Winning Words 10/24/11
“The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it’s difficult to determine whether or not they are genuine.” (A. Lincoln) Lincoln’s nickname was “Honest Abe,” but not all of the quotes attributed to him were honestly his. He never said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time etc.” But he did say, “Some things legally right are not morally right.” Slavery in his day was one example. Are there others? ;-) Jack

FROM HS IN MICHIGAN: I believe President Lincoln once said "hell of a season, Tigers. Verlander should get the mvp!"////FROM JACK: He also said: "I'm picking the Wolverines to beat the Spartans."

FROM GOOD DEBT JON: "You are right about quotes on the internet. Cicero used that quote in an email to me last week."////FROM JACK: The tail of a dog is not the only place for "wags." It seems that they're on the internet, too.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON: Did some A. Lincoln really say today's quote? I think the banks in charging rates like 24% or even higher on some credit cards are doing something they legally can but it's usury, it's not morally right and it's also a practice that is bringing our economy down--in my opinion.////FROM JACK: I think that "owning" slaves was a far bigger issue, but some say that it was an economic issue, too.

FROM RJP IN FLORIDA: You have shattered my image of him..............Who did say it if Abe did not??????//// FROM JACK: The old, old question: Is something important because of the message, or because of the messenger? The quote about legality vs morality seems to have validity because of Honest Abe.

SHARIN' AGAIN: Just read another conundrum of things that might be legally right but not morally right and something that might be morally right but not legally right. One Chaplain Bill Freeman tried to occupy the Holland City Hall when their City Council voted against adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the city's non-discrimination ordinance. Chaplain Freeman got handcuffed and put out and had to pay a fine it seems. No one probably really knows just how many people in Holland are being discriminated against except maybe people like the Chaplain do. I read the newspaper article on the internet.////FROM JACK: The idea of conscientious objection seems to be as old as the first system of laws. I suppose that there were those who thought that the 10 Commandments infringed upon their rights.

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: Roe vs. Wade is the Dred Scott decision of our generation. in my opinion. By the way , have just begun reading Killing Lincoln, and maybe I will learn some new facts. My students used to complain about having to memorize the Gettysburg Address. At the end of the school year we would visit New Salem. the Capitol at Springfield, and the tomb of Lincoln.////FROM JACK: Thanks for your interesting feedback.
R v W has certainly affected the political landscape and energized certain religious groups. Recently, I came across these words from Earl Warren. "Everything in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for." It reminds me of the E.B. White book I read in freshman English...."One Man's Meat...."

FROM DS IN CALIFORNIA: Jack, if Gore discovered the internet, then old Abe could have said that about the Internet. Same goes for almost everything you see on the Internet anymore. Some people have too much time on their hands. ////FROM JACK: Are you going to "knock" poor Al on Global Warming, too? At least Abe didn't have to worry about that sort of thing in his day.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: I take it that this one concerning the internet was one that was NOT genuine. :-) Good quote on not everything that is legal is morally right. Gambling comes to mind. Too often those who can't afford to lose money are the ones tempted to gamble in desperate hopes of winning something. Life can be a gamble, but the odds are a lot better if we meet it sober, drug-free, (clothed and in your right mind, as the Good Book says)... We all make choices, including discerning what is really genuine, I'd guess.////FROM JACK: I remember the story of the reformed alcoholic who stood up in church to testify. "I know the story of how Jesus performed a miracle and turned water into wine. When Jesus came into my life, he changed wine into furniture.

FROM HAPPY TRAILS IN NOVA SCOTIA: I thought "you can fool" was from P. T. Barnum."////FROM JACK:
I read on the internet that P.T. Barnum supposedly said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." He was probably quoting Lincoln.

FROM CS IN WISCONSIN: A house divided against itself cannot stand….taken from Mark 3:25 Lincoln did say this, but it came from someone much higher up.////FROM JACK: Lincoln knew is Bible pretty well. I have a book on my shelf called, Lincoln's Religion. In it, Lincoln says: "When I first went to school in Indiana, we had no reading or grammar books. All our reading was done from one Bible. We took turns reading from it."

FROM ILLINOIS LIZ: looks as if he fooled some of the people some of the time...////FROM JACK: Yogi Berra once wrote a book....Some of the Things They Said I Said, I Never Said." Lincoln could have written a book with the same title.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Love this one. It's amazing how many "facts" in history were not facts at all but figments of someones imagination. Words passed around are sometimes changed. Just try that game where words are whispered into one person's ear and passed around a whole room of people. They are usually very distorted by the time they get to the last person. I think that's what happened with a lot of history. We have a book on our Nook which tells the "true" history of some of those sayings or historic happenings. Very interesting book. But, it is fact or fiction??? Hmmmmm////FROM JACK: As with the Bible, we choose to be believe what we want to believe.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER: Some people spoil some people's fun some of the time and some people spoil some people's fun all of the time. Abe C////FROM JACK: You're the one who's always misquoting Abe. I like this real quote of his: "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

FROM BLAZING OAKS: MARK TWAIN IS QUOTED AS SAYING, "TRUTH IS THE MOST VALUABLE THING WE HAVE. LET US ECONOMIZE IT!" THIS IS ANOTHER SITUATIONAL ETHICS CONDUNDRUM...OF COURSE DOING "EVIL" CONJURES UP MORE GRAVE BEHAVIOUR THAN MOST OF US THINK WE ARE CAPABLE OF...BUT OCCASIONALLY BENDING THE TRUTH, FOR A GOOD OUTCOME...AH WELL!! PENN APPEARS TO SEE THINGS IN BLACK AND WHITE. PERIOD. GO, WILLIAM, GO, WILLIAM. RAH! OR OLE!////FROM JACK: Twain is quoted (and misquoted) about as often as Lincoln. There's a whole list of things he didn't say. Do remember the children's song: "Be careful little lips, what you speak?"