Todays’ wisdom is from great samurai general George Washington:
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
Your trust and your confidence is a prize that must be won through great hardship.
BTW, I’d like a list of some other great samurai I should be looking up quotes from.
How about the great ronin Ted Roosevelt?
I haven’t been following your Ronin thoughts until recently, but have you been taking any from James Madison?
Samurai Patton for damn sure. Just watch the movie and take notes.
Any samurai other than yourself, who has publicly advocated the flogging of Micheal Moore.
Nic Machiavelli?
WINSTON. CHURCHILL.
Ronin Matthew Ridgeway, when he took command from MacArthur in Korea said words to the effect of:
“Gentlemen, I shall give you my utmost. I expect the same.”
How about quotes from ancient Greeks or ancient Romans. Come to think of it, the Romans also conquered the French. I’m sure you could find something in Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars or some of Homer’s Epics.
Or how about ronin Bruce Campbell: “Good, bad, I’m the guy with the gun.” As true today, as when it was written.
Epictetus. Stoicism is the Zen of the West.
Patton. There is a book of quotes from Patton that I read years ago. My fav… “Punishment is not for the sake of the sinner but for the salvation of his brother’s soul.”
Jack Burton from Big Trouble Little China is one of the best hollywood samurais of all time
George Orwell has a few good quotes.
“Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, ‘he that is not with me is against me. ”
” Liberal: a power worshipper without power. ”
” We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. “
The best thing you have to offer the world is yourself.
Guard your treasures.
Sun-Tsu, Alexander Hamilton, Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, George Patton, Aldus Huxley, Eric Hoffer, Jesus Christ, Fredric Douglas, Mao, Chaing Kai-Shek
http://www.twainquotes.com/
LADY THATCHER. As Ronins of Ronaldus Magnus, we shouldn’t forget his soulmate.
Here are some examples:
“To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.”
“Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.”
“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”
BTW, I’m looking for a picture of the Iron Lady riding a Challenger Tank in Germany. I saw this great pic in a book but I can’t find it anywhere on the net. If someone has a scan of it that I could use as a wallpaper without big ugly pixels, please mail it to me:
cyblicpro (AT) hotmail (DOT) com
Thanks.
Excellent quotation. It seems like many folks today too easily bestow the term “friend” on an acquaintance or a coworker.
Samurai C. S. Lewis on tyranny (and bureaucrats):
“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
Would it be entirely too boring to suggest Musashi-sensei and the Hagakure ?
From a somewhat earlier era: Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert E. Lee
From the current era: Gens. Norman Schwarzkopf and Tommy Franks
From fiction (maybe): Gandalf The Grey/White
From literature: Robert A. Heinlein (and his alter-ego, Lazarus Long)
And, from the ranks of American politics (modern era): Harry S. Truman and Ronald Reagan
Micky Dolenz. hehe
Stephen Wright:
“I have a switch in my apartment… it doesn’t do anything…. Every once in a while, I turn it on and off…. One day I got a call… it was from a woman in France…. She said ‘Cut it out’….”
“I xeroxed a mirror. Now I have an extra xerox machine.”
“I didn’t get a toy train like the other kids, I got a toy subway instead; you couldn’t see anything but every now and then you’d hear this rumbling noise go by.”
“I bought a dog the other day… I named him Stay. It’s fun to call him… “Come here, Stay! Come here, Stay!” He went insane. Now he just ignores me and keeps typing.”
“Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?”
“I filled out an application that said, “In Case Of Emergency Notify”. I wrote “Doctor”… What’s my mother going to do?”
” We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm. ”
That was a great quote who said that again? George Orwell?
I thought he was a socialist.
Uh, Orwell is best known for his books illustrating the nasty side of socialism. He went for the old “Works great in theory” line, yes, but everyone nods at that – like everyone intelligent, he remembered the second half “…but it doesn’t work“.
Yogi Berra:
It’s deja vu all over again.
Rodney Dangerfield:
Lot’s of things.
Who says a Ronin is humorless?
If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude
greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace.
We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand
that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity
forget that ye were our countrymen.
–Samuel Adams
Re the last 2 comments:
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice there is.
— Yogi Berra
(My reference was to Mark’s and Alsadius’ comments.)
Check out Marcus Tuilius Cicero. Roman senator. Liked peace but wasn’t afraid to kill people who needed it, and self-made guy. Legend.
How about the samurai who taught the Samurai a lasting lesson, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur:
“From the Far East I send you one single thought, one sole idea–written in red on every beachhead from Australia to Tokyo–there is no substitute for victory!”
Some samurai of the skies:
“[Pacifists are] fools! They want to rid the world of war by getting rid of armies. Would they rid the world of sickness by doing away with doctors?” -Lt. Saburo Sakai, IJNAF
“Make your decisions promptly. It is better to act quickly even though your tactics are not the best.” -Group Captain Adolph ‘Sailor’ Malan, RAF
“The Frenchman flinches, the Englishman seldom does.” -Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Bushido from some fictional types:
“It’s better to try something and regret it than to do nothing and regret that.” -Ken Nakajima in ‘You’re Under Arrest’
“Control the things you can control, maggot. Let everything else take a flying f*ck at you. And if you must go down, go down with your guns blazing.” -Kort in _Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three_
“Good, bad… I’m the guy with the gun.” -Ash in ‘Army of Darkness’
If it’s a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.
– Admiral Grace Hopper
The real leader has no need to lead – he is content to point the way.
– Henry Miller
People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. . . . The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.
– Theodore Roosevelt
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. . . . The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.
– Walter Lippmann
There is no such thing as a perfect leader either in the past or present, in China or elsewhere. If there is one, he is only pretending, like a pig inserting scallions into its nose in an effort to look like an elephant.
– Liu Shao-ch’i
If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.
– Katharine Hepburn
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters.
– Albert Einstein
To lead people, walk beside them …
As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence.
The next best, the people honor and praise.
The next, the people fear;
and the next, the people hate …
When the best leader’s work is done the people say,
“We did it ourselves!”
– Lao-Tzu
Hell, there are no rules here–we’re trying to accomplish something.
– Thomas A. Edison
A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.
– General of the Armies John J. Pershing
The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
– Vincent T. Lombardi
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
– Proverbs 29:18
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
– Abraham Lincoln
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
– Albert Einstein
Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.
– Winston Churchill
Great suggestions. Don’t forget George W. Bush. He has some great quotes from the address to Congress after 9-11:
“Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.”
“We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them.”
“Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead, and dangers to face. But this country will define our times, not be defined by them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror; this will be an age of liberty, here and across the world.”
“We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.”
I have to go back and reread that every once in a while, it reminds me why I am voting for W again in November.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html
But all his major speeches have great quotes in them.