. ~ Frederick Douglass
- 3 Kalki 14:47, 19 February 2007 (UTC) I would rank this equally, if cut down to begin at "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse;"... I have no strong preference for either option.
- 3. I would favor the longer quotation in this case. I wonder how many readers, seeing words in quotation marks, will be curious to know the source (William Lloyd Garrison) of this quote within a quote. - InvisibleSun 21:26, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
- 1 Zarbon 22:32, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
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Our world is in profound danger. Mankind must establish a set of positive values with which to secure its own survival.
This quest for enlightenment must begin now.
It is essential that all men and women become aware of what they are, why they are here on Earth and what they must do to preserve civilization before it is too late. ~ Richard Matheson (born 20 February 1926)
- 4 Kalki 22:25, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
- 2 Zarbon 22:32, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
- 3 InvisibleSun 23:17, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
----
With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid, and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us.
~ Kurt Cobain ~ (born 20 February 1967) with a lean toward 4.
- 3 Kalki 01:23, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
----
He's the one
Who likes all the pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means.
~ Kurt Cobain ~ (born 20 February 1967)
- 3 Kalki 01:23, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
----
Come as you are, as you were
As I want you to be
As a Trend, as a friend, as an old enemy
Take your time, hurry up
The choice is yours, don't be late.
~ Kurt Cobain ~ (born 20 February 1967) with a lean toward 4.
- 3 Kalki 01:23, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
----
There he goes, One of God's Own Prototypes; a High-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die. ~ Hunter S. Thompson