First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"Women are door-mats and have been,— The years those mats applaud,— They keep their men from going in With muddy feet to God."
"Not all s evolve at the same rate, some early species were actually so well adapted that they competed successfully against newer species. are so well suited to life in oceans, lakes, and streams that they still thrive even though most features present in modern, living algae must be more or less identical to those present in the ancestral algae that lived more than 1 billion years ago. Features that seem relatively unchanged are relictual features (technically known as , formerly called primitive features). Like the algae, s are well-adapted to certain habitats and have not changed much in 250 million years; they too have many relictual features. Modern conifers are similar to early ones that arose around 320 millions years ago. The most recently evolved group consists of the flowering plants, which originated about 100 to 120 million years ago with the evolution of several features: flowers, broad, flat, simple leaves, and that conducts water with little friction. The members of the (sunflowers, daisies, and s) ... have many features that evolved recently from features present in ancestral flowering plants. These are derived features (technically known as , formerly called advanced features (i.e., they have been derived evolutionarily from ancient features). One recent (highly derived ) feature in the asters is a . The terms "primitive" and "advanced" are avoided in that they imply inferior and superior."
"s are technically known as angiosperms. Flowers are reproductive structures, some parts produce , which carry sperm cells, other parts have egg cells. During reproduction, new embryos form as part of a seed, and all seeds occur inside fruits. Plants with obvious flowers, such as roses, s, s, and lilies are flowering plants ... But in many other angiosperms, the flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, for example, the flowers of grasses are so small and pale you might never notice them, and the same is true for those of s, s, , and ... Other angiosperms have large, obvious flowers, but they bloom so rarely—at least in cultivation—that many people mistakenly assume that they never flower. are a good example of this: when kept on a , potted cacti may survive and grow without being healthy enough to flower, but in nature they produce spectacular flowers that no one could miss. All angiosperms have s, that is, tissues that conduct water and nutrients from one part of the plant to another."
"Ancestral presumably had abundant, fibrous, heavily , similar to that present in the relictual, leaf-bearing genus '. During the evolutionary radiation of the subfamily , diverse types of bodies and woods arose. Several evolutionary lines have retained an abundant, fibrous wood: all wood cells, even ray cells, have thick lignified walls, and axial is only scanty paratracheal. Aside from a diversity of vessel diameters, there seems to be little protection against during water-stress, and little capacity. This strong wood permits the plants to be tall and to compete for light in their tree-shaded semi-arid habitats. In other evolutionary lines, the wood lacks fibres, and almost all cells have thin, unlignified walls. Vessels occur in an extensive matrix of water-storing parenchyma, and tracheids are also abundant, constituting over half the axial tissue in some species. There is excellent protection against cavitation, but little mechanical support for the plant body; however, these plants are short and occur in extremely arid, unshaded sites. Scandent, vinelike plants of two genera produce a dimorphic wood—while their shoots are extending without external support, they produce fibrous, lignified wood, but after leaning against a host branch, they produce a parenchymatous, unlignified wood."
"Captain Will Swenson was a leader on that September morning. But like all great leaders, he was also a servant -- to the men he commanded, to the more than a dozen Afghans and Americans whose lives he saved, to the families of those who gave their last full measure of devotion on that faraway field."
"I look at this crowd and I see the strength of a nation and I see the strength of a fighting force, one that I fought proudly with. I look at my fellow Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force, a team that I fought side-by-side with as brothers. It's the proudest moment of my life and I'm honored and privileged to know these men."
"Captain William D. Swenson distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving during combat operations against an armed enemy in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on September 8, 2009. On that morning, more than 60 well-armed, well-positioned enemy fighters ambushed Captain Swenson's combat team as it moved on foot into the village of Ganjgal for a meeting with village elders. As the enemy unleashed a barrage of rocket-propelled grenade, mortar and machine gun fire, Captain Swenson immediately returned fire and coordinated and directed the response of his Afghan Border Police, while simultaneously calling in suppressive artillery fire and aviation support. After the enemy effectively flanked Coalition Forces, Captain Swenson repeatedly called for smoke to cover the withdrawal of the forward elements. Surrounded on three sides by enemy forces inflicting effective and accurate fire, Captain Swenson coordinated air assets, indirect fire support and medical evacuation helicopter support to allow for the evacuation of the wounded. Captain Swenson ignored enemy radio transmissions demanding surrender and maneuvered uncovered to render medical aid to a wounded fellow soldier. Captain Swenson stopped administering aid long enough to throw a grenade at approaching enemy forces, before assisting with moving the soldier for air evacuation. With complete disregard for his own safety, Captain Swenson unhesitatingly led a team in an unarmored vehicle into the kill zone, exposing himself to enemy fire on at least two occasions, to recover the wounded and search for four missing comrades. After using aviation support to mark locations of fallen and wounded comrades, it became clear that ground recovery of the fallen was required due to heavy enemy fire on helicopter landing zones. Captain Swenson’s team returned to the kill zone another time in a Humvee. Captain Swenson voluntarily exited the vehicle, exposing himself to enemy fire, to locate and recover three fallen Marines and one fallen Navy corpsman. His exceptional leadership and stout resistance against the enemy during six hours of continuous fighting rallied his teammates and effectively disrupted the enemy's assault. Captain William D. Swenson's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Task Force Phoenix, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division and the United States Army."
