The Bill of Rights

Amendments I-X of the Constitution of the United States

Random quotes from around the region and nation

"Forget your opponents; always play against par."
-- Sam Snead, on playing golf

"There's nothing more powerful than beauty in an evil world."
-- graffiti, Malaprops Bookstore, Asheville NC

"Go play golf. Go to the golf course. Hit the ball. Find the ball. Repeat until the ball is in the hole. Have fun. The end."
-- Chuck Hogan

"Sex. The blessing and the bane of humankind since we first stood upright and became aware. An act that can spark life, bond lives, ruin lives. This is big magic. Major mojo. The place where the carnal and the mystical meet. A doorway to a higher plane. Or a sweaty, animal frolic. Either. Both."
-- Kate Reynolds, "a graphic designer, writer and bon vivant," originally from Key West FL, Finding God in the Bedroom, Western North Carolina Woman, 9/08

"The proposed [Wise County VA Dominion] 585-megawatt plant is designed with conventional technology and would emit up to 5.4 million tons of global warming gases each year. At that level, the plant would increase by almost 15% Virginia's entire carbon output, putting Virginia ahead of California which has five times the population. The plant would also emit high levels of mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particle dust."
-- Catherin McCue in the article "Dominion must change, citizens say," covering a well-attend Richmond VA rally in opposition to construction, Appalachian Voices, early summer 2008

"Golf is the 'only-est' sport. You're completely alone with every conceivable opportunity to defeat yourself."
-- Hale Irwin

"... Many of the artists explored the notion of the handbag as a cultural symbol, often with a dash of irreverence. Mr. Gupta produced 'All Things Are Inside,' a video installation that is a meditation on people in transit, like an Indian laborer who returns from Dubai. It also includes clips from Indian films in which the handbag emerges as an element in a human drama. Blue Noses created 'Fifty Years After Our Common Era or Handbags Revolt,' an installation of packing boxes in which videos show satirical moments in the life of a handbag. Ms. Fleury created a giant Pop Art-style quilted handbag lined with pink fur; inside is a makeup compact in which you can view a video of women shooting handbags with guns...."
-- A 7,500-Square-Foot Ad for Chanel With an Artistic Mission, by Carol Vogel, New York Times 7/24/08

"... whatever you're getting into, enjoy it and laugh till you cry."
-- Sandi Tomlin-Sutker, Editor, WNC Woman Western North Carolina Woman, 9/08

"They're all lined up at/ the Paradise for Fools/ Where they give you ten to twenty/ if you dare to break the rules/ Take it to the streets,/ give your senator a call/ Rip up all the subways, tear/ down the golden walls."
-- from the album Have A Good Time But Get Out Alive by Joe Grushecky, musician/songwriter and special-ed teacher, from Paste magazine, signs of life in music, film and culture," April 2008

"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time."
-- Robin Williams

"The big trick in putting is not method -- the secret of putting is domination of the nerves."
-- Henry Cotton, on playing golf

"We may lead the world in categories like gross domestic product, average house size, and ownership of color TVs, but we also 'lead' the industrial nations in debt per capita, the child poverty rate, overall poverty rate, ratio of people in prison, rate of traffic fatalities, murder rate, carbon dioxide emissions per capita, and the per capita consumption of energy and water.... Americans also rank near the bottom among industrial nations in health per unit of food, spending the least for food (as a percentage of income) but the most for health care. In spite of these expenditures, we've fallen to 42nd place in the world for longevity, ranking below Guam and just above Albania. We're also 42nd in infant mortality but No. 1 in obesity, pumping 1 billion extra gallons of gas each year to carry the excess weight -- enough to fuel 1.7 million cars, according to a University of Illinois study. Coincidentally, Americans are no longer the tallest population in the world; the Dutch are. (In fact, most European populations are, on average, taller than the average American). Researcher John Komlos of the University of Munich speculates that the EU's emphasis on social safety nets, especially in the critical childhood years, may be responsible. De Graaf, co-author of 'Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic,' agrees. 'A 30-year trend of income tax cuts for the rich has decreased quality of life overall in the U.S.,' he says. 'In contrast, Western European countries invested in their social contracts. Strategic investments in health care, education, transportation, and common space reduced the need [and desire] of individuals to maximize their own incomes.'... In one study reported by Dr. Dean Ornish in his book 'Love and Survival,' men and women who were about to have open-heart surgery were asked two questions: 'Do you draw strength from your religious faith?' and 'Are you a member of a group of people who get together on a regular basis?' Those who said 'no' to both questions were dead within six months, compared to only 3 percent of those who said 'yes' to both questions. Another primordial human need is connection with nature. When people view slides of nature, their blood pressure counts fall. Hospital patients with a view of trees go home sooner than those whose view is a brick wall. When people with ADHD spend time in nature, the results are often as effective as Ritalin.... We're beginning to carefully examine the value we get for the huge amounts of money we spend, and owe. By changing a few key priorities and perspectives, we can take better care of our kids, the environment, and ourselves, rediscovering a mother lode of real wealth woven right into our everyday lives."
-- The Fabric of America Is Fraying as the Economic Downturn Continues, By David Wann, Denver Post, July 26, 2008, AlterNet

"A man can sleep around, no questions asked, but if a woman makes nineteen or twenty mistakes she's a tramp."
-- Joan Rivers

"An evangelical Christian quoted a Hindu. A rabbi came to the table with an Episcopal priest. The causes that brought them together with 300 others from diverse faith traditions was a commitment to care for the environment. They gathered May 29 through 31 at the Center for Environment at Catawba College in Salisbury to participate in an interfaith conference on Faith, Spirituality and Environmental Stewardship."
-- Juanita Teschner in the article "Care of Creation," Appalachian Voices, early summer 2008

