Thursday, February 28, 2019

Random Thoughts for March 2019


Random Thoughts for March 2019
By Robert A. Hall
Feel free to post or forward.  

"Après nous, le déluge"

The people who made “Honor” an object of ridicule now complain constantly that we are governed by self-interested, corrupt liars and frauds. As ye sow…

I’m an old-fashioned conservative Republican. I believe, unlike most of my party today, that character counts.

The price of civilization is the blood of warriors. Western civilization is becoming unwilling to pay the price, which will kill civilization. Then we will go back to the 20,000 years of tribal barbarism that preceded the development of the rule of law, free markets and democracy, which has lifted much of the world out of the grinding poverty, starvation and slavery that existed since the dawn of history. And that we will return to without Western Civilization.

Do you want to make yourself a great deal happier?  Develop a positive attitude. Be nice to people. Help other people whenever you can. Be cheerful all the time. Stop complaining to others. You will notice that all these things are within your control regardless of external factors. And that no one is perfect in them. Or anything.

We all live one phone call away from Code Red.

“The free market is the greatest anti-poverty program in all of human history. In a very real sense, it is the only anti-poverty program in all of human history.” --Jonah Goldberg, Suicide of the West.

Modern curse: “May you burn in the bowels of the bureaucracy.”

Some people seem to enjoy living in the sewers of society, despite good upbringings. But sometimes their children crawl out.

American politicians have now weaponized vileness, as Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Pol Pot, Castro and others did in their countries. Can oppression and violence be far behind?

She gives fruitcakes a bad name.

On hyphenated immigrants: “Any man who carries a hyphen around with him carries a dagger he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this republic whenever he gets the chance.” Progressive President Woodrow Wilson.

I see that female Democrat reps wore all white to the SOTU speech. Take that, Black Lives Matter! 

Waiting for a haircut, I was reading the advice column for the local paper. A woman complained that whenever her mother-in-law came over, she set to “cleaning like a maniac.”  I don’t see the problem. Just send her to our house twice a month.

“If you lack the courage to fail, you lack the courage to succeed.” --Rabbi Jonathon Sacks

Age is just a number. But in my case, it’s a pretty big number.

Things are not as they should be. They never have been. They are always as they are. Each of us can have an impact, but it’s small, like one man in China with a shovel working on digging a 1,000-mile canal. Maybe he thinks it’s not worth doing, but if there were no men with shovels, no canal.

Perhaps the reason you have increasing aches, pain and misery as you get old is to make you less afraid of death.

All men were created equal. But the progressives made some better than the rest of us on the basis of race, gender or religion. “Merit” is racist. Except for black football players.

If you are being admitted to the hospital, be sure to leave your dignity at home. And don’t expect to get much rest.

A little OCD is functional. It helps keep you organized, lets you complete small tasks and means you are likely to be on time.

Churchill said: “Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.”

Bernie Sanders had a wealthy friend and potential donor that he wanted to impress. First, he took him to the couple’s Washington home for drinks. Then they flew up to Vermont where they stopped at the Sanders’ home in Burlington, then drove to their $600,000 beachfront vacation home on Vermont’s Lake Champlain Islands for a long weekend. “So, what do you think?” He asked his friend. “Very impressive, Senator. But what will you do if the socialists get in power?”

Two proverbs on punctuality from my friend Alison: We count the faults of those who keep us waiting. Punctuality is the politeness of kings.

If it wasn’t for nonsense, the hard left and hard right would have no sense at all. Not that the center always has a lot.

The number of people who die of ass-holism is growing alarmingly.

Note to haters left and right: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” --Martin Luther King.

It’s hard to take you seriously in the real world if you are over 25 and your clothes, tattoos and piercings make you look like an unsupervised teenager who got into someone’s marijuana stash.

“Absolute power is like getting a wish from a genie: the first thing you wish for is more wishes.” --Jonah Goldberg, Suicide of the West.

Authenticity can be faked. On the left, “authenticity” is everything. Thus Obama, with one white parent, is “authentically” black, while Justice Clarence Thomas, Sen. Tim Scott, Dr. Thomas Sowell and Dr. Walter Williams, all with two black parents, are not. Rachel Dolezal, the woman who has two white parents, who headed an NAACP chapter, is thus “authentically black.” People with penises and XY chromosomes who claim to be female are “authentically” women. Women who support Trump are not. All this proves that the left is authentically challenged.

