Free Republic

Oracle has been in the news lately, as the investigation into a no-bid $95 million sale the company made to the State of California winds its way through the political process and, possibly, into the courts. The deal was supposed to save the state money, but it now appears that California has more software than it has employees to use it. And the savings the software was to bring the state may, in fact, be offset by the costs of fixing the problem. From where I sit, it looks like Oracle was all too willing to take advantage of state...

We give our Heads! and our Hearts! to Our Country! One Country! One Language! One Flag! - Colonel George T. Balch. Off with your hat as the flag goes by And let the heart have its say; You're man enough for a tear in your eye That you will not wipe away. - Henry Cuyler Bunner. Yet, Freedom! yet the banner, torn, but flying, Streams like the thunderstorm against the wind! - G.G. Lord Byron, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." The colors that float from the masthead should be the credentials of our seamen. There is no safety to us, and the...

Our adversaries watch for weakness or a flagging will, which to them spells opportunity. - Henry Kissenger, address, Georgetown University, June 28, 1977. The aggressor’s edge must be neutralized by the power and will of those threatened by aggressors. - Richard Nixon, The Real War, 1980. AMERICA Much of the world now bears the imprint of the creative American spirit. We have achieved great things, and even greater achievement is needed to master the future. In a world of new complexities and high hopes, Americans can show once again that we will meet our challenges. - Henry Kissenger, address at...

This is my own eclectic collection of quotes from the Bible (King James Version), arranged in my own unique manner. Even if you don't find the Bible all that interesting, you might find this collection a little different. And if you don't agree with how I've categorized some of them, you're probably right. I'm always open to suggestion for the future. Enjoy. ACTION Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. - The Bible, Old Testament, Proverbs 20:11. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye...

SOLDIERS, SAILORS & AIRMEN A few words to think upon this Memorial Day.“I’ve long since forgotten the name of the speaker, but I’ll never forget what he said. ‘Imagine this. In the spring of 1945, around the world, the sight of a twelve-man squad of teenage boys, armed and in uniform, brought terror to people’s hearts. Whether it was a Red Army squad in Berlin, Leipzig, or Warsaw, or a German squad in Holland, or a Japanese squad in Manila, Seoul, or Beijing, that squad meant rape, pillage, looting, wanton destruction, sensless killing. But there was one exception: a squad...

ACTION Look at a man's acts; watch his motives; find out what pleases him: can the man evade you? Can the man evade you? - Confucius, Analects, 400 b.c. ADVANTAGE Do not be desirous to have things done quickly; do not look at small advantages. Desire to have things done quickly prevents them from being done thoroughly. Looking at small advantages prevents great efforts from being accomplished. - Confucius, Analects, c. 400 b.c. ARGUMENT A gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias. The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side. -...

The writings of the egoist Voltaire did more for liberation than those of the loving Rousseau did for brotherhood. - Alexander Herzen, From the Other Shore.ADMIRALS It is good, from time to time, to kill an admiral, in order to encourage the others. - Voltaire, Candide, 1759. ADVERSITY A man is on earth like a soldier at his post. - Voltaire, Ingenous, 1767. He struggled; he called to his aid philosophy, which had always helped him; he derived from it only enlightenment and no relief. Duty, gratitude, sovereign majesty violated: these presented themselves to his eyes like avenging gods; he...

The lions in their dens tremble on hearing his approach. - From a citation from the Moroccan govt. to General George S. Patton. One cannot but ponder the question: what if the Arabs had been Christians? To me it seems certain that the fatalistic teachings of Mohammed and the utter degradation of women is the outstanding cause for the arrested development of the Arab. He is exactly what he was around the year 700, while we have kept on developing. Here, I think, is a text for some eloquent sermon on the virtues of Christianity. - General George S. Patton,...

AMBASSADORS When the enemy's envoy's speak in humble terms, but continues his preparations, he will advance. When their language is deceptive but the enemy pretentiously advances, he will retreat. When the envoys speak in apologetic terms, he wishes a respite. When without a previous understanding the enemy asks for a truce, he is plotting. When the enemy sees an advantage but does not advance to seize it, he is fatigued. - Sun Tzu, The Art of War. c. 400-320 b.c. ARMIES One who sets the entire army in motion to chase an advantage will not attain it. - Sun Tzu,...

ATTACK Once at the enemy, you should not aspire to just strike him, but to cling after the attack. - Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings. 1645. The moment the enemy relaxes, attack strongly and quickly. - Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings. 1645. When the enemy makes a quick attack, you must attack strongly and calmly aim for his weak point as he draws near, and strongly defeat him. - Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings. 1645. Attack in an unsuspected manner, knowing his metre and modulation and the appropriate timing. - Miyamoto Musashi, A Book...

