Showing posts with label President John Kennedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President John Kennedy. Show all posts
Friday, August 31, 2012
Give Em Hell
You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.
Harry Truman
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Hello Val
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Harry Truman (1884 - 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States. He took office upon the death of President Franklin Roosevelt who had just begun his 4th term.
He ran for reelection against the very popular Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York, and won a surprising victory. There is a famous photo of him holding up a newspaper with a banner headline announcing Dewey's win.
During his presidency both Germany and Japan surrendered, NATO was formed, the United Nations was established, the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Europe was put into practice and the State of Israel was recognized. His history also included the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ushered in the nuclear age.
He was an outspoken fellow who didn't dance around issues. One of his most famous quotes, referring to the practice of avoiding responsibility by passing the buck was
"The buck stops here."
Here's another famous one referring to the dangers of politics.
" If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
About being President he said,
"All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway."
His supporters were always telling him to "Give 'em hell Harry." He said,
"I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell."
He didn't care much for politics at all.
"I remember when I first came to Washington. For the first six months you wonder how the hell you ever got here. For the next six months you wonder how the hell the rest of them ever got here."
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference."
"When even one American-who has done nothing wrong-is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth-then all Americans are in peril."
Harry Truman was a Democrat and he didn't care much for Republicans.
"The Republicans believe in the minimum wage — the more the minimum, the better."
"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a Republican. But I repeat myself."
I say, give 'em hell Harry.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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Monday, August 1, 2011
Art And Reality
We need men who can dream of things that never were.
President John Kennedy
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Whenever I experience an original work of art I want to be astonished. Whether it's a song, a dance, a picture or a story, I want the artist to take me someplace I've never been before, somewhere beyond knowledge, beyond my knowledge. I want to see even more perceptively than ever a challenge to the so-called authority of realism. I want existence redefined for me. I want to see a new world, or an old world in a new place. I want to see the stars rearranged. I want to see something that has never been become a reality.
Is such art possible? Or is it something beyond art? A new art perhaps. Will it be possible some day for an artist to eliminate the technically limited and create purely from imagination, to make the image become reality by the imagining of it? William James wrote "Human beings by changing the inner attitudes of their minds can change the outer aspects of their lives."
If so it could only be done by someone pure and innocent who can imagine only the beautiful and true. Such a one would be an ubermensch of an artist. I believe it is not outside of the realm of possibility.
As an artist I know, as every artist knows, there are moments when the creative process seems to be going on by itself, when the artist is merely an observer of it. Those are the moments when I feel that there is another character, another intelligence at work and it is between imagination and the art, having freed itself from the middle man, me, the artist, At those times it is interesting to ponder who or what is the real artist. the real creator.
Now ponder what that same mysterious process would be like in the realms of nation building, invention, exploration and discovery. That is a question that has puzzled some inspired philosophers over the years. Do we believe what we see or do we see what we believe? Is reality what we think it is or does it become what we think it is? And is it possible to change the reality we see, creating a new reality by how we imagine it. This all may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but so was going to the moon a few decades ago.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up
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SUMMER QUESTION
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
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President John Kennedy
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Whenever I experience an original work of art I want to be astonished. Whether it's a song, a dance, a picture or a story, I want the artist to take me someplace I've never been before, somewhere beyond knowledge, beyond my knowledge. I want to see even more perceptively than ever a challenge to the so-called authority of realism. I want existence redefined for me. I want to see a new world, or an old world in a new place. I want to see the stars rearranged. I want to see something that has never been become a reality.
Is such art possible? Or is it something beyond art? A new art perhaps. Will it be possible some day for an artist to eliminate the technically limited and create purely from imagination, to make the image become reality by the imagining of it? William James wrote "Human beings by changing the inner attitudes of their minds can change the outer aspects of their lives."
If so it could only be done by someone pure and innocent who can imagine only the beautiful and true. Such a one would be an ubermensch of an artist. I believe it is not outside of the realm of possibility.
As an artist I know, as every artist knows, there are moments when the creative process seems to be going on by itself, when the artist is merely an observer of it. Those are the moments when I feel that there is another character, another intelligence at work and it is between imagination and the art, having freed itself from the middle man, me, the artist, At those times it is interesting to ponder who or what is the real artist. the real creator.
Now ponder what that same mysterious process would be like in the realms of nation building, invention, exploration and discovery. That is a question that has puzzled some inspired philosophers over the years. Do we believe what we see or do we see what we believe? Is reality what we think it is or does it become what we think it is? And is it possible to change the reality we see, creating a new reality by how we imagine it. This all may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but so was going to the moon a few decades ago.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up
***********************************
SUMMER QUESTION
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
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