Glory comes to those who deserve glory, not to those who seek it. Though Hollywood and the media try to manufacture undeserved glory.

Yes, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions.

Most people get all their historical knowledge from Hollywood. So, it is terribly flawed, agenda-driven knowledge. It’s like learning to drive by watching the car chase scene in an action movie.

The heart of progessivism is wanting to feel good with someone else bearing the costs.

Occasionally a progressive will trip over a fact, but they soon recover and rush on, bound for utopia.

We grow old slowly, but once we are old, it seems to have happened overnight.

You can now be hounded out of a job, punished, and made a social pariah because it has come to light that something you did or said 30 or 40 years ago, ever as a teen, is offensive by today’s standards to one of the victim groups making up the Democrat coalition. There is no statute of limitations.

Building someone up doesn’t make you smaller. It makes you bigger.

I meet a lot of old men who have, or have had, a drug or alcohol problem. I’m an old man with a book problem. Show me a history book at Goodwill, and it goes on my five shelves of unread books. Never mind that I just winnowed out two boxes on unread books to take to the VA, and don’t have enough years left to read the books I have.

Note to demagogues left and right. Being for the right values is more important than “winning.” Being kind, decent and fair is more important than being “strong.”

There’s now a politician with a sign on her desk that says, “Trust your crazy ideas.” Guess which party. Wasn’t that what Hitler, Mao, Stalin and Uncle Ho did?

If you discover something negative about a left-wing politician, within weeks the medias will be referring to your discovery as “discredited.”

If you are checking your smart phone when walking, when in the elevator, when having a meal with others, you are an addict just like a heroin addict or cigarette addict.

Foresight and wisdom are not the same thing.

There’s no need for the government to ban books. In 30 years there will be nobody who wants to read them.

If you don’t know the three branches of government, what freedoms are protected in the Bill of Rights, when the Civil War took place and why, can’t name any of the founders, and are ignorant of other basic facts about our form of government and history, why the hell should  people be imploring you to get out and vote?

“The government can improve your net worth with a check, but it cannot improve your self worth.” --Jonah Goldberg, Suicide of the West.

People now identify and cheer for political parties the way they do for NFL and other sports teams. This tribalism isn’t healthy.

No Obama, no Hillary? No Trump.

The Tea Parties were the only protests that cleaned up after themselves. No wonder the left hated them and the media demonized them.

It’s kind of touching that you want to be right so badly that you actually believe what you are saying.

If it’s a robo call, it’s not worth listening to.

Neither the Dems nor Trump cares about the impact of policy on real people so long as they “win.”

The defense of marijuana is that it’s not as bad as smoking. The defense of being stabbed is that it’s not as bad as being shot.

“An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.” – Eric Hoffer

The difference between now and when I was young is that then folks ignored 20-something twits.

Clean? You can eat off the floor at our house. You’ll die in agony, but you can eat off the floor.

One can only look at the last 25 years and say, “Mistakes were made.”

When God gives you a mission, you don’t say no.

When I was a kid, they said anyone can grow up to be president. Turns out it’s true.

If they want to become citizens and vote, immigrants have to pass a basic citizenship test. Illegal immigrants don’t. Neither, alas, do people born here, most of whom can’t tell you the three branches of government, or name the rights protected in the Bill of Rights. Any of them. (I wonder if Rep. AOC could pass. Or others.)

Today’s Democrats are about as Democratic as a one-party “Democratic Socialist Republic.” And they hope to have that level of repression for “the people’s good.”

The “Green New Deal” is just the Old Red Deal.

If there’s one thing I’m sick of its “improvements” to the computer programs I use so I can no longer do things I did and want to do.

For many years, some conservatives have said the left and Democrats were socialist. They called it a hysterical lie. But now we learn the truth, when they think it’s safe to come out of hiding.

Remember folks, there are no lifeguards at the gene pool... Todd R.

Liberals want the NRA to stop killing kids. Because, after all, that’s Planned Parenthood’s job.

I read in the paper that the US currently has 7.3 million job opening, the most in the two decades since records have been kept. Not to worry, the Green New Deal will take care of that. And more.

