Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Q IS FOR...

Q IS FOR …QUOTATIONS … AND QUESTIONS…

  
“The power of man has grown in every sphere except over himself.”
                                                                        Winston S. Churchill  
           
I came across this QUOTATION a few weeks ago and the truth of these words struck me forcibly. Yet the QUOTATION raises the inevitable QUESTION….WHY?   Why hasn’t man gained power over himself? There must be thousands, if not millions who genuinely want be perfect – strive to be perfect, want others to be perfect so that we can live in a perfect world. But for as long as man has existed he has never attained perfection.
    
BUT WHY?  Why can’t we make ourselves perfect? We can do so many other things through the modern miracles of science.  We all want the kind of perfection that would remove hatred, war, anger, theft, greed, murder and all those horrible imperfections that ensnare our daily lives. Why can’t we make ourselves perfect?

Christians believe that we can’t make ourselves perfect because we have an innate sinful nature and only God can change that.

********
 Now here are some more  excellent quotations from that great, but not perfect, man 
Winston S. Churchill:
(Warning:  some need thinking about).
1.  (This one’s for me…) “A fanatic is one who won’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”

2.  If you destroy a free market, you create a black market.

3.  One should be just before one is generous.

4.  Where there is a great deal of free speech, there is always a certain amount of foolish speech.

5.  War is horrible but slavery is worse.

6.  The price of greatness is responsibility.

7.  The last thing that represents democracy is mob law.

8.  I am going to give a long speech today.  I haven’t had time to prepare a short one. (Think about this one.)

9.  When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.

10.  Nourish your hopes but do not overlook realities.

AND….”A gentleman does not have a ham sandwich without mustard.” (Gray Poupon).

This is my contribtion to Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday.  Why not click on this link and see what others have contributed for this week's letter Q.

24 comments:

photowannabe said...

Delightful quotes by Churchill. I think he was a genuine thinking man.
Love the quote about the long speech.
I agree that God is the only answer.

mrsnesbitt said...

Thanks Chris, a great post for ABC Wednesday - mine seems to be quite dull in comparison lol!

"I did think of quotations!"
Denise Nesbitt 8.11.2011

lol
denise
ABC Team

Meryl said...

Super post! I love your question and your quotes. You give us a lot to think about.

Roger Owen Green said...

we think we can work towards perfection ourselves; ain't gonna happen. technology or war or money ain't gonna do it for us either.

great quotes.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Kay L. Davies said...

Churchill was certainly not a perfect man, but it may be said he was the perfect man for his time.

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Tumblewords: said...

The quintessential quotations! They are great!
The verify word is queti. :)

Hildred said...

'Nourish your hopes but do not overlook realities' which reminds me of Wendell Berry's quote about living the given life, rather than the planned life..... great quotations...

Leslie: said...

Very thoughtful post, Chris. I particularly like #7 as I think it applies these days to those who are in the "Occupy" protests.

Leslie
abcw team

Scriptor Senex said...

Chris, I find it so hard to think of Man as inately sinful. It's such a depressing idea. But, sadly, I have no other answer to your question. Instead I have another question? Why did God make Man inately sinful and yet not do the same to other creatures?

MaR said...

I love quotes! enjoyed your post for Q.

Q is for quadruped

ChrisJ said...

Scriptor: I agree, if taken alone as it stands, man being innately sinful is truly depressing. That's why Christians believe in the GOOD NEWS of salvation. I'm somewhat reluctant to go into all this, here on the comments. I'd be glad to do so through email if you would like, but only if you really want to. I'm not into pressing or pressuring people into believing what I believe even though I am an evangelical -- but I don't want to be an obnoxious one.
To answer your question, first of all I have to say that I don't believe God made man innately sinful, but man chose sin over obedience and it has subsequently been passed on through the generations. (A simplistic answer for now). In addition, by other creatures I presume you mean animals. If so, my answer is that animals are not moral creatures and don't know the difference between right and wrong. We teach them to obey us which they do (if they want to!) The rest is instinct. I might just add that animals have no appreciation of creativity or beauty as does man. (They don't rush down to the ocean front to see the sunset as we do here.) I know all this raises more questions. Feel free to ask or ignore. I can't give my email on comments, Google wipes them out.I do appreciate your comments and questions, agree or disagree.

snafu said...

Great quotations, especially #8. As an erstwhile lecturer, I know just what it implies.
I am not sure that animals do not admire beauty, my dog adored snow, right from the first time she ever encountered it. She immediately ran out into it, gambolling and picking up mouthfuls playfully and then rolling over enjoying herself enormously making dog shaped snow angels. There must be other examples of this appreciation of nature in animals.
Mankind behaves how they are taught to behave, consciously or unconsciously, by whoever raises them. When young children are raised by animals (feral children) after a certain age, they can only ever behave like the animal that raised them. QED
Therefore, by whatever means, religious or not, we should be striving to raise ourselves to the next ethical level so that our children are raised by ethical civilised parents.
Quote #1 applies here too I think.

Anonymous said...

I am so ploebian. I like French's.

Kim, USA said...

Pretty good post! I love the quotes. ABC

Chubskulit Rose said...

These are beautiful quotations.

Find out what Quiet is for my kids.

Nanka said...

Enjoyable quotes!! .....and we cannot be perfect
#1 because of what you say "innate sinful nature" and Earth would be Paradise. ;)
#2 we were made as human beings, the perfectly imperfect beings :) If we were to be all perfect then we would be God!! ;)
#10. Nourish your hopes but do not overlook realities. Superb!!

anthonynorth said...

Excellent post. As I see it, if we were perfect we'd have no frustrations. with no frustrations, where's the impulse to advance?
Churchill, to the lady who advised he was drunk: 'And you are ugly, but in the morning I will be sober.'

Carver said...

Great quotes and post for Q day.

photowannabe said...

Thanks Chris for the sweet comments on my post. I appreciate them more than you know.
To answer your question about all of my words...all I can say is that the dictionary is my Friend!
I just try to fit it all together in one little package. Some letters are easier to work with than others. Trying to come up with appropriate pictures is a challange too.
Have a great week.
If you are ever traveling up to the Sacramento area let us know. I would love to have a cup of tea with you and chat.
Sue

jabblog said...

Quotations are seductive, I find. Maybe that's why I have three (at the last count) books of quotations and have started compiling my own Commonplace book;-)

Jose said...

In creation only one man has been perfect, Jesus. I love quotations and use them all the time. It's fun searching for quotes to post here and there.

Diane said...

Just catching up with you - love your previous post about the woman from Doncaster! Small world. Just to let you know that your china is on its way - I hope it makes it in one piece! Lots of Love. xxx

Elizabeth said...

I can certainly identify with no 8, Chris. x

Morning's Minion said...

I like quotation #8---I'll try to remember that when I'm being 'wordy.'