Author Archive: Harry

Coaches Hot Seat, Coaches Hot Seat Rankings, Omar Bradley

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Thursday, May 11, 2023 – Plato

Harry May 13, 2023

“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”

And

“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”

And

“And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.”

And

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”

And

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”

And

“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.”

And

“I exhort you also to take part in the great combat, which is the combat of life, and greater than every other earthly conflict.”

And

“Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”

And

“Life must be lived as play.”

And

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

And

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

And

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

And

“If on the other hand I tell you that to let no day pass without discussing goodness and all the other subjects about which you hear me talking and examining both myself and others is really the very best thing that a man can do, and that life without this sort of examination is not worth living.”

And

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”

And

“Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”

And

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

And

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

And

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”

And

“There is truth in wine and children”

And

“Ignorance, the root and stem of every evil.”

And

“Those who tell the stories rule society.”

And

“There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.”

And

“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”

And

“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.”

And

“Character is simply habit long continued.”

Wikipedia: Plato

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Wednesday, May 10, 2023 – Abraham Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

And

“All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.”

And

“Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose – and you allow him to make war at pleasure.”

And

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”

And

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

And

“Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right – a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.”

And

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”

And

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

And

“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.”

And

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

And

“Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.”

And

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

And

“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

And

“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.”

And

“I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end… I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.”

And

“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”

And

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”

And

“I was losing interest in politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known.”

And

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”

And

“If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.”

And

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

And

“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”

And

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

And

“Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.”

And

“The assertion that “all men are created equal” was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use.”

And

“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.”

And

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”

And

“You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence.”

And

“Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.”

And

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.”

And

“The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall our selves, and then we shall save our country. Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.” Second State of the Union Address, December 1, 1862

And

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? — Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! — All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” Lycecum Address, 1838

And

“Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature — opposition to it, in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise — repeal all compromises — repeal the Declaration of Independence — repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man’s heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak.”

And

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

And

Lincoln’s War, The Untold Story of American’s Greatest President as Commander in Chief by Geoffrey Perret

Here is a great excerpt from that book that happened just after the First Battle of Bull Run, August 1861:

“Dozens of regiments had set up impromptu around Fort Corcoran, on Arlington Heights. Every day these canvas congeries trembled like leaves in the wind as fresh rumors of an impending Confederate attack. And every day Lincoln heard fresh stories of demoralized troops, mutinous regiments, poor discipline. Some regiments were entitled to – and clamoring for – an immediate discharge, their ninety-day service complete. The War Department’s officers seemed to busy for the burdensome task of mustering them out. Unchecked, however, mutinous sentiments could spread through camps like a virulent disease.

Lincoln decided to see for himself, and Seward went with him. A few days after Bull Run, they rode across the Potomac in an open carriage on an impromptu visit to the troops. What greeted them was redoubts spreading across the landscape, tents sprouting like mushrooms in nearly every direction, dusty roads, a cross-hatching of cart tracks, men milling or lolling about, few signs of order or purpose. Yet the District, on edge for its safety, has more than enough men to defend it – if the men chose.

As the carriage rattled along towards Fort Corcoran, a red-bearded colonel strode up: William Tecumseh Sherman. He had commanded a brigade at Bull Run, superbly. Sherman asked if the President had come to see the troops. “Yes,” said Lincoln. “We heard that you had got over the big scare and we thought we would come over and see the boys.”

Sherman got into the carriage, giving the driver directions to a camp at the top of a small hill. Sitting next to Lincoln, he asked if the President intended to speak to the men. “I would like to,” said Lincoln.

Sherman said he no objection to that, but he did not want cheering, “No hurrahing, no humbug. We had enough of it before Bull Run to spoil any set of them.” None worse than the 69 th New York, filled with Irishmen angry at not being discharged. Sherman had rebuked one of the officers of lax discipline.

