The Notes (24 page)

O
ne way to distinguish truth from all its counterfeits is by its modesty: truth demands only to be heard among others while its counterfeits demand that others be silenced.

James A. Garfield

T
he men who succeed best in pub. life are those who take the risk of standing by their own convictions.

Dale Carnegie

A
ny fool can criticize, condemn & complain—& most fools do.

Mahatma Gandhi

I
have not conceived my mission to be that of a knight-errant wandering everywhere to deliver people from different situations. My humble occupation has been to show people how they solve their own difficulties. My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family, that every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self respect & liberty. . . . This defense avails through the whole world may be against the individual register.

Gen. Petain After Fall Of France, WWII

O
ur spirit of enjoyment was stronger than our spirit of sacrifice. We wanted to have more than we wanted to give. We spared effort and met disaster.

Abe Lincoln

I
f I were to try to read much less answer all of the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed of any other business. I do the very best I know how—the very best I can; & I mean to keep doing so until the end. I the end brings me out alright, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference.

L
etter to his law partner: Don’t let the worship of the past or the confusion of the present interfere with realistic planning for the future.

L
et not him who is houseless pull down the house of another but let him work diligently & build one for himself thus by example insuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

T
hat man can compress the most words into the smallest ideas better than any man I have ever met.

W
ith public sentiment behind you, anything is possible. Without it, nothing is possible. Therefore, he who influences public sentiment performs a vastly more significant act than he who simply meets statutes.

T
he time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.

I
must stand with anybody who stands rt.—stnd. with him while he is rt. & part with him when he is wrong.

Winston Churchill