"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to the truth - not going all the way, and not starting." Buddha.
" Behold!
..in the creation of the heavens and the earth,
..in the alternation of the night and the day,
..in the ships that roam the ocean for the profit of mankind,
..in the rain that the single god sends down from the sky and the life that it gives therewith to an earth that
is dead,
..in the beasts of all kinds scattered throughout the earth,
..in the operation of the winds, and the clouds that they trail like slaves between the sky and the earth;
here indeed are Signs for a people that are wise."
Quran 2:164
[Comment: these are among some of the manifest signs (ayat) of the single god. My favourite are the
beasts, then the ships, then clouds, then the rain, the winds, the night and day, and the heavens and the earth.]
"Show us the straight path
The path of those whom you have favoured
Not of those who have earned your wrath
Nor of those who have gone astray."
from the Exordium of the Qur'an
[Opening oft-repeated prayer for guidance addressed in an exalting manner to the single god]
"READ in the name of your Lord Who creates,
creates man from a clot!
READ, for your Lord is most Generous;
Who
teaches
by means of the pen,
teaches man what that which he knew not." from the 96th Sura, Holy Qur'an [Comment:
In legend, Muhammad claimed inspiration from a dream featuring the mythical angel Gibreel while he was alone
in a cave at Hira. He sensed being seized and squeezed violently then told to recite the first of a series of revelations.
He replied, 'but I am not learned'. He was again told, 'Iqra!' (Recite!).]
" ... whoever kills a human being except in lieu of killing or causing turmoil in the earth, so it should be as if
he had killed all mankind; and whoever saves the life of one person it is as if he had saved the life of all mankind
.."
from Surah Al Ma'idah, Holy Qur'an (5:32)
"Not equal are those believers who sit and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of the single
god with their goods and their persons. The single god has granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with
their goods and persons than to those who sit. To all believers has the single god promised good: but those
who strive and fight has It distinguished above those who sit by a special reward."
Qur'an 4:95
"Those who believe, and suffer exile and strive with their money and their lives in the single god's cause, with
their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of the single god: they are the people who will achieve."
Qur'an
9:20
"O Apostle! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and perservering, they
will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are a people without understanding.
For the present, the single god has lightened your task, for It knows there is a weak spot in you.
Even so, if there are a hundred of you, patient and perservering, they will vanquish two thousand, with the leave of The God:
The Single God stands with those who patiently persevere."
Qur'an 8:65,66
"When we decide to destroy a population, we first send a definite order to those among them who are given the good
things of this life and yet transgress; so that the word is proved true against them: then it is that we destroy them utterly."
Qur'an 17:16
"It is not befitting to the majesty of the single god that it should beget a son. Glory be to It! When It
determines a matter, It only says "Be!" and it is."
Qur'an 19:35
"O Prophet, we have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good news, as well as a Warner.
Inviting to The Single God in accordance with Its will, and a guiding beacon."
Qur'an 33:45,46
[Comment: 'Prophet' here refers to the lawmaker Muhammad]
"Verily we have sent thee in truth as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner: and there never was a people without
a warner having lived among them."
Qur'an 35:24
"There is not an animal on Earth nor a bird that flies by its wings, but they are community like you." from Qur'an 6:38
“Cursed those men who imitate women and those women who imitate men.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 7/205)
[Comment: Islamic hadith attributed to Muhammad]
"It is a great sin for man to imprison those animals which are in his power."
Saying of Muhammad reported in Sahih Muslim
"Honour the envoy of the enemy." Saying of Abu Bakr, first caliph of the muslim community
"There is no mockery in Islam." Islamic precept originating from Muhammad
"It is the obligation of believers to see that a deceased person's body is handled with due solemnity" Article 1b of
the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam,. (19 September 1981)
"I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the
waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.
For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishments for their fathers' wickedness on the children
of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation but bestowing mercy, down to the thousandth generation, on the
children of those who love me and keep my commandments."
Book of Deuteronomy; Chapter 5, Verses 6-10
"Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over"
from Psalm 23, Tanakh (King James English version of the Holy Bible)
"Jesus called the crowd
to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean' , but what comes out
of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' .. for out of the heart
come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean';
but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean'.'""
Jesus of Nazareth in the
Gospel of Matthew, Ch 15, Verses 10-11 and 19-20
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also." Jesus of Nazareth
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Jesus of Nazareth again, from the Gospel of Matthew
"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
Frances of Assisi
"Preach the Gospel, always; if necessary, use words."
