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Aphorisms

Does History repeat itself. Or is the repeating actually just the same as the History ? Until it actually is the History again. lol.


I'm still working on it. Not quite an aphorism. But I liked it.

images
 
I love Twain, but he didn't say this.

It was psychoanalyst Theodor Reik who said "It has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes." (1965)
Anytime I see a quote attributed to someone (especially if it's Twain, Lincoln, Einstein, or Churchill), I fact-check. 8 out of 10 times, either the person was not the first to say it or they never said it at all.

On the other hand, you'd be surprised how many quotes, aphorisms, idioms, and "wisdom from The Bible (or Buddha)" actually came from William Shakespeare. Whether WS was one person or many is another argument altogether-- and one that will probably never be settled for certain.
 
Anytime I see a quote attributed to someone (especially if it's Twain, Lincoln, Einstein, or Churchill), I fact-check. 8 out of 10 times, either the person was not the first to say it or they never said it at all.
Another one who has many things attributed to him that he didn't say is Carlin.
Twain is one of my favorite authors.
I do welcome being corrected on such things. Thanks.
 
Another one who has many things attributed to him that he didn't say is Carlin.
True. And Thomas Jefferson.

My best friend, who is relatively intelligent and well-read (and therefore should know better), once had this at the bottom of his emails:
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything you have."
-- Thomas Jefferson

I pointed out to him that not only did Jefferson not say that, but he never would have thought to say anything like that. Nor would  anyone in the 1700s ever think or say such a thing. They'd be just as likely to say "Don't text and drive."

After thinking about it for less than a minute, he admitted Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me.
 
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
Is the 'Fruit' meaning something deeper as in 'good works' or something similar or different.

Also read, Goodreads, the quotes of Thomas Jefferson. I trust their info better than most. It is a long list, but it could be true. I might try to Goodreads;
the quotes of Thomas Jefferson. But because their are of them 590 of them, and it sound exactly like something he would have said it will take awhile and I am in an impatient and very bad mood.

I dare you to go to Goodreads, the quotes of Thomas Jerrerson

Also remember Alexander Hamilton the guy killed by: Vice President Aaron Burr, he killed him in duel.
Besides being used for target practice and being on the American $10 dollar
bill: He was a strong proponent of a large powerful central government bank.
He was a Federalist and wanted a strong central bank. He was also the first, Secretary of the American Treasury.

So I probably need to check that, because look at the control the Vatican and Catholic Church along with the lesser nobles and the kings, had over the people of Western Europe for many centuries your claim of no powerful governments back in the early 19th century and before, is what the British would call, 'rubbish'

People in a lot of of western Europe would, if they were alive of course, disagree. Most people for centuries were basically born into oppression and died that way. Big powerful governments are almost as old as prostitution. You could even go back into before the A.D. times.

What about The Roman empire which was cut in half and died eventually and the Vatican and the so called nobles took their place?

What about the famous saying that has many slightly different wording depending on the many sources: The sun never sets on the British flag.

Alexander the Great; cried when he ran out of places to conquer.

Big government goes back centuries, actually Millenniums would be accurate.
Egyptians, Roman Empore, Greek Emipire, British Empire, Babylonian Empire, ect.
Big government and tyranny are almost as old as recorded history.
 
Also read, Goodreads, the quotes of Thomas Jefferson. I trust their info better than most.
Better than many, but not always accurate. I've seen several misattributed quotes in Goodreada. At the moment I can't recall the name of the really good site I found, but I'll try to find it and post it here.
Big government and tyranny are almost as old as recorded history.
No shit.
But who in the 1700s imagined a government that promised to "give you everything you want" ? No government ever did that nor did any government ever allege to do that. Nor did anybody expect or desire a government to do that.
Citizens expected government to defend against outside invaders, enforce certain laws & regulations, print currency, establish standards of weights & measures, and not much else except maybe invade new territory when it looked appealing.
The only government wherein someone got everything he wanted was a tyranny, and that someone was the tyrant.
 
You're asking that question with tongue firmly planted in cheek, right?
It is was hard to tell because you are not stupid, but you have a good sense of humor so I thought it was a joke. There was a slim chance that fruit, which is used symbolically in many cases, so I thought it was funny but unsure their was that slim chance you were trying to be deep.
 
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