Wise Sayings
For Your Thoughtful Consideration
by
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“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are preserved into perpetuity by a nation’s proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations”. William Feather (1889 – 1981) This manuscript is intended to educate, inspire and amuse. It contains a thousand quotations by 400 wise individuals selected by scanning at least 20,000 quotations that go back 2500 years. As in the past, most of these quotations can be expected to last for hundreds of years, maybe eternity. The essence of the book is based on the fact that most of the 400 authors are presently or historically outstanding people. Some, such as Jesus Christ, Edgar Cayce, Robert Heinlein and Aesop are extremely outstanding. Summary data describes each author’s occupation and claim for significance. Many had multiple occupations. Most were philosophers, authors and writers but some were ordinary folks you may meet on the street any day. It’s just a matter of finding the right words for a short phrase that describes a thoughtful perception that will stand the repetition test of time. The oldest quotation in this book was made by Aesop (620 – 560 BC). He was a Greek slave who is quoted as saying, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted”. This is still a wise saying some 2600 years later but it has been modified ---“No act of kindness, no matter how small, should ever go unpunished”. Other parts are about the unintended consequences of our actions, the clustering tendency of people, animals and even inanimate objects, vibrations and other nature laws that cannot be violated, and a source of ideas for advertising concepts, speeches, routine conversations and meditative reading and thinking. A sample of quotations follows: Walt Disney (1901 – 1966) Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource --- the minds of our children. Nicholas Zaharis (1921 - ) Education is expensive but ignorance is more expensive. Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr. (1888 – 1957) Rear Admiral, USN: Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used. Frank Johnston (1939 – 2009) psychiatrist: (In reference to a person just diagnosed as having lung cancer and restricted by her grown kids from driving her car. “Tell them to let that woman do whatever the hell she wants, whenever the hell she wants, wherever the hell she wants ---what, when, where and have at it for the rest of her life”. The universal law of attraction and vibration is the most powerful combination law in the universe. It is simple in concept. The actual definition varies greatly. The simplest definition is “like attracts like, and opposites repel”. We often refer to it as “The Vibes”. The law of vibration states that everything vibrates at varying frequencies, nothing rests. It is closely associated with the law of attraction. Those things with harmonious frequencies attract each other. This may partially explain a cause or a result of love and friendly relations, or criminal activity. The combination with the law of attraction may help explain the clustering tendency of people, animals and inanimate objects. Aristotle, ancient philosopher:(384 – 322 BC) Nature operates in the shortest way possible. Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919) USA President: Do what you can with what you have, where you are. O. A. Battista (1917 – 1995) Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. Street Gospel: Unintended consequences usually follow all actions. Regina Brett (1956 - ) Time heals almost everything. Give time time. Archibald MacLeish (1892 – 1982) There are those who say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream.
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About the Book
The wise-sayers say “you are what you think”. If that's so, then the body is merely the transporter for the mind. The body does not last but the mind can. And that possibility could explain why so many of the ancient sayings apply to the today's world and possibly eternity. Take Aesop. He lived 620 - 560 BC. He said “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted”. This is still a wise saying some 2600 years later. Back then the memory system was mental. Today, we have computers and a digital memory system. But our present society is built on a procession of thinking from many years past. The situation is succinctly expressed by William Feather (1889 - 1981) who said, “The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations”. Looking to the future, we appear to be poised for some great things. Preparing for the future, Walt Disney (1901 - 1966) said, ”Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource --- the minds of our children” and Nicholas Zaharis (1921 - ) said “Education is expensive but ignorance is more expensive”. The intention of this manuscript is to educate, inspire and amuse. It is based on a thousand quotations by 400 astute individuals. Their occupations and claim to fame are discussed briefly. Many had multiple occupations. Most were philosophers, authors and writers. The author visualizes the contents as a source of ideas for advertising programs, for casual conversations and for meditative reading and thinking. It is sort of a table-top book that can be opened and read at random.
About the Author
The author’s life experiences started off as a member of the Greatest Generation as defined by Tom Brokaw. To qualify for this dubious honor one had to have experienced the rather primitive living conditions that existed during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Following that, the greatest generation had to win World War 2 in the early 1940’s. The author was a B-17 heavy bomber pilot with the Mighty Eighth Air Force stationed in England. His crew-of-nine was shot down on their 31st mission over Natzi Germany and were prisoners of war for the duration. He returned to the University of Florida and the Kappa Sigma Fraternity where he was before being called up for active duty. He graduated with a Bus Ad degree with a major in marketing. The author’s working career was with a large corporation in Delaware as a professional marketing research specialist. He was in charge of conducting industry and consumer surveys and making written and oral reports on the findings .He retired to Palm Coast on the northeast coast of Florida where he joined a dozen or so local and national clubs. He is a past president of the Palm Coast Computer Club, past membership chairman for the Palm Coast Yacht Club and past Commodore of the Matanzas River Yacht Club. He spends a lot of time playing with his computer trying to figure out how to beat the stock market. His hobbies include stamp and coin collecting, photography, genealogy, fishing, scuba diving and yachting on the Chesapeake Bay and the east coast of Florida. He also is a semi-professional boat and car mechanic. Before and after retiring he twice became addicted to golf and recovered both times. So, after eighty-eight years of learning experiences he is still at it and looking for new ventures.