Category: Quote of the Week

“To tax the community for the advantage of a class is not protection: it is plunder.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.” – Judge Learned Hand, in his dissenting opinion to Commissioner v. Newman, 159 F.2d 848, 851 (2d Cir. 1947)

“They treat me like a fox, a cunning fellow (Schlaukopf) of the first rank. But the truth is that with a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to deal with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.” – Otto Furst von Bismark, speaking with Gyula Andrássy in Salzburg on September 18, 1877. As quoted in Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Eastern Question. A Study in Diplomacy and Party Politics (1935) by Robert William Seton-Watson, p. 224

“It’s the friends you can call up at four a.m. that matter.” – Marlene Dietrich

“The Pilgrim and the Puritan whom we honor tonight were men who did a great deal of work in the world. They had their faults and their – shortcomings, but they were not slothful in business and they were most fervent in spirit.” – Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 – November 9, 1924)

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” – Acts 10:34-35 (KJV)

“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:4-6 (KJV)

“Never mind, we can do without them. But if we get out of here, you must send a message to Gibbs, the Hall Porter at Claridge’s in London, telling him on no account to allow the servants in the hotel to touch some dangerous medicines in my bathroom.” – OSS Director William J. Donovan, June 7, 1944, on Utah Beach, upon realizing that he left his cyanide pills behind, before the D-Day invasion

“Contemplate the entire ‘bump stock’ thing folks.  These were sold as legal accessories for years.  Millions of dollars changed hands for them, people were employed and now they’re in the hands of individuals.  A formal legal ruling was issued by the BATFE that these were legal accessories; the manufacturers and buyers didn’t assume, they asked for and obtained a written declaration that these devices not only complied with the law they didn’t require any sort of labeling, serialization or other form of control (such as a background check) as legally they were nothing more than a piece of plastic. The government is, of course, entitled to be wrong and repair that error which is …

“My sole ambition is to rid Mexico of the class that has oppressed her and given the people a chance to know what real liberty means. And if I could bring that about today by giving up my life, I would do it gladly.” – Pancho Villa

“If you know how to shoot, and are quite ready to shoot, the chances are that you won’t have to shoot.” – General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing (1860-1948)

“Each workman would receive two or three important parts and would affix them together and pass them on to the next who would add a part and pass the growing article to another who would do the same … until the complete arm is put together.” – Samuel Colt

“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” John 20:19 (KJV)

“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.)