1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

2. Guide reproduction wisely—improving fitness and diversity.

3. Unite humanity with a living new language.

4. Rule passion—faith—tradition—and all things with tempered reason.

5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.

6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.

7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.

8. Balance personal rights with social duties.

9. Prize truth—beauty—love—seeking harmony with the infinite.

10. Be not a cancer on the Earth—Leave room for nature—Leave room for nature.

Aristotle's Virtues

COURAGE - Courage involves pain, and is justly praised; for it is harder to face what is painful than to abstain from what is pleasant.

TEMPERANCE - By abstaining from pleasures we become temperate, and it is when we have become so that we are most able to abstain from them.

LIBERALITY (GENEROSITY) - Of all those who are called virtuous the liberal are probably the best liked, because they are helpful; and their help consists in giving.

TRUTHFULNESS - Falsehood is in itself bad and reprehensible, while the truth is a fine and praiseworthy thing.

FRIENDLINESS - The best friend is he that, when he wishes a person's good, wishes it for that person's own sake.

JUSTICE - Justice is often regarded as the sovereign virtue, and ‘neither evening nor morning star is such a wonder.'

MAGNANIMITY - It is proper to a magnanimous person not to nurse memories, especially not of evils, but to overlook them.

RIGHTEOUSNESS - The man who gets angry at the right things and with the right people, and also in the right way and at the right time and for the right length of time, is commended; so this person will be patient... because a patient person tends to be unperturbed and not carried away by feelings.

MAGNIFICENCE - The magnificent man is like an artist; for he can see what is fitting and spend large sums tastefully.

AMBITION - We blame both the ambitious man as aiming at honour more than is right and from wrong sources, and the unambitious man as not willing to be honoured even for noble reasons.

WIT - Wit is cultured insolence.

As an American, you have the right to not wear a mask, but, just like you, businesses have the right to not serve you and I have the right to not associate with you. You can't have it both ways. You are free to make a choice, but that means accepting the consequences of your actions and recognizing my freedoms. Screaming at employees and businesses for protecting their workers and cutomers does not make you a patriot. It makes you an asshole. Don't mistake inconvenience for oppression.

History will speak to the cult; how easily the were gaslit; how they embraced the most flawed leader in cult history. How they rallied around grievance; and culture; railed against their own interests; believed an obvious con. But the true disaster was the normalization of a madman. (Bill Maher)

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. (MLK)

Do Unto Others ...

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself. — Confucius

Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing. – Thales

What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either. – Sextus

Do not do to others that which angers you when they do it to you. – Isocrates

Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others. Shayast-na-Shayast

That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another.

Do to no one what you yourself dislike. Tobit 4:15

Recognize that your neighbor feels as you do, and keep in mind your own dislikes. Sirach 31:15

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Success: To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeded. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

But that's why God made people young at first, to get the doing done. (Simon the Fidler)

All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it. (John Locke)

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. (MLK)

A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice. (Bill Cosby)

In the affluent society no useful distinction can be made between luxuries and necessaries. (John K. Galbraith)

This is the thing with ideologues, [they] keep closing their eyes and their ears and put their head in the sand until it is almost too late, and then do a last-minute turnaround,” the analyst says. “They’ve done this again and again.”

You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter their facts to fit their views. (Dr. Who, 1977)

I tremble for my country when I think we may, in fact, get the kind of leaders we deserve. (Thomas Jefferson ??)

The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too. (Oscar Levant)

In America, anyone can become President. That's the problem. (George Carlin)

No treaty is ever an impediment to a cheat. (Sophocles)

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. (Seen on a dog tag)

A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of hand guns and tequila. (Mitch Radcliffe)

Damn computer keeps saying I have mail, but I've walked out to the mailbox 10 times today and there is nothing in there.

Mele kalikimaka (Merry Christmas in Hawaii)

Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do. (Golda Mier)

Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination. (Mark Twain)

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

I constantly worry about the safety of my children. Like especially the one who's been rolling her eyes and talking back to me.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Beer: the reason I get up every afternoon.

A goal without a plan is a wish.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, Notify: ________', I put 'DOCTOR'.

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute if you want to skydive twice.

Poop jokes are not my favorite kind of jokes, but they are a solid #2.

I used to be indecisive; now I'm not so sure.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

Never trouble trouble til trouble troubles you.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but now it's getting harder and harder for me to find one.

Love is the virtue of the heart. Sincerity is the virtue of the mind. Decision is the virtue of the will. Courage is the virtue of the spirit. (Frank Lloyd Wright).

