“Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty?” – Patrick Henry, In a speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention (June 5th,1788)
“You ask me if I will not be glad when the last battle is fought, so far as the country is concerned I, of course, must wish for peace, and will be glad when the war is ended, but if I answer for myself alone, I must say that I shall regret to see the war end.” – General George Armstrong Custer
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (KJV)
“Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret. …
“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” – Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, upon learning of the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor
“No way that any astronaut worth his salt volunteered for the space program to become a hero. You don’t select astronauts who want fame and fortune. You select them because they’re the best test pilots in the world, they know it, and it’s a personal challenge for them. And the astronauts of today are exactly the same. ” – Astronaut Alan B. Shepard of Freedom 7 (Project Mercury) and Apollo 14 fame. His experience at the first American in space is described in Tom Wolfe’s bestselling book, The Right Stuff.
“I felt only as a man can feel who is roaming over the prairies of the far West, well armed, and mounted on a fleet and gallant steed.” – Buffalo Bill Cody
“The colors are stunning. In a single view, I see – looking out at the edge of the earth: red at the horizon line, blending to orange and yellow, followed by a thin white line, then light blue, gradually turning to dark blue and various gradually darker shades of gray, then black and a million stars above. It’s breathtaking.” – Astronaut William McCool (Commander on Space Shuttle Columbia‘s fateful final flight)
“They wouldn’t take me in the [U.S.] Navy because of my glass eye. So I joined the merchant navy, who allowed monocular crew if you worked in the kitchens. You’re not wanted on deck or in the engine room with one eye, but you’re good to fire up the ovens and cook hundreds of chops.” – Peter Falk
“And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.” – Genesis 37:9-11 (KJV)
“With us air people, the future of our nation is indissolubly bound up in the development of air power.” – General William “Billy” Mitchell
“The peregrine falcon is the swiftest, most adept animal I have ever seen. It is worth noting that, like many birds, the falcon’s bones are hollow. Travel light.” – Ethan Hawke, Rules for a Knight
“In the account book of the Great War the page recording the Russian losses has been ripped out. The figures are unknown. Five millions, or eight? We ourselves know not.” – General Paul Von Hindenburg
“Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won’t cheat, then you know he never will. Integrity is not a search for the rewards of integrity. Maybe all you ever get for it is the largest kick in the ass the world can provide. It is not supposed to be a productive asset. Crime pays a lot better. I can bend my own rules way, way over, but there is a place where …
“Every man who is truly a man must learn to be alone in the midst of all others, and if need be against all others.” – Romain Rolland
