Aviators

"You might remember, it was 2003 when I made the statement that the idea that manmade gases, CO2, are causing catastrophic global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. I was hated at that time, but now people realize I was right. That, by the way, is the title of my book that's going to come out in January."

"Since 1895, the media has alternated between global cooling and warming scares during four separate and sometimes overlapping time periods. From 1895 until the 1930’s the media peddled a coming ice age. From the late 1920's until the 1960's they warned of global warming. From the 1950's until the 1970's they warned us again of a coming ice age. This makes modern global warming the fourth estate's fourth attempt to promote opposing climate change fears during the last 100 years."

"Those individuals from the far left, and I'm talking about the Hollywood elitists and the United Nations and those individuals want us to believe it's because we are contributing CO2 to the atmosphere, that's causing global warming. It's all about money. I mean, what would happen to the Weather Channel's ratings if all the sudden people weren't scared anymore?"

"Do you realize I was actually on your side of this issue when I was chairing that committee and I first heard about this? I thought it must be true until I found out what it would cost."

"I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment."

"I can only say that what this country does not need is another Gestapo bureaucracy like the EPA and OSHA. And we do not want that to happen to the FDA."

"We don't stop and realize that we are dealing with people—the far-left doesn't think we need a military to start with, they really don't. You've heard me say this before, they really believe if all countries would just stand in a circle and unilaterally disarm and hold hands then all threats would go away, they believe that. They would never say that but they do believe that."

"It kind of reminds... I could use the Third Reich, the Big Lie. You say something over and over and over and over again, and people will believe it, and that's their strategy... A hot summer has nothing to do with global warming. Let's keep in mind it was just three weeks ago that people were saying, "Wait a minute; it is unusually cool.""

"In the United States at the start of the new millenium, climate skepticism was on the rise, fueled by the ascension of the George W. Bush administration, which had deep roots in the oil industry. Bush repudiated any effort at carbon control soon after taking office, and underlings in his administration routinely pressured federal scientists to alter their reports or stop talking to reporters. On Capitol Hill, no one captured the spirit of the moment more fully than Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who famously called global warming a "hoax" and used his position as the chair of the relevant Senate committee to block any legislation. The recipient of massive amounts of campaign funding from the oil and gas industries that dominated the Oklahoma economy, Inhofe used his position to put forward an ongoing critique of mainstream science. The reader should know that virtually all the scientific attacks the Senator makes have been answered over and over at least as far back as [Ross] Gelbspan's book"

"I believe very strongly that we ought to support Israel; that it has a right to the land. This is the most important reason: Because God said so."

"With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that manmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? It sure sounds like it."

"Today, we will hear from federal law enforcement agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, who will discuss the problem of ELF and ALF and law enforcement's reaction to their dangerous and destructive tactics. It is these tactics, particularly the widespread use of arson, which makes ELF and ALF the #1 domestic terror concern over the likes of white supremacists, militias, and anti-abortion groups."

"Among today’s conservative “Luntzspeak” practitioners, few have the lingo down better than the honorable James Inhofe, senator from Oklahoma. Recall Luntz’s advice for dealing with the issue of global warming, which includes the following precepts: (1) emphasize your commitment to “sound science”; (2) seize the remaining “window of opportunity” to challenge and dispute the scientific consensus; and (3) find experts “sympathetic to your view” and make them “part of your message.” It’s a cunning strategy, provided that you are not ashamed of following in the footsteps of the tobacco industry, and Inhofe doesn’t appear to have much shame."

"We're both doing the Lord's work, Noel."

"I am not one of those who see war as a cricket match where you first give anything to defeat the opponent and then shake hands"

"If you come out of the sun, the German will never see you coming."

"If you came out of the sun, the enemy could not see you."

"If you held your fire until you were very close, you seldom missed."

"Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't do this or that. That's nonsense. Make up your mind, you'll never use crutches or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible."

"Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools."

"If you had the height, you controlled the battle."

"For scientific leadership, give me Scott; for swift and efficient travel, Amundsen; but when you are in a hopeless situation, when there seems to be no way out, get on your knees and pray for Shackleton."

"The numerous people who imagine that a long stay in the Polar regions makes a man less susceptible of cold than other mortals are completely mistaken."

"Glad as we were to leave it behind, I cannot deny that it was with a certain feeling of melancholy that we saw it vanish. We had grown so fond of our beacons, and whenever we met them we greeted them as old friends. Many and great were the services these silent watchers did us on our long and lonely way."