Standing in the carriage, Lincoln gave an impromptu talk to Sherman’s troops: bravery, sacrifice, gratitude, a glorious future. The men began to cheer, but he held up his hand. “Don’t cheer boys, I confess I rather like it myself, but Colonel Sherman says it is not military, and I guess we had better defer to his opinion.”

Closing his impromptu peroration, Lincoln said that as Commander in Chief, he was determined that every man should be treated exactly as the law required: his indirect promise that those entitled to a discharge would soon have one. As the carriage moved on, a young officer ran after it, calling out piteously, “Mr. Lincoln! Mr. Lincoln!”

Lincoln ordered the driver to stop. Here was the officer of the 69 th New York whom Sherman had criticized, panting hard. “Mr. President, I have a cause of grievance. This morning I went to speak to Colonel Sherman, and he threatened to shoot me.”

“I told him Mr. President, that if he refused to obey my order, I would shoot him on the spot,” said Sherman. “And I here repeat it, sir, that if I remain in command here, and he or any other man refuses to obey my orders, I’ll shoot him on the spot.”

Lincoln bent forward. “My lad, if I were you, and he threatened to shoot, I would not trust him, for I believe he would do it!” The troops, until then sympathetic to the officer, howled with laughter.

Both Seward and Lincoln were impressed by the comparative tidiness of the camps of Sherman’s regiments. “This is the first bright moment I’ve experienced since the battle,” Lincoln told Sherman before riding off. From his own military experience, he knew that neatness and cleanliness is an army spelled discipline; neglect was a signal of trouble to come.”

End of excerpt from Lincoln’s War

Wikipedia: Abraham Lincoln

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Tuesday, May 9, 2023 – Frederick Douglass

“A man’s character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.”

And

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

And

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”

And

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”

And

“I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress.”

And

“A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.”

And

“One and God make a majority.”

And

“I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.”

And

“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”

And

“A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.”

And

“To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

And

“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.”

And

“A little learning, indeed, may be a dangerous thing, but the want of learning is a calamity to any people.”

And

“The white man’s happiness cannot be purchased by the black man’s misery.”

And

“Without a struggle, there can be no progress.”

And

“It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.”

And

“Man’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.”

And

“People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.”

And

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must pay for all they get. If we ever get free from all the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and, if needs be, by our lives, and the lives of others.”

And

“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”

And

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

And

“Whatever the future may have in store for us, one thing is certain — this new revolution in human thought will never go backward. When a great truth once gets abroad in the world, no power on earth can imprison it, or prescribe its limits, or suppress it. It is bound to go on till it becomes the thought of the world. Such a truth is woman’s right to equal liberty with man. She was born with it. It was hers before she comprehended it. It is inscribed upon all the powers and faculties of her soul, and no custom, law, or usage can ever destroy it. Now that it has got fairly fixed in the minds of the few, it is bound to become fixed in the minds of the many, and be supported at last by a great cloud of witnesses, which no man can number and no power can withstand.”

And

“Mr. Lincoln was not only a great President, but a great man — too great to be small in anything. In his company I was never in any way reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color.”

And

“I look upon my departure from Colonel Lloyd’s plantation as one of the most interesting events of my life. It is possible, and even quite probable, that but for the mere circumstance of being removed from that plantation to Baltimore, I should have to-day, instead of being here seated by my own table, in the enjoyment of freedom and the happiness of home, writing this Narrative, been confined in the galling chains of slavery. Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. I have ever regarded it as the first plain manifestation of that kind providence which has ever since attended me, and marked my life with so many favors. I regarded the selection of myself as being somewhat remarkable. There were a number of slave children that might have been sent from the plantation to Baltimore. There were those younger, those older, and those of the same age. I was chosen from among them all, and was the first, last, and only choice.”

Wikipedia Page: Frederick Douglass

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Monday, May 8, 2022 – Elvis Presley

“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.”

And

“Rhythm is something you either have or don’t have, but when you have it, you have it all over.”

And

“From the time I was a kid, I always knew something was going to happen to me. Didn’t know exactly what.”