"Her colleagues consistently choose her for leadership positions in recognition of her common sense and hard work."
"Judge Becker’s many written decisions establish her as a fair and balanced judge, one who knows how to look at a case from all sides and resolve it with the quiet voice of legal reasoning."
"Dale had a super underrated drum sound, whether that was live or recorded — he was second to none."
"When you write, you can hide behind your words. When you talk, you are up front, like the clown in the midway booth; any passer-by can bean you with a ball."
"Thank God for reflex decisions; they are the sine qua non of serenity. Suppose you had to decide afresh each day whether or not to brush your teeth?"
"All flowers are flirtatious—particularly if they carry hyphenated names. The more hyphens in the name, the flirtier the flower."
"I scraped the last of the rice from my mess kit and looked out across the little clearing. My aides, Major Johnny Pugh and Captain Tom Dooley, were walking up to the battered trailer that served as my headquarters on Bataan. "About time to go, General," Johnny said. "General Sutherland said the boat would be at Mariveles at noon." I got up, put on my tin lid, and got a leg up on our jeep. We bumped down the pretense of a road to the piers of the little village that sits on the southern tip of the peninsula. My orderly, Sergeant Hubert Carroll, kept one weather-beaten eye on the air above our jeep all the way to Mariveles. But this day- March 10, 1942- there was no strafing. At least not for us."
"To the American and Filipino officers and soldiers who gave their lives in the defense of the Philippines"
"Distinguished himself by intrepid and determined leadership against greatly superior enemy forces. At the repeated risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in his position, he frequented the firing line of his troops where his presence provided the example and incentive that helped make the gallant efforts of these men possible. The final stand on beleaguered Corregidor, for which he was in an important measure personally responsible, commanded the admiration of the nation's allies. It reflected the high morale of American arms in the face of overwhelming odds. His courage and resolution were a vitally needed inspiration to the then sorely pressed freedom-loving peoples of the world."
"There is no freer man alive than a captain of cavalry in command of his own troop."
"The place of theologians in the church is very important. In the church, we should be about the business of relationships, building up unity. The bishop is a sign of unity. He should be a good witness to the spirituality and theology we profess. That doesn't mean we're going to agree on everything. Theologians are on the cutting edge of development. They're always probing, and so there will always be some tension. Ultimately, the magisterium of the church keeps us centered."
"Anachronistic as this labyrinthine mythology may appear to the foreign mind, many of India's ancient theories about the universe are startlingly modem in scope and worthy of a people who are credited with the invention of the zero, as well as algebra and its application of astronomy and geometry; a people who so carefully observed the heavens that, in the opinion of Monier- Williams, they determined the moon's synodical revolution much more correctly than the Greeks." This notion of the sleeping and waking, or contracting and expanding, of the Life Force, so long a part of Hindu cosmology, has recently been expressed in relevant terms in an article written for a British scientific journal by Professor Fred Hoyle, Britain's foremost astronomer. " "Plainly, contemporary Western science's description of an astronomical universe of such vast magnitude that distances must be measured in terms as abstract as light-years is not new to Hinduism whose wise men, millennia ago, came up with the term kalpa to signify the inconceivable duration of the period elapsing between the beginning and end of a world system." "It is clear that Indian religious cosmology is sharply at variance with that inherited by Western peoples from the Semites. On the highest level, when stripped of mythological embroidery, Hinduism's conceptions of space, time and multiple universes approximate in range and abstraction the most advanced scientific thought." "Hinduism created such arresting icons as the divine two-in-one embrace of Shiva and Shakti; or Shiva alone, half male, half female, or the two-sided figure of Hari-Hara, an expression of the seemingly "opposite" creative-destructive forces of Vishnu and Shiva embodied in one being"
"The fate of man might very well depend on what we’re doing. He’s doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, but it’s still the right thing."
