"The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself." -Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (11 Aug 1833-1899)

"Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck." -Guy de Maupassant, short story writer and novelist (5 Aug 1850-1893)

"You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive." James Baldwin, writer

"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country." -Alexis de Tocqueville, statesman and historian (29 Jul 1805-1859)

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead." -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (21 Jul 1899-1961)

"I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war?” -Eve Merriam, poet and writer (19 Jul 1916-1992)

"The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny." -Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet, Nobel laureate (b. 13 Jul 1934)

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?" -Jean Cocteau, author and painter (5 Jul 1889-1963)

"'Respect for religion' has become a code phrase meaning 'fear of religion'. Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect." -Salman Rushdie, writer (b. 19 Jun 1947) Happy Birthday Mr. Rushdie!

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -JFK, President (29 May 1917-63)

"The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life -- the sick, the needy, and the handicapped. -Hubert Humphrey, US VP (27 May 1911-1978)

"The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent."-Bertrand Russell, philosopher (18 May 1872-1970)

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers". -Thomas Pynchon, novelist (b. 8 May 1937)

I made a tulip on a lathe for my wife. It is made of Cedar.

Sounds familiar.

"War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off." -Karl Kraus, writer (28 Apr 1874-1936)

"Neither great poverty nor great riches will hear reason." -Henry Fielding, author (21 Apr 1707-1754) Happy Birthday Henry!

"The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions." -Robert Lynd, writer (20 Apr 1879-1949) Happy Birthday Robert.

"You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave." -Billie Holiday, jazz singer and songwriter (7 Apr 1915-1959) Happy Birthday Ms. Holiday!

"Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance." -Verna Myers, author and speaker (b. 5 Apr 1960)

"You see, war is not the answer / For only love can conquer hate. / You know we've got to find a way / To bring some lovin' here today." -Marvin Gaye, singer and songwriter (2 Apr 1939-1984) Happy Birthday Marvin

"A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat." -Louis L’Amour, novelist (22 Mar 1908-1988)

"Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism." -Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court (19 Mar 1891-1974)

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." -Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court justice (15 Mar 1933-2020) Happy Birthday Justice Ginsburg!

"The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience". -W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist (23 Feb 1868-1963)

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." -Ansel Adams, photographer (20 Feb 1902-1984) Happy Birthday Ansel! Photo credit: Alex Gubski Photography

Eastern Bluebirds don't seem to nest in our area but they do visit a couple of times per year. This morning 5 helped themselves to seed and suet from our feeders. Nice Valentine Day gift!

"A hungry man is not a free man." -Adlai Stevenson II, lawyer, politician, and diplomat (5 Feb 1900-1965) (side note) My eldest sister had just said "Hi" to Adlai before he had his heart attack in London. 2 yrs earlier she had watched JFK's motorcade just before he was shot. Avoid my sister!

"There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience." -Hartley Shawcross, barrister, politician, and prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal (4 Feb 1902-2003)

"Jobs are like going to church: it's nice once or twice a year to sing along and eat something and all that, but unless you really believe there's something holy going on, it gets to be a drag going in every single week." -Thomas Michael Disch, science fiction author and poet (2 Feb 1940-2008)