"Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."
Henry Kissinger (1923- )
I love quotations. They teach me a lot, give me wisdom and hope, and help me understand humanity better through other's eyes.
There are all types of quotes from all kinds of people. A quote doesn't have to be old or from Aristotle to be good; though, those generally are the best and most meaningful to me.
Newer quotes can sometimes be good, however I've found that they, by and large, are not.
As I was perusing my favorite online quotations page recently, reading and learning from my favorites like Churchill, Twain, Homer, Casey Stengel, Einstein, Confucius, Mencken, Shakespeare, Lincoln, Rand, Franklin, Euripides -- there are so many; I was shocked to discover our new president, a real 'newbie' in terms of governing much less generating legacy quotes that should be remembered through the ages, has 21 quotes listed for himself.
I smell a rat, I thought.
John F. Kennedy, who both Liberals and Conservatives can readily agree was an incalculably better President than Obama, only has 31 quotations!
Socrates 21. Gandhi 28. FDR 22, Teddy Roosevelt 20. Virgil 21. Carl Jung 14. And 21 for this virtual amateur among those quoted? Yikes!
Now here's a guy, our president, who seemingly cannot make it through a speech without a teleprompter or blaming Bush for his ineptitude, and he gets 21 quotes? Where is his well thought out "been to 57 states" quote?
Here are a few of the supposedly 'vintage' Obama quotes, none of which 'stack up' for me as being warranted for inclusion in any list of important quotes:
"Abraham Lincoln and Millard Fillmore had the same title. They were both presidents of the United States, but their tenure in office and their legacy could not be more different."
Barack Hussein Obama, Arizona State Commencement Speech, 2009
"Acts of sacrifice and decency without regard to what's in it for you create ripple effects. Ones that lift up families and communities, that spread opportunity and boost our economy."
Barack Hussein Obama, Arizona State Commencement Speech, 2009
"Find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Think of their needs."
Barack Hussein Obama, Arizona State Commencement Speech, 2009
"What we should be asking is not whether we need a big government or small government, but how we can create a smarter and better government."
Barack Hussein Obama, University of Michigan Commencement, 2010
"When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening, foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us."
Barack Hussein Obama, University of Michigan Commencement, 2010
"Before we get too depressed about the state of our politics, let's remember our history. The great debates of the past, all stirred great passions. They all made somebody angry, and at least once led to a terrible war. What is amazing, is that despite all the conflict, our experiment in democracy has worked better than any form of government on earth."
Barack Hussein Obama, University of Michigan Commencement, 2010
"If we choose only to expose ourselves to opinions and viewpoints that are in line to our own, we become more polarized, more set in our own ways. It will only reinforce and deepen the political divides in our country. But if we choose to actively seek out information that challenges our assumptions and beliefs, perhaps we can begin to understand where the people who disagree with us are coming from."
Barack Hussein Obama, University of Michigan Commencement, 2010
"Politics has never been for the thin-skinned or the faint of heart, and if you enter the arena , you should expect to get roughed up. Moreover, Democracy in a nation of more than 300 million people is inherently difficult."
Barack Hussein Obama, University of Michigan Commencement, 2010
"Bull." (That's my quote in response to the quotes of Obama's writers.)
Take close note of the fact that almost all of his quotes are from a mere two commencement speeches he made, undoubtedly written by his speechwriters and prodded along by a teleprompter.
I honestly didn't read one, single quote above which was worthy of putting Obama's name next to the other great quote-masters. Did you? Perhaps his spin team was reaching a bit for his inclusion in these lists; that would a gigantic surprise.
"Now I know what a statesman is; he's a dead politician. We need more statesmen."
Bob Edwards (1947- )