Santa Rosa, CA...Luther Burbank March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926 The botanist, horticulturist and pioneer in agricultural science developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career.
"It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while."
"I see humanity now as one vast plant, needing for its highest fulfillment only love, the natural blessings of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selection."
"Less than fifteen per cent of the people do any original thinking on any subject. The greatest torture in the world for most people is to think."
"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul."
"If you violate Nature's laws you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman."
"The secret of improved plant breeding, apart from scientific knowledge, is love."
Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia...Alexander Graham Bell March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922. He gave us the telephone and much more.
"In this experiment, made on the 9th of October, 1876, actual conversation, backwards and forwards, upon the same line, and by the same instruments reciprocally used, was successfully carried on for the first time upon a real line of miles in length."
"It is not, of course, complete yet - but some sentences were understood this afternoon... I feel that I have at last struck the solution of a great problem - and the day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid onto houses just like water or gas - and friends converse with each other without leaving home."
"What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it."
"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."
"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open."
"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."
La Jolla, CA...Theodor Seuss Geisel March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991. A Bit of wisdom from Dr. Seuss today on the legendary children's author and cartoonist's birthday.
Philadelphia, PA...A Bit of Wisdom for today from my favorite founding father. Considered the first American by many. He also through his writings and Poor Richard's Almanac created the uniquely American identity.
"The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself."
"Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom - and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech."
"There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money."
"It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them."
"Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt."
Maranello, Italy...Enzo Ferrari, 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988. Italian racing driver and entrepreneur, founder Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team & Ferrari automobile marque.
"I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars."
"I have never gone on a real trip, never taken a holiday. The best holiday for me is spent in my workshops when nearly everybody else is on vacation."
"Racing is a great mania to which one must sacrifice everything, without reticence, without hesitation."
"One must keep working continuously; otherwise, one thinks of death."
New York, NY...Thomas John Watson Sr., February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956 was the chairman and CEO of IBM. He oversaw the company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956.
"You can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes, make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success - on the far side of failure."
"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity."
"If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work."
"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself."
"Don't make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up."
Chicago, IL...Cyrus McCormick, February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884 was an American inventor and founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, later to become the International Harvester Company. Through his and other inventions allowed the American Farmer to feed the world.
"Trying to do business without advertising is like winking at a pretty girl through a pair of green goggles. You may know what you are doing, but no one else does."
"Indomitable perseverance in a business, properly understood, always ensures ultimate success."
Grass Valley, CA...Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager, February 13, 1923 – December 7, 2020. The first man to break the sound barrier & maybe his words can help you break a few barriers yourself.
"I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit."
"You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up."
"If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing."
"You don't concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done."
"The one word you use in military flying is duty. It's your duty. You have no control over outcome, no control over pick-and-choose. It's duty."
"What good does it do to be afraid? It doesn't help anything. You better try and figure out what's happening and correct it."
272 Words of Wisdom from Abraham Lincoln on His Birthday
Posted by: thepinetree on 02/13/2023 10:42 AM
Gettysburg, PA...Abraham Lincoln, February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865. While it was delivered 5 years before our country officially started celebrated Decoration Day which became Memorial Day. The Gettysburg Address remains one of the most eloquent of tributes to those who gave their all that we might be free. It is also as good as any tribute to Abraham Lincoln on his Birthday.