Frances of Assisi
"Kindness only stands to reason." Habitual saying of the 14th Dalai Lama
"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal
God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring
from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity." Viewpoint attributed to Albert Einstein
"Remind him not to give them away." Advice relayed from Nelson Mandela to Bill Clinton while the latter was President
of the United States [Comment: "them" refers to his heart and his mind]
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité!" Devise of the French Republic
"Bhinneka Tunggul Ika" (Unity in Diversity), motto of the Republic of Indonesia
"E Pluribus Unum" (Of Many, One), motto of the United States of America
"Asal bapak senang". (As long as the boss is happy) Indonesian saying
"May the road rise to meet you." Irish salutation
Ev'ry hooker's got a hard luck story.
It's not what you know, it's what you can think of in time.
There are sixtyfour squares on a chess board but the game extends beyond that.
Luck is being ready for the chance.
Laugh at the World.
It is the judgment and not the law that makes justice.
"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape." Chinese proverb
"Of ten reasons by which a magistrate may decide a case, nine are unknown to the public." Chinese saying
"May you live in interesting times." Chinese curse
"The darkness of the soul is not lighted by moving the body to another place." Eastern proverb
"There is no room for god in the one who is full of themself."
Hasidic saying
"No prophet is acceptable in his village; a physician does not heal those who know him." Saying of Jesus from the Gospel
of Thomas similar to his Bible saying "A prophet is without honour in his own country."
"Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Another saying of Jesus
from the same sources
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use,
it will be measured back to you" Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew; Chapter 7, Verses 1 and 2
"You cannot serve god and mammon." Jesus in Matthew Ch 6, Verses 24-25
"Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Jesus. Matthew 6:18
"Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' .. For your heavenly Father
knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall
be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day
is its own trouble." Jesus in Matthew 6:31-34
"For the worker is worthy of his food." Saying of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew
"If there's grass on the infield, Play Ball!" Saying applicable to both baseball and sexual morality
"Keep your left hand high." Boxing saying
"Fucktillyourluckrunsamok." Desk graffiti
"Sometimes I sit and think. Sometimes I sit and wonder. Other times I shit & stink & fart like fucken'
thunder." Toilet graffiti
You can't polish a turd.
Buddhism's realism, Islam's medievalism.
You can tell how little god cares about money by the people that She gives it to.
"Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a moustache:you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is
ready, peace will come looking for you." Ajahn Sumedho
"Most intellectual people do not believe in God, but they fear him just the same." Wilhelm Reich
"It's Hobson's choice, but we want their vote, not their appreciation. We love their votes but we don't particularly
need their love."
Paul Keating, 24th Prime Minister of Australia, in 1993
"The other bastards have never had any ideas. We (the Australian Labour Party) are the entrepreneurs of political life
in this country, and we are the people who can dream the big dreams and do the big things."
Paul Keating, again
"The fact of the matter is that the Labor Party makes the political heroes in this country. When people cross the Labor
Party they wear the crosses it puts on them, whether it be Billy Hughes or Joe Lyons-that is the truth of it."
from Paul Keating's parliamentary condolence speech for Sir John Kerr, 7 April 1991
"Security in Asia, not security from Asia".
Paul Keating
John Hewson (Leader of the Opposition): "If you are so confident about your view of fight-back, why won’t you call
an early election?"
Paul Keating (Prime Minister of Australia): "The answer is, mate, because I want to do you slowly.
There’s gotta be a bit of sport in this for all of us."
Prophetic exchange in the Australian Parliament, early 1990s.
"Paul Keating: I'd like to be a fly on your wall, mate.
John Howard: I'll bet you would, mate."
Last words in Parliament by the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, with reply from the then Leader of the Opposition
who soon after won election as 25th Prime Minister (1996)
"I don't think there's any reason on Earth why people should have access to automatic and semiautomatic weapons unless
they're in the military or in the police." John Howard, as 25th Prime Minister of Australia in 1996
"To have a friend underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults are the greatest advantages in life."
from The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
"If injury must be done a man, best it be so severe that his vengeance not be feared."
Niccolo Macchiavelli
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. When the people shall grow weary of
the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember
or overthrow it."
from the inaugural address of US President Abraham Lincoln, March 1861
"Ain't no Vietcong ever called me nigger."
Cassius Clay (the boxer Muhammad Ali, early 1960s)
".. worrying is less work than doing something to fix the worry. That's especially true if we're careful to pick the
biggest possible problems to worry about. Everybody wants to save the world; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes."
PJ O'Rourke
No one ever learned to drive a car by reading a book about it.
Nobody ever bought a quarter-inch drill. They bought a quarter-inch hole in the wall.
There are those who have time and those who make time.
There are those who go to church and those who do god's work instead.
There are those who say they don't care and those who don't even care enough to say so.
Those who won't be pleased can't be pleased.
Shit or get off the pot.
Money talks and bullshit walks.
What do you call a woman tied to a pier? Maud.
