December 10

      Quotes of the day from previous years:

      2004
      Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
      Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
      Now, therefore, The General Assembly, Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations...
      ~ From the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ~
      Adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, 10 December 1948
      2005
      Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —
      Success in Circuit lies
      Too bright for our infirm Delight
      The Truth's superb surprise
      As Lightning to the Children eased
      With explanation kind
      The Truth must dazzle gradually
      Or every man be blind —
      ~ Emily Dickinson (born 10 December 1830)
      2006
      The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. ~ Elie Wiesel, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on this date in 1986.
      2007
      If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. ~ Desmond Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on this day in 1984.
      2008
      "Hope" is the thing with feathers —
      That perches in the soul —
      And sings the tune without the words —
      And never stops — at all —
      And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard —
      And sore must be the storm —
      That could abash the little Bird
      That kept so many warm —
      ~ Emily Dickinson ~
      2009
      We despise and abhor the bully, the brawler, the oppressor, whether in private or public life, but we despise no less the coward and the voluptuary. No man is worth calling a man who will not fight rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong. ~ Theodore Roosevelt, from his Nobel prize speech, the prize was awarded to him this day on 1906
      2010
      The history of the human race has generated several papers articulating basic moral imperatives, or fundamental principles, of human coexistence that… substantially influenced the fate of humanity on this planet. Among these historic documents, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … holds a very special, indeed, unique position. It is the first code of ethical conduct that was not a product of one culture, or one sphere of civilization only, but a universal creation, shaped and subscribed to by representatives of all humankind. Since its very inception, the Declaration has thus represented a planetary, or global commitment, a global intention, a global guideline. For this reason alone, this exceptional document — conceived as a result of a profound human self-reflection in the wake of the horrors of World War II, and retaining its relevance ever since — deserves to be remembered today. ~ Václav Havel (quote from a speech on the 50th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, 10 December 1948)
      2011
      THE BLUNDER is to estimate,—
      “Eternity is Then,”
      We say, as of a station.
      Meanwhile he is so near,
      He joins me in my ramble,
      Divides abode with me,
      No friend have I that so persists
      As this Eternity.
      - Emily Dickinson
      2012
      Dreams — are well — but Waking's better,
      If One wake at morn —
      If One wake at Midnight — better —
      Dreaming — of the Dawn —
      ~ Emily Dickinson ~
      2013 
      Rank or add further suggestions…

      Ranking system:

      4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.
      3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.
      2 : Good - some desire to see it used.
      1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.
      0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

      Suggestions

      A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons. ~ Desmond Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on this day in 1984.

      • 3 ~ UDScott 23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
      • 2 Kalki 18:10, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
      • 2 InvisibleSun 23:33, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
      • 1 Zarbon 16:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

      It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. ~ Emily Dickinson (date of birth)

      • 3 ~ UDScott 23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
      This is a statement that is the motto of the "The Christophers", which they state is derived from a Chinese proverb (which has sometimes been attributed to Confucius); it has also sometimes been rendered as "It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness" or "Don't curse the darkness — light a candle." It was added to the Dickinson page by an anonymous editor some time ago, but it does not seem to be commonly attributed to her, so I am removing it from there. ~ Kalki 21:02, 9 December 2005 (UTC) I might consider ranking it here, if no other quote seems quite so appropriate some year.
      • 4 if it is correctly attributed because it is one of my favorite sayings. Zarbon 16:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

      Hey, what's up with the Weasel? She's locked herself in the bathroom singing, 'On the first day of Christmas, I murdered Santa Claus.' ~ Eric Matthews from A Boy Meets World (episode with quote aired first today in 1993)

      • —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cnriaczoy42 (talk • contribs) 2005-12-02 (UTC)
      • 1 Kalki 18:10, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
      • 0 Zarbon 16:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

      A Grave — is a restricted Breadth —
      Yet ampler than the Sun —
      And all the Seas He populates
      And lands he looks upon

      To Him who on its small Repose
      Bestows a single Friend —
      Circumference without Relief —
      Or Estimate — or End
      ~ Emily Dickinson

