Word

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and hence clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. -H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

I'm in my office fuming about a woman who think's it's appropriate to let your kid lay in the middle of the floor and scream, so loud it makes my bewbs hurt, while she waits for her appointment. I am also being particularly judgey.

Then I come across this:

Don't be yourself. Be someone a little nicer. -Mignon McLaughlin,
journalist and author (1913-1983)

Touché, interwebs, touché.

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”

-Kurt Vonnegut
“God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater”

Huh...

Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.
-Sam Harris, author (1967- )

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
-Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)

Teach Your Children Well

Count no day lost in which you waited your turn, took only your share and sought advantage over no one. -Robert Brault

Once you label me you negate me. -Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher (1813-1855)

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
-Edward R. Murrow, journalist (1908-1965)

Hmmmmm

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison, fourth US president (1751-1836)

Boy's Don't Make Passes at Girls Who Wear Glasses

I'd like to kick Dorothy Parker - she's the person who came up with this saying back in 1925. Glasses are not the signature of a homely, nerdy, uptight girl whose only goal in life is to file library cards. Glasses are sophisticated, sweet, sexy, stylish and simply superb. The girls who wear them may be smart, but that doesn't mean they're boring prudes. Glasses have just gotten a bad reputation, and for no good reason.

-epitomegirl

Kata-Wha?

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, or a new country. -Anais Nin, author (1903-1977)

Is it bad that everything I read lately reminds me of Katamari?

You Can Quote Me

Know what I love? When people litter their blogs with random disconnected quotes. I am, of course, lying. But I recently came across a quote in my wordsmith.org email that I am compelled to share.

The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions. -Robert Lynd, writer (1879-1949)

Wanna know more about him? There's not a ton out there but here are some links:
Amazon
Ulster History Circle
Project Gutenberg