What do you call a woman with a toothpick in her hand? Olive
(New Zealander joke) What's a Hindu? It lays eggs.
It's a Wise Tongue in a Still Head.
(My grandmother, who lived 90 years, would say this)
Still waters run deep.
Empty vessels make the loudest noise.
No matter how well you feed a wolf, it keeps looking back towards the woods.
Where there is a will to condemn there is always evidence.
Everyone has a right to my own opinion.
You can observe a lot just by watching.
Things are more like they are now then they have ever been before.
If meat is murder, then surely yoghurt is burglary and eggs are rape.
"Your toilet is as true as your altar." Ole Nydahl, Danish Buddhist lama
"Corporations are like fish. They rot from the head down." Ralph Nader
"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle." Gloria Steinem
"Sunshine is the best disinfectant." Louis Brandeis
"Oh there were a lot of batsmen -much- better than me. But I couldn't understand how they just kept getting out."
Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001), the Australian cricketer known as the greatest batsman in the history of his sport
"Never let the fear of striking out stop you." Babe Ruth
"When you've got your man down, bury him."
Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis champion
"The most important thing my father taught me was simply this: what you put in you get out." Tiger Woods
"If you will it, it is no dream." Theodor Herzl, zionist (1902)
The weakness of men is the facade of strength; the strength of women is the facade of weakness.
from The Myth of Male Power, by Wayne Farrell PhD
"Those who make a distinction between education and entertainment don't know the first thing about either." Marshall
McLuhan
"Consider us erotic politicians".
Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors
"Law is the program of the Party uttered in the language of power." V.I. Lenin
"In the Soviet army it takes more courage to retreat than advance." Josef Stalin
"The Challenge for this organisation is to move away from traditional views which maintain that, to be successful, people
must adapt to the beliefs of the dominant culture and that diversity is a 'problem' to be managed. It is now time to embrace
new thinking and a new set of values which achnowledge the positive contributions diversity can make to this Department."
from the Cultural Diversity Strategic Plan of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
in the time while I worked there
"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers
that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have
to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them.
If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very
deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that
Catch-22," Yossarian observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed." Explanation of the concept of Catch-22 from the novel of the same title by Joseph Heller
"The age demanded that we sing, and cut away our tongue
The age demanded that we flow, and hammered in the bung
The age demanded that we dance and jammed us into iron pants
And in the end the age was handed the sort of shit, that it, demanded."
1920s poem of Ernest Hemingway
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Statement by Nathan Hale (1755-1776) at his execution
"Never feel sad, never feel humiliated. If you believe in Allah you are of the Highest Order." Dedication by a Kuwaiti
author of a book on the subject of the 1990 invasion and occupation of his country by Iraq
A skeleton once in Khartoum
Invited a ghost to his room
They spent the whole night
In the eeriest fight
As to who should be frightened of whom
Confucious when asked what should be the first step in governing a country replied: "Rectify names" (zheng ming)
A man is supple and weak when living, but hard and stiff when dead. Grass and trees are pliant and fragile when living,
but dried and shrivelled when dead. Thus the hard and strong are the comrades of death; the supple and the weak are the comrades
of life. Therefore a weapon that is strong will not vanquish. A tree that is strong will suffer the axe.
Tao Te Ching, 76
The 8 Rules of the Red Army (People's Republic of China)
1. Replace all doors when you leave a house
2. Roll up and return the straw matting on which you sleep
3. Be courteous and help out when you can
4. Return all borrowed articles
5. Replace all damaged articles
6. Be honest in all transactions with the peasants
7. Pay for all articles purchased
8. Be sanitary, and especially establish latrines at a distance from people's houses
(also, in some variations, 'don't flirt with women', 'no confiscations from peasants', 'prompt delivery to headquarters
of all goods confiscated from landlords', and 'don't kill prisoners of war')
"It is a mistake to believe that by physically eliminating traitors or enemy prisoners you can serve a revolutionary
cause." Mao Zedong
When law degrees are outlawed, only criminals will have them. And after all, aren't they the ones who really need them?
"Is there life before death?"
Graffiti on a wall in Belfast
Why do hummingbirds hum? Because they don't know the words.
"We must become the change we wish to see" Mohandes Gandhi
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
Mohandes Gandhi
Questioner: "Mr Gandhi, could you tell us what you think of Western civilisation?"
MK Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."
Frank comment uttered on a visit to London in the early 1930s
"Lawsuits would tend to increase to a frightful amount if people were not afraid of the tribunals and if they felt confident
of always finding in them a ready and perfect justice. As man is apt to delude himself concerning his own interests contests
would then be interminable, and the half of the empire would not suffice to settle the lawsuits of the other half. I desire
therefore that those who have recourse to the tribunals should be treated without any pity and in such a manner that they
shall be disgusted with law and tremble to appear before a magistrate." The Kangxi Emperor of Qing
"If people be led by laws and uniformity is sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid punishments
but have no sense of shame. If they be led by virtue and uniformity sought to be given them by li ('ritual propriety') they
will have a sense of shame and, moreover, will become good." Confucius
"Thus the war ended, and from it I learned that when I defended my rights by open rebellion my father relented, but when
I remained submissive he only cursed and beat me the more."
