In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal column, Don’t Do It Mr. Romney*, Peggy Noonan wrote
He’d have been a better president than Obama. That’s not nearly enough.
Whether or not she’s right about Romney, that line succinctly expresses her main idea: America needs a lot more from a candidate than just “Vote for me, the other guy is even worse.”
But this post isn’t about politics and America’s need for good leadership. It’s about the power of a good quote or a good cartoon. Some people hate quotes — they think they demonstrate laziness/lack of thinking. I love ones that express ideas simply and go straight to my heart and brain.
What about you?
* This link may only work for subscribers.
January 18, 2015
I can take quotes and cartoons or leave them. I don’t generally seek them out.
What does resonate with you? What stirs up your thoughts and feelings?
I love both and make liberal use of whatever comes to my notice. I have a huge file on quotes and one on cartoons. One needs a good memory to access relevant ones which I seem to have been blessed with.
I agree. They’re a great resource.
Jean, please forgive me. First I crucify you over your smilies when, in reality, all you mean to be is, well, friendly. Then I get a little scratchy about your generous use of quotes. Shame over me. Still, we have ‘known’ each other for quite a few years now and we both keep coming back for more. That’s what exchange of views, indeed friendship is about. Not to agree on everything but to give different insights. As annoying as that sometimes is. Spice of life. One of these days, and I shall dedicate that piece to you, I will write about the subject in more detail. And you will note that I don’t “hate” quotes at all, and possibly understand where I am coming from
To cheer you up, whether you need to or not: This morning was ludicrously funny. First site I went on (googling something about my wretched right eye) I came across a whole barrage of quotes to do with sight (literal but mostly metaphorical). None of which I had heard before and, despite the rather sad subject matter, made me smile. I thought of you and couldn’t help laughing out loud, thinking to myself: “Jean should see me now. ” Not least because I had to resist (to be loyal to myself) urge of immediately sending you those ‘insights’.
To be expanded on … In the meantime may many worthy quotes cross your path. As Americans say: Thanks for sharing.
U
What a sweet comment! Thank you.
I can sympathize with you about your eye. I’ve had eye trouble all my life and now I’m starting to notice the cataract in my left eye. It’s not as bad as yours yet, but it is noticeable at times.
I always thought my children would walk around the house quoting Shakespeare at will when not retiring to the mythical music room to practice their violins. Ha! That didn’t happen, although both did play the violin with some facility for a while. I somehow did not forge an interest in walking around the house quoting Shakespeare! However, one set of my grandchildren spout poetry, including Shakespeare, Rumi, scriptural and a lot in between, and are attaining a respectable facility with the great thoughts of many cultures. Our friend and their other grandfather teaches them and gives them awards for mastering certain pieces. What do I think about employing quotes? I don’t do it, but I admire people who can and do.
How old are they? We had to memorize poetry when I was in 6th grade. Nothing as profound as Shakespeare, of course, but I enjoyed it and still remember enough of the pieces to look them up on the internet to fill in the gaps.
i enjoy both cartoons and quotes.
my problem is in memory. darn it! i just can never remember the whole quote.
i will remember parts of one. never able enough to just say them at will.
the beauty of the internet . . . and like rummy i have saved two different sources . . .
it’s easy enough to just put in the person who said it or part of it and you will get the entire quote!
and that cartoon? LOLOL love it! even sad though it is.
and as to romney?
it has NOTHING to do with me whether his expertise as a president would be valuable.
the man showed me his basic essential nature when he drove hundreds of miles with his family dog in an open crate strapped to the top of the car. the dog shivering and sick with fear enough to cause it to have diarrhea that streamed down the back window enough that the children begged their father to stop.
he stopped. HOSED down the dog at a gas station. put it back on top. now cold AND wet. and proceeded with the trip. at the end of the trip the dog escaped and hasn’t been seen since. THAT is not the kind of man i want for my president.
and for me. it’s as simple as that. that told me all i need to know about him.
i don’t care how politically gifted he might be.
and. sorry. i got wound up here. you said it wasn’t political. and here i’m making it political. you can delete my response! it won’t hurt my feelings monk! xoxo
I agree with you about the internet filling in the gaps. Or the search feature on my computer to search for an author or term in my collection. Yay, tools!
About Romney, Noonan says he was “clunky” as a politician. I don’t know how seriously to take the claim of animal abuse. His story is the dog was in his crate (which the dog loved) on the roof, with a windshield to protect him from the wind. And the diarrhea was from something the dog had eaten, not from fear. I agree with you that animal abuse is serious and a good reason not to vote for someone, but I’m also suspicious of stories used for political purposes. I wish I had more real facts. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate your comment, because I do!
“It is an old error of man to forget to put quotation marks where he borrows from a woman’s brain.” – Anna Garlin Spencer
Quotes that express unusual ideas set me thinking and then I get new ideas of my own. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
I agree, good quotes don’t substitute for thinking, they stir it. Food for thought is the way I think of them. Thanks.
A cartoon that cuts straight to the heart of the matter is lots of fun and usually makes me think. That’s probably why I like the “comedy news shows” (e.g., Jon Stewart) better than regular news (except npr) these days.
I read a poll once that said most of the people asked said they got most of their news from Jay Leno and David Letterman. Those two did give you a feeling for the current topics. 🙂
political foes, people and babies often seem to go hand in hand – with the critics raging on during their terms, after their terms and anything in between…
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always the worse stories are told, when possibly any of them have had a million good things occurs – as I think we have talked about recently on a blog is the “good egg v bad egg” that walks beside us here and there.
I think well thought out cartoons “pin it down” well – commenting on the current situation but it is when they pull one from the files that somehow doesn’t quite hit the mark.
I am not good with quotes either, the remembering of as well jokes or riddles or similar – I can see the “end/result” and I’m mentally giggling before I finish trying to remember the telling of
I don’t tell jokes well either. Like you, I’m laughing at the punch line and don’t do well on the buildup. Andy’s the same way, and we do just fine with one another sketching the scene and getting right to the fun part.
About the stories politicians tell on one another — it’s best to try to check the facts without jumping to conclusions. If we care.