People have always said - those words, 'too conservative,' is fairly relative. I'm sure that they probably said that about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
quote by Sharron Angle
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
No government ought to be without censors & where the press is free, no one ever will.
Thomas Jefferson in letter to George Washington (9 September 1792)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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How I longed to see these things; how I longed to see the Liberty Bell and walk on the streets where Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine and Benjamin Franklin had walked.
Fundamental of Liar Chapter XCVIII: Absolutely Relative
Expensive is absolute, cheap is relative
Far is absolute, near is relative
Ugly is absolute, beauty is relative
Weird is absolute, crazy is relative
Stubborn is absolute, brave is relative
Stupid is absolute, smart is relative
Weak is absolute, strong is relative
Old is absolute, mature is relative
Lose is absolute, win is relative
Rich is absolute, poor is relative
Sad is absolute, happy is relative
Misfortune is absolute, lucky is relative
Safe is absolute, fear is relative
Love is absolute, hate is relative
Important is absolute, forgotten is relative
Easy is absolute, difficult is relative
Wrong is absolute, right is relative
Bad is absolute, good is relative
Lie is absolute, truth is relative
poem by Maria Sudibyo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Why Washington Retreated
1775
Said Congress to George Washington:
"To set this country free,
You'll have to whip the Britishers
And chase them o'er the sea."
"Oh, very well," said Washington,
"I'll do the best I can.
I'll slam and bang those Britishers
And whip them to a man."
1777
Said Congress to George Washington:
"The people all complain;
Why don't you fight? You but retreat
And then retreat again."
"That can't be helped," said Washington,
"As you will quite agree
When you see how the novelists
Have mixed up things for me."
Said Congress to George Washington:
"Pray make your meaning clear."
Said Washington: "Why, certainly --
But pray excuse this tear.
Of course we know," said Washington,
"The object of this war --
It is to furnish novelists
With patriotic lore."
Said Congress to George Washington:
"Yes! yes! but pray proceed."
Said Washington: "My part in it
Is difficult indeed,
For every hero in the books
Must sometime meet with me,
And every sweet-faced heroine
I must kiss gallantly."
Said Congress to George Washington:
"But why must you retreat?"
Said Washington: "One moment, please,
My story to complete.
These hero-folk are scattered through
The whole United States;
At every little country town
A man or maiden waits."
To Congress said George Washington:
"At Harlem I must be
On such a day to chat with one,
And then I'll have to flee
With haste to Jersey, there to meet
Another. Here's a list
Of sixty-seven heroes, and
There may be some I've missed."
To Congress said George Washington:
"Since I must meet them all
(And if I don't you know how flat
The novels all will fall),
I cannot take much time to fight,
I must be on the run,
Or some historic novelist
Will surely be undone."
Said Congress to George Washington:
"You are a noble man.
Your thoughtfulness is notable,
And we approve your plan;
A battle won pads very well
A novel that is thin,
But it is better to retreat
Than miss one man and win."
Said Congress to George Washington:
"Kiss every pretty maid,
But do it in a courtly way
And in a manner staid --
And some day when your sword is sheathed
And all our banners furled,
A crop of novels will spring up
That shall appal the world."
Submitted by John Martin
poem by Ellis Parker Butler
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Part 1 of Trout Fishing in America
THE COVER FOR
TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA
The cover for Trout Fishing in America is a photograph taken
late in the afternoon, a photograph of the Benjamin Franklin
statue in San Francisco's Washington Square.
Born 1706--Died 1790, Benjamin Franklin stands on a
pedestal that looks like a house containing stone furniture.
He holds some papers in one hand and his hat in the other.
Then the statue speaks, saying in marble:
PRESENTED BY
H. D. COGSWELL
TO OUR
BOYS AND GIRLS
WHO WILL SOON
TAKE OUR PLACES
AND PASS ON.
Around the base of the statue are four words facing the
directions of this world, to the east WELCOME, to the west
WELCOME, to the north WELCOME, to the south WELCOME.
Just behind the statue are three poplar trees, almost leafless
except for the top branches. The statue stands in front
of the middle tree. All around the grass is wet from the
rains of early February.
In the background is a tall cypress tree, almost dark like
a room. Adlai Stevenson spoke under the tree in 1956, before
a crowd of 40, 000 people.
There is a tall church across the street from the statue
with crosses, steeples, bells and a vast door that looks like
a huge mousehole, perhaps from a Tom and Jerry cartoon,
and written above the door is 'Per L'Universo.'
Around five o'clock in the afternoon of my cover for
Trout Fishing in America, people gather in the park across
the street from the church and they are hungry.
It's sandwich time for the poor.
But they cannot cross the street until the signal is given.
Then they all run across the street to the church and get
their sandwiches that are wrapped in newspaper. They go
back to the park and unwrap the newspaper and see what their
sandwiches are all about.
A friend of mine unwrapped his sandwich one afternoon
and looked inside to find just a leaf of spinach. That was all.
Was it Kafka who learned about America by reading the
autobiography of Benjamin Franklin..............
Kafka who said, 'I like the Americans because they are healthy
and optimistic.'
poem by Richard Brautigan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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All 6 Virginia Presidents Were Slaveholders
The 2008 election wiped out some ancient karma as Virginia
voted for an African American for President of the US.
Every one of Virginia's 6 presidents was a slaveholder
(Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Tyler, Taylor) while the
New Jersey resident Woodrow Wilson (claimed by Virginia
because he was born there) frequently ridiculed African Americans
publicly as president of Princeton and would later as president
ban African Americans from federal jobs, though Harrison,
McKinley, Roosevelt and others had appointed blacks.
Virginia fought with the South in the Civil War.
Virginia likes to claim
Wm Henry Harrison but he was a resident of Ohio
when elected. Virginia, home of the CIA and Pentagon, still hunting
foxes though Britain has outlawed traditional fox hunting,
has often been 2nd only to Texas in executions, with
3 to 4 times as many blacks as whites on death row
executed.
1) George Washington
2) Thomas Jefferson
3) James Madison
4) James Monroe
5) John Tyler
6) Zachary Taylor
7) Woodrow Wilson
Virginia has not had a president since 1850.
poem by O. Anna Niemus
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Three people can keep a secret so long as two of them are dead.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.
quote by Thomas Jefferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Many people die at twenty five and aren't buried until they are seventy five.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The art of acting consists in keeping people from coughing.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Jefferson
(words & music: per gessle)
Published by hiphappy
Jefferson was always out of luck
I remember when we both grew up
Jefferson got hit by a westbound truck
I guess that didnt make him look like a million bucks
That night when sally really stole the show
And every boy was captured diggin for gold
Poor old jefferson was left in the snow
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Jefferson is always on my mind
When him and me were runnin out of time
Jefferson was sure enough left be behind
The cops came in and took him by surprise
That night when sally really showed her game
The neighborhood would never be the same
Poor old jefferson got the blame
Ooooh
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Yeah
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
I do believe he didnt do wrong
I say a prayer for someone I care for
I do believe he didnt do wrong
I say a prayer for someone I care for
That night where sally really gave it all
And made us small boys look quite tall
Poor old jefferson left the ball
Yeah
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
Im gonna pray for jefferson
Pray for jeffersons soul
A-a-a-a-ah
A-a-a-a-ah
A-a-a-a-ah
song performed by by Roxette
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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But you say you are conservative - eminently conservative - while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?
quote by George Haven Putnam
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first.
quote by David H. Comins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To me, Arnold was a pioneer in the spirit of Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin, while Tiger is a pioneer in the spirit of Bill Gates.
quote by Mark McCormack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
quote by Benjamin Franklin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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