"I may say that this is the greatest factor — the way in which the expedition is equipped — the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck."

"I have a story coming out in The New Yorker about the first women who got to Antarctica. Actually they got to the Pole first. But they didn't leave any traces...They got there just a little bit ahead of Amundsen. A small group of South American women."

"The effect of the great and sudden change of altitude made itself felt at once; when I wanted to turn round in my bag, I had to do it a bit at a time, so as not to get out of breath."

"The holiday humour that ought to have prevailed in the tent that evening — our first on the plateau — did not make its appearance; there was depression and sadness in the air - we had grown so fond of our dogs."

"Devil’s Ballroom"

"We see many fine sunsets here, unique in the splendour of their colour. No doubt the surroundings in this fairyland of blue and white do much to increase their beauty."

"Personally, I regard alcohol, used in moderation, as a medicine in the Polar regions. ... It is another matter on sledge journeys: there ... alcohol must be banished ... on account of the weight and space. ... Two men who have fallen out a little in the course of the week are reconciled at once by the scent of rum; the past is forgotten, and they start afresh in friendly co-operation."

"... the brilliant aurora australis. ... flush of daylight has moved to the north, ... but it shows nevertheless that we have daylight here at the darkest time of the year, so there is not the absolute darkness that people think."

""Oh, as usual," they shouted back; "no bottom." I mention this little incident just to show how one can grow accustomed to anything in this world."

""Is this really a Polar ship?" people asked; ... our paper-supply which was in all respects as fine and elegant as it could be: ... From one of the largest houses in Christiania we had a complete set of kitchen utensils and breakfast and dinner services, all of the best kind. ... We carried an extraordinarily copious library; presents of books were showered upon us in great quantities. I suppose the Fram's library at the present moment contains at least 3,000 volumes."

"Everything is on a reduced scale here in the Polar regions; we can't afford to be extravagant."

"We reckoned now that we were at the Pole. Of course, every one of us knew that we were not standing on the absolute spot; it would be an impossibility with the time and the instruments at our disposal to ascertain the exact spot. But we were so near it that the few miles which possibly separated us from it could not be of the slightest importance. It was our intention to make a circle around this camp, with a radius of twelve and a half miles (20 kilometers), and to be satisfied with that. After we had halted we collected and congratulated each other. ... we proceeded to the greatest and most solemn act of the whole journey - the planting of our flag."

"The English have loudly and openly told the world that skis and dogs are unusable in these regions and that fur clothes are rubbish. We shall see — we shall see."

"So we arrived, and planted our flag at the geographical South Pole. Thanks be to God!"

"BEG TO INFORM YOU FRAM PROCEEDING ANTARCTIC — AMUNDSEN"

"Everything went like a dance."

"Adventure is just bad planning."

"We must always remember with gratitude and admiration the first sailors who steered their vessels through storms and mists, and increased our knowledge of the lands of ice in the South."

"To whole room her eyes are numb, As she reads from a true love story. From the pages of a book her lover comes, Her heart bleeds, it's a true love story."

"(Take a wish!) My wish is... ...To be free, To be wild, And to be just Like a child!"

"You're out in the cold, Sometimes, As far as you can see, Misty. You want to run Into the sun, The road is lost, Sand shifty. But suddendly, out of the blue, Some kind of magic Pushes you through! You don't know when, How or why, But someday can take off, fly!"

"When we made [Tubular Bells], Michael was a mental wreck. He would walk 'round with his eyes wet with tears nearly all the time; he was in a terrible state. He found it an enormous disquiet, … the idea of being mortal flesh … [while] what was going on his head was eternal and beautiful and everlasting. … My heart went out to him."

"Amber light Of this new morning, Amber light, Clear, bright and warming. Overnight The Earth adorning... Amber light, A New Age is dawning...."

"Follow the light that glows Through your bedroom window, Tonight, the fading twilight. There's a hollow deep in the woods, Where you know you're crazy to go, Not even meant to know there are... Pictures in the dark, I see all around, Voices calling underground; And I'm watching the stars since the world was found... One, two, three..."

"When the birds sing outside And you see the trees Changing into green The sun invites one To be out in the open air. When the sky is so blue, then, Oh! Then I wish for so much!."

"Far the horizon Hove to the wind; We're sailing the sea To the Edge of the World."