Category Archives: Quote of the Day

Quote of the day–Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire

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I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.

Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire
To M. le Riche, February 6, 1770
It was not Voltaire, but his biographer, S. G. Talentyre in The Friends of Voltaire, who originated the famous remark, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
From The Great Thoughts (link is to the 2nd Edition, mine is the 1st Edition–1985) compiled by George Seldes.
[I sometimes think of deleting a comment on my blog from someone too stupid to know how to determine truth from falsity. They may be so pig-headed as to continuing insisting the righteousness of their cause despite uncountable instances of them presented with overwhelming evidence their cause is at best ill-advised and I feel some frustration at their inability or refusal to follow even the simplest of logic trains. But then I think of what Voltaire said.

I wouldn’t directly give my life to enable him or her to continue pushing their agenda. Indirectly I suppose it is possible via my pursuit of liberty but that would be a side effect rather than in direct support of such an individual. I think I might consider looking the other way rather than risk my own life in defensive of theirs should I know harm to them was imminent.

I sometimes wonder if in a fight to the death if adhering to principles is a luxury only affordable when you are winning. Does the other side abandon their principles when they are loosing? Or do they adhere to them until the end? If so then perhaps those principles are best known by their examples of Reasoned Discoursetm (see also here and here). Is their insistence that you should be silenced or put to death a sign they have abandoned principles because of the hopelessness of their cause? Or is it insight into the true nature of their principles?

I don’t know for certain.

At least for now I exercise loyalty to my principles by not deleting their comments.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Sean Flynn

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What we’re looking for is good enough and on time. By short-circuiting the big questions and providing ready answers, religion makes decision-making fast. In this sense, a good, rigid ideology works the same way. Judgements can be made fast. Your OODA loop is tighter. Your observations are colored, but you can decide and act faster than someone who is weighing all the facts carefully and checking himself for bias. It’s sort of like why CoreWars was short-lived. It turned out that the winning strategy was to have a tight loop that shat all over memory at random.

Obviously there are limits to my argument. Components of Islam and Taoism stunted the development of science and later on put those cultures at an evolutionary disadvantage vs the West. It remains to be seen if the West has become too rational for its own good in the long term.

Sean Flynn
January 15, 2010
Comment to Environmentalism as a religion.
[With that bit of insight the comment thread completely stopped. I think everyone else realized they were out of their league.

Nice job Sean.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Oscar Wilde

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People fashion their God after their own understanding. They make their God first and worship him afterwards.

Oscar Wide
From Hesketh Pearson, Oscar Wilde, His Life and Wit (1946) via The Great Thoughts (link is to the 2nd Edition, mine is the 1st Edition–1985) compiled by George Seldes.
[Although the list is essentially without limit my favorite examples are socialism, environmentalism, and gun control.–Joe]

Quote of the day–John Bolton

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The administration is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but there’s no doubt – as was the case back over a decade ago – that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.

There’s never been any doubt when these groups talk about saying they only want to prohibit illicit international trafficking in small arms and light weapons, it begs the whole question of what’s legal and what’s not legal. And many of the implications of these treaty negotiations are very much in their domestic application. So, whatever the appearance on the surface, there’s no doubt that domestic firearm control is right at the top of their agenda.

After the treaty is approved and it comes into force, you will find out that it has this implication or that implication and it requires the Congress to adopt some measure that restricts ownership of firearms. The administration knows it cannot obtain this kind of legislation purely in a domestic context … They will use an international agreement as an excuse to get domestically what they couldn’t otherwise.

John Bolton
Former Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations
Quoted by J.D. Longstreet January 15, 2009 in The UN To Take US Guns?
[I don’t know if this is a real threat or not. My initial inclination is that the current Senate would refuse to ratify it. But I just don’t know for certain.

Long term I do fear this sort of approach to gun control because it requires fewer people to agree to it. Just the President and 2/3s of the Senate. But how would that work if the treaty said “You must register and track all guns” but the House of Representatives refused to pass a law requiring that? How could a treaty be enforced against individual citizens without U.S. legal code defining the offenses and the punishments?

Would the U.N. send in troops to enforce it? If so I know some people who refer to this sort of situation as having unlimited license to hunt “blue helmeted elk”.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Asguard

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A sniper rifle, a M16 and an automatic hand gun are only designed to kill people, it cant cut your steak or make a nice stew. There is NO legitimate use for them PERIOD.

Asguard
November 10, 2008
Comment to 8 year old murders father and friend…
[Nice proof by vigorous assertion.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Dave Workman

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Voter frustration has a way of becoming voter fury when lawmakers stick one hand in their wallet and the other hand in their gun cabinet.

Dave Workman
January 13, 2009
Bill introduced to ban so-called ‘assault weapons’ in Washington State
[This bill defines certain pump action rifles and shotguns as “assault weapons” as well as ordinary semi-autos.