Mao Zedong reflecting upon his childhood upbringing
"Bu dao chang cheng fei hao han (If we do not reach the Great Wall, we are not real men.)" Chinese saying deriving
from a 1935 poem of Mao Zedong
"The Long March is a manifesto."
From a report to the Communist Party of China by Mao Zedong at Zunyi in 1935 [
Fuller quote: "Speaking of the Long
March, one may ask, "What is its significance?" We answer that the Long March is the first of its kind in the annals of history,
that it is a manifesto, a propaganda force, a seeding-machine." See
http://www.morningsun.org/living/longmarch/index.html]
"I have said that all the reputedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason is that they are divorced
from the people. Look! Was not Hitler a paper tiger? Was Hitler not overthrown? I also said that the tsar of Russia, the emperor
of China and Japanese imperialism were all paper tigers. As we know, they were all overthrown. U.S. imperialism has not yet
been overthrown and it has the atom bomb. I believe it also will be overthrown. It, too, is a paper tiger." Mao Zedong, 1957
"The unity of my country is as negotiable as its independence" Ho Chi Minh, Foundation President of the Democratic Republic
of Vietnam (ie. North Vietnam)
'"In order to build a great socialist society it is of the utmost importance to arouse the broad masses of women to join
in productive activity. Men and women must receive equal pay for equal work in production. Genuine equality between the sexes
can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole." Mao Zedong, 1955
"An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy." Mao Zedong
"Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the
arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land." Chinese Communist Slogan 1956-1957
"War is the highest form of struggle for resolving contradictions, when they have developed to a certain stage, between
classes, nations, states, or political groups, and it has existed ever since the emergence of private property and of classes."
Mao Zedong, 1936
"Every Communist must grasp the truth; "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." " Mao Zedong, 1938
"We are advocates of the abolition of war, we do not want war; but war can only be abolished through war, and in order
to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun." Mao Zedong, 1938 [Comment: incredibly dumb-sounding
thing to say, regardless of the context]
"Nuren ye shi ban bian tian" (Women also hold up half the sky) Chinese Communist Slogan
"If it's about to rain or a woman has made up her mind to get married, there's not much anyone can do about it." Mao Zedong
"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind." Shakespeare's Hamlet; Act III, Scene 1
"Near the Day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky." Hopi (Native American) prophecy. [Comment:
the fifth of the signs of the beginning of the Fifth World in their conception. It has been said to refer to overhead
power and telephone lines. The other signs have been interpreted to refer to the coming of whiteskinned men
with guns taking the land of others, covered wagons, longhorn cattle, railroad tracks, concrete roads, oil spills on the ocean,
longhaired youths joining the tribal nations, and the falling of a dwelling-place in the heavens above the earth with a crash
that has the appearance of a blue star].
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown
from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans." A Hopi propecy predating the demonstration of thermonuclear
bomb weaponry in the 20th Century.
"The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again." General Ulysses Grant; Virginia, USA, April 1865
"We came in peace for all mankind." Inscription left at the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface by Apollo XI astronauts
in 1969
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." Thucydides, 5th Century BCE. Also attributed to Plato.
"The nation that makes a great distinction between its soldiers and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards
and its fighting done by fools." Thucydides
"Ceux qui parlent de revolution san en referer explicement a la vie quotidienne ont un cadavre dans la bouche."
(Those who speak of revolution without making it real in their daily lives talk with a corpse in their mouth)
Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honour, Integrity, Personal Courage - the 7 army values (US Army doctrine)
"The Army looks after its own." The 8th thing I learned in the US Army.
"Where troops have encamped there will brambles grow. In the wake of a mighty army bad harvests follow without fail." Tao
Te Ching 30
"He who knows others is clever. He who knows himself has discernment. He who overcomes others has force. He who overcomes
himself is strong. He who knows contentment is rich." Tao Te Ching 33
The urge of the camel for pleasure is greater than anyone thinks. It spends many moments of pleasure in a hole at the back
of the sphinx. Now sometimes this useful depression is filled with the sands of the Nile. Which accounts for the hunch of
the camel, and the sphinx's inscrutable smile.
