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January 6

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Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
All of humanity is in peril of extinction if each one of us does not dare, now and henceforth, always to tell only the truth, and all the truth, and to do so promptly — right now. ~ Buckminster Fuller
2005
I know the biggest crime is just to throw up your hands and say "This has nothing to do with me, I just want to live as comfortably as I can." ~ Ani DiFranco
2006
In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want... everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear... anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. ~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt
2007
History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth. ~ E.L. Doctorow (born 6 January 1931)
2008
Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love. ~ Khalil Gibran (born 6 January 1883)
2009
Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be. ~ Khalil Gibran
2010
To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but what he aspires to. ~ Khalil Gibran
2011
Your thought advocates fame and show. Mine counsels me and implores me to cast aside notoriety and treat it like a grain of sand cast upon the shore of eternity. Your thought instills in your heart arrogance and superiority. Mine plants within me love for peace and the desire for independence. Your thought begets dreams of palaces with furniture of sandalwood studded with jewels, and beds made of twisted silk threads. My thought speaks softly in my ears, "Be clean in body and spirit even if you have nowhere to lay your head." Your thought makes you aspire to titles and offices. Mine exhorts me to humble service. ~ Khalil Gibran
2012
Faith lived in the incognito is one which is located outside the criticism coming from society, from politics, from history, for the very reason that it has itself the vocation to be a source of criticism. It is faith (lived in the incognito) which triggers the issues for the others, which causes everything seemingly established to be placed in doubt, which drives a wedge into the world of false assurances. ~ Jacques Ellul
2013
When no risk is taken there is no freedom. It is thus that, in an industrial society, the plethora of laws made for our personal safety convert the land into a nursery, and policemen hired to protect us become selfserving busybodies.
~ Alan Watts ~
2014
There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. You cannot talk yourself into it or rouse it by straining at the emotions or by dedicating yourself solemnly to the service of mankind. Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and the frustration of trying to love himself. This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self love bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love.
~ Alan Watts ~
2015
Your thought sees power in armies, cannons, battleships, submarines, aeroplanes, and poison gas. But mine asserts that power lies in reason, resolution, and truth. No matter how long the tyrant endures, he will be the loser at the end. Your thought differentiates between pragmatist and idealist, between the part and the whole, between the mystic and materialist. Mine realizes that life is one and its weights, measures and tables do not coincide with your weights, measures and tables. He whom you suppose an idealist may be a practical man.
~ Khalil Gibran ~
2016
It must be obvious... that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity.
~ Alan Watts ~
2017
My aim is not the establishment of an anarchist society or the total destruction of the state. Here I differ from anarchists. I do not believe that it is possible to destroy the modern state. It is pure imagination to think that some day this power will be overthrown. From a pragmatic standpoint there is no chance of success. Furthermore, I do not believe that anarchist doctrine is the solution to the problem of organization in society and government. I do not think that if anarchism were to succeed we should have a better or more livable society. Hence I am not fighting for the triumph of this doctrine.
On the other hand, it seems to me that an anarchist attitude is the only one that is sufficiently radical in the face of a general statist system.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
2018
There are different forms of anarchy and different currents in it. I must, first say very simply what anarchy I have in view. By anarchy I mean first an absolute rejection of violence. Hence I cannot accept either nihilists or anar­chists who choose violence as a means of action.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
2019
Through the myth it creates, propaganda imposes a complete range of intuitive knowledge, susceptible of only one interpretation, unique and one-sided, and precluding any divergence. This myth becomes so powerful that it invades every arena of consciousness, leaving no faculty or motivation intact. It stimulates in the individual a feeling of exclusiveness, and produces a biased attitude.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
2020
Anarchism can teach Christian thinkers to see the realities of our societies from a different standpoint than the dominant one of the state. What seems to be one of the disasters of our time is that we all appear to agree that the nation-state is the norm.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
2021
I believe that life has meaning. We are not on earth by chance; we do not come from nowhere to go to nowhere. This is a statement; it cannot be proved. Meaning implies both orientation and significance. Not every event or act or word has meaning, but everything is set in that orientation and signification.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
2022
The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law — whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.
Because January 6th was an unprecedented attack on the seat of our democracy, we understand that there is broad public interest in our investigation. We understand that there are questions about how long the investigation will take, and about what exactly we are doing.
Our answer is, and will continue to be, the same answer we would give with respect to any ongoing investigation: as long as it takes and whatever it takes for justice to be done — consistent with the facts and the law
~ Merrick Garland ~
  • proposed by Kalki, as significant remarks on investigations into major events of last year upon this date.
2023
The violent assault on the Capitol — and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress — was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes.
In the United States of America, it is the fundamental responsibility of every patriotic citizen to support the rule of law. To those who are disappointed in the results of the election: Our country is more important than the politics of the moment. Let the officials elected by the people fulfill their duties and represent our voices in peace and safety.
~ George W. Bush ~
  • proposed by Kalki; in regard of the anniversary of the events at the US Capitol building in 2021, and of these comments about them.
2024
Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated and incited and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of America, at American democracy.
They didn't come here out of patriotism or principle. They came here in rage. Not in service of America but rather in service of one man. Those who incited the mob, the real plotters who are desperate to deny the certification of this election, and defy the will of the voters. But their plot was foiled; congressmen, Democrats, Republicans stayed. Senators, representatives, staff, they finished their work the Constitution demanded. They honored their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Look folks, now it's up to all of us — to We the People — to stand for the rule of law, to preserve the flame of democracy, to keep the promise of America alive.
~ Joe Biden ~
  • proposed by Kalki; remarks on the 6 January 2021 storming of the US capitol building to disrupt US congressional electoral processes.
2025
Rank or add further suggestions…