Saw a good meme on Facebook: “Welcome to your 60s. If you have not already developed a mystery aliment, one will be assigned shortly.”

Now days if you wrote a novel about slavery, the slave owners would have to call their slaves “African Americans” of you’d be pilloried.

Hitler tried to exterminate Jews and Slaves in the east as “Useless Eaters.” After the Green New Deal, first they will come for the cows, but at some point, they will come for the “Useless Farters.” That’s you, my friend.

All you can do in this world is pray and bail. And be kind to those bailing next to you.

I pray every day, but sometimes I wonder if it’s not blasphemy, telling God his job and trying to keep him on task.

Kaepernick has joined Bowe Bergdahl, Chelsea Manning, Monica Witt and many others in the progressives’ pantheon of anti-American heroes. Can the rehabilitation of Benedict Arnold be far away?

The California Progressives lauded High Speed Rail as the wave of the future, ignoring, as they always do, the math. Now that it has collapsed, will California voters throw out the politicians who pissed away billions of their tax dollars? Nah, they will reelect them hoping that next time reality won’t bite them in the ass.

From Facebook: “You can vote your way into socialism, but you have to shoot your way out.”

Remember when “journalist” and “propagandist” meant two different things? Good times.

As gaseous as I am from age and meds, it’s a wonder AOC hasn’t declared me public enemy #1.

With all the far-left candidates running for the Democrat nomination, it’s a shame Stalin’s not alive. He could clear the field.


Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2009 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall
The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

*****

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s twelve books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com. He currently works part-time as a writer-editor in the My Life, My Story program as the Madison VA hospital, interviewing vets and writing up their life histories.

Wicked Jews

FARRAKHAN DEFENDS OMAR'S ANTISEMITIC ANTICS, ATTACKS ‘WICKED JEWS’

Peterson

This is actually Jordan Peterson talking the need to consider possible downsides of well intended policies, but in it he refers in a very complimentary way to the wisdom of our Founders. I thought that was really good to hear and perhaps others will also find it worthwhile. Del

Navy

Navy returning to traditional blue-and-white flag after 17 years of flying First Navy Jack:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Lies, Controversies, and Allegations

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Lies, Controversies, and Allegations

French philosopher: “Jews are first victims of Islamic immigration”

French philosopher: “Jews are first victims of Islamic immigration”

Chicago To Permanently Delete Gang Database Because… Racism

Chicago To Permanently Delete Gang Database Because… Racism
So every time any group is overly represented in any situation, it MUST be discrimination? OK, then of course men are being discriminated against because there are far, far more of them in jail for violent crimes than women. So either innocent men are being convicted of violent crimes or women get away with committing violent crimes or both. Clearly it's time to do something about that. Wiping out a police database on gangs because there are comparatively few Whites in it may be the ultimate shoot-yourself-in-the-foot move. Who in the hell doesn't know that gangs attract primarily people from lower economic classes, and in the big cities those are made up much more of minorities than Whites? Who doesn't know that the great majority of victims of the gangs are people in the same subgroups? So this will make the work of law enforcement in combatting gangs that much more difficult, and it's plenty difficult already. What it does is condemn the poor people living in those neighborhoods to even more domination by gangs, and increase the incidence of gang related crimes. I wonder how many of the activists who pushed for this move live in those neighborhoods. --Del

Education

We now have grade school teachers brainwashing their students and organizing them for visits to legislators, in this case, Nancy Pelosi, to push the "Green New Deal" program. They've been told their world will end in 12 years if we don't do SOMETHING right now. Watch the video and you can see some of this, but at least Nancy isn't having any. For adults and teachers to pull this kind of a stunt, indoctrinating young kids and using them in a very adult agenda, is disgusting and reprehensible. It becomes harder all the time to avoid real concern about the future of the nation when some in the educational system will stoop to this kind of malpractice. There should be real consequences for any such teachers, but apparently in SF there aren't any. --Del

California’s Rendezvous with Reality.

