Lincoln Speaks

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

Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.

Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this.

Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.

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.

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Obama's unclean lips aren't worthy to let the name of Lincoln pass through them. He has no right to sit in his chair or defile his monument with his presence, and we should not tolerate it.

6.5 billion, give or take.

What is on your mind at this moment? What are your concerns, worries, hopes, dreams, sorrows, joys, and struggles at this moment? What about yesterday? How about last week? Can you even remember? Think about this day, last year; chances are you can't even remember.

What does that say about the things that are on your mind right now? Do you think they will matter tomorrow, next week, a year from now, or even ten years from now?

The estimated population of this planet is over 6.5 billion people. I think it's safe to assume all 6.5 billion people have something on their mind at this moment. They all have their worries, concerns, troubles, and such.

Our life expectancy is somewhere around seventy-five years. How long is seventy-five years compared to a thousand? or several thousand years that make up recorded history? How long have people lived on this planet? How many lives have come and gone in that time? I doubt anyone really knows.

It's clear all those people lived their lives one day at a time, with their own daily joys and struggles, such as we. It is impossible to comprehend, but sobering to try.

Often our worries seem so big they overshadow everything else, but in the whole scheme of our life, are they really a big deal? In the whole big scheme of things, do they even matter at all? Why is it then we expect the whole world to bend over backwards to submit to our will? and why is it we feel persecuted when we don't get our own way?

I don't know, but it's something to think about.

I had this thought today: If you weren't alive, dealing with all the stuff life throws at you, what else would you be doing, staring at the lid of a coffin? At least since Cain killed Able, there's been an endless parade of injustice and ugly nastiness for men to deal with, and there's nothing new under the sun. And one may very well make the argument that the dead are better off because all this is behind them. And one may even make a better argument that the still born are better off for they never had to deal with any of it all. Maybe so, but I'm not in either category.

So what of it? Should I whine, complain and moan. "Oh poor me. Why must I be born in such evil times?" Tell me, what times were not evil? What times would you rather live in? Think about it sometime.

So maybe we can do better. Maybe so. Maybe we should try. Of course; is there a better way to live than to do good, to fight for justice and peace? But all we can do is all we can do, and it's a never ending war. And this is a long way off from my real complaint.

So what is my complaint? There are way too many whiners. I've known way too many people who feel they've be cheated in life by prejudice, poverty, the man, the system, or whatever other injustice they can come up with. I don't pretend such injustices don't exist, I've already said as much, and some are pretty bad, but most of these people have it pretty good, all in all. They just don't see it because they're focused on the negatives, real or imagined. Worse yet, they refuse to be happy until everything is fair, until all that is crooked is made straight. I hate to say it, but they'll be waiting a long time. Life has never been fair, what makes us think it will be now? On top of all this, too many of these people sit on their butts, waiting for someone else to come along and fix their problems for them, usually the government. Dit moi, would you trust your most valuable possession to a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats? So why would you trust them with your own happiness? Most people have their own problems to deal with, what gives you the right to demand they deal with your problems? If you're unhappy with your life, get off your butt and do something about it; it's your life, don't give it away to someone else.

Yes, there are people who have real problems, and who need help. I hope it is never said of me that I don't care for others, especially those in need. But all that makes this even worse. We live in a country where the poor have a higher standard of living, more freedom, and more opportunity than an incalculable vast majority of those who've graced this earth with their presence. Far too many of us, myself included at times, maybe all of us, use these things as excuses to not do anything with our lives, either because of fear, or just plain laziness.

I don't know what's worse, wannabe victims or those who refuse to be happy, who feel guilty because someone in the world may not have it as good as they do. So I have an apple and you don't, so I'll chuck my apple so we're both equal, then I'll congratulate myself on how much I care. Or, I'll eat my apple, but complain about it and try to make everyone else feel guilty about eating their apples. Either way you still have no apple. All I've done is made myself, and maybe a few others unhappy along with you. Maybe I should get over myself, stop trying to be Hercules, and be content doing what I can with what I have. The point is, we have too many do-gooders who tear everything down to make themselves feel good. There are far too many people scolding us everyday, telling us why we should feel guilty, telling us what we are doing wrong, what we are doing that will either kill us or destroy the world, telling us what new crisis we should be worried about, and how we're all victims, and how helpless we are. I've about had all I can take. But then again, I don't have to listen to them.

But what's worse than all this? Blood sucking politicians who propagate such guilt and victim hood, dress up like super man to save the day, collect the votes, and pat each other on the back for how much they care, even though they haven't fixed anything.

But enough of that. I've gone on far too long. So am I whining? Or am I doing something by writing about it? The line is very thin sometimes. Does any of this make sense, or am I mad? Yet another fine line. I guess you don't have to listen to me if you don't want.

So I'll leave you with this: do good, work hard, and enjoy what you have however little it may be. There is far too much that is good and beautiful lying right under our upturned noses to throw away.

Maybe someday I'll learn to take my own advice.

Au revoir.