Vote the bums out!–Joe]

Quote of the day–mikecope

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The only thing a gun is good for is killing and maiming people and animals. It is especially bizarre that several people professing to be Christians are keen to get their hands on the means to kill and maim. Would Jesus have packed an assault rifle?

…

You should also consider that a lot of this weaponry stuff is not about rights or owning arms, but SELLING arms, and making money out of it. Always follow the money.

mikecope
March 3, 2009
[First off, apparently he forgot that Jesus said:

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Luke 19:27

Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

Luke 22:36

Second, it is spoken like a true communist. It’s the greedy capitalist that is responsible for everything they think of as evil in the world. It’s that unchallenged assumption–“Money is the root of all evil.”

I prefer Ayn Rand’s claim “Money is the root of all good.”–Joe]

Quote of the day–Marie

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I find that people who are so enamored with guns are people who feel powerless in some way and have to prove something to world about how big, important and special they are.

…

Guns are a hideous necessity for law enforcement, but should never be in the hands of anyone else.

Marie
Oct 29, 2009
[Just so you know what some people thing of you and your specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Dmitry Orlov

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So, what is there for them to do? Forget “growth,” forget “jobs,” forget “financial stability.” What should their realistic new objectives be? Well, here they are: food, shelter, transportation, and security. Their task is to find a way to provide all of these necessities on an emergency basis, in absence of a functioning economy, with commerce at a standstill, with little or no access to imports, and to make them available to a population that is largely penniless. If successful, society will remain largely intact, and will be able to begin a slow and painful process of cultural transition, and eventually develop a new economy, a gradually de-industrializing economy, at a much lower level of resource expenditure, characterized by a quite a lot of austerity and even poverty, but in conditions that are safe, decent, and dignified. If unsuccessful, society will be gradually destroyed in a series of convulsions that will leave a defunct nation composed of many wretched little fiefdoms. Given its largely depleted resource base, a dysfunctional, collapsing infrastructure, and its history of unresolved social conflicts, the territory of the Former United States will undergo a process of steady degeneration punctuated by natural and man-made cataclysms.

Dmitry Orlov
February 13, 2009
Social Collapse Best Practices
[I was reminded of this after reading Roberta post The Greater Depression. I snorted in laughter when I read the last line of her post but then it took me several minutes for me to give Barb the context so she could get the joke. She claims it was worth it.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Thomas Jefferson

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When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Thomas Jefferson
[This was going to be a response to some gun fearing wussy who had objections to my statement here. But no one took the bait and someone else brought up what Jefferson said in the comments before I did.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Haitao Jiang

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Just one more time. Then I’ll go home.

Haitao Jiang
January 8, 2010
This was said many, many times in the last three or four hours as he tried to get his code working. Hiep, Pawan, and I hovered over his shoulder and others lurked on-line to await the results. He finally agreed to go home at 23:33 PM.
[I’ve been working since 5:00 AM after going to bed last night at 23:30 and I really don’t feel like finding a better QOTD for you. I went to bed after Barb had gone to sleep and I was up and working before she woke up.

My stuff is done for now and the testers writing the automated test code have to be convinced the test code is broken and not my stuff. We start at it again tomorrow morning.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Peter Masundire

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How could he be in charge of Seattle’s gun-prevention programs?

Peter Masundire
January 5, 2009
A Democratic activist in South Seattle.
Gun guy packs heat in message
Referring to Seattle mayor’s gun adviser, Mark Pursley.
[It’s nice for them to admit that is what the position is intended for. And it’s also nice to know the guy in that position has at least some sympathy for our position.

H/T to Mike and Ry for the email pointer.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Ben Franklin

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Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

Ben Franklin
[I was inspired to choose this quote because of Kevin’s QOTD yesterday.

Assuming this is true then it would follow that those who wish to be masters might purposefully set about to encourage corruption and destroy virture.

Although I don’t care to take the time to do this I believe a good case could be made that it has already happened.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Sarah Brady

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More than ninety percent of Americans agree that a waiting period to purchase firearms is sane, sensible policy, and the success of the Brady Law over the last five years proves them right. Why are we fixing what isn’t broken? And why will we again be losing innocent people to an enraged spouse, a disturbed employee, or a would-be criminal needing a fast and easy firearm?

Sarah Brady
Press Release from Handgun Control Inc.
November 30, 1998
From http://www.handguncontrol.org/press/nov30-98.htm (as of February 18, 1999) it is still available at http://www.handguncontrol.org/media/press/view/147 which is an alias for http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/press/view/147.
[Two things.

