[cdestroyer]

Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you, they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

[Anne Elk]

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein

[Chief Joseph]

“All I can say is that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” "Lady Astor to Churchill: “If I were married to you, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Reply: “If I were married to you, I’d drink it.” "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" [a] was a wartime speech delivered to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by British prime minister Winston Churchill on 20 August 1940.[1] The name stems from the specific line in the speech, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few", referring to the ongoing efforts of the Royal Air Force and other Allied aircrew who were fighting in the Battle of Britain, the pivotal air battle with the German Luftwaffe.[2] I am reading the book by Erik Larson, "The Splendid and the Vile"....about Churchill and events surrounding England's involvement in WW2, really good book. I love history, pretty much the only subject I enjoyed in HS. I think if I could have a drink with one person no longer with us, Churchill would be high on my list.

[Chief Joseph]

"Of course we are all hypocrites. The only true act of an environmentalist would be to shoot himself in the head. Otherwise he's still contaminating the place by his mere presence" {paraphrase} ~Ed Abbey~

[Anne Elk]

[Chief Joseph]

Don't know much about him, but it seems that he was quite an eccentric and interesting individual.

[cdestroyer]

tom hanks on accepting wilson soccer ball: "For the truth to some is no longer empirical. It’s no longer based on data, nor common sense, nor even common decency. Telling the truth is no longer the benchmark for public service. It’s no longer the salve to our fears, or the guide to our actions. Truth is now considered malleable, by opinion and by zero-sum endgames. "It’s the same option for all grown-ups who have to decide to be one of three types of Americans: Those who embrace liberty and freedom for all; those who won’t; or those who are indifferent. "Only the first do the work of creating a more perfect union, a nation indivisible. The others get in the way."

[Sculpin]

[cdestroyer]

I would not put much stock in someone who signs their correspondence: Sincerely, Molly Ivins, plagiarist.