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Confucius
"A charming young man from Italy was crying and crying quite bitterly; and being asked 'why oh why do you cry?' he replied
'Because some-a-one just-a hit-a-me!'" Spike Milligan limerick
"Outside of Hungary there is no life; and if there is, it is not the same." Magyar proverb
"The army is the nation." Israeli saying
"Three things are insatiable: the desert, the grave, and a woman's cunt." Arab proverb
"Better to lose your life than your name." Arab proverb
"Happy is the man who avoids dissension; but how fine the man who, though afflicted, endures." Islamic saying
"One I love, Two I love, Three I love I say. Four I love with all my heart, Five I cast away. Six he loves. Seven she loves.
Eight they love together. Nine he comes and Ten he tarries, Eleven and Twelve he marries." Stages in a relationship
"My first love was the ten tonne truck they gave me when I started, and though she played the bitch with me I grieved when
we were parted. Since then I've had a dozen more, the wound was quick to heal, and now it's easier to say I'm married to my
wheel. I've trunked it North, I've trunked it South, on wagons good and bad, but none were ever really like the first I ever
had. The life is hard, the hours are long, sometimes I cease to feel, but I go on, for it seems to me I'm married to my wheel.
Often I think of my home and kids out on the road at night, and think of taking a local job provided the money's right. Two
nights a week I see my wife and eat a decent meal, but otherwise, for all my life, I'm married to my wheel." Song of the Wagon
Driver by B.S. Johnson
"A corporation shall not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive." Trade Practices Act 1974 (Australian Federal legislation)
- Section 52, as originally enacted
".. this Act applies to all Acts including this Act" from s.2, Acts Interpretation Act (Commonwealth of Australia) 1901
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Fourth Amendment, Constitution
of the United States of America
"This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made,
or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be Supreme Law of the land." from Article VI, Clause
2, Constitution of the United States of America
"The Constitution is not a suicide pact." Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Edmond
v Goldsmith (1999)
"Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing
of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established ... Be it therefore enacted ... The Constitution of the
Commonwealth shall be as follows:" from Preamble, Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act
"The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for
prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or
public trust under the Commonwealth." s.116, Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act
"La France est une Republique indivisible, laique, democratique et sociale. Elle assure l'egalite devant la loi de tous
les citoyens sans distinction d'origine, de race ou de religion. Elle respect toutes les croyance." (Translated: The French
republic is unified, secular, democratic and social. It assures equality before the law of all its citizens without distinction
as to their origin, race, or religion. It respects all beliefs). Article 2, Constitution of the Fifth French Republic as promulgated
4 October 1958
"The high seas being open to all nations, no State may validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty."
from Article 2, 1958 Convention on the High Seas
"Any slave taking refuge on board any ship, whatever its flag, shall ipso facto be free." from Article 15 of the High Seas
Convention
"Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited .. any measure of a military nature, such
as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvres, as well as the testing
of any type of weapon." Article 1 of The Antarctic Treaty (1 December 1959)
"What is true is what is true for you." L. Ron Hubbard
La couer a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point. ("The heart has its reasons that reason cannot know.")
"De Gaulle is not of the Right. De Gaulle is not of the Left. De Gaulle is above." Charles De Gaulle, as President of France
during the Fifth Republic
"Death alone from death can save. Love is death and so is brave. Love can fill the deepest grave. Love loves on beneath
the wave." Unknown poet
"Where is your manliness?" Among the final words of Saddam Hussein addressed to male spectators who were mocking him at
his execution. [Comment: alternatively "Is this behaving live men?"]
"The majority will never replace the man. Just as one hundred empty heads do not make one wise man, so a brave
decision is not likely to be made by a hundred cowards." Adolf Hitler
"There must be no majority decisions, but only responsible persons, and the word 'council' must be restored to its original
meaning. Surely every man will have advisers by his side, but the decision will be made by one man." Adolf Hitler
"It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge." Adolf Hitler
"To make a struggle intelligible to the broad masses, it must always be carried on against two things; against a person
and against a cause." Adolf Hitler in 1925
"I have the gift of reducing all problems to their simplest proportions ... our political problems appeared complicated.
The German people could make nothing of them. I, on the other hand, simplified these problems and reduced them to the simplest
terms. The masses realised this and followed me." Adolf Hitler in 1932
"[Ordinary people] more readily fall victim to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies
... but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths,
and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Adolf Hitler in his 1925
autobiography explaining the propaganda technique of the 'Big Lie', a technique that he blamed Jews, in general, for propagating.
