The Messenger - November 11, 2010 - Fun Stuff

First Presbyterian Church of San Pedro

November 11, 2010

The Messenger

Pastor's Corner

"Fun Stuff"

Since I read quite a number of thoughtful books in a given year, I like to make a list of pithy quotes to pass on. Often, I can work them into a sermon here or there. But some of the very best quotes don't quite "fit" into a sermon within a given length of time. Thus, I thought I'd pass them on "as is" within "The Messenger" every now and then. I hope you will enjoy them as much a I did.

Language

She understood, as women often do, that the declared meaning of a spoken sentence is only its overcoat, and the real meaning lies underneath its scarves and buttons. (Peter Carey)

I never metaphor I didn't like. (Dr. Marty Grothe)

Politics

Washington is like a Roman arena. Gladiators do battle, and spectators determine who survives by giving the appropriate signal, just as in the Coliseum. (Henry Kissinger)

Political image is like mixing cement. When it's wet, you can move it and change it, but, at some point, it hardens, and there's almost nothing you can do to reshape it. (Walter Mondale)

Power

It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion. (W.R. Inge)

Government is not reason and it is not eloquence. It is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. (George Washington)

Appearances

Glances are the heavy artillery of flirt; everything can be conveyed in a look, yet that look can always be denied, for it cannot be quoted word for word. (Stendhal)

The relationships between the actress and the make-up man is one of accomplices in crime. (Marlene Dietrich)

She looked at me as if I were a side dish she hadn't ordered. (Ring Lardner)

Emotions

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. (Victor Hugo)

An exaggeration is a truth that lost its temper. (Kahlil Gibran)

Passion is a bad regulator but a powerful spring. (Jean Paul Richter)

Despair is vinegar from the wine of hope. (Austin O'Malley)

Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind. (Robert Ingersoll)

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark. (Rabindranath Tagore)

Have a great weekend!

p.s. Please remind all soldiers, sailors, and airmen in your family to wear their uniforms (if possible) this weekend, as we will recognize all Veterans and active duty military personnel.

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