Category: Quote of the Day

“Thus the steel serpent becomes an automatic governor upon the upward and downward movements of the ship due to meteorological changes. Hence the name ‘equilibrator’ or ‘stabilizator.’ The huge snake and its valuable stuffing is really ballast which may be used over and over again without ever losing it. It is unnecessary to carry sand or water to throw overboard. Our serpent, if he behaves as well as a well-made reptile ought, should hold the [dirigible] America at an altitude of from 150 to 250 feet above the ocean, save us ballast ‘which means fuel’ on one hand, save us gas …

“I am happy now, to recall that I was not only his son but his companion, and whenever there was a hunting expedition or any other pleasure, I was always with him.” – John Philip Sousa, reflecting on the influence of his father. (Sousa was an avid hunter and target shooter.)

“The strategic plans of our armed forces for the defeat of Japan, as they stood in July, had been prepared without reliance upon the atomic bomb, which had not yet been tested in New Mexico. We were planning an intensified sea and air blockade, and greatly intensified strategic air bombing, through the summer and early fall, to be followed on November 1 by an invasion of the southern island of Kyushu. This would be followed in turn by an invasion of the main island of Honshu in the spring of 1946. The total U.S. military and naval force involved in …

“The whole object of science is to synthesize, and so simplify; and did we but know the uttermost of a subject we could make it singularly clear.” – Percival Lawrence Lowell (March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who speculated that there were canals on Mars

“If a person is too dangerous to have a gun, that person is dangerous enough to arrest or commit. Taking people’s guns on the say-so of a jilted lover or crazy neighbor isn’t a slippery slope, it’s a cliff. I’ve often thought the NRA should move from Fairfax, one of the richest cities in the country—median family income is deep into six figures—and a leftist suburb of Washington DC. When the NRA endorses yet another cockamamie law like this, I have to wonder who’s influencing who. Remember, the phrase ‘common sense gun law’ so beloved of anti-gun activists was first …

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, …

“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” – Jeremiah 9:23-24 (KJV)

“Men Wanted for Dangerous Expedition: Low Wages for Long Hours of Arduous Labour under Brutal Conditions; Months of Continual Darkness and Extreme Cold; Great Risk to Life and Limb from Disease, Accidents and Other Hazards; Small Chance of Fame in Case of Success.” – Ernest Shackleton

“One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that ‘violence begets violence.’ I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure—and in some cases I have—that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.” – Col. Jeff Cooper

“America is like an exotic hothouse plant. It can only live now in the artificial environment of vaccinations, sterilization, and antibiotics we started creating a hundred or more years ago.” – William R. Forstchen, in One Second After

“But as no two (theoreticians) agree on this (skin friction) or any other subject, some not agreeing today with what they wrote a year ago, I think we might put down all their results, add them together, and then divide by the number of mathematicians, and thus find the average coefficient of error. (1908)” – Sir Hiram Maxim  

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:1-2 (KJV)

“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring” – Isaiah 44:3 (KJV)

“My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.” – Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four