California’s Rendezvous with Reality. By VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
Excerpt: Californians also see their progressive, one-party state as a neo-socialist model for a nation moving hard to the left. But how long will they retain such confidence? California’s 40 million residents depend on less than 1 percent of the state’s taxpayers to pay nearly half of the state income tax, which for California’s highest tier of earners tops out at the nation’s highest rate of 13.3 percent. In other words, California cannot afford to lose even a few thousand of its wealthiest individual taxpayers. But a new federal tax law now caps deductions for state and local taxes at $10,000 — a radical change that promises to cost many high-earning taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. If even a few thousand of the state’s 1 percent flee to nearby no-tax states such as Nevada or Texas, California could face a devastating shortfall in annual income. During the 2011-16 California drought, politicians and experts claimed that global warming had permanently altered the climate, and that snow and rain would become increasingly rare in California. As a result, long-planned low-elevation reservoirs, designed to store water during exceptionally wet years, were considered all but useless and thus were never built. Then, in 2016 and 2017, California received record snow and rainfall — and the windfall of millions of acre-feet of runoff was mostly let out to sea. Nothing since has been learned.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

WATCH: Illegal Alien Shoots At Cop During Traffic Stop – That Was A MUY STUPIDO Idea

WATCH: Illegal Alien Shoots At Cop During Traffic Stop – That Was A MUY STUPIDO Idea
The Illegal had been deported several times. Had fire arms in his possession which he could not legally own. Through Grace of God the police officer was not killed, fired at from a mere 4' or so. This miscreant benefited from California's being a "sanctuary state." If you watch the video, check the officer firing at the end. I counted.... 15 shots, which tells me that was a 9mm with a 15 round magazine. When in doubt, empty the mag! I wonder how many rounds hit the ille gal idiot. Why in hell would he want to try to kill a law officer, that's just a crazy decision to make, when he knows he'll just get thrown out of the country, as he has been several times already? But he gets the last laugh in a way, the CA taxpayers will pay for his burial. --Del

Controversial NJ 'rain tax' bill awaits governor's signature:

Controversial NJ 'rain tax' bill awaits governor's signature:

Marine Recruits Learn an Important Lesson: What Happened on 9/11

Marine Recruits Learn an Important Lesson: What Happened on 9/11

How Feminism Is Stifling Our Sons

How Feminism Is Stifling Our Sons
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a26134246/feminism-parenting/

ISIS Beheads 50 Yazidi Sex Slaves as Parting Gift

ISIS Beheads 50 Yazidi Sex Slaves as Parting Gift

Remains of hundreds of Jews unearthed in Nazi-era mass grave in Belarus

Remains of hundreds of Jews unearthed in Nazi-era mass grave in Belarus

Hundreds of Venezuela's military defect in four days as country spirals into further chaos

Hundreds of Venezuela's military defect in four days as country spirals into further chaos
What Dems want for US.....chaos...civil war...starvation...even the zoo animals have been eaten....and aid blocked. SOCIALISM.

A Facebook whistleblower reveals the level of bias and slanting there

A Facebook whistleblower reveals the level of bias and slanting there
This interview of a former Facebook employee is a real mindblower. I was already pretty sure about the existence of bias, but the level of what goes on in the organization was shocking to me. Everyone should see this. Facebook and all such huge controllers of information flow need to be examined and when necessary, exposed, perhaps regulated. --Del

YouTube Deplatforms Retired Navy SEAL Who Exposed Tribal Elder Nathan Phillips' Stolen Valor

YouTube Deplatforms Retired Navy SEAL Who Exposed Tribal Elder Nathan Phillips' Stolen Valor

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Bonnie Scotland

I was going through some of my old Scottish albums, at least 18 years old, and scanned a few pictures.John and Adele are gone now, with so many Scottish friends. But we are still close to Rod & Leslie.

Bonnie, Bob, Adele, John, Leslie & Rod at Rod & Leslie's home in Balquhidder

Same location, different trip.





John MacGregor-Blain playing the pipes on the steps of his Keep.


MacGregor-Blain's Keep, built by John and Rod


John & Bob on Craig an Tuic, overlooking Balquhidder


One of john's carvings. He made the head dress too.