      • 3 InvisibleSun 23:33, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
      • 2 Kalki 18:53, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
      • 1 Zarbon 16:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

      More than the Grave is closed to me —
      The Grave and that Eternity
      To which the Grave adheres —
      I cling to nowhere till I fall —
      The Crash of nothing, yet of all —
      How similar appears —
      ~ Emily Dickinson

      • 3 InvisibleSun 23:33, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
      • 2 Kalki 18:53, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
      • 1 Zarbon 16:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

      If Aims impel these Astral Ones
      The ones allowed to know
      Know that which makes them as forgot
      As Dawn forgets them — now
      ~ Emily Dickinson

      • 3 InvisibleSun 23:33, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
      • 3 Kalki 18:53, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
      • 1 Zarbon 16:07, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

      You can't get too attached to stuff. And you have to remember that people must never become possessions. People are spheres intersecting. You have to make sure that one sphere doesn't ever take over the other. Individuality is absolutely the most important thing. ~ Brian Molko

      • 2 Zarbon 05:27, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
      • 2 Kalki 00:26, 8 December 2008 (UTC) (but a page should be created for the author before this is ever used)

      GLEE! the great storm is over!
      Four have recovered the land;
      Forty gone down together
      Into the boiling sand.

      Ring, for the scant salvation!
      Toll, for the bonnie souls,—
      Neighbor and friend and bridegroom,
      Spinning upon the shoals!

      How they will tell the shipwreck
      When winter shakes the door,
      Till the children ask, “But the forty?
      Did they come back no more?”

      Then a silence suffuses the story,
      And a softness the teller’s eye;
      And the children no
      further question,
      And only the waves reply.
      - Emily Dickinson

      IF I can stop one heart from breaking,
      I shall not live in vain;
      If I can ease one life the aching,
      Or cool one pain,
      Or help one fainting robin
      Unto his nest again,
      I shall not live in vain.
      - Emily Dickinson

      MUCH madness is divinest sense
      To a discerning eye;
      Much sense the starkest madness.
      ’T is the majority
      In this, as all, prevails.
      Assent, and you are sane;
      Demur,—you ’re straightway dangerous,
      And handled with a chain.
      - Emily Dickinson

      I NEVER hear the word “escape”
      Without a quicker blood,
      A sudden expectation,
      A flying attitude.

      I never hear of prisons broad
      By soldiers battered down,
      But I tug childish at my bars,—
      Only to fail again!
      - Emily Dickinson

      SURGEONS must be very careful
      When they take the knife!
      Underneath their fine incisions
      Stirs the culprit,—Life!
      - Emily Dickinson

      IT tossed and tossed,—
      A little brig I knew,—
      O’ertook by blast,
      It spun and spun,
      And groped delirious, for morn.

      It slipped and slipped,
      As one that drunken stepped;
      Its white foot tripped,
      Then dropped from sight.

      Ah, brig, good-night
      To crew and you;
      The ocean’s heart too smooth, too blue,
      To break for you.
      - Emily Dickinson

      I TOOK my power in my hand
      And went against the world;
      ’T was not so much as David had,
      But I was twice as bold.

      I aimed my pebble, but myself
      Was all the one that fell.
      Was it Goliath was too large,
      Or only I too small?
      - Emily Dickinson

      MINE enemy is growing old,—
      I have at last revenge.
      The palate of the hate departs;
      If any would avenge,—

      Let him be quick, the viand flits,
      It is a faded meat.
      Anger as soon as fed is dead;
      ’T is starving makes it fat.
      - Emily Dickinson

      IT ’S such a little thing to weep,
      So short a thing to sigh;
      And yet by trades the size of these
      We men and women die!
      - Emily Dickinson

      DROWNING is not so pitiful
      As the attempt to rise.
      Three times, ’t is said, a sinking man
      Comes up to face the skies,
      And then declines forever
      To that abhorred abode

      Where hope and he part company,—
      For he is grasped of God.
      The Maker’s cordial visage,
      However good to see,
      Is shunned, we must admit it,
      Like an adversity.
      - Emily Dickinson

      WHO has not found the heaven below
      Will fail of it above.
      God’s residence is next to mine,
      His furniture is love.