And

“When I was a boy, I always saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream.”

And

“I think I have something tonight that’s not quite correct for evening wear. Blue suede shoes.”

And

“Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine.”

And

“Rock and roll music, if you like it, if you feel it, you can’t help but move to it. That’s what happens to me. I can’t help it.”

And

“Man, I really like Vegas.”

And

“Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.”

And

“I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to.”

And

“I have no use for bodyguards, but I have very specific use for two highly trained certified public accountants.”

And

‘There are too many people that depend on me. I’m too obligated. I’m in too far to get out.”

And

“I’d like to thank the Jaycees for electing me as one of their outstanding young men. When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed, has come true a hundred times… And these gentlemen over here, these are the type of people who care, they’re dedicated, and they realize that it is possible that they might be building the kingdom of heaven, it’s not just too far fetched, from reality. I’d like to say that I learned very early in life that “Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend — without a song.” So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you.”

And

“The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death. I really didn’t know what all the yelling was about. I didn’t realize that my body was moving. It’s a natural thing to me. So to the manager backstage I said, “What’d I do? What’d I do?” And he said, “Whatever it is, go back and do it again.””

And

“The image is one thing and the human being is another…it’s very hard to live up to an image.”

And

“A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It’s my favorite part of the business — live concerts.”

And

“To judge a man by his weakest link or deed is like judging the power of the ocean by one wave.”

And

“There is a season for everything, patience will reward you and reveal all answers to your questions.”

And

“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son. You never walked in that man’s shoes.”

And

“Do what’s right for you, as long as it don’t hurt no one”

And

“We’re caught in a trap
I can’t walk out
Because I love you too much baby

Why can’t you see
What you’re doin’ to me
When you don’t believe a word I say?

We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds (Suspicious minds)
And we can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds

So, if an old friend I know
Drops by to say hello
Would I still see suspicion in your eyes?

Here we go again
Askin’ where I’ve been
You can’t see these tears are real
I’m cryin’ (Yes, I’m cryin’)

We can’t go on together
With suspicious minds (Suspicious minds)
And we can’t build our dreams
On suspicious minds

Oh let our love survive
Ah dry the tears from your eyes
Let’s don’t let a good thing die

When honey, you know
I’ve never lied to you
Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm
Yeah, yeah

We’re caught in a trap
I can’t walk out
Because I love you too much baby

Why can’t you see
What you’re doin’ to me
When you don’t believe a word I say?

Now don’t you know I’m
Caught in a trap
I can’t walk out
Because I love you too much baby”
Suspicious Minds, Elvis Presley

Wikipedia Page: Elvis Presley

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Sunday, May 7, 2023 – Calvin Coolidge

“After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world.”

And

“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”

And

“I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can’t be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort.”

And

“If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress.”

And

“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of face within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity.”

And

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

And

“Parties do not maintain themselves. They are maintained by effort. The government is not self-existent. It is maintained by the effort of those who believe in it. The people of America believe in American institutions, the American form of government and the American method of transacting business.”

And

“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical form.”

And

“The chief business of the American people is business.”

And

“If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.”

Wikipedia Page: Calvin Coolidge

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Saturday, May 6, 2023 – Neil Armstrong

“I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.”

And

“I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.”

And

“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”

And

“I think we’re going to the moon because it’s in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It’s by the nature of his deep inner soul… we’re required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.”

And

“The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.”

And

“This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

And

“Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

And

“As a boy, because I was born and raised in Ohio, about 60 miles north of Dayton, the legends of the Wrights have been in my memories as long as I can remember.”

And

“There can be no great accomplishment without risk.”

Wikipedia: Neil Armstrong

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Friday, May 5, 2023 – Michael Crichton

Harry May 5, 2023

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”

And

“Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.” State of Fear

And

“It’s better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.”