"Americans live like pigs, but in luxury sties." Adolf Hitler
"I am determined to offer an apology with my death." Hideki Tojo [Comment: diary comment one day prior
to the defeat of Japan in World War II]
"It is natural that I should bear entire responsibility for the war in general, and, needless to say, I am prepared to
do so. Consequently, now that the war has been lost, it is presumably necessary that I be judged so that the circumstances
of the time can be clarified and the future peace of the world be assured. Therefore, with respect to my trial, it is my intention
to speak frankly, according to my recollection, even though when the vanquished stands before the victor, who has over him
the power of life and death, he may be apt to toady and flatter. I mean to pay considerable attention to this in my actions,
and say to the end that what is true is true and what is false is false. To shade one's words in flattery to the point of
untruthfulness would falsify the trial and do incalculable harm to the nation, and great care must be taken to avoid this."
Statement of attitude by Hideki Tojo at his war crimes trial in Tokyo, 1947-8
"Public opinion wins most wars and always wins the peace."
Dwight Eisenhower; general, military governor, and 34th US President
"Farming seems mighty easy when you have a pencil for a plough and you're a thousand miles from the cornfield." Dwight
Eisenhower, again
"I've loved my wife, I've loved my children, and I've always loved my country." Deathbed statement by Eisenhower.
"Denis
had a pterodactyl and his Dad and Mum in fact'll swear he kept it in the hall and taught the brute to fetch a ball. Age and
experience increased his love for this peculiar beast; during friendly rural walks companionable fireside talks and hard-fought
games of chess, the boy and reptile shared a quiet joy. Unguarded words will in the end cause heartache in the closest friend:
although young Denis was aware that pterodactyls are quite rare, he ought not, certainly, have linked this scarceness with
the term "extinct". Immediately the word was said the tragic reptile shaved its head beneath a leathery old wing and died
of pique, the silly thing." Denis Had a Pterodactyl - undetermined authorship
'Some technical considerations of a dirty joke' (1978) Harvey Sacks, in Studies in the Organisation of Conversational
Interaction pp.249-70. J Schenkein (ed.) [Comment: my favourite ever title for an academic journal article]
"Sliced meat to be stirred in a pot, A hike up tall stairs with one she on each shoulder. A box full of mangoes plucked
from the tree. Silly straw games afoot the bonfire. These things I keep to remind me of you." Erika Haiku (composed by me,
1996)
"I believe, perhaps wrongly, but certainly .." Catchphrase of Sir John Gorton, the 19th Prime Minister of Australia
"The fun is where I am!" Gough Whitlam, 21st Prime Minister of Australia
"Maintain your rage and your enthusiasm for the campaign that is to come." Gough Whitlam 1975 election rallying cry
"Life wasn't meant to be easy." Malcolm Fraser, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia [Comment: he said this
in a published interview and without qualification at the time. He also inspired the protest slogan "Export Fraser, Not Uranium!"
and the 1975 unsuccessful ALP election slogan "Shame Fraser, Shame."]
"They always find out who you really are." Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia, to his personal public relations
adviser.[Comment: most successful election slogan, "Bringing Australians Together" (1983)]
"Downhill. One ski. No poles." Paul Keating, 24th Prime Minister of Australia - a motto he approved of.
"I do not believe as a matter of principle that one generation can accept responsibility for the acts of earlier generation.
In some cases, children were wrongly removed, in other cases they were removed for good reason, in other cases they were given
up and in other cases, the judgement on the removal is obscure or difficult to make." John Howard, in reference to official
Australian government policy up to 1969 favouring forced removal of Aboriginal children from their birth parents.
"We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities
and their country." from Statement on the Apology to the Stolen Generations (Parliament of
Australia, 13 February 2008)
"No policies. Just action." Unsuccessful campaign slogan of a student politician.
"Wai wei zhong yong" (Cause foreign things to serve China). Foreign trade policy of the People's Republic of China, as
announced in 1974.
"A Labor Government will over-ride Queensland's discriminatory laws. To ensure that aborigines are made equal before the
law, the Commonwealth will pay all legal costs for aborigines in all proceedings in all courts. We will establish once and
for all aborigines' rights to land and insist that, whatever the law of George III says, a tribe and a race with an identity
of centuries - of millennia - is as much entitled to own land as even a proprietary company ...
More than any foreign aid program, more than any international obligation which we meet or forfeit, more than any part we
may play in any treaty or agreement or alliance, Australia's treatment of her aboriginal people will be the thing upon which
the rest of the world will judge Australia and Australians." from 1972 election policy speech of Gough Whitlam (then Leader
of the Opposition)
"The common law itself took from indigenous inhabitants any right to occupy their traditional land, exposed them to deprivation
of the religious, cultural and economic sustenance which the land provides, vested the land effectively in the control of
the Imperial authorities without any right to compensation and made the indigenous inhabitants intruders in their own homes
and mendicants for a place to live. Judged by any civilised standard such a law is unjust and its claim to be part of the
common law to be applied in contemporary Australia must be questioned." Remarks of Justice Brennan from the judgment of the
High Court of Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No. 2) [1992] 175 CLR 1
"The common law does not necessarily conform with international law, but international law is a legitimate .. influence
on the development of the common law, especially when international law declares the existence of universal human rights."
