December 17

December 17 Quotes of the day from previous years:


 * 2003
 * Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education. ~ Bertrand Russell
 * selected by Kalki


 * 2004
 * From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring, Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. ~ "Arwen" in the film The Return of the King ~
 * selected by Kalki (in relation to the opening of the movie based upon The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien; In the novel The Lord of the Rings this statement first occurs in The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter 10, "Strider", in a letter by Gandalf to Frodo.)


 * 2005
 * I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. ~ Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol (first published 19 December 1843, but mistakenly suggested for this date)
 * proposed by UDScott


 * 2006
 * To even mention all the things the bird must constantly keep in mind in order to fly securely through the air would take a considerable part of the evening... The bird has learned this art of equilibrium, and learned it so thoroughly that its skill is not apparent to our sight. We only learn to appreciate it when we try to imitate it. ~ Wilbur Wright (designed the Wright Flyer which flew on 17 December 1903)
 * proposed by Fys


 * 2007
 * It is a queer and fantastic world. Why can't people have what they want? The things were all there to content everybody; yet everybody has got the wrong thing. Perhaps you can make head or tail of it; it is beyond me. ~ Ford Madox Ford
 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2008
 * Alas for maiden, alas for Judge, For rich repiner and household drudge! God pity them both! and pity us all, Who vainly the dreams of youth recall; For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been!" ~ John Greenleaf Whittier ~
 * proposed by Zarbon


 * 2009
 * All he desired in life was that — that he could pick himself together again and go on with his daily occupations if — the girl, being five thousand miles away, would continue to love him. He wanted nothing more, He prayed his God for nothing more. ~ Ford Madox Ford
 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2010
 * Those who have served the cause of the revolution have plowed the sea. ~ Simon Bolivar (died 17 December 1830)
 * proposed by Fys


 * 2011
 * Scrooge was better than his word. … He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him. He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One! ~ Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol (first published on 19 December 1843, but mistakenly suggested for this date)
 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2012


 * proposed by InvisibleSun


 * 2013


 * proposed by bystander


 * 2014


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2015


 * proposed by Kalki for the Pope's birthday, a few statements from his inauguration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, a few days ago, on the 8th of December.


 * 2016


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2017


 * proposed by Zarbon


 * 2018


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2019


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2020


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2021


 * proposed by bystander


 * 2022


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2023


 * proposed by Kalki


 * 2024 : Rank or add further suggestions…

Suggestions
Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess? ~ Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770; his date of birth is unknown)
 * 2. Fys. &#147;Ta fys aym&#148;. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 2 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 2 Kalki 20:10, 16 December 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
 * 2 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. ~ Attributed to William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (died December 17, 1907, four years to the day after this prediction turned out to be untrue)
 * 3. Fys. &#147;Ta fys aym&#148;. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 2 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 1 Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * 0 It doesn't appear that William Thomas had anything to do with the pursuit of flight... Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. ~ Leonardo da Vinci, in honour of the Wright brothers' first flight on December 17, 1903. I would probably be willing to use it here, but only with a clear designation of the actual source, which remains somewhat undetermined at present. ~ ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:42, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
 * 2. Fys. &#147;Ta fys aym&#148;. 00:17, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 3 InvisibleSun 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
 * 3 Kalki 20:10, 16 December 2007 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4. this is now recognized as a misattribution; as noted on the Leonardo da Vinci page: "This quotation, which cannot be found in any of da Vinci's writings, was first used in print (and misattributed to Leonardo da Vinci) in a science fiction story published in 1975, The Storms of Windhaven. One of the authors, Lisa Tuttle, remembers that the quote was suggested by science fiction writer Ben Bova, who says he believes he got the quote from a TV documentary narrated by Fredric March, presumably I, Leonardo da Vinci, written by John H. Secondari for the series Saga of Western Man, which aired on 23 February 1965. Bova incorrectly assumed that he was quoting da Vinci. The probable author is John Hermes Secondari (1919-1975), American author and television producer."


 * 3 but preferable on date of birth. Zarbon 19:39, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * 3 Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

We can do without any article of luxury we have never had; but when once obtained, it is not in human natur’ to surrender it voluntarily. ~ Thomas Chandler Haliburton
 * 2 Zarbon 06:40, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
 * 2 Kalki 00:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
 * 2 Cheers to the internet! Lyle 20:07, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * 3 InvisibleSun 22:44, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. ~ William Safire in a speech written for Spiro Agnew (Safire born on 17 December 1929)
 * 3 Kalki 18:57, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.

Every man is a potential genius until he does something. ~ Herbert Beerbohm Tree
 * 3 Kalki (talk &middot; contributions) 16:04, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

People are too apt to treat God as if he were a minor royalty. ~ Herbert Beerbohm Tree
 * 3 Kalki (talk &middot; contributions) 16:04, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Never say a humorous thing to a man who does not possess humour: he will always use it in evidence against you. ~ Herbert Beerbohm Tree
 * 3 Kalki (talk &middot; contributions) 16:04, 3 December 2010 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.


 * 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 17:18, 19 December 2013 (UTC)