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Reading on a Sunday Morning

Submitted by Roanman on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 06:42

 

I have no idea if the following is true, as I have been unable to find any corroboration.

China Daily makes the following claim in an article titled,

"Life Span of Buildings Creates Huge Waste"

Compared to the less than 30-year average life expectancy of China’s buildings, the average life span of a building in Britain is 132 years and in the United States it is 74 years.

 

To quote Margaret Thatcher

Submitted by Roanman on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 07:04

  

I owe nothing to Women's Lib. 

 The battle for women's rights has been largely won.
 
Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.

Being prime minister is a lonely job... you cannot lead from the crowd.

I don't mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say.
 
Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.
 
No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions - he had money, too.
 
To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukemia with leeches.
 
I've got a woman's ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.
 
In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman.
 
I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.
 
I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.
 
Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.

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.

I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.

I just owe almost everything to my father and it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election.

I like Mr. Gorbachev, we can do business together.
 
It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.
 
I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.
 
I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job.
 
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.
 
There are still people in my party who believe in consensus politics. I regard them as Quislings, as traitors... I mean it.
 
I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.

If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim.

If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.
 
If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
 
If you want to cut your own throat, don't come to me for a bandage.

It is only when you look now and see success that you say that it was good fortune. It was not. We lost 250 of our best young men. I felt every one.

It pays to know the enemy - not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.
 
It was sheer professionalism and inspiration and the fact that you really cannot have people marching into other people's territory and staying there.

Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus.

Of course it's the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.
 
Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.
 
Ought we not to ask the media to agree among themselves a voluntary code of conduct, under which they would not say or show anything which could assist the terrorists' morale or their cause while the hijack lasted.

Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.
There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.

There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.

To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best. 
We were told our campaign wasn't sufficiently slick. We regard that as a compliment.
 
You don't tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
 

 

To quote Mahatma Ghandi

Submitted by Roanman on Sat, 05/02/2009 - 14:14

 

 
We must become the change we want to see.
 
An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
 
I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
 
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
 
They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.
 
I believe in the fundamental Truth of all the great religions of the world. I believe that they are all God given. I came to the conclusion long ago... that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them.
 
Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.
 
God has no religion.
 
If we have listening ears, God speaks to us in our own language, whatever that language be.
 
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
 
If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.
 
What do I think of Western civilization?  I think it would be a very good idea.
 
Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause.
 
Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.
 
Faith must be enforced by reason.  When faith becomes blind it dies.
 
Faith is not a delicate flower which would wither away under the slightest stormy weather.
 
Men often become what they believe themselves to be.  If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.
 
A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
 
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
 
Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you.
 
You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.
 
Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love.
 
We must always seek to ally ourselves with that part of the enemy that knows what is right.
 
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
 
President means chief servant.
 
All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such.
 
Poverty is the worst form of violence.
 
The Roots of Violence:  Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles.
 
The measure of a country's greatness should be based on how well it cares for its most vulnerable populations.
 
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
 
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
 
Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.
 
An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.
 
All business depends upon men fulfilling their responsibilities.
 
Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever.
 
Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.
 
Truth never damages a cause that is just.
 
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
 
Your capacity to keep your vow will depend on the purity of your life.
 
If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.
 
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
 

 

 
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