Never make a defense or apology before you be accused. (King Charles I)

Fate has fickled its finger at me. (Fibber McGee)

The Republican tendency is to believe in anything that comforts, and deny what discomforts, so that unpleasant truths are simply ignored.

Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit. (John Stuart Mill)

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. (Dilbert)

Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists. (Thomas Friedman)

I'm not bossy! ... I have skills!! ... Leadership skills!!! ... Understand????

If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you it was yours and will always be yours. If it never returns it was never yours to begin with. If it just sits there in your living room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses your telephone, takes your money and never appears to know that you actually set it free in the first place you either married it or gave birth to it.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Dyna-flex super flowing unijet turbo vasculator which is synchro-meshed with the multicoil hydrotension dual vacuum dynamometer.

Love is a temporary insanity curable by marriage. (Bierce)

Men don't talk face to face. They talk shoulder to shoulder.

As the praying mantis said,"I might as well stay and have one more beer. The wife's going to chew my head off when I get home anyway."

If you want to read about love and marraige, you've got to buy two separate books. (Alan King)

I am silently correcting your grammar.

A closed mouth don't get fed. (American folk saying)

Golf was invented by the Dutch in hopes that the Scots would forget bagpipes.

The Scots invented whiskey beause they also invented haggis. (Alec Trebec)

Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic? (Lily Tomlin)

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? (George Carlin)

I'm going to stop asking "how dumb can you get?" People seem to be taking it as a challenge.

Anything you have to acquire a taste for was not meant to be eaten. (Eddie Murphy)

A good way to prepare for parenthood is to talk to rocks, because they have similar listening habits.

Parenting: Updating your child's wardrobe every three months while still wearing what you wore in 2005.

I’m on two diets. I wasn’t getting enough food on one.

A cold seat in a public restroom is unpleasant. A warm seat is worse.

Apparently RSVP’ing to a wedding invitation, "Maybe next time," isn’t the correct response.

Don’t irritate old people. The older we get the less “life in prison” is a deterrent.

Have you ever listened to someone for a minute and thought, “Their cornbread ain’t done in the middle.”

Aliens probably fly by earth and lock their doors.

I asked my wife if I was the only one she had been with. She said yes, all the others were nines and tens.

It turns out that being an adult is mostly just googling how to do stuff.

As I watch this generation try to rewrite our history, one thing I’m sure of… it will be misspelled and have no punctuation.

Do you ever get up in the morning, look in the mirror and think, “That can’t be accurate.”

I thought getting old would take longer.

My wife asked me to take her to one of those restaurants where they make food right in front of you. I took her to Subway.

Picked up a hitchhiker. He asked if I wasn’t afraid he might be a serial killer? I told him the odds of two serial killers being in the same car were extremely unlikely.

I went line dancing last night. OK, it was a roadside sobriety test

When was your bread baked?: Blue - Monday / Green - Tuesday / Red - Thursday / White - Friday / Yellow - Saturday.

I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right. I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference. (Gerald Ford)

So little time ... So little to do ... (Oscar Levant)

Stamp > Licky Sticky / Defib > Hearty Starty / Bee > Fuzzy Buzzy / Pregnancy Test > Maybe Baby / Bra > Breastie Nestie / Socks > Heatie Feetie.

It is not what you are, it's what you don't become that hurts. (Oscar Levant)

RULES TO TEACH YOUR SON

1. Never shake a man’s hand sitting down.

2. Don’t enter a pool by the stairs.

3. The man at the BBQ Grill is the closest thing to a king.

4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.

5. Request the late check-out.

6. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.

7. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.

8. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.

9. Play with passion or don’t play at all…

10. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look them in the eye.

11. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.

12. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.

13. Carry two handkerchiefs. The one in your back pocket is for you. The one in your breast pocket is for her.

14. You marry the girl, you marry her family.

15. Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.

16. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.

17. Never be afraid to ask out the best looking girl in the room.

18. Never turn down a breath mint.

19. A sport coat is worth 1000 words.

20. Try writing your own eulogy. Never stop revising.

21. Thank a veteran. Then make it up to him.

22. Eat lunch with the new kid.

23. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.

