Easter Sunday and Religion

Posted on by March 25, 2016

Illgegal Trial of Christ coverI’ve got to get some new quote books! I looked in six of my favorite quote books to find something said about “Good Friday.” There was nothing in any of them. How does that happen? Well, I guess they’re not really religious quote books, but still . . .

I did find some quotes about Easter—but only in one of those books. It did have several quotes, but none from anyone you would have heard about.

Since it is Easter weekend, and I am the author of “The Illegal Trial of Christ”, I thought I’d better include a few quotes about Easter at least. So here are a few (but you’ll have to look in your Encyclopedia to find out anything about the famous person being quoted! read more

Patrick Henry–Character Counts

Posted on by March 24, 2016

PatrickHenryI can remember in detail a story which was told to me several years ago. A good friend had a son, Ken, who was working for a large grocery store in his area. He was a good high school student as well as worker. One evening my friend was waiting in his car to give his son a ride home after work. The store manager appeared at his car window. He rolled it down. The manager introduced himself and asked if her were Ken’s dad.

He readily admitted he was, not quite knowing what to expect. The manager thrust his hand into the car and shaking hands said: “Congratulations for having such a fine son and such an exceptional worker. read more

Thomas Paine, Calvin Coolidge and Persistence

Posted on by March 23, 2016

thomas paineMany years ago our former President, Calvin Coolidge, said this: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and dedication alone are all powerful.”

In addition, I believe that persistence must be accompanied by distress or discomfort of some sort. If one has experienced setbacks or trials, when you combine those tribulations with persistence then you get success. You overcome. You truly learn something about your own character. read more

Thomas Jefferson –Courteous and Considerate

Posted on by March 22, 2016

ThomasJefferson
One day a tall gentleman was hastening down the sidewalk when just then out of a doorway came another man, also in a hurry. The two men collided with great impact. The tall man fell to the sidewalk.

The shorter one of them was beside himself with anger and burst into a cascade of abusive anger.

The tall noble man shook the dirt off his clothes, smiled in a pleasant fashion, and with a smile announced: “My friend, I don’t know which of us was at fault for this encounter, but I am in too great of a hurry to investigate. If I ran into you, I beg your pardon; if you ran into me, don’t mention it.” And then with a smile on his face he went his way. read more

Teddy Roosevelt and John Adams, Naturalists

Posted on by March 21, 2016

JohnAdamsThere was a naturalist named William Beebe and he was a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, of course, was a great friend of nature, as we know. He began the now very extensive National Park system.

One evening the two of them were at Teddy’s home at Sagamore Hill. They walked together around the beautiful gardens and spreading lawn. They took turns identifying the stars and constellations in the night sky.

One of them said: “That is the spiral galaxy of Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It is 800,000 light years away from ours. And that galaxy consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our own sun.” read more

Baseball Spring Training and George Washington

Posted on by March 20, 2016
Polo Grounds during World Series Game, 1913 from the Bain Collection by David Shapinsky from Washington, D.C.

Polo Grounds during World Series Game, 1913 from the Bain Collection by David Shapinsky from Washington, D.C.

Growing up I was a fan of Ted Williams. He was quite a batter. When he was approaching 40 years of age he began closing out his career with the Boston Red Sox. At that time he was suffering a pinched nerve in his neck.

“The thing was so bad that I could hardly turn my neck to look at the pitcher,” he reported. That year he batted under .300 for the first time in his career. In 1959 he batted just .254, his lowest batting average, but he was still making $125,000.00. Well, that was a lot in 1959. read more

Mark Twain, Professional Speaking and Tricks

Posted on by March 19, 2016

Mark_Twain_by_AF_BradleySamuel Clemons, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, was often asked to be a speaker at public events. He lived between 1835-1910. His books, Tom Sawyer, and Huckleberry Finn, are still good reading today. I loved Tom Sawyer as a youngster. I especially liked Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland!

Once Mark was asked to speak at a banquet being held to honor several bankers. On the same program was Chauncey Depew, 1834-1928. Depew was the lawyer for the Vanderbilt railroad empire. He was also a U.S. Senator at one time (I don’t know if it was before or after this particular speech). read more

Ben Franklin’s Advice re Argument

Posted on by March 18, 2016

Ben FranklinBenjamin Franklin was one of the most successful diplomats in our nations early history. He was so good at making friends, and helping them to agree on lending money to the colonies that we won the Revolutionary War.

He made few speeches at the Constitutional Convention, but those he did make led to the approval of the final document. He learned to make friends even out of those who would want to argue.

He once put it this way: “The way to convince another is to state your case moderately and accurately. Then scratch your head, or shake it a little and say that is the way it seems to you, but of course you may be mistaken about it. This causes your listener to receive what you have to say, and as like as not turn about and try to convince you of it since you are in doubt. But if you go at him in a tone of positiveness and arrogance, you only make an opponent of him.” read more

Benjamin Franklin and Authors

Posted on by March 17, 2016

Ben Franklin thumb pictureI received a letter a few days ago asking me some questions about my book “The Illegal Trial of Christ.” I politely responded and answered the questions asked of me.

Then today I received a phone call from this same person, with a couple of more questions. We had a nice chat and it was apparent that this person had done a great deal of reading and research about the death of Christ and what led up to it.

This man said he was a neurologist and he is writing his own book about the medical reasons of Christ’s death. Basically the premise of his book is that Christ actually died from a loss of blood. The crown of thorns was really the cause of loss of more blood that had previously been attributed to it. That he was in reality the sacrificial lamb, and it was the time of year for that major sacrifice. He fulfilled his purpose in coming to Earth. read more

Benjamin Franklin’s Warning

Posted on by March 16, 2016

Ben FranklinMost people who have a little interest in American history have read Benjamin Franklin’s words which seemed to bring about a final consensus and agreement on the basics of our Constitution. I believe I have even repeated them here on this blog at some time or another. (If you can’t remember them or want to have them again go to the book “FoundingFathers–Uncommon Heroes”. What Ben said is there on page 33. If you don’t have the book yet, for heaven sakes, get it right now. Click here.) read more