I just got my passport renewed (in preparation for a business trip to London) and I noticed that my new passport had all sorts of cool quotes and pictures on it. Is this new passport policy? I’m diggin on one quote in particular:
For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground. Is our world gone? We say “Farewell.” Is a new world coming? We welcome it - and we will bend it to the hopes of man.
Lyndon B. Johnson
I’m not a huge fan of LBJ, but this changes my mind a little. “harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground” - that’s poetic. Did he steal that line from someone? ”we will bend it to the hopes of man” - cold chills. Tolkienesque.
LBJ is the bomb. Even if he dropped a few more actual bombs than I totally approve. And that is so much better a quote than the scary eugenicist anti-immigrant Teddy Roosevelt quotes my relatives keep forwarding to me under the guise of “what every American needs to know.”
And yes, dear, he stole it from the Bible (Hosea 10:12):
Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
and showers righteousness on you.
Learn to google, man.
And watch it, Speed Merchant, your sensitive side is showing, even if you insist on sticking with reader response over symbolic interpretation.
Comment by pollyannasunshine — July 18, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
I hope mine has quotes from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (I used the movie to study for my European History AP Test in high school). My favorite is:
“San Dimas High School Football Rules!!!!!”
Seriously, it’s a good quote.
Comment by Edward — July 18, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
OMG! I think Edward may be my Brain Soulmate!
Seriously, did you know that in Pollyanna Sunshine’s career as a benevolent dictator, her standard mode of signing her edicts was “Be excellent to one another. And party on, dudes!” And I did NOT just make that up.
For you, my dear: http://www.rhapsody.com/theataris/lookforwardtofailure (track 1)
I am sad to say that my passport is 10 years old and has nothing on it, not even a visa stamp, because the damn Canadians do not even bother with such formalities for those of us who go sneaking across the border in search of work. Hosers. And they’re so damn smug about their cheap drugs and excellent parental leave benefits. You boys should really head up one of the great lakes with a nice big cannon, okay? Just take out Ottawa, though, because I’ve got friends in most of the other provinces, and I will need a place to move if Mitt Romney gets elected and The Handmaid’s Tale really does come true.
Oh, and Speed Merchant, I may have to sic Texasgurl on you while you’re in London, so keep us posted about the dates. Her eldest daughter could pierce you with nothing but her steely glare. I am afraid she already cut me down to size. Serious chip off the maternal block.
Comment by pollyannasunshine — July 19, 2007 @ 2:10 am
Think “the decider” will ever have a passport quote? Maybe… “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” or “Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYN’s aren’t able to practice their, their love with women all across this country”. Can’t wait to see my next passport!
Comment by mike — July 19, 2007 @ 9:28 am
Here are a few I’d be happy to have on mine, from the ridiculous–
When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results. (Calvin Coolidge)
When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal. (Richard M. Nixon)
to the sublime–
We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other’s children. (Jimmy Carter)
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. (Abraham Lincoln)
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. (Thomas Jefferson)
America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. (John Quincy Adams)
I can take it. The tougher it gets, the cooler I get. (Richard M. Nixon)
I’ve looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. God knows I will do this and forgives me. (Jimmy Carter)
to the exquisitely Pollyanna-ish:
To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse. (John Quincy Adams)
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost. (John Quincy Adams)
Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries. (Jimmy Carter)
But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine. (Thomas Jefferson)
I can come up with a dozen inspiring quotes to the Speed Merchant’s one! Point goes to the Intertextuality Queen!
Bonus point for proving Thomas Jefferson was a Pollyanna (I mean, Carter was totally not a surprise, nor JQA, but Jefferson, that’s not bad.)
Oh, wait, here it is: PROOF THAT RICHARD NIXON HAD AN INNER POLLYANNA:
Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines. (Richard M. Nixon)
I AM THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! Or at least of this round.
Speed: 1
Sunshine: 13
Comment by pollyannasunshine — July 20, 2007 @ 10:30 am
How about something really useful, like “Where is the toilet paper?” or “Get your hand off my ass” in eight or nine languages, phonetically transcribed?
Comment by euphrosyne1115 — July 21, 2007 @ 12:18 am
Shockingly unphilosophical, isn’t she?
Two more from Polly, feeling more cynical today:
“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”
“It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”
Ah, now there was an administration whose lies and obfuscations you could have a little sympathy for. I think I’m craving a Big Mac.
Comment by pollyannasunshine — July 21, 2007 @ 10:22 am
My favorite quote from our current president was alluded to by Mike, above. If it ever appears in a passport, it should appear in all caps, thusly:
I AM THE DECIDER !!!
Comment by DavidB — July 21, 2007 @ 6:52 pm