More of John's Carvngs

Sen. Bob Hall, c. 1974




Green New deal comes early

Gas Shortages Give New York an Early Taste of the Green New Deal. The state is dependent on imports even though it sits atop the abundant Marcellus Shale. Robert Bryce
Cuomo and the Democrats are on a roll. Lotsa fun for them.... maybe not so much for mere consumers and taxpayers, but hey, the state needs to be Green, dammit! Del

LGBT Magazine Calls Trump 'Racist' For Telling Iran to Stop Killing and Jailing Gays

LGBT Magazine Calls Trump 'Racist' For Telling Iran to Stop Killing and Jailing Gays

reperations

OK, here it comes again, we now have several of the Democratic presidential candidates, and of course some others, talking up the idea of reparations for slavery.  An idea that is supported by a tiny fraction of nonBlack Americans, and a majority of Black Americans.  So let's examine for a moment this concept and how it might work.
  1. does every single person in the USA with any African genes at all qualify for the set amount?
  2. what would the set amount be?
  3. where does the money come from?
In regard to #1, let's say that everyone agrees that having some trace of African genes, say less than 5%, doesn't qualify a person.  OK, so now we have a wide selection of people ranging from 5 to 100% African genes, probably a majority over 75% but still many millions at lower fractions.  Should people get an amount of money that's proportional to their fraction of African genes, or does everyone get the same?
 
But oops, some people will have 100% because they came here recently from Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, etc.  They have no connection to the slavery or even the Jim Crow laws of the past.  Why should they collect anything?
 
Then we have the people who are descended from Free Men of Color, who were not slaves and in fact were part of the business of buying and selling slaves.  On top of that we have those descended from the former slaves who bought or were granted their freedom and then bought and owned slaves themselves.  How do we find such people and how should that affect their eligibility for reparations?  Trying to sort all this out becomes an impossible task.  Add in that given that more slaves went to South America than here, many of our immigrants from there will also have some African genes, but they weren't part of American slavery either.  This really gets confusing and complex.
 
OK, move on to #2.  Well, the set amount has to be significant but it can't be huge.  So it won't be $1000 but neither will it be $1,000,000.  Let's say for the sake of argument that it settles out at $50,000 (which of course many will consider way too low).  The math says 13% of 330 million Americans (very rough figures) comes out to about 43 million people, so at even just $50K each, that's $2,150,000,000,000.  Make it simple, that's Two Trillion dollars.  A very significant sum compared to the entire national budget.
 
Lastly, #3.  Where do the trillions come from?  Well, if it comes from the government, they only way it gets generated is by taxes, which means a major surcharge on federal tax for everyone.  But wait, if it's for everyone, then Blacks themselves will get some of the hit, so will recent immigrants, Native Americans, etc, and people will say that's unfair.  But if it's only collected from White people, that'll sure do wonders for race relations, won't it?
 
The bottom line is that there is simply no way to do this that will work in the first place.  And in the second place, even if somehow every Black American remotely connected with slavery in the past got $50K, would it instantly solve all problems, would all the bitterness evaporate, would Affirmative Action stop, would everyone be happy and we'd achieve a colorblind society at last?  Not a chance.
 
It's a very bad and very dumb idea, one of those things that sounds good but in reality is not remotely workable and any attempt at it just makes things worse.  It's utterly irresponsible for politicians to push this idea, all it does is contribute to divisiveness and we are drowning in that already.
 
Del

Dubai flight forced to make emergency landing after attempted hijacking

Dubai flight forced to make emergency landing after attempted hijacking

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Elizabeth Warren says reparations for Native Americans should be 'part of the conversation'

Elizabeth Warren says reparations for Native Americans should be 'part of the conversation'

Court records reveal a Mueller report right in plain view

Court records reveal a Mueller report right in plain view
Excerpt: "Russia, if you're listening," said Trump, looking directly into a television camera, "I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing" — messages Clinton was reported to have deleted from her private email server. Actually, Russia was doing more than listening: It had been trying to help Republican Trump for months. That very day, hackers working with Russia's military intelligence tried to break into email accounts associated with Clinton's personal office. (This is a very interesting and exhaustive summary of what appears to have happened from the Summer of 2014 to the Spring of 2016. It’s debatable how accurate or complete it is. At no point does it indicate any criminal act by the Trump Campaign or members of the Trump family, though some of the described conduct might be seen as unpalatable and/or unwise. If it’s all true, Trump is unlikely to be impeached, but likely will not be re-elected. It doesn't make the Democrats look very good, either. Ron P.)

