Ten Quotes from John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy became the U.S. president when I was graduating from Grade-VI in a public school in my hometown. It was my father who planted him in my consciousness after he came back the following year from a government scholarship in the States. He regaled us with his first-hand account of the palpable tension in America during the Cuban Missile Crisis that tested Kennedy's mettle as a young president of a world superpower. That made a lasting imprint on my impressionable mind, hence my choice for these quotes:

"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."

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As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

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"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

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"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men."

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"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."

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"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."

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"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder."

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"History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."

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"I look forward to a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose."

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"I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide."

(Many thanks to obits.eons.com for the use of the photo shown above)

Ten Quotes on Destiny

While researching for my next post in my other blog, I was looking out for a quotation that would capture the essence of what I wanted to muse about the life path of incumbent U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

You see, Mr. Bernanke was just a child of six or seven when the Great Depression struck in the 1930s. His experience during that period apparently left a lasting influence on the young Bernanke who once asked his maternal grandmother why many children in the neighborhood went to school either barefoot or in tattered shoes.

It's an anecdote that leads me to the inevitable word: Destiny. Let me share with you these quotes that I stumbled upon:

"There is no such thing as chance; and what seem to us merest accident springs from the deepest source of destiny." -Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

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Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny." -Tyron Edwards

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"Upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all." -Alexander the Great

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"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." -Ray Bradbury

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"A consistent soul believes in destiny, a capricious one in chance." -Benjamin Disraeli

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"The destiny of any nation at any given time depends on the opinion of its young people, those under twenty-five." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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"And the high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule, or to impose himself in any other way." -Albert Einstein

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"Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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"Even when you think you have your life all mapped out, things happen that shape your destiny in ways you might never have imagined." -Deepak Chopra

(The royalty-free photo shown above courtesy of www.sxc.hu)

Ten Quotes from Sun Tzu's " The Art of War"

I thought about Sun Tzu after the failed rebellion of Philippine Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a PMAyer and former Navy officer, last Thursday, November 29, 2007. This was his second attempt to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA). He may need to go back to the teachings of Sun Tzu in "The Art of War" if he will have a third chance, which is now a very big IF.

"We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors."

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"The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose."

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"Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays."

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"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

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"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign."

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"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

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"Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated."

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"In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack - the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle - you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?"

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"The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him."

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"In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them."

(Thanks to www.geocities.com/Athens for the use of the photo shown above)