"“All right, lady, I’m woodsy. So what? If you don’t like the way I look, don’t look at me. I don’t have any parents, and I wear rags because that’s all I can find to wear. I don’t see where that’s any of your business, though. I’m too busy staying alive to worry about how I look, and if you don’t like it that way, well, that’s just too bad.” Andine was gaping at Gher. “People don’t talk to me that way!” she gasped. “Not to your face, maybe,” Gher shot back, “but I think if you’d close your mouth and listen to other people once in a while, you might find out what they really think of you. But you don’t want to know, do you? I wasn’t raised in a palace the way you were, lady. I grew up in a garbage heap, so I don’t have fancy manners.” “I don’t have to listen to this!” “Maybe you don’t have to, but you really should. I breathe in and out the same as you do, lady, and you don’t own the air, so it belongs to me as much as it does to you. Just back away, lady. You make me even sicker than I make you.”"
"Althalus took the child by the scruff of the neck and hauled him to the fire. “I didn’t do anything!” the child protested in a shrill voice, struggling to get free. “That’s probably because you’re too clumsy for this line of work.""
"A really good thief shouldn’t have to kill people."
"“I’m pretty good at that. There were a lot of things I did when I was just a boy that I didn’t tell her about. I didn’t come right out and lie to her, of course. A boy should never lie to his mother, but now and then things sort of slipped my mind. You know how that can happen.” “Oh, yes.” Althalus laughed. “Things have been slipping my mind for as long as I can remember.”"
"Religion’s based on a desire to know what’s going to happen in the future. Astrologers believe that the stars control that."
"“Well . . .” Andine looked helplessly at the cat in her lap. “She’s so adorable,” the girl said, catching Emmy up in her arms and snuggling her face up to the furry captor of her heart. “You noticed,” Althalus said drily. “Don’t try to fight her, because she always wins. Just give her all your love and do as she tells you to do. You might as well, because she’ll cheat to get what she wants if she has to.”"
""His father was killed in a war several years ago, and Eliar became his mother’s only support. [...] [His] mother needed his soldier’s pay to keep eating. [...] Your father was unlucky enough to get in his way while he was showing his veneration for his parents. Isn’t that sort of what you were doing when you were planning to kill him before Althalus came along?” “It’s not the same thing at all, Bheid [...] My father was the Aryo of Osthos. Eliar’s father was just a common soldier.” “And do you believe that Eliar loved his father less than you loved yours? We all love and revere our parents, Andine, and the peasant or common soldier loves—and grieves—as deeply as the aristocrat. You might want to think about that just a bit before you launch yourself into your next tirade.”"
"“Class distinctions are an impediment to understanding, Althalus,” Bheid told him, “and anything that interferes with understanding should be discarded.” “You might want to give some thought to keeping that particular opinion tucked up under your arm, Bheid,” Althalus advised. “It won’t make you very popular in certain quarters.”"
"“You’ve got some fairly radical opinions for a member of the priesthood, Bheid,” Althalus suggested. “The goal of mankind should be justice, Althalus. In their hearts, men really want to be just and kindly, but other things get in the way. It’s the duty of the priesthood to keep man on the right course.” “Isn’t it just a little early in the day for these dense philosophical discussions?” Althalus asked. “It’s never too early—or too late—to learn, my son,” Bheid proclaimed sententiously. “Now, that’s really offensive.” Bheid gave him a mischievous little smirk. “I’m glad you liked it,” he said."
"“You’re forcing me to violate one of my most sacred vows.” “Oh, I’m sorry. We won’t do it that way then. We’ll just kill everybody in this part of Kweron instead. You’ll be standing waist-deep in blood, but your soul will be all nice and clean. Won’t that make you proud?” “Monstrous!” “It’s entirely up to you, Bheid. You can either be a swindler or a butcher. Take your pick.”"
"“What did you do to Andine to bring her around? She didn’t really want to sell Eliar to me.” I persuaded her to love me more than she hated him. “I thought you couldn’t do that sort of thing out here.” I didn’t create her love, pet. All I did was encourage it. Andine’s very young and very passionate. She loves—and hates—with her blood and bones, and she loves even more intensely than she hates. All I had to do to unleash her love was to be adorable. I’m an expert at that, if you’ll recall. “I still think you’re cheating, Em.” No, not really. Andine’s very pretty, and she smells nice. She’s soft and warm, and that voice of hers throbs like a bell. She’s very easy to love, and she responds to love with love of her own. I didn’t cheat her, Althalus. I did love her—and I still do. “I thought you were supposed to love only me.” What a ridiculous idea. Just because I love her, it doesn’t mean that I love you less. My love is boundless, you know."