24. Ask your mom to play. She won’t let you win.

25. Manners maketh the man.

26. Give credit. Take the blame.

27. Stand up to Bullies. Protect those bullied.

28. Write down your dreams.

29. Take time to snuggle your pets, they love you so much and are always happy to see you.

30. Be confident and humble at the same time.

31. If ever in doubt, remember whose son you are and REFUSE to just be ordinary!

32. In all things lead by example not explanation.

Leonard Berstein is revealing secrets that have been common knowledge for centuries. (Oscar Levant)

Now is the time to visit all the celebrated places in the country and fill our heads with what we have seen, so that when we become old and bald we will have something to talk about over our tea cups. (Jippensha Ikku)

First we'll use Spahn then we'll use Sain
Then a day off followed by rain.
Back will come Spahn followed by Sain
And followed we hope by two days of rain.

Baseball's Sad Lexicon
These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double �
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Who burned Sheryl’s She Shed? It's almost 2019, and I still have many unanswered questions!!!! I haven’t found out who let the dogs out...where’s the beef...how to get to Sesame Street... why Dora doesn’t just use Google Maps...Why do all flavors of fruit loops taste exactly the same, or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop......why eggs are packaged in a flimsy carton, but batteries are secured in plastic that’s tough as nails...what does the fox say... why “abbreviated” is such a long word; or why is there a D in ‘fridge’ but not in refrigerator... why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor yet dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons... why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections... and, why do you have to “put your two cents in” but it’s only a “penny for your thoughts” where’s that extra penny going to... why does The Alphabet Song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune... why did you just try to sing those two previous songs... and just what exactly is Victoria’s secret? and where is Waldo?... Can you hear me now?...

UPS Tracking: "Your package is in X city in a truck driven by Bob and will be at your door at 2:37PM.
Fedex: "Your package is coming. You'll get it when we get it to you."
USPS: "You ordered something?"
Amazon: "We're inside your house."
Facebook: "We know you were just thinking about getting a toaster oven. Here are 15 ads for toaster ovens."

There is no Frigate like a Book (1286) By Emily Dickinson

There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul –

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

Be Impeccable with your word - - Speak with integrity - Say only what you mean - Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others - Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don't take anything personnally - - Nothing others do is beause of you - What others say and do is a projetion of their own reality, their own dream - When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Don't make assumptions - - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want - Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama - With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Always do your best - - Your best is going to change from moment to moment: it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick - Under any circumstances, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse and regret.

There you have the man! Always clever and unanswerable when he was defending nonsense and wickedness: always awkward and sullen when he had to behave sensibly and decently! (Shaw, George Bernard. Major Barbara)

...these disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them. (The Autbiography of Benjamin Franklin)

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forc'd by the occasion. (The Autbiography of Benjamin Franklin)

1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6.Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
(The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin)

Andrew Jackson's mother's last words to him: Andrew, if I should not see you again I wish you to remember and treasure up some things I have already said to you: In this world you will have to make your own way. To do that you must have friends. You can make friends by being honest, and you can keep them by being steadfast. You must keep in mind that friends worth having will in the long run expect as much from you as they give to you. To forget an obligation or be ungrateful for a kindness is a base crime—not merely a fault or a sin, but an actual crime. Men guilty of it sooner or later must suffer the penalty. In personal conduct be polite, but never obsequious. No one will respect you more than you esteem yourself. Avoid quarrels as long as you can without yielding to imposition. But sustain your manhood always. Never bring a suit at law for assault and battery or for defamation. The law affords no remedy for such outrages that can satisfy the feelings of a true man. Never wound the feelings of others. Never brook wanton outrage upon your own feelings. If you ever have to vindicate your feelings or defend your honor, do it calmly. If angry at first, wait till your wrath cools before you proceed. Brands, H. W.. Andrew Jackson (p. 31). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Alexis de Tocqueville was too young to have witnessed the degenerative process in France, having been born after Napoleon seized power. But he assumed that the same influences — self-interest, demagoguery, ignorance — that had subverted popular government in his own country would tend to do so in America. Brands, H. W.. Andrew Jackson (p. 455). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I thank you lord for this wonderful day,
I had a fine time at work and at play,
I tried to be good and do what was right,
Please stay with me, lord, all through the night.

Winston Churchill

These, gentlemen, are the opinions upon which I base my facts. (Winston Churchill)

Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.

You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.

A nation that forgets its past has no future.

If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart. If you're not a conservative at forty, you have no brain.

There is nothing government can give you that it hasn't taken from you in the first place.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

A good speech should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

One man with conviction will overwhelm a hundred who have only opinions.

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.

You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer.

Life can be either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.

We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.

I'd rather against a hundred idiots, than have one agree with me.

Islam is more dangerous in a man than rabies in a dog.

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.

Life is fraught with opportunities to keep your mouth shut.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.