Thought for Monday, Nov 30, 2009

*
"It's a summons."
"What's a summons?"
"It means summon's in trouble."
-- Rocky and Bullwinkle

Thought for Wednesday, Nov 25, 2009

Golden Oldie

We should be thankful for the good things we have
and, also, for the bad things we don't have.

-Anon

(tftd will resume on or about Monday November 30, 2009.
Butch the Greater, aka FB#1, reminds us again this
year to 'watch out for the changing constant of
gravity during the next 45 days.')

Thought for Tuesday, Nov 24, 2009

...

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday,
the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the
people of these States to the service of that great
and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of
all the good that was, that is, or that will be;
that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him
our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and
protection of the people of this country previous to
their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold
mercies and the favorable interpositions of His
providence in the course and conclusion of the late
war; for the great degree of tranquility, union,
and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the
peaceable and rational manner in which we have been
enable to establish constitutions of government for
our safety and happiness, and particularly the
national one now lately instituted for the
civil and religious liberty with which we are
blessed, and the means we have of acquiring
and diffusing usefulknowledge; and, in general,
for all the great and various favors which
He has been pleased to confer upon us.

...

-George Washington, President
3 Oct 1789
http://wilstar.com/holidays/wash_thanks.html
First official presidential
proclamation issued in the US.

Thought for Monday, Nov 23, 2009

Be willing to make decisions.
That's the most important quality in a good leader.

-General George S. Patton
General George S. Patton quotes

Thought for Friday, Nov 20, 2009

TO

HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY

THE QUEEN,

THIS TREATISE ON THE STEAM ENGINE BY THE ARTIZAN CLUB,

DESCRIPTIVE OF THE STRUCTURE AND PRINCIPALS OF ACTION OF

THE GREAT MECHANICAL AGENT

WHICH HAS FOUGHT THE BATTLES OF THE EMPIRE,

AND NOW SUSTAINS ITS GREATNESS;

WHICH BINDS NATIONS TOGETHER IN AMITY,

ANNIHILATES DISTANCE, SOFTENS NATIONAL PREJUDICES,

AND

PROMOTES CIVILISATION;

WHICH BRITISH ARTIZANS HAVE BROUGHT TO ITS PRESENT PERFECTION,

AND

WHICH BRITISH ARTIZANS NOW ASPIRE TO ILLUSTRATE,

IS,

By Her Majesty's Permission

MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

BY

HER MAJESTY'S OBEDIENT SUBJECT AND SERVANT,

JOHN BORNE.

*******************

Submitted by Chuck Rice
http://books.google.com/books?id=fbf6fhdoEEYC
If you would like to see
the dedication centered.
Go to READ THIS BOOK

Thought for Thursday, Nov 19, 2009

It is impossible to defeat
an ignorant man in argument.

-William G. McAdoo,
lawyer and politician
(1863-1941)

Thought for Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009

The perfect bureaucrat everywhere
is the man who manages to make no
decisions and escape all responsibility.

-Brooks Atkinson,
Once Around the Sun, 1951
(1894 - 1984)

Thought for Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009

Golden Oldie

... it is not enough to show that a situation is bad;
it is also necessary to be reasonably certain that the
problem has been properly described, fairly certain
that the proposed remedy will improve it, and
virtually certain that it will not make it worse.

-Robert Conquest
(As quoted in _Basic Economics,
A Citizen's Guide to the Economy_
by Thomas Sowell)

Thought for Monday, Nov 16, 2009

Golden Oldie

Life moves pretty fast.
Ya don't stop and look
around once in a while,
ya gonna miss it!

-Ferris Bueller (on his day off)

(Penny Pennington's TodaysThought 2001/06/06)

Thought for Friday, Nov 13, 2009

*
Never call a man a fool; borrow from him.

Thought for Thursday, Nov 12, 2009

Golden Oldie

The software engineering field is staffed
primarily by men. In fact, the ratio of male
to female software engineers is about 15 to 1.

This makes it pretty easy for women to find
potential mates among their peers. However,
software types have a well-earned reputation
for being well, a little strange.

While discussing the prospect of working in the
software industry, one woman commented to another,
"The odds are good, but the goods are odd."

-From: Douglas Helsel "Aiken
Drum" <Aiken@AikensLaughs.com>
"Groaners" 2001/08/16

**************

An example of chiasmus. -tftd

Thought for Wednesday, Nov 11, 2009

Golden Oldie

On Patience

Patience serves as a protection against wrongs
as clothes do against cold. For if you put on
more clothes as the cold increases, it will
have no power to hurt you. So in like manner
you must grow in patience when you meet with
great wrongs, and they will then be powerless
to vex your mind.

-Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Artist, architect and engineer
Cited in BITS & PIECES
BITS & PIECES: Home Delivery 2001/08/16

************************

Or as Herr Kemper is wont to say, 'Patience is a virtue.'

Thought for Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009

The problem with people who have no vices
is that generally you can be pretty sure
they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.

-Elizabeth Taylor
From Penny Pennington

Thought for Monday, Nov 9, 2009

*

I have two very rare photographs:
one is a picture of Houdini locking
his keys in his car;
the other is a rare photograph of
Norman Rockwell beating up a child.

-Steven Wright

Thought for Friday, Nov 6, 2009

*
Don't be humble ... you're not that great.
-- Golda Meir

Thought for Thursday, Nov 5, 2009

Golden Oldie

As I remember it, the biggest disappointment about growing up
was finding out that adults didn't really have any secret
knowledge about what to do in times of trouble.

-Beryl Pfizer

Thought for Wednesday, Nov 4, 2009

The '*' in the upper right hand corner
of a tftd indicates a 'thought' comes
from a UNIX Fortune Cookie file. tftd
has 11 working days to approve or
replace. tftd was out of town for a
week and then didn't review the
'thoughts' as soon as needed. That is
why yesterday's tftd went out
unreviewed.
tftd regrets the error.

Golden Oldie

Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits
are objects of scorn to New Yorkers who blow
horns to break up traffic jams.

-based on a quote from
Mary Ellen Kelly

Thought for Tuesday, Nov 3, 2009

*
Kerr's Three Rules for a Successful College:
Have plenty of football for the alumni, sex for the students,
and parking for the faculty.

Thought for Monday, Nov 2, 2009

*
My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.