I grew up in the 1960s, and my mother and I would anxiously await our monthly subscription of the Readers Digest. It was a magazine of condensed articles on history, science, the arts and many other interesting subjects. My favorite feature was “Quotable Quotes.” In November 2019, I decided to resurrect it by starting my own version called “Notable Quotes” on the pages of our newspapers. The source is Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, unless otherwise noted. Here are a few examples.
Michael Villalpando
From Nov. 26, 2019:
Today, we introduce a new weekly feature, “Notable Quotes.”
In today’s challenging world, it’s important to be reminded that through the ages prophets, statesmen, artists and dreamers penned inspirational words, made noteworthy observations and expressed big ideas, many of which have marshaled in new eras and have been engines of change.
We start with a quote from Thomas Jefferson that is as pertinent today as it was on Jan. 16, 1787.
“The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
“Newspapers are journalisms acoustic guitars.”
Chris Erskine
Chris Erskine is a Los Angelesbased columnist, author and sage who hails from America’s heartland.
Source: Los Angeles Times
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Anne Frank (1929-1945)
In the spirit of the holidays, the words of Anne Frank give hope to all people.
“The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.”
Mark Twain (June 1, 1897)
While the newspaper industry has endured struggles and some papers have ceased publishing, weeklies, by and large, are doing well, with the Park Labrea News and Beverly Press being an example. Today’s edition marks the 74th year of publishing and our 30th year as owners and publishers. We are happy to report the newspapers are strong and thriving.
“Reading things that are weird is good.”
Michael Villalpando, circa 2002
When our daughters were young, he would implore them to read “anything and everything,” especially “things that are weird.” This mantra encouraged them to open their minds to opinions and ideas different of their own. Thank you for helping to educate our girls. Happy Birthday, Michael, and Dad, with love from your family.
“It’s a newspapers duty to print the news and to raise hell.”
The Chicago Times, 1861
“All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865
“Someone out there in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the President’s spouse. I wish him well.”
Barbara Pierce Bush, 1925-2018
Barbara Bush – the only woman besides Abigail Adams to be both a wife and a mother to a president of the United States.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
“Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”
“lf you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.”
Maya Angelou, 1928-2014
Source: wisdomquotes.com
“When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”
Richard Milhous Nixon, 1913-1994
Interview with David Frost May 19, 1977
“We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house … and through books, through information, we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For hate is too heavy a burden to bear.”
John Lewis, United States Congressman
Georgia, 5th District
1940-2020
“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790
“Vice President – it has such a nice ring to it!”
Geraldine Ferraro, 1935-2011
Geraldine Ferraro was the nation’s first female vice-presidential nominee in 1984.
Kamala Harris is the first woman of color to hold the office of Vice President of the United States.
“If you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good landing. If you use the same airplane the next day it’s an outstanding landing.”
Brigadier General Charles “Chuck” Yeager, USAF, 1923-2020
“Man is the only animal that blushes. OR needs to.”
Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens], 1835-1910
“It’s nice to be here. When you’re 99 years old, it’s nice to be anywhere.”
George Burns, 1896-1996
Source: People Magazine interview, January 1995
When asked by Edward R. Mur-row during a television interview on April 12, 1955 who owned the patent for the polio vaccine, its inventor, Jonas Salk, responded:
“The people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”
Jonas Salk, 1914-1995
Perhaps the coronavirus vaccine patents could also be shared with the world.
Definitions of:
insurrection: an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government
sedition: incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority
fascism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascist) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
Source: Merriam Webster Dictionary
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
John Emerich Acton, 1834-1902
“At a point in life when one is through with boyhood, but has not yet discovered how to be a man, it was my fortune to travel with the most marvelously appealing of teams. During the early 1950s the Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers were outspoken, opinionated, bigoted, tolerant, black, white, open, passionate: in short, a fascinating mix of vigorous men. They were not, however, the most successful team in baseball.”
Roger Kahn,1927-2020
Author, “The Boys of Summer,” 1971
“I bleed Dodger blue and when I die, I’m going to the big Dodger in the sky.”
“I love doubleheaders. That way I get to keep my uniform on longer.”
“If you start worrying about what the people in the stands are saying about you, before too long you’ll be up in the stands with them.”
“My wife tells me one day, ‘I think you love baseball more than me.’ I say, ‘Well I guess that’s true, but hey, I love you more than football and hockey.’”
Tommy Lasorda, Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Manager, 1927-2021
With spring training underway, the World Champion Dodgers will be minus their No. 1 cheerleader and advisor. Tommy Lasorda spent 71 seasons as a Dodger. He will be missed, but he will always be up high in the Dodger blue sky.
Source: Baseball Almanac
“The codfish lays ten thousand eggs,
The homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles
To tell you what she’s done.
And so we scorn the codfish
While the humble hen we prize,
Which only goes to show you
That it pays to advertise.”
Anonymous, “It Pays to Advertise”
For advertising rates, call Michael
“Honor thy father and mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
Holy Bible, Exodus 20:14
“When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We’ve braved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always justice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
Can dream of becoming president
Only to find herself reciting for one
Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”
Youth Poet Laureate Excerpt of Inaugural Poem Jan. 20, 2021
“Contemplate the miracle of local newspapers like the Park Labrea News and Beverly Press. They start out as giant blank rolls of newsprint, and soon they will be filled with the doings of the day: calendars of what’s ahead, who plowed into whom, lawsuits, police reports, ads, restaurant reviews, zoning disputes and photos. I love the beautiful rustle of the newspaper, refuge of the thinking person, one of life’s most soulful retreats.”
Chris Erskine
An excerpt from “Thank heavens for the miracle of newspapers”
Beverly Press/Park Labrea News, Feb. 6, 2020
0 Comment