First, Brady/HCI measures success in terms of number of people blocked from purchasing a gun. They ignore studies that are unable to show their pet laws are effective. They ignore the people who died who might have lived had they been able to purchase a gun to defend themselves from a serious and immediate threat. This is like being pleased your unmarried teenage daughter wasn’t able to purchase contraceptives at the local drug store and ignoring that she is pregnant.

Second, the domain handguncontrol.org is a valid alias for bradycampaign.org. This is true both technically and politically. “Brady Campaign” was an attempt to hide what they really are. Just as they attempted to hide the meaning of the Second Amendment prior to the Heller decision they continue their deceptive ways now and probably will continue to do so as long as they exist.

For the geeks, I have saved you the effort to do the WhoIs query:

Domain ID:D3642098-LROR
Domain Name:HANDGUNCONTROL.ORG
Created On:03-Jun-1997 04:00:00 UTC
Last Updated On:06-Feb-2009 15:09:45 UTC
Expiration Date:02-Jun-2011 04:00:00 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Register.com Inc. (R71-LROR)
Status:OK
Registrant ID:7529249ef51fd237
Registrant Name:Keith Hall
Registrant Organization:Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Registrant Street1:1225 Eye Street, NW Suite 1100
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Washington
Registrant State/Province:DC
Registrant Postal Code:20005
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.2022895784
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:webmaster@bradynetwork.org
Admin ID:84510988aa81f856
Admin Name:Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Admin Organization:Brady Campaign
Admin Street1:1225 Eye Street, NW Suite 1100
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Washington
Admin State/Province:DC
Admin Postal Code:20005
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.2022895784
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:webmaster@bradynetwork.org
Tech ID:C1-RCOM
Tech Name:Domain Registrar
Tech Organization:Register.Com
Tech Street1:575 8th Avenue
Tech Street2:11th Floor
Tech Street3:
Tech City:New York
Tech State/Province:NY
Tech Postal Code:10018
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.9027492701
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:+1.9027495429
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:domain-registrar@register.com

–Joe]

Quote of the day–George

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Joe Huffman is one of the best reasoned, most reasonable gunnie voices out there. This essay is required reading.

George @ http://www.newbieshooter.com/
January 1, 2010
Necessary reading
Referring to https://blog.joehuffman.org/2009/12/31/talking-past-each-other/
[It’s nice to see others agreeing with and feeding my inflated sense of self-worth.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Hillbilly

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When it comes to those who truly think they are elites, who truly condescend when it comes to gun owners, you are basically encountering the anti-gun Klan.

No matter the education, the polish, the social graces they might show, the anti-gun Klan is just as big a stinking dog-crap pile of bigoted, prejudiced rotteness as the other more famous Klan.

In other words, don’t go out of your way to convert the truly condescending ones.

They cannot be reached, because you are merely a silly peasant, and they are just smarter than you are.

Hillbilly
January 2, 2010
Comment to The Big Debate: Godwin?
[As I have been saying, for years, The Brady Campaign is the 21st century equivalent of the KKK.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Kevin Schmadeka

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This may come as a shock to some, but shootings, murders and crime were all happening during the times the federal and state constitutions were ratified, and their framers still chose to protect our right to possess combat arms. I think they knew exactly what they were doing.

Kevin Schmadeka
January 2, 2010
‘Arms’ are weapons; we have a right to them

Quote of the day–Marshall McLuhan

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I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t believed it.

Marshall McLuhan
[This applies to many things. Once you believe the earth is round it is pretty easy to prove it. Once you believe it is possible to defend yourself with a firearm you see how it can be done and is easily a part of your everyday life.

The risk is that once you believe something you may see things that are not there. For example, if you believe everyone is watching you then you can probably find sufficient evidence to maintain that belief. If you believe guns are only useful for murder then you can find evidence to maintain that belief. The same goes for man caused global warming (or cooling) and the benefits of socialism.

The solution to the dilemma is to understand how to distinguish truth from falsity detached from all belief and emotion. I’m saddened to report this appears to be much more difficult than it seems and far, far too rare.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Bruce Schneier

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Only one carry on? No electronics for the first hour of flight? I wish that, just once, some terrorist would try something that you can only foil by upgrading the passengers to first class and giving them free drinks.

Bruce Schneier
December 26, 2009
Separating Explosives from the Detonator
[I think the problem is that people don’t feel an increased level of security unless restrictions are increased. Sort of like a child’s blanket or a parents arms. When the child is wrapped up and held tightly they feel the most secure. The problem is that people don’t seem to realize government is not a parent. It is force, like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Dave Workman

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Why is it that when the gun prohibitionist lobby invites gun owners to sit down and negotiate, they never bring anything to the table other than expectations that gun owners will give up some of their rights?

Dave Workman
December 29, 2009
What is ‘common-sense’ firearm legislation?
[We should just work toward a middle ground.–Joe]