With free speech, there is civilization. Without free speech, there is no civilization.

Always sit with your back to the wall.

The universe is a working hypothesis.

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Having children does not guarantee happiness.
However, it does guarantee that you will be too busy to be unhappy.

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Nature is relentless in its pursuit of improvement.

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Gaskin says: "Between evil and entropy, there is no need for the devil".
Hatchett says: "Between ignorance and entropy, there is no need for the devil".

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Religious leaders prosper due to an unspoken maxim. When P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute", he broke the silence.

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Never assume anything. Always check it out yourself. The one time you don't, it will come back and bite you.

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You claim that restricting someone else's rights won't affect your rights. Well, maybe not immediately.

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The desire to regulate and control someone else's sexuality is the ultimate perversity.

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Some folks claim that sex education, birth control devices and legalized abortion encourage promiscuity.
They're forgetting something.
Promiscuity needs no encouragement.

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To a large number of people, the most dangerous thing in the world is a new idea.

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Never panic. The minute you do, it gives your subordinates permission to panic.

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Marriage is a partnership. When it comes to crunch time, will your partner be there?

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Anybody can win. It takes mental toughness to lose and come back again.

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Don't be afraid to apologize.

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Some people think that the universe owes them a living. This is normally a self-correcting situation. Unless they can talk someone else into validating their theory with continual charity.

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Never evaluate a person's abilities by what you think they can do, by what other people say that person can do or by what the person tells you he/she can do.
Evaluate them by what they actually do.

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Money cannot buy love, happiness, health, wisdom or freedom.
Think how poor wealthy people really are!

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Ignoring the facts is as useless an activity as ignoring the location of a coffee table in your living room.
Things might be fine for a while, but eventually you'll bump your shin.

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The universe is not for sissies.

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Education has two effects. It opens some minds and closes others.
The choice is yours.

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Every time you get an answer, you'll have another question.

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Beware of anyone who always heaps dirt on others. They're usually trying to hide a big mess of their own.


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Don't delay a difficult decision. It just makes it worse.

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An effective leader admits his/her mistakes.

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Mankind creates its own gods. That's why our gods act so silly.

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The majority of people have a limited knowledge of the past and an even dimmer notion of the future.

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A superior culture welcomes outside influences. An inferior culture isolates itself from such influences.

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Always make your own mistakes. You learn more that way.

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What is the meaning of life?
Hmmm.....
It's been a long time since you held a newborn baby, hasn't it?

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Always make time for yourself. Nobody else will.

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A straw boss will give you your assignment, check to see if you succeed or fail and then ignore or castigate you accordingly.
A manager will give you the tools you need, run interference if necessary and help you succeed.

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What Do You Want To Do?
Boil your philosophy down to address that issue. Everything else is just ornamentation.

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Most of the time a necessary decision is not popular. If you're willing to make that type of decision, you're a leader.
If you're not, you're just a politician.

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Children always test the limits of any decision you make.
Once you realize this is universal, you can deal with their efforts dispassionately. If you continue to take it personally, the situation could lead to violence.

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People who feel America needs to become "multicultural" haven't studied American history.

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If life is sacred, then all the more reason not to waste it on someone unwilling or unable to nurture and protect it.

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Ideology is helpful until it becomes a hindrance.

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An evangelist is someone whose own faith is so weak that he/she has to convert others in order to strengthen it.

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Posing theories without proof is not a sign of wisdom. To put it another way, unsupported opinions are an unseemly vice.
Without data, any generalization is suspect.

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People who don't have to struggle aren't really living.

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There are two groups of people. Those who take it upon themselves to get the job done and those who criticize whatever the first group has accomplished.

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Modern art has a disproportionate number of practitioners whose work is designed principally to show how clever they are.
I may be old fashioned, but masturbation is best performed in private.

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Education is the only necessary luxury.

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A learned fool is still a fool.

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When earning a living, remember that money is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

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The purpose in being alive is to live.
So why not enjoy it?
Penance is for the dysfunctional.

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Which name is more recognizable, Michelangelo or Savonarola? History will pass the same judgment on Helms and Mapplethorpe.

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Always watch your back.

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The "sin" in Original Sin was in thinking up this preposterous notion in the first place.

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Never quit. But occasionally you're going to need to rest between rounds.

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Always be audacious.

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I'm stubborn, opinionated, arrogant and I know what I want.
But......knowing what you want is the first step towards figuring out other people's needs.

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Every person is different. Don't assume that another person's motivation, attitudes and values are the same as yours. Once you discover the reasons behind someone's actions, it will allow you to deal with them without your own prejudices getting in the way.

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Life on this planet began when genetic information was successfully passed from one generation of cells to another.

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A radical is a person whose ideas upset too many apple carts.

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Reading is a necessary addiction.

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There are more miracles in a biology textbook than in any religious tract.

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Exaggeration is a tool used by the uncertain.

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People always gossip.
However, don't substitute gossip for facts and NEVER make a decision based on it.

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You are your ethics.
You may not be wealthy, you may not be powerful, you may not be successful, but when you wake up in the morning and face yourself in the mirror - you don't have to make excuses.

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Always look a gift horse in the mouth.
You'll want to check for strings, as all gifts come with strings attached. Which is fine, so long as you know what sort of obligations are involved.

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Education empowers the student.
Indoctrination benefits those already in power.

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When it rains, you get just as wet as the next fellow.

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Everyone has an opinion on something. Furthermore, they will argue strenuously that they have a right to express that opinion.
But....you have the right not to base your decision on their opinion.

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When someone complains that something is "unfair", he usually means that he'd like things to be more fair to him and less fair to everyone else.