      UPON the gallows hung a wretch,
      Too sullied for the hell
      To which the law entitled him.
      As nature’s curtain fell
      The one who bore him tottered in,
      For this was woman’s son.
      “’T was all I had,” she stricken gasped;
      Oh, what a livid boon!
      - Emily Dickinson

      FATE slew him, but he did not drop;
      She felled—he did not fall—
      Impaled him on her fiercest stakes—
      He neutralized them all.

      She stung him, sapped his firm advance,
      But, when her worst was done,
      And he, unmoved, regarded her,
      Acknowledged him a man.
      - Emily Dickinson

      IT might be easier
      To fail with land in sight,
      Than gain my blue peninsula
      To perish of delight.
      - Emily Dickinson

      HOW happy is the little stone
      That rambles in the road alone,
      And does n’t care about careers,
      And exigencies never fears;
      Whose coat of elemental brown
      A passing universe put on;
      And independent as the sun,
      Associates or glows alone,
      Fulfilling absolute decree
      In casual simplicity.
      - Emily Dickinson

      NEW feet within my garden go,
      New fingers stir the sod;
      A troubadour upon the elm
      Betrays the solitude.

      New children play upon the green,
      New weary sleep below;
      And still the pensive spring returns,
      And still the punctual snow!
      - Emily Dickinson

      THE PEDIGREE of honey
      Does not concern the bee;
      A clover, any time, to him
      Is aristocracy.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THE GRASS so little has to do,—
      A sphere of simple green,
      With only butterflies to brood,
      And bees to entertain,

      And stir all day to pretty tunes
      The breezes fetch along,
      And hold the sunshine in its lap
      And bow to everything;

      And thread the dews all night, like pearls,
      And make itself so fine,-
      A duchess were too common
      For such a noticing.

      And even when it dies, to pass
      In odors so divine,
      As lowly spices gone to sleep,
      Or amulets of pine.

      And then to dwell in sovereign barns,
      And dream the days away,—
      The grass so little has to do,
      I wish I were a hay!
      - Emily Dickinson

      PRESENTIMENT is that long shadow on the lawn
      Indicative that suns go down;
      The notice to the startled grass
      That darkness is about to pass.
      - Emily Dickinson

      IT makes no difference abroad,
      The seasons fit the same,
      The mornings blossom into noons,
      And split their pods of flame.

      Wild-flowers kindle in the woods,
      The brooks brag all the day;
      No blackbird bates his jargoning
      For passing Calvary.

      Auto-da-fé and judgment
      Are nothing to the bee;
      His separation from his rose
      To him seems misery.
      - Emily Dickinson

      LOVE is anterior to life,
      Posterior to death,
      Initial of creation, and
      The exponent of breath.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THERE is a word
      Which bears a sword
      Can pierce an armed man.
      It hurls its barbed syllables,—
      At once is mute again.
      But where it fell
      The saved will tell
      On patriotic day,
      Some epauletted brother
      Gave his breath away.

      Wherever runs the breathless sun,
      Wherever roams the day,
      There is its noiseless onset,
      There is its victory!
      Behold the keenest marksman!
      The most accomplished shot!
      Time’s sublimest target
      Is a soul “forgot”!
      - Emily Dickinson

      HEART, we will forget him!
      You and I, to-night!
      You may forget the warmth he gave,
      I will forget the light.

      When you have done, pray tell me,
      That I my thoughts may dim;
      Haste! lest while you’re lagging,
      I may remember him!
      - Emily Dickinson

      I NEVER saw a moor,
      I never saw the sea;
      Yet know I how the heather looks,
      And what a wave must be.
      I never spoke with God,
      Nor visited in heaven;
      Yet certain am I of the spot
      As if the chart were given.
      - Emily Dickinson

      I REASON, earth is short,
      And anguish absolute.
      And many hurt;
      But what of that?

      I reason, we could die:
      The best vitality
      Cannot excel decay;
      But what of that?