I think it is Montaigne who has said, that ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head. I am sure it is true as to everything political, and shall endeavor to estrange myself to everything of that character. - Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edmund Randolph, February 3, 1794. ABILITY Man is capable of all things. - Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Bk II.12, 1588. ACHIEVEMENTOur soul cannot from her own seat reach so high; ‘tis necessary she must leave it, raise herself up, and, taking the bridle in her teeth, transport her man so far that...

Mrs. Braddock : Mr. Churchill, you are drunk! Mr. Churchill : And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober tomorrow. - In W. Manchester’s, The Last Lion.Nancy Astor: "If I were your wife I would put poison in your coffee!" Winston Churchill: "And if I were your husband I would drink it!" To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I’ve just taken, with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy. - Ronald Reagan, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981. ACTION Things do not get better by being left alone. Unless they...

Patriotism, liberty and identification with the power of the state constituted the many elements united in the harmonious personality of Clauswitz. He did not need to have a recourse to sophistry, to deceive himself or to raise a barrier between his intelligence and his humanity. Clauswitz was a whole man. - Anatole Rappaport. ACTION Do not take the first step without considering the last. - Karl von Clauswitz, On War, 1832. Truth in itself is rarely sufficient to make men act. Hence the step is always long from cognition to volition, from knowledge to ability. The most powerful springs of...

To be filed under: “Things Robert Reicccchhhe doesn’t know.” “No external force, no coercion, no violation of freedom is necessary to produce cooperation among individuals all of whom can benefit. That is why, as Adam Smith put it, an individual who “intends only his own gain” is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.” - Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose, 1980. AMERICA There are no colonies of which the progress has been more rapid than that of the English in North America. ___Plenty of good land, and the liberty...

Consumer Warning: Knee-Jerk liberals are warned against reading the works of Machiavelli. Doing so may result in synaptic melt-down or political conversion!ABILITY ...Where men have little ability, fortune shows her power much, and because she is variable, republics and states often vary.... - Niccoló Machiavelli, The Discourses. 1517. ACTION It seems that in all the actions of men, besides the general difficulties of carrying them to a successful issue, the good is accompanied by some special evil, and so closely allied to it that it would seem impossible to achieve the one without encountering the other. - Niccoló Machiavelli, The...

Quotes by: Patrick Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Thomas Paine and George Washington. ACTION Action and care will in time wear down the strongest frame, but guilt and melancholy are poisons of quick dispatch. - Thomas Paine, "Reflections on Lord Clive," Pennsylvania Magazine. March 1775. AMERICA.I do believe we shall continue to grow, to multiply and prosper until we exhibit an association powerful, wise, and happy beyond what has bee seen by man. - Thomas Jefferson. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, engaged in commerce...

Words are wise men's counters, they do but reckon by them; but they are the money of fools. - Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651. ACTION Men's actions are derived from the opinions they of the good or evil, which from those actions rebound unto themselves. - Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651. AMBITION All men that are ambitious of military command, are inclined to continue the causes of war; and to stir up trouble and sedition: for there is no honor military but by war; nor any such hope to mind an ill game, as by causing a new shuffle. - Thomas...

Locke, Hume, & Rousseau - Classic Liberalism (not modern) revisited. ACTION The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. - John Locke, The True End of Civil Government, 1690. Two causes combine to produce every free action: the one moral, namely, the will, which determines the act: the other physical, namely, the strength which executes it. When I walk towards an objective, I must in the first place, have made up my mind to reach it: in the second, my feet must be capable of carrying me thither. A paralytic may wish to run, an active man...

The Federalist Papers, 1787-88. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison. Happily for America, happily we trust for the whole human race, they pursued a new and more noble course. They accomplished a revolution which has no parallel in the annals of human society: They reared the fabrics of governments which have no model on the face of the globe. They formed the design of a great confederacy, which it is incumbent on their successors to improve and perpetuate. If their works betray imperfections, we wonder at the fewness of them. If they erred most in the structure of the union;...

Who says education has improved in 2000 years? You couldn’t prove it by this man. ACHIEVMENT For the excellence of an achievement is not the same as that of a possession: the possession that we prize most is that which is most valuable, e.g. gold; but the achievement is the one that is great and splendid (because the contemplation of such a thing excites one's administration, and magnificence is an object of administration), and magnificence is an achievement is excellence on a grand scale. - Aristotle, Ethics. c.334-23 B.C. ACTION Just as at the Olympic Games it is not the...