And

“What makes you think human beings are sentient and aware? There’s no evidence for it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told-and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their ‘beliefs.’ The reason is that beliefs guide behavior which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion. Next question.” The Lost World

And

“God creates dinosaurs, God kills dinosaurs, God creates man, man kills God, man brings back dinosaurs.” Jurassic Park

And

“The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us.” Jurassic Park

And

“You think man can destroy the planet? What intoxicating vanity. Let me tell you about our planet. Earth is four-and-a-half-billion-years-old. There’s been life on it for nearly that long, 3.8 billion years. Bacteria first; later the first multicellular life, then the first complex creatures in the sea, on the land. Then finally the great sweeping ages of animals, the amphibians, the dinosaurs, at last the mammals, each one enduring millions on millions of years, great dynasties of creatures rising, flourishing, dying away — all this against a background of continuous and violent upheaval. Mountain ranges thrust up, eroded away, cometary impacts, volcano eruptions, oceans rising and falling, whole continents moving, an endless, constant, violent change, colliding, buckling to make mountains over millions of years. Earth has survived everything in its time. It will certainly survive us. If all the nuclear weapons in the world went off at once and all the plants, all the animals died and the earth was sizzling hot for a hundred thousand years, life would survive, somewhere: under the soil, frozen in Arctic ice. Sooner or later, when the planet was no longer inhospitable, life would spread again. The evolutionary process would begin again. It might take a few billion years for life to regain its present variety. Of course, it would be very different from what it is now, but the earth would survive our folly, only we would not. If the ozone layer gets thinner, ultraviolet radiation sears the earth, so what? Ultraviolet radiation is good for life. It’s powerful energy. It promotes mutation, change. Many forms of life will thrive with more UV radiation. Many others will die out. Do you think this is the first time that’s happened? Think about oxygen. Necessary for life now, but oxygen is actually a metabolic poison, a corrosive glass, like fluorine. When oxygen was first produced as a waste product by certain plant cells some three billion years ago, it created a crisis for all other life on earth. Those plants were polluting the environment, exhaling a lethal gas. Earth eventually had an atmosphere incompatible with life. Nevertheless, life on earth took care of itself. In the thinking of the human being a hundred years is a long time. A hundred years ago we didn’t have cars, airplanes, computers or vaccines. It was a whole different world, but to the earth, a hundred years is nothing. A million years is nothing. This planet lives and breathes on a much vaster scale. We can’t imagine its slow and powerful rhythms, and we haven’t got the humility to try. We’ve been residents here for the blink of an eye. If we’re gone tomorrow, the earth will not miss us.” Jurassic Park

And

“I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.”

And

“All your life people will tell you things. And most of the time, probably ninety-five percent of the time, what they’ll tell you will be wrong.” The Lost World

And

“Praise not the day until evening has come, a woman until she is burnt, a sword until it is tried, a maiden until she is married, ice until it has been crossed, beer until it has been drunk.” Eaters of the Dead

And

“It’s hard to decide who’s truly brilliant; it’s easier to see who’s driven, which in the long run may be more important.” Congo

And

“Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.”

And

“The purpose of life is to stay alive. Watch any animal in nature–all it tries to do is stay alive. It doesn’t care about beliefs or philosophy. Whenever any animal’s behavior puts it out of touch with the realities of its existence, it becomes exinct.” Congo

And

“In the corner store we pulled fat bottles of water from the shelves. No one thinks it’s weird that we have to buy clean water, and that’s how I know we’re going to hell.”

And

“In the information society, nobody thinks. We expected to banish paper, but we actually banished thought.”

And

“Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray’s case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the “wet streets cause rain” stories. Paper’s full of them. In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.”