LA news anchor died from meth overdose during sexual encounter at hotel, autopsy reveals

LA news anchor died from meth overdose during sexual encounter at hotel, autopsy reveals
The last sentence will get you. --Barb

OK, every time I let myself get lulled into the feeling that I've seen all the craziness possible, along comes the next story that leaves me gasping and wondering if in fact the End Times are on their way.  The link takes you to the whole story about this guy dying of drug overdose in a motel while in some kind of gay orgy, but I've extracted two sets of details, one about the drugs he took.  As you probably know, amyl nitrate is a super stimulant meant to help people in certain medical emergencies, it's like when you inject nitro into your car's gas line and the engine goes nuts.  That's what it does to the body, and is meant in these cases to give you an orgasm where the top of your head blows off and punches a hole in the ceiling.  Having a bunch of meth up your butt is another incredible refinement into pushing your body past all human limits.  Here the double effect made his last orgasm.... his last.
 
And he was married with a kid???  And now his wife and kid get to know that he was a total nutcase gay sex maniac who managed to kill himself?  I am sorry to say I don't give a damn about him dying, but I feel very badly for the woman and her daughter.
 
I am thinking more and more of heading to distant mountains, supplying a cabin in someplace near impossible to reach, with no internet, no cell service, just lots of books and DVDs.  Or maybe joining the vet expats in Thailand, they keep telling me it's great there and you don't have to get phone service or internet.  Hmmm...
 

Del

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Not verified


education

Radically Transforming the Nation: Our Politicized Schools of Education
Wow... the information, the names and facts that really pull back the curtain on what has happened and continues to happen in education in this country. I was upset and worried before, but now it's much worse. -Del The UMass School of Education was corrupted by PC when I minored in ed 1970-72. Some school systems would not accept student teachers from UMass back then. --Bob

Essay


This is a hell of an essay by Sarah Hoyt published at PJ Media. (Hoyt is a science fiction author with Baen. I've only read one of her books and can't recall its name. She's "okay," but not a Kratman.) She really tears into communism/socialism. If you have a few minutes, it's worth reading.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/the-one-wrong-premise-at-the-center-of-american-politics-today/?utm_source=PJMCoffeeBreak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=February2019

Washington

The timeless wisdom of Washington

Here's an interesting thought... some today are ready to condemn people in the past for behavior that today is judged to be badly flawed and/or immoral.  They will reject the writings of ancient Greeks, Romans, medieval Englishmen, etc, classifying them as just Dead White Men who cannot teach us anything today, other than how to be bad.  In effect, they deny that someone of a different time and culture can have any valid thoughts about the human condition, could possibly pass on some wisdom to us today.
 
Yet when we read the thoughts of distinguished people of the past, the validity of their experiences and the wisdom of their thoughts become so very evident.  Below are a lot of quotes from George Washington, some you may find of more value than others, but for me there is no question as to the overall excellence of his thinking and advice.  These are still things that I wish kids in high school got to read and consider.  (I put a few in bold that I especially like.)
 
Del
============================================================
“All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her.”
“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.”
“Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
“It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes…”
“A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends; and that the most liberal professions of goodwill are very far from being the surest marks of it.”
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”
“If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.”
“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”
“The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.”
“The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference—they deserve a place of honor with all that is good.”
“I have always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.”
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.”
“Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.”
“Nothing is more harmful to the service, than the neglect of discipline for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army superiority over another.”
“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.”
“However pacific the general policy of a Nation may be, it ought never to be without an adequate stock of Military knowledge for emergencies.
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
The very idea of the power and right of the People to establish Government presupposes the duty of every Individual to obey the established Government.”
“The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations, is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connections as possible.”
“The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.’
“The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.”
“It is a wonder to me, there should be found a single monarch, who does not realize that his own glory and felicity must depend on the prosperity and happiness of his People”
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable support. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars.”
“Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
“Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”
“I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of God who is alone able to protect them.”
“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States”
“The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.”
“Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
“Government being among other purposes, instituted to protect the persons and consciences of men from oppression, it certainly is the duty of rulers, not only to abstain from it themselves, but according to their stations, to prevent it in others.”
It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free government owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.”
“If we cannot learn wisdom from experience, it is hard to say where it is to be found.”
We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before, and it changed for the better; so I trust it will again. If difficulties arise, we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to the exigencies of the times.”
“The hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”
“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.”
“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”
“I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”