We cannot expect to drift into heaven on a cloud of pious thoughts. —Unknown author, Atonement and the Cross (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Study Guide edition), week of November 2–8, 2008

I think what most strikes me about that quote is how clearly it reminds us that mere belief is not the basis of salvation, but character-transforming faith. “Who am I?” is a much more meaningful question for the Christian than “What do I think?”

From Justin Kim’s Notes on Facebook:

Quote from Physicist Richard Feynman: “There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it’s only a hundred billion. It’s less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.”

Through a wholesale clearance-rate sell-off of the suns in our galaxy, the U.S. Government could gradually pull out of debt.

I also like to make my own little proverbs. Below is a short list of original sayings. Many of them are from old email newsletters I sent to family and friends. I hope you enjoy them.

• You can never adequately prepare for hypothetical situations.
• While ambiguity leaves little room for contradiction, it also leaves little room for commitment. To act, people need to know what you really think.
• Little installments, faithfully sent, pay better than large ones, wistfully meant.
• When we’re wrapped up with ourselves, God can’t put anything inside.
• Some perceive rules as speed bumps: not meant to stop them, but just to slow them down.
• Procrastination is sometimes a deluded form of optimism: It’s the belief that everything will fall into place at the last moment.
• The comfort zone exists only in the wake of those who have pushed past the comfort zone.
• It’s not what others see in us that causes us the most trouble, but what we see in others.
• Liberty thrives only within the confines of law.
• To reach a higher peak, you sometimes have to cross a valley.
• If your mind is in the gutter, your spirituality will go down the drain.
• You’ll never meet a balanced Christian who doesn’t enjoy the beauties of nature.

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
—Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.
—G. Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
—James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
—Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
—P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
—Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801–1850)

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
—Voltaire (1764)

No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
  —Mark Twain (1866 )

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
—Thomas Jefferson