And

“Human beings are so destructive. I sometimes think we’re a kind of plague, that will scrub the earth clean. We destroy things so well that I sometimes think, maybe that’s our function. Maybe every few eons, some animal comes along that kills off the rest of the world, clears the decks, and lets evolution proceed to its next phase.” The Lost World

And

“All your life, other people will try to take your accomplishments away from you. Don’t you take it away from yourself.” The Lost World

And

“Anyone who says he knows God’s intention is showing a lot of very human ego.” Next

And

“Let’s be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven’t got the power to destroy the planet – or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.” Jurassic Park

And

“In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved, or improved, or freed, or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do. A sense that we are not amused.” Timeline

And

“Raising children is, in a sense, the reason the society exists in the first place. It’s the most important thing that happens, and it’s the culmination of all the tools and language and social structure that has evolved.” The Lost World

And

“Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.”

And

“All human behavior has a reason. All behavior is solving a problem.” Disclosure

And

“A hundred years from now, people will look back on us and laugh. They’ll say, ‘You know what people used to believe? They believed in photons and electrons. Can you imagine anything so silly?’ They’ll have a good laugh, because by then there will be newer better fantasies… And meanwhile, you feel the way the boat moves? That’s the sea. That’s real. You smell the salt in the air? You feel the sunlight on your skin? That’s all real. Life is wonderful. It’s a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn’t really anything else.” The Lost World

And

“Exercise invigorates the body and sharpens the mind.”

And

“Nobody dares to solve the problems-because the solution might contradict your philosophy, and for most people clinging to beliefs is more important than succeeding in the world.” State of Fear

And

“Working inspires inspiration. Keep working. If you succeed, keep working. If you fail, keep working. If you are interested, keep working. If you are bored, keep working.”

And

“His management philosophy, tempered in his rain-dancing days, was always to give the project to whoever had the most to gain from success–or the most to lose from failure.” Congo

And

“The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.”

And

“The purpose of history is to explain the present – to say why the world around us is the way it is. History tells us what is important in our world, and how it came to be. It tells us what is to be ignored, or discarded. That is true power – profound power. The power to define a whole society.” Timeline

And

“I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.

Let’s be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.

There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period.”

Wikipedia: Michael Crichton

Coaches Hot Seat, Coaches Hot Seat Rankings, Michael Crichton

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Thursday, May 4, 2023 – George Washington Carver

Harry May 4, 2023

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.”

And

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”

And

“When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”

And

“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”

And

“No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving something behind.”

And

“Since new developments are the products of a creative mind, we must therefore stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible.”

And

“There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation – veneer isn’t worth anything.”

And

“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”

Wikipedia: George Washington Carver

Coaches Hot Seat, Coaches Hot Seat Rankings, George Washington Carver

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Wednesday, May 3, 2023 – Henry David Thoreau

Harry May 4, 2023

“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”

And

“A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.”

And

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.”

And

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”

And

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”

And

“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”

And

“Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

And

“Dreams are the touchstones of our character.”

And

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

And

“How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.”

And

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”

And

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”

And

“If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.”

And

“If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.”

And

“In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.”

And

“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”

And

“Live your life, do your work, then take your hat.”

And

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”

And

“Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify.”

And

“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.”

And

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

And

“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.”

And

“The law will never make a man free; it is men who have got to make the law free.”

And

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

And

“There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.”

And

“What is once well done is done forever.”

And

“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

And

“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”

And

“The fate of the country does not depend on how you vote at the polls — the worst man is as strong as the best at that game; it does not depend on what kind of paper you drop into the ballot-box once a year, but on what kind of man you drop from your chamber into the street every morning.”

And

“I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”

And

“If a man walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down!”

And

“I wish to suggest that a man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living. All great enterprises are self-supporting. The poet, for instance, must sustain his body by his poetry, as a steam planing-mill feeds its boilers with the shavings it makes. You must get your living by loving.”

And

“Do we call this the land of the free? What is it to be free from King George and continue the slaves of King Prejudice? What is it to be born free and not to live free? What is the value of any political freedom, but as a means to moral freedom? Is it a freedom to be slaves, or a freedom to be free, of which we boast? We are a nation of politicians, concerned about the outmost defences only of freedom. It is our children’s children who may perchance be really free.”

Wikipedia: Henry David Thoreau