Quote of the Day - July

July 1st

Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity. Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine, and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities. So I believe that dreams--daydreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing--are likely to lead to the betterment of the world. The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to invent, and therefore to foster, civilization.
-- L. Frank Baum

4dk

July 2nd

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
-- Virginia Woolf

4dk

July 3rd

It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.
-- James Earl "Jimmy" Carter

4dk

July 4th or Dear George Letter Day

The Yankee Doodle Boy
I'm a Yankee Doodle dandy,
A Yankee Doodle, do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam's,
Born on the Fourth of July.
I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,
She's my Yankee Doodle joy.
Yankee Doodle came to London,
Just to ride the ponies,
I am a Yankee Doodle boy.

George M. Cohan

See more information about this holiday below:

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Arms was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 6, 1775

Yankee Doodle Dandy – The meaning behind the original song

Battle for Bunker Hill or The Debunking Bunker Hill

Independence Day: America's Birthday

10 Surprising Facts About the Fourth of July

4dk

July 5th

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
-- Benjamin Franklin

4dk

July 6th

They laughed at Einstein. They laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
-- Carl Sagan

4dk

July 7th

Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac who stays up all night wondering if there really is a Dog?
-- Unknown


4dk

July 8th

I believe, with abiding conviction, that this people-nurtured by their deep faith, tutored by their hard lessons, moved by their high aspirations-have the will to meet the trials that these times impose.
-- Lyndon Baines Johnson


4dk - who thinks LBJ might have been speaking about Londoners.

July 9th

A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedence, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down.
~ Robert Benchley


4dk

July 10th

When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them."
-- Chief Seattle

And just who are these Warriors of the Rainbow? Click here to find out.

July 10th is the 20th anniversary of the sinking of its flagship the Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand. For moiré information, please see here.

4dk

July 11th

No one can have experienced to the fullest the true sense of achievement and satisfaction who have never pursued and successfully caught his tail.
--Rosalind Welcher


4dk

July 12th

Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement.
~ Charles M. Schulz

4dk

July 13th

In tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire,
to tear their clothes off and perspire.
It's one of those rules that the biggest fools obey,
Because the sun is much too sultry and one must avoid
its ultry-violet ray --
Papalaka-papalaka-papalaka-boo. (Repeat)
Digariga-digariga-digariga-doo. (Repeat)
The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts,
Because they're obviously, absolutely nuts --

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The Japanese don't care to, the Chinese wouldn't dare to,
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve to one,
But Englishmen detest a siesta,
In the Philippines there are lovely screens,
to protect you from the glare,
In the Malay states there are hats like plates,
which the Britishers won't wear,
At twelve noon the natives swoon, and
no further work is done -
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

It's such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see,
That though the British are effete,
they're quite impervious to heat,
When the white man rides, every native hides in glee,
Because the simple creatures hope he will
impale his solar topee on a tree.
Bolyboly-bolyboly-bolyboly-baa. (Repeat)
Habaninny-habaninny-habaninny-haa. (Repeat)
It seems such a shame that when the English claim the earth
That they give rise to such hilarity and mirth -

Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The toughest Burmese bandit can never understand it.
In Rangoon the heat of noon is just what the natives shun.
They put their scotch or rye down, and lie down.
In the jungle town where the sun beats down,
to the rage of man or beast,
The English garb of the English sahib merely gets a bit more creased.
In Bangkok, at twelve o'clock, they foam at the mouth and run,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen, go out in the midday sun.
The smallest Malay rabbit deplores this stupid habit.
In Hong Kong, they strike a gong, and fire off a noonday gun.
To reprimand each inmate, who's in late.
In the mangrove swamps where the python romps
there is peace from twelve till two.
Even caribous lie down and snooze, for there's nothing else to do.
In Bengal, to move at all, is seldom if ever done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
--Noel Coward - Mad Dogs and Englishmen

We are in the Dog Days of Summer (July 3 to August 11) but what are (is) the Dog Days of Summer?
For those interested, please click here and read the first story.

4dk

July 14th - Bastille Day

There is no reason to accept the doctrines crafted to sustain power and privilege, or to believe that we are constrained by mysterious and unknown social laws. These are simply decisions made within institutions that are subject to human will and that must face the test of legitimacy. And if they do not meet the test, they can be replaced by other institutions that are more free and more just, as has happened often in the past."
-- Noam Chomsky


For more information on the events of 7/14/1789 see the links below:

The Fall of the Bastille – July 14, 1789

A Paris newspaper account of the fall of the Bastille.

Did Marie Antoinette really say "let them eat cake"?

4dk

July 15th

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.
-- Albert Einstein

4dk

July 16th

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-- Charles Dickens

4dk

July 17th

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you are still a rat!
-Lily Tomlin


4dk

July 18th

American business long ago gave up on demanding that prospective employees be honest and hardworking. It has even stopped hoping for employees who are educated enough that they can tell the difference between the men's room and the women's room without having little pictures on the doors.
-- Dave Barry


4dk

July 19th

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.
-- Jonathan Carroll


4dk

July 20th

Man on the Moon (7/20/1969)
That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong


Apollo 11 astronaut flubbed his 'one small step' remark as he became the first man to set foot on the surface of the moon. See here for details.

4dk