further remarks from Justice Brennan's judgement in the Mabo case of 1992
"If the international law notion that inhabited land may be classified as terra nullius no longer commands general support,
the doctrines of the common law which depend on the notion that native peoples may be "so low in the scale of social organization"
that it is "idle to impute to such people some shadow of the rights known to our law" can hardly be retained. If it were permissible
in past centuries to keep the common law in step with international law, it is imperative in today's world that the common
law should neither be nor be seen to be frozen in an age of racial discrimination. The fiction by which the rights and interests
of indigenous inhabitants in land were treated as non-existent was justified by a policy which has no place in the contemporary
law of this country." Comments of Chief Justice Mason and Justice McHugh in the Mabo judgment of 1992
"It is beneath the dignity of the King to take the land of another." Remark from an ancient Scottish common law judgment
inscribed at the justice monument of the High Court of Australia in Canberra [Comment: I'd be grateful to
be informed of the name and citation for the case report]
"A person is not subject to the punishment of death for any offence." s.4, Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973 (Commonwealth
of Australia)
"The death penalty shall be abolished. No-one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed." from Protocol No. 6 to the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Strasbourg, 28 April 1983) - Treaty of the Council
of Europe
"All persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion
against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States,
including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons." from the Emancipation
Proclamation of US President Abraham Lincoln, 1 January 1863.
"It is hereby declared the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons
in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as
rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency
or morale." from Executive Order 9983 of US President Harry S. Truman, 26 July 1948.[Comment: the effectuation
of racial integration in the US military. Between the War of 1812 and the Korean War, blacks and whites did not
serve together in racially integrated units, with the exception of a small minority of black officers.]
"Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, for the one part, and Russia, for the other part, declare that the state
of war between them has ceased. They are resolved to live henceforth in peace and amity with one another." Article 1 of the
Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 3 March 1918
"We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander,
Allied Expeditionary Forces and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command all forces on land, sea and in the air who are at
this date under German control.
The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval and air
authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on 8 May
and to remain in the positions occupied at that time. No ship, vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or any damage done to
their hull, machinery or equipment." from the Act of Military Surrender executed at Rheims, 7 May 1945
"We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and
of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under Japanese control wherever situated." from Instrument of Surrender
executed at Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945
"I saw the crown of France lying in the gutter. I picked it up and put it on my head." Napoleon Bonaparte
“I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I rewarded merit regardless of
birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality to all regardless of religion and before
the law. I fought the decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction of all this. I purified
the Revolution.” Napoleon Bonaparte, again
"Legislators are the unacknowledged poets of our time" Jim Morrison (1943-1971)
"The judge who shall refuse to determine under pretext of the silence, obscurity, or insufficiency
of the law, shall be liable to be proceeded against as guilty of a refusal of justice." from the Code Napoleon (French Civil
Code promulgated from March 1803)
"The husband may demand a divorce on the ground of his wife's adultery. The wife may demand divorce
on the ground of adultery in her husband, when he shall have brought his concubine into their common residence. The married
parties may reciprocally demand divorce for outrageous conduct, ill-usage, or grievous injuries, exercised by one of them
towards the other. The condemnation of one of the married parties to an infamous punishment, shall be to the other a ground
of divorce. The mutual and unwavering consent of the married parties, expressed in the manner prescribed by law, under the
conditions, and after the proofs which it points out, shall prove sufficiently that their common life is insupportable to
them; and that there exists, in reference to them, a peremptory cause of divorce." of the causes of divorce, from the Code
Napoleon [Comment: note the sexism of the different standards distinguished in the first two sentences,
which I am not approving of. Otherwise it is liberal in admitting causes, such as 'mutual and unwavering consent' other
than those admitted by Catholic canon law]
"An application under this Act for a divorce order in relation to a marriage shall be based on the ground that the marriage has broken down irretrievably." s.48, Family Law Act (Commonwealth of Australia) 1975 [Comment: since 1975,
civil divorce in Australia has been 'no-fault'. There is no requirement of one spouse to prove adultery or abandonment or cruelty etc
on the part of the other in order to obtain it. A qualifying period of living one year "separately and apart" applies.]
"The practical inefficacy of torture is not, I suppose, the most weighty objection to that mode of examination …
Truth, like all other good things, may be loved unwisely – may be pursued too keenly – may cost too much.” Sir James Knight Bruce (Pearse v Pearse (1846) 63 ER 950 at 957)
"No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." from
US President Gerald R. Ford's Executive Order 11905: United States Foreign Intelligence Activities, 18 February 1976
"No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination."
from US President Ronald Reagan's Executive Order 12333: United States Intelligence Activities, 4 December 1981
"What these men did nothing now can alter. The good and the bad, the greatness and the smallness of their story will stand.