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The universe isn't "fair" or "just". But that doesn't mean that you don't have to be.

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Your children will always conceal from you the activities they feel you would disapprove of.
"Good" children are generally successful in their deceitfulness.
"Bad" children are sloppy and indifferent to the fear of discovery.
In a way, this is a good measurement of how considerate your offspring are.

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Good intentions cannot justify bad laws. The "noble experiment" (Prohibition) did not decrease the demand for alcohol and also created organized crime. Good intentions have to be combined with good methods and a consensus of all the affected parties.

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There's only one way to deal with a bully. Just remember to act quickly, as any hesitation on your part strengthens his/her position and weakens yours.

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Wishful thinking can become a fatal illness.

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A parent must always place the welfare of his or her children above that of his or her own welfare. A case could be made that an individual does not truly become an adult until he or she has offspring.

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You can't count on anyone else to look after your interests or welfare.

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Conscience cannot guarantee civilization. Only laws can compel it.

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Ignorance is the penalty for ignorance.
Enlightenment is the reward for enlightenment.

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Is "God" inclusive or exclusive? Is an exclusive "God" worthy of your "worship"?

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Utopias possess a fundamental flaw.
Utopians assume that humanity desires equality.
Individuals accept equality as long as they believe that they are more equal than others.

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It's easy to find out what someone thinks about an issue. It's much harder to find out why they think that way.

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The reason why someone doesn't want you to know something is as important as the information they attempt to conceal.

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If the deal is too good to be true, the other party has something that they're concealing from you.

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Paranoia is useful for the leadership of a popular movement.
It unites a diverse membership into focusing on a common enemy.
It doesn't matter whether the enemy is real or imaginary.

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History is a record of our follies as much as it is a history of our successes.

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You're just one person on an insignificant planet, orbiting an insignificant sun, in the arm of just another galaxy that is locating in a universe of galaxies.
Of course, from your point of view, you're the most important thing in the universe.

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Everyone is different. However, we all have similar needs.

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Anyone can tell you what you should do. Only you can decide what is moral or immoral.

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When you tell someone something they don't really want to hear, make sure to have an escape route picked out in advance.

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It's dishonest to blame God for your own fears and prejudices.

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Be careful if you have to use positional power in the hierarchy to settle a conflict. You may win the battle, but lose the war.

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Always remember that 30% of the population will feel better if a doctor gives them a sugar pill and tells them that it is a medicine that will relieve their symptoms. This fact partially explains the fashion industry, organized religion and the popularity of certain political figures.


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Fear can motivate an individual for only a short amount of time.

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The rich only obey one rule.
The Golden Rule.
He who has the gold, makes the rules.

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Love is like any other enterprise, it takes work, perseverance, and attention to succeed.
It cannot be taken for granted.

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Perfection is for machinery, not humanity.

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If you can't do anything about it, don't.
Wait until you can.

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If you can't discipline yourself, how can you expect to discipline others?

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If you can't figure it out, find someone who can and have them explain it to you.

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Short term decisions are sometimes easy.
But what are the long term implications?

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Conventional wisdom is good at conventions.
Reality will require improvisation from time to time.

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Do ants pray that you won't step on them?
If they do, how could you hear them?

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If someone starts a witch hunt, they're going to need witches.

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Love without risk is meaningless.

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Is this the essence of conservative policy?
"I've got mine - screw you!"

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Early educators had an enormous advantage.
If a Homo Habilis youth thought he/she knew more than the teacher and cut class, they missed the leopard lecture.
The leopard then administered the final exam.

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If big government is bad, why is big business good?

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Why doesn't the criminal class run things?
They can never cooperate.
They're so greedy that they can never be happy with just a part of the pie.

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Mark Twain once said that "everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it."
Sex is different.
No one wants to talk about it, but everyone does it.

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The delight a scandalmonger takes in revealing someone's peccadilloes tells you all you need to know about their own character.
Reading a book to a child takes precedence over all other activities.

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Love your mate in spite of and because of the differences between you.

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"But we've always been done it that way...."
You seriously expect me to believe that the universe will cease to exist if we try to do something differently?

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Anyone who tells you they don't need to learn something is really telling you they can't learn something.

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If you value your possessions more than you value people, you'll end up alone with a bunch of objects.

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Life is too short to worry about what other people think.

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You learn by making mistakes.
Everyone makes mistakes.
The advantage older people have is that they've already made the mistakes you're making now.

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There are people who like children and people who don't.
If the second group is honest, they won't have any children.

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The whole notion of separate and distinct human "races" is pretty silly. If one member of "race" can conceive a child with a member of another "race", all other "differences" between the two groups are trivial.

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The house always wins.
If you win, count your chips, don't take a check and get out.
Don't come back, because........
The house always wins.

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A person who lies for no reason may have other bad habits.

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If you lose your temper in a disagreement, you've lost the argument.

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Is "Evil" is due to a lack of empathy?

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If change is inevitable, why do we resist it so much?

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Is there life after death?
It is hard to ignore Keith Richards.

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Never be the last one off a sinking ship.
If you are, you'll be the first one they blame for the catastrophe.

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There's a whole list of things people should not do.
But they do them anyway.

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Big Hitlers are easy to spot.
It's the little Hitlers that can sneak up on you.

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Survival is victory.

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“Vengeance is mine!” saith the Lord.
But sometimes it’s okay to give God a helping hand.

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My mother used to say – “In each life, a little rain has to fall’.

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Every once and a while you’ll have to stop making the sensible choice and make a choice based on principle.

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According to my brother - “Age and treachery always defeat youth and enthusiasm".

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I have faith the boat won't sink,
I believe that I'll wear a life preserver anyway.