Some of my favorite quotes

“If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in character. If there be beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home. If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.” - Confucius

“Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.” - Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Writer

“Democracy, like liberty, justice and other social and political rights are not given. They are earned through courage, resolution and sacrifice.” - Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma

“Courage does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'” – Anonymous



Sunday, May 20, 2007

Ask Not What Your Government Can Do For You...

Remember this quote from President John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country"? I came across an article in a magazine yesterday about how a group of friends have committed themselves to transforming those wise words into reality.

Three hometown guys pooled their life savings to buy a cargo boat and scoop up trash from Florida's waterways because they realized that the local governments don't take responsibility for that. The website of the nonprofit organization they formed just for that purpose is http://greenarmada.org, and I have copied below their story from the web site.

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The Green Armada Foundation was born in the beautiful beaches and waterways of Tampa Bay, Florida. We are lifelong residents that grew up in and on the waters of the Florida coast. Frankly, we’ve had it with the tons of trash collecting along the coast. Rather that just complain about it we’ve come up with a solution that meets our objectives.

  • We don’t want to depend or wait on governmental resources to fix the problem.
  • We’re not here as politicians or scientists. We’re citizens making our community a better, cleaner place to live.
  • We believe that businesses are genuinely concerned about the appearance of the community and will help sponsor cleanup.
  • We know for certain that there are many ordinary people out there who really care and will pitch in to make a difference.

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So what am I driving at here? Like these amazing individuals have rightly noted, it is the ordinary people who truly make a difference! We can b**tch and complain about how the government is not performing and acting right, but until we get off our lackadaisical behinds and do the little that we can do, we really shouldn't expect miracles.

As usual, any comments and questions are very welcome. In fact, it's a request - please share your thoughts :).

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