This week the old ‘cuff is headed in a different direction. ‘bout time, they say, so figured it is time. There won’t be much ranting and raving, no comments on the weather, no complaints about the price of gas or griping about deer munching on the veggies.
Whoops, I forgot, there will be one brief rant. With our recent rainy, overcast days, I’ll bet you can guess what that will be. Yep, you’re right on the money; it’s WOLO.
For those who haven’t seen those letters here before, they stand for “Wipers On, Lights On” and this is a reminder after observing so many drivers cruising along with their windshield wipers flapping while their headlights were as dark as an unexplored corridor in the Spanish Treasure Cave.
So, just a gentle reminder: although drivers cannot be stopped for that simple infraction, WOLO is still a state law.
Now back to the real ‘cuff. Several years ago, Susan Holland presented me a small bound volume: “Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln.” I have read and reread his words, and they are full of wisdom. Many are laced with a wit that was a part of his greatness and talent. Here are just a few quotes, including one of the first in the small volume:
“I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.”
“It is difficult to make a man miserable when he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.”
“I say ‘try’; if we never try, we shall never succeed”;and, “I am always for the man who wishes to work.”
“A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people and its laws; the territory is the only part which is of certain durability.”
“No man is good enough to govern another man without that man’s consent.”
“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
“Many free countries have lost their liberty, and ours may lose hers; but if she shall, be it my proudest plume, not that I was the last to desert, but that I never deserted her.”
“If a man is honest in his mind, you are pretty safe in trusting him.”
“If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have? Five? No, calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
“It is not the qualifi ed voters, but the qualifi ed voters who choose to vote, that constitute the political power of the state.”
“History is not history unless it is the truth.”
“Consciences differ in different individuals.”
“Broken eggs cannot be mended.”
“The people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and maintain them when they are invaded.”
“Nothing should ever be implied as law which leads to unjust or absurd consequences.”
“I shall try to correct errors when they are shownto be errors; and I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views.”
And finally, in spite of the ever changing rules of language … “With educated people, I suppose punctuation is a matter of rule; with me it is a matter of feeling. But I must say I have a great respect for the semicolon; it’s a useful little chap.”
Wouldn’t it be a joy today, to hear such wise and sometimes witty words emanating from the powers who be in Washington, D.C.?
Dodie Evans is editor emeritus of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 4 on 11/13/2013