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An averaging of the rankings provided to each suggestion produces it’s general ranking in considerations for selection of Quote of the Day. The selections made are usually chosen from the top ranked options existing on the page, but the provision of highly ranked late additions, especially in regard to special events (most commonly in regard to the deaths of famous people, or other major social or physical occurrences), always remain an option for final selections.
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Suggestions

[edit]

Traditional date for celebrating the Epiphany or Theophany of Jesus

DOB: E. L. Doctorow · Jacques Ellul · Khalil Gibran · Carl Sandburg · Alan Watts

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining ...researching ...talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. ~ E. L. Doctorow

  • 3 because planning to do something and actually doing it are two different things. Zarbon 04:53, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:15, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

When all is said and done, usually more is said than done. ~ Lou Holtz

  • 3 Zarbon 07:06, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Triviaa 04:28, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Drum on your drums, batter on your banjos,
sob on the long cool winding saxophones.
Go to it, O jazzmen.
~ Carl Sandburg

  • 2 Zarbon 07:06, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:15, 5 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So he loses touch with reality, and lives in a world of illusion. ~ Alan Watts

  • 3 Zarbon 07:06, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Triviaa 04:28, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

The most strongly enforced of all known taboos is the taboo against knowing who or what you really are behind the mask of your apparently separate, independent, and isolated ego. ~ Alan Watts

  • 3 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 14:06, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 bystander (talk) 03:10, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair, for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he goes. He who does not see the kingdom of heaven in this life will never see it in the coming life. ~ Khalil Gibran

  • 3 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC) with a VERY strong lean toward 4.
  • 2 Zarbon 14:06, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. ~ Khalil Gibran

  • 3 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 14:06, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

The mind weighs and measures but it is the spirit that reaches the heart of life and embraces the secret; and the seed of the spirit is deathless.
The wind may blow and then cease, and the sea shall swell and then weary, but the heart of life is a sphere quiet and serene, and the star that shines therein is fixed for evermore. ~ Khalil Gibran

  • 3 Kalki 00:17, 6 January 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
  • 2 Zarbon 14:06, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

I describe a world with no exit, convinced that God accompanies man throughout his history. ~ Jacques Ellul

Propaganda does not aim to elevate man, but to make him serve. ~ Jacques Ellul

The writer isn’t made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers is because we need witnesses to this terrifying century. ~ E. L. Doctorow

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. ~ E. L. Doctorow

There is no longer any such thing as fiction or nonfiction; there’s only narrative. ~ E. L. Doctorow

The ugly fallout from the American Dream has been coming down on us at a pretty consistent rate since Sitting Bull's time — and the only real difference now, with Election Day '72 only a few weeks away, is that we seem to be on the verge of ratifying the fallout and forgetting the Dream itself. ~ Hunter S. Thompson

  • No particular reason for suggesting this quote, other than Thompson is my favorite writer and Jan 6th is my birthday. Feel free to ignore it on that basis. - Radicaladz (talk · contributions) 20:45, 16 May 2011 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki (talk · contributions) 21:01, 16 May 2011 (UTC) though this or other quotes of Thompson suggested on his birthdate of 18 July might receive higher rankings there.
Men have never been so oppressed as in societies which set man at the pinnacle of values and exalt his greatness or make him the measure of all things. For in such societies freedom is detached from its purpose, which is, we affirm, the glory of God.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
A principal characteristic of technique … is its refusal to tolerate moral judgments. It is absolutely independent of them and eliminates them from its domain. Technique never observes the distinction between moral and immoral use. It tends on the contrary, to create a completely independent technical morality.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
The question now is whether people are prepared or not to realize that they are dominated by technology. And to realize that technology oppresses them, forces them to undertake certain obligations and conditions them. Their freedom begins when they become conscious of these things. For when we become conscious of that which determines our life we attain the highest degree of freedom.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
It has been demonstrated how the liberals state becomes an authoritarian state. The course is set and no accommodation will be either lasting or sufficient.
In face of this absolute power, only an absolutely negative position is viable. What we have in mind is the attitude that conscientous objectors take on a specific point, and not without good reason. In the present set-up the anarchist attitude of a total refusal of validity or legitimacy to any authority of any kind seems to me to be the only valid and viable one. The point is not to enforce a particular view of society but to establish a counterbalance, a protest, a sign of cleavage. In face of an absolute power only a total confrontation has any meaning
~ Jacques Ellul ~
Every modern state is totalitarian. It recognizes no limit either factual or legal. This is why I maintain that no state in the modern world is legitimate. No present-day authority can claim to be instructed by God, for all authority is set in the framework of a totalitarian state. This is why I decide for anarchy.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
I believe that the biblical teaching is clear. It always contests political power. It incites to "counterpower," to "positive" criticism, to an irreducible dialogue (like that between king and prophet in Israel), to antistatism, to a decentralizing of the relation, to an extreme relativizing of everything political, to an anti-ideology, to a questioning of all that claims either power or dominion (in other words, of all things political), and finally, if we may use a modern term, to a kind of "anarchism" (so long as we do not relate the term to the anarchist teaching of the nineteenth century).
~ Jacques Ellul ~
The biblical view is not just apolitical but antipolitical in the sense that it refuses to confer any value on political power, or in the sense that it regards political power as idolatrous, inevitably entailing idolatry. Christianity offers no justification for political power; on the contrary, it radically questions it.
~ Jacques Ellul ~
The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twister pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty.
~ Theodore Roosevelt ~
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities — all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness.
~ Theodore Roosevelt ~


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