January 3

day of the year

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson ~
2005
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee… ~ John Donne
2006
Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever. For what is the time of a man, except it be interwoven with that memory of ancient things of a superior age? ~ Cicero (born 3 January 106 BC)
2007
Each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien in The Silmarillion (Tolkien born 3 January 1892)
2008
The rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail of my task, though Gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. ~ "Gandalf" in The Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
2009
This is an ancient hallow, and ere the kings failed or the Tree withered in the court, a fruit must have been set here. For it is said that, though the fruit of the Tree comes seldom to ripeness, yet the life within may then lie sleeping through many long years, and none can foretell the time in which it will awake. ~ Gandalf in The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
2010
Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien in The Silmarillion
2011
He who looks on a true friend looks, as it were, upon a kind of image of himself: wherefore friends, though absent, are still present; though in poverty, they are rich; though weak, yet in the enjoyment of health; and, what is still more difficult to assert, though dead, they are alive. ~ Cicero
2012
The world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien in The Return of the King
2013
We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.
~ Cicero ~
2014
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~
in
~ The Return of the King ~
2015
My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) … The most improper job of any man … is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.
~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~
2016
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~
in
~ The Fellowship of the Ring ~
2017
True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions.
~ Cicero ~
2018
The news today about "Atomic bombs" is so horrifying one is stunned. The utter folly of these lunatic physicists to consent to do such work for war-purposes: calmly plotting the destruction of the world! Such explosives in men's hands, while their moral and intellectual status is declining, is about as useful as giving out firearms to all inmates of a gaol and then saying that you hope "this will ensure peace". ... Well we're in God's hands. But He does not look kindly on Babel-builders.
~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~
2019
Appetitus rationi pareat.
Let your desires be ruled by reason.
~ Cicero ~
2020
How long will men dare to call anything expedient that is not right? Can odium and infamy be of service to any empire, which ought to be supported by glory and by the good-will of its allies?
~ Cicero ~
2021
Salvation changes not, nor yet destroys,
garden nor gardener, children nor their toys.
Evil will not see, for evil lies
not in God's picture but in crooked eyes,
not in the source but in malicious choice,
and not in sound but in the tuneless voice.
In Paradise they no more look awry;
and though they make anew, they make no lie.
Be sure they still will make, not being dead,
and poets shall have flames upon their head,
and harps whereon their faultless fingers fall:
there each shall choose for ever from the All.
~ J. R. R. Tolkien ~
2022
While there are two ways of contending, one by discussion, the other by force, the former belonging properly to man, the latter to beasts, recourse must be had to the latter if there be no opportunity for employing the former.
~ Cicero ~
2023
Let the welfare of the people be the ultimate law.
~ Cicero ~
2024
Diseases of the mind are more common and more pernicious than diseases of the body.
~ Cicero ~
2025
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DOB: Cicero · Douglas William Jerrold · J. R. R. Tolkien


Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. ~ Cicero (born January 3)

  • 3 Zarbon 17:05, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Triviaa 04:20, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 06:29, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:31, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

A room without books is like a body without a soul. ~ Cicero (born January 3)

  • 3 because without knowledge, we have emptiness. Zarbon 17:05, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 4 Triviaa 04:20, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 06:29, 2 January 2009 (UTC) I can agree that books are desirable, but not that all rooms require them.

With engineering, I view this year's failure as next year's opportunity to try it again. Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can make progress rapidly. ~ Gordon Moore

  • 3 Zarbon 05:54, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 perhaps better for the end of the year? Triviaa 04:20, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 06:29, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:31, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

A blessed companion is a book,—a book that fitly chosen is a life-long friend. ~ Douglas William Jerrold

  • 3 Zarbon 05:54, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Triviaa 04:20, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 06:29, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:31, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

I have never learned to draw a hand well enough, so why should I stop trying now? ~ Jack Levine

  • 3 Zarbon 05:54, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Triviaa 04:20, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 06:29, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:31, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Lúthien stood upon the bridge, and declared her power: and the spell was loosed that bound stone to stone, and the gates were thrown down, and the walls opened, and the pits laid bare. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien in The Silmarillion

  • 3 Kalki 06:29, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 14:45, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:31, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. ~ Cicero


The gods have as many names as there are languages among humans. ~ Cicero


That, Senators, is what a favour from gangs amounts to. They refrain from murdering someone; then they boast that they have spared him! ~ Cicero