Written by Julian Chehirian | 05 October 2009

"The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance" - Benjamin Franklin

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw - (1856-1950)

 "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." - George Bernard Shaw

 "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." -  Galileo Galilei

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

"When faced with a choice between confronting an unpleasant reality and defending a set of comforting and socially accepted beliefs, most people choose the later course." W. Lance Bennett.

"One of the world's greatest problems is the impossibility of any person searching for the truth on any subject when they believe they already have it." --Dave Wilbur

"Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false." - Bertrand Russell

"The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity" : George Bernard Shaw

"War is the health of the State. It automatically sets in motion throughout society these irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate cooperation with the government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense" : Randolph Bourne

"A time will come when a politician who has willfully made war and promoted international dissension will be as sure of the dock and much surer of the noose than a private homicide. It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men's lives should not stake their own" : H.G. Wells

"Do not say, that if the people do good to us, we will do good to them; and if the people oppress us, we will oppress them; but determine that if people do you good, you will do good to them; and if they oppress you, you will not oppress them" : Muhammad

"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." - H.L. Mencken

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to the point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group or any controlling private power." : President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.": Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) German Dramatist

"Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.": Henry Miller (1891-1980) American writer

". . . in America, we have achieved the Orwellian prediction - enslaved, the people have been programmed to love their bondage and are left to clutch only mirage-like images of freedom, its fables and fictions.  The new slaves are linked together by vast electronic chains of television that imprison not their bodies but their minds.  Their desires are programmed, their tastes manipulated, their values set for them. " Gerry Spence, From Freedom to Slavery.

"The point of public relations slogans like "Support our troops" is that they don't mean anything... that's the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and everybody...'s going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That's the one you're not allowed to talk about." : Noam Chomsky

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." : Howard Zinn, historian and author

"Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true." :  Buddha - Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta