I am reminded of the professor who, in his declining hours, was asked by his devoted pupils for his final counsel. He replied, 'Verify your quotations.' ~Winston Churchill
The private detective of fiction is a fantastic creation who acts and speaks like a real man. He can be completely realistic in every sense but one, that one sense being that in life as we know it such a man would not be a private detective. ~Raymond Chandler(born 23 July 1888)
Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor. He talks as the man of his age talks, that is, with rude wit, a lively sense of the grotesque, a disgust for sham, and a contempt for pettiness. ~Raymond Chandler(born 23 July 1888)
Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph. ~Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia(born 23 July 1892)
The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to speak and act — and if necessary, to suffer and die — for truth and justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied. These lessons must be learned anew by each succeeding generation, and that generation is fortunate indeed which learns from other than its own bitter experience. ~Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous. ~Raymond Chandler
last sentence proposed byNingauble;extension suggested and used byKalki
2011
The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech. ~Anthony Kennedy
Everythingwritten withvitalityexpresses that vitality: there are no dull subjects, only dullminds.All men who read escape from something else into what lies behind the printed page; thequalityof thedreammay be argued, but its release has become a functionalnecessity.All men must escape attimesfrom thedeadlyrhythm of their private thoughts. It is part of the process of life amongthinkingbeings.
We must never losesightof thefactthat thelawhas amoralfoundation, and we must neverfailto ask ourselves not only what the law is, but what the law should be.
Thelawisn’tjustice.It’s a very imperfectmechanism.If you press exactly the right buttons and are alsolucky,justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be.
I am awriter,and there comes atimewhen that which I write has to belong to me, has to be writtenaloneand insilence,with no one looking over my shoulder, no one telling me a better way to write it. It doesn't have to begreatwriting, it doesn't even have to be terriblygood.It just has to be mine.
Donald Trumpwasn’t looking for the right answerlegallyor the right answerfactually.He was looking for a way to remain in office.… In our hearing tonight, you saw anAmerican presidentfaced with a stark, unmistakablechoicebetween right and wrong. There was noambiguity,no nuance. Donald Trump made apurposefulchoice to violate hisoathof office, to ignore the ongoingviolenceagainst law enforcement, to threatenour Constitutionalorder.There is no way to excuse that behavior. It was indefensible. And every American must consider this: Can a president who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made duringthe violence of January 6thever betrustedwith any position ofauthorityin our great nation again?
proposed byKalki;to close out the first weekend of "Barbenheimmer"viewings.
2024
I amhonoredto havethe President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled acrossthe country,talking with Americans about the clear choice inthis momentous election.And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite theDemocratic Party— anduniteour nation — to defeatDonald Trumpand his extremeProject 2025agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we willwin.
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I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss-waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will remain split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of barroom vernacular, this is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed and attentive. The method may not be perfect, but it is all I have. ~Raymond Chandler