      I reason that in heaven
      Somehow, it will be even,
      Some new equation given;
      But what of that?
      - Emily Dickinson

      NO rack can torture me,
      My soul ’s at liberty.
      Behind this mortal bone
      There knits a bolder one

      You cannot prick with saw,
      Nor rend with scymitar.
      Two bodies therefore be;
      Bind one, and one will flee.

      The eagle of his nest
      No easier divest
      And gain the sky,
      Than mayest thou,

      Except thyself may be
      Thine enemy;
      Captivity is consciousness,
      So’s liberty.
      - Emily Dickinson

      A DEATH-BLOW is a life-blow to some
      Who, till they died, did not alive become;
      Who, had they lived, had died, but when
      They died, vitality begun.
      - Emily Dickinson

      OUR journey had advanced;
      Our feet were almost come
      To that odd fork in Being’s road,
      Eternity by term.

      Our pace took sudden awe,
      Our feet reluctant led.
      Before were cities, but between,
      The forest of the dead.

      Retreat was out of hope,—
      Behind, a sealed route,
      Eternity’s white flag before,
      And God at every gate.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THAT such have died enables us
      The tranquiller to die;
      That such have lived, certificate
      For immortality.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THE DISTANCE that the dead have gone
      Does not at first appear;
      Their coming back seems possible
      For many an ardent year.

      And then, that we have followed them
      We more than half suspect,
      So intimate have we become
      With their dear retrospect.
      - Emily Dickinson

      BLESS God, he went as soldiers,
      His musket on his breast;
      Grant, God, he charge the bravest
      Of all the martial blest.

      Please God, might I behold him
      In epauletted white,
      I should not fear the foe then,
      I should not fear the fight.
      - Emily Dickinson

      IMMORTAL is an ample word
      When what we need is by,
      But when it leaves us for a time,
      ’T is a necessity.

      Of heaven above the firmest proof
      We fundamental know,
      Except for its marauding hand,
      It had been heaven below.
      - Emily Dickinson

      • 3 Zarbon 20:21, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

      SO proud she was to die
      It made us all ashamed
      That what we cherished, so unknown
      To her desire seemed.

      So satisfied to go
      Where none of us should be,
      Immediately, that anguish stooped
      Almost to jealousy.
      - Emily Dickinson

      FAME is a fickle food
      Upon a shifting plate,
      Whose table once a Guest, but not
      The second time, is set.
      Whose crumbs the crows inspect,
      And with ironic caw
      Flap past it to the Farmer’s corn;
      Men eat of it and die.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THERE is a solitude of space,
      A solitude of sea,
      A solitude of death, but these
      Society shall be,
      Compared with that profounder site,
      That polar privacy,
      A Soul admitted to Itself:
      Finite Infinity.
      - Emily Dickinson

      NATURE is what we see,
      The Hill, the Afternoon—
      Squirrel, Eclipse, the Bumble-bee,
      Nay—Nature is Heaven.

      Nature is what we hear,
      The Bobolink, the Sea—
      Thunder, the Cricket—
      Nay,—Nature is Harmony.

      Nature is what we know
      But have no art to say,
      So impotent our wisdom is
      To Her simplicity.
      - Emily Dickinson

      • 2 Zarbon 20:21, 23 August 2009 (UTC)
      • 2 Kalki (talk · contributions) 13:53, 7 December 2009 (UTC) but would trim it to the last stanza, which I might rank a 3 or 4 eventually.

      SOME Days retired from the rest
      In soft distinction lie,
      The Day that a companion came—
      Or was obliged to die.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THE SWEETS of Pillage can be known
      To no one but the Thief,
      Compassion for Integrity
      Is his divinest Grief.
      - Emily Dickinson

      THE FACE we choose to miss,
      Be it but for a day—
      As absent as a hundred years
      When it has rode away.
      - Emily Dickinson

      The best thing you can do for your fellow, next to rousing his conscience, is — not to give him things to think about, but to wake things up that are in him; or say, to make him think things for himself. ~ George MacDonald (dob)

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      Last modified on 10 January 2013, at 14:34