"Boys are like slinkies: useless, but it's fun to watch them fall down the stairs."
-- graffiti, Malaprops Bookstore, Asheville NC

"The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit."
-- Wade Davis

"She's descended from a long line her mother listened to."
-- Gypsy Rose Lee

"We stand on the side of love."
-- Rev. John Shuck, First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville TN, quoted in J.C. Press 7/30/08

"[The death penalty doesn't seem to answer for] this kind of evil. [Jim D. Adkisson, 58, should] never see the light of day in an orderly society again. This murderer came in and just killed a woman he did not know, and probably had not met. It was not personal. He cared nothing for any of these people.... I wish this man had understood that most of us know we make mistakes and have learned from them.... The liberals that I know are like the conservatives I know. They may criticize each other, but they don't go around shooting each other."
-- Joe Barhart, 76, retired professor and one of four surviving victims of Knoxville Unitarian Church shooting rampage, which killed two, from the hospital where he's been treated for receiving over 20 shotguns pellets into his head and upper body, quoted in J.C. Press, 7/30/08

"[shooting victim Joe] Barhart's longtime friend, Linda Kreeger, 61, died in the attack [at Knoxville Unitarian Church]. Barhart convinced her to move back to his boyhood home of Knoxville last year after both retired from college teaching jobs in Texas.... The gunman entered the back of the sanctuary where 200 people were watching a musical staged by 25 children, including Barhart's 16-year-old granddaughter.... Police found a four-page letter written by Adkisson suggesting he targeted his ex-wife's former congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays."
-- Duncan Mansfield, Associated Press writer, 7/30/08

"We won't stop until somebody calls the cops. And then we'll just start again. And pretend nothing ever happened."
-- graffiti, Malaprops Bookstore, Asheville NC

"Piano students from the studio of June Stuckenbruck-Perry have participated in the Music Teachers National Association Music Achievement Award Program. The program is designed to encourage the students in the teacher's studio to continue their music study and to strive to achieve goals that will help them not only become better musicians but will enhance their love for and appreciation of music.... The goals includes such achievements as performing in a public recital, in churches and in school events. Further, the students composed music, created musical games, studied music history and theory, practical accompanying, sight-reading and more."
-- Johnson City News & Neighbor "The Spirit of Community," 9/13/08

"Legalize bluegrass"
-- slogan imprinted on tee-shirt

"There comes a time when we have to make a choice.... We have to choose whether to live for ourselves alone as we have in the past or for our neighbors and those that come after us. We have a choice between life and death.... Genesis 1 in which God gives humankind 'dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth' ... does not mean to dominate but rather to treat with compassion and care."
-- Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, founder and president of Interfaith Power & Light

"God grant me the patience to change the men I can, the aim to shoot the men I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference."
-- Anonymous

"... My memory is that Rauschenberg said something to the effect that if you walked out of your loft and around the block and could not find enough material to make great art, then you just weren't looking hard enough."
-- Petah Coyne, ARTnews summer 08 "Poet, Explorer, Innovator, Scavenger, Jester"

"I noticed all the things that have gone extinct in my lifetime. There are no caribou in Caribou, Maine; no elms on Elm Street; no chestnuts on Chestnut Street."
-- Dr. Matthew Sleeth [who gave up a lucrative medical practice to sell his large home, buy one the size of his former garage, and devote himself and his family to environmental concerns and lecturing]

"Housework is evil! It must be stopped!"
-- Anonymous

"Europeans demand wonderment of the United States, perhaps because they still regard {F. Scott] Fitzgerald’s 'fresh, green breast of the new world' as their invention. Beyond his bellicosity, Europeans will never forgive George W. Bush his dullness."
-- Bad in Berlin, Perfect in Paris, by Roger Cohen, New York Times 7/28/08

"Euphoria is a perfectly executed heroic shot."
-- Robert Trent Jones Jr., on playing golf

"I believe that there is a powerful relationship between natural history and art, and that museums should employ a multi-disciplinary approach in programming.... As long as I am in charge, arts-related exhibitions will continue to rotate in and out of the museum."
-- Jeanne L. Zavada, director of ETSU's Natural History Museum at the Gray Fossil Site, Gray TN

".... real relationship to God cannot be achieved on earth if real relationships to the world and to mankind are lacking. Both love of the Creator and love of that which [God] has created are finally one and the same."
-- Martin Buber, theologian

"Sometimes I just wish I could pee on the whole wide world."
-- Anonymous

"Rav Zutra helps us see energy effeciency as Jewish law. Bal Tashchit (Torah's prohibition on wasteful or pointless destruction of property or resources) today means it's a mitzvah (commandment) to turn lights of... keep thermostats low... bike, walk or drive cars with good mileage... use reusable plates and cups... use compact fluorescent bulbs."
-- Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, board member of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life and rabbit of Adat Shalom Constructionist Congregation in Bethesda, MD

"Hit the ball and when you find it, hit it again."
-- Don January on how to play golf

"It's difficult to excel at something you don't truly enjoy."
-- Jack Nicklaus

"If you want to understand the stock market, talk to a psychiatrist."
-- anonymous doctor of economics

"Always keep learning. It keeps you young."
-- Patty Berg

"Experience is not what happens to a man. It's what a man does with what happens to him."
-- Chuck Knox

"Once a day, do something for somebody else."
-- Lou Holtz

"Golf is like a love affair. If you don't take it seriously, it's no fun; if you do take it seriously, it breaks your heart."
-- Arnold Daly

"In sum, I have no faith