Whatever of glory it contains nothing now can lessen. It rises, as it will always rise, above the mists of ages, a monument
to great-hearted men; and, for their nation, a possession forever." C.E.W. Bean, from The Official History of Australia in
the War of 1914-1918, vol. VI
"We do not know this Australian’s name and we never will. We do not know his rank or battalion. We do not know where
he was born, nor precisely how he died ... We will never know who this Australian was ... he was one of the 45,000 Australians
who died on the Western Front ... one of the 60,000 Australians who died on foreign soil. One of the 100,000 Australians who
died in wars this century. He is all of them. And he is one of us." Prime Minister Paul Keating at the dedication of the Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier (Australian War Memorial, Canberra)
"Where the equities are equal, the first in time prevails." Legal maxim
"A stealer of pennies from the eyes of the dead, wallowing in the filth of a ram." Chinese personal insult
"It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how." per The Cat in the Hat, in the story of the same name by Theodore Giesel
(a.k.a Dr Seuss)
"A revelation of the spy and enemy agent nature of the painter." Soviet marxist review of an art display
"To study is to show bourgeois tendencies." Marxist slogan
"Land in the cities is owned by the State." Article 10 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as originally
proclaimed in 1982 and maintained until 1999
"Cornelius made me pregnant!" Translated ancient graffiti from the ruins of the city of Pompei, Italy
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
The sunlight on the ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake in morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight;
The soft stars that may shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die. (Anonymous)
"Remember friend as you walk by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so shall you be
Prepare thyself
to follow me." Anonymous epitaph
"For All The World To See." Gravestone epitaph of Fred Hollows, eye surgeon (Bourke cemetary, New South Wales)
"He Was Justice" Gravestone epitaph of Dick Ward, Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory (Darwin General
Cemetary, Northern Territory of Australia)
"Here lies W.C. Fields. On the whole I'd rather be in Philadelphia." Famous comedian's epitaph.
"I told you I was ill." Epitaph of Spike Milligan (from Gaelic)
"That's all, folks." Epitaph of Mel Blanc, cartoon voice of Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny
"VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT"
(Invoked or not invoked, the god is present.) Epitaph of Carl Jung
"KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY" (True to his own spirit)
Epitaph of Jim Morrison, as composed by his father
"Let the enemy be warned of my death." Last words of Genghis Khan
"Either that wallpaper goes or I do." Last words of Oscar Wilde
"Such is life" Last words of Ned Kelly, hanged Australian bushranger
"The Body of B. Franklin, printer
Like the Cover of an old Book
Its Contents torn out
And stripped of its Lettering
& guilding
Lies here food for worms
For, it will as he believed appear once more
In a new and more elegant edition
Corrected
and improved by the Author." Epitaph of Benjamin Franklin
That is all he can see. And the turtles, of course ... all the turtles are free. As turtles and, maybe, all creatures
should be." from Yertle the Turtle, by Dr Seuss
" "And I kept right on looking and looking until I'd looked round the world and right back to this hill! And I saw on this
hill, since my eyesight's so keen, the two biggest fools that have ever been seen! And the fools that I saw were none other
than you, who seem to have nothing better to do than to sit here and argue who's better than who." Then the little old worm
gave his head a small jerk and he dived in his hole and went back to his work." from The Big Brag, by Dr Seuss
"I laughed at the Lorax, 'You poor stupid guy. You never can tell just what some people will buy'." from The Lorax,
by Dr Seuss
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages,
boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, by Dr Seuss
"Thank goodness you're not something someone forgot, and left all alone in some punkerish place like a rusty tin coat hanger
hanging in space." Imagery from Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are, by Dr Seuss
"I'm afraid sometimes you will play lonely games too, games you can't win because you play against you." from Oh The
Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss
"The Waiting Place ... for people just
waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come or a plane to go, or the mail to come or the rain to go, or the phone
to ring or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a Yes or a No, or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for
their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another
Chance." The Waiting Place, as described in Oh The Places You'll Go, by Dr Seuss
"When I was quite young and quite small for my size,
I met an old man in the Desert of Drize.
And he sang me a song
I will never forget.
At least, well, I haven't forgotten it yet." from Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are,
by Dr Seuss
"And suppose that you lived in that forest in France,
where the average young person just hasn't a chance
to escape
from the perilous pants-eating-plants!
But your pants are safe! You're a fortunate guy.
And you ought to be shouting,
"How lucky am I!"" also from "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are"
"Goodnight, thank you, and may your god go with you". Dave Allen, Irish storyteller & comedian (1936-2005). His
traditional farewell to the audience.