"“That information is not supposed to be in the hands of the general population. Ordinary people aren’t equipped to deal with it.” “Ordinary people are probably much wiser than you think they are, Reverend [...] Every family has a few black sheep. There’s nothing really unusual about it."
"“If he’s only a boy, what was he doing in a war?” “He comes from a warrior culture. They start earlier than civilized people do. It was his first war, and it was supposed to be a quiet one. The half-wit who sits on the throne in Kanthon got carried away, though, so he ordered the soldiers he’d hired from Eliar’s Clan Chief to invade your father’s territory. It was a stupid thing to do, and it wasn’t supposed to happen. It was his fault that your father got killed, not Eliar’s. Eliar was only following orders. The whole business was the result of a series of stupid mistakes, but that’s what most wars are all about, I guess. Nobody ever really wins a war, when you get right down to it.”"
"If you’d keep your nose out of things that don’t concern you, you wouldn’t hear so much that offends you."
"“Dear God!” Althalus exclaimed, brushing away more dust. He’s busy right now, Althalus. Could I take a message?"
"Getting some of your people killed is part of the business of command."
"“I’m stinking rich, Em,” he said exuberantly. I’ve been noticing that for several days now. You’re long overdue for a bath. “That’s not what I meant, little kitten.” It should have been. You’re strong enough to curdle milk."
"You want gold, I suppose? she asked in an accusatory tone. “Oh, gold’s all right, I suppose, but I’d really rather get paid in love. Love can’t be counted, so it’s probably even more valuable than gold.”"
"You’ve seen all those red rocks in Plakand, haven’t you? “Oh, yes. Plakand’s red from one end to the other.” There’s a metal called iron in those rocks. Men couldn’t smelt it out of those rocks until they learned how to make hotter fires. Iron is harder than bronze, but it’s brittle. It has to be mixed with other metals to make weapons or tools. “It’s completely replaced bronze, then?” For most things, yes. “It might be better than bronze, but it’s not as pretty.""
"Somehow you’ve managed to redefine the concept of evil. In your view, evil’s no more than a disagreement about the way things are supposed to be."
"On a number of occasions Althalus even managed to get close enough to him to be able to hear him talking. He actually grew to be rather fond of the chubby little fellow, but that’s not unusual, really. When you get right down to it, a wolf is probably quite fond of deer."
"We’re going out to save the world. It’s only right and proper that the people along the way should lend a hand, isn’t it?"
"The word “coincidence” always seems to start religious arguments for some reason."
"I don’t like to contaminate a good story with truth, Em. That’d be a violation of my artistic integrity, wouldn’t it?"
"There’s a girl who can probably cut glass with her voice from a mile away [...] Andine’s got the kind of voice you can’t really ignore."
"Why do men always want to tamper with the natural order of things? “When something breaks, we fix it, that’s all.” What gave you the absurd idea that [the world]’s broken? “It’s not the way it was before, Em. To our way of looking at things, that means that it’s broken.” [...] Change doesn’t necessarily mean improvement, Althalus. Change is just change. “Better” and “worse” are human definitions. The world changes all the time, and no amount of complaining’s going to stop it from changing."
"“You’re a slave trader, then?” Althalus shrugged deprecatingly. “It’s a living, your Highness. Slaves are a valuable commodity. I buy them in places where they’re an inconvenience and take them to places where they can be put to work to pay for their keep. Everybody benefits, really. The one who sells them to me gets gold, and the one who buys them gets laborers.” “What do the slaves get?” “They get fed, your Highness. A slave doesn’t have to worry about where his next meal’s coming from. He gets fed even when the crops fail or the fish aren’t biting.” "Our philosophers tell us that slavery’s an evil.” “I don’t concern myself with philosophy, your Highness. I take the world as I find it. I’m prepared to offer ten Perquaine gold wheats for every able-bodied young captive you’d care to sell.”"
"“I’d pay a premium for this one, your Highness.” “That one isn’t for sale[.]” “Everything’s for sale, your Highness,” Althalus replied with a cynical laugh."
""... Can you pretend to be stupid?” Eliar made a rueful kind of face. “Ma’am,” he said, “I’m a country boy from the highlands of Arum. We invented stupid.”"
"Corruption’s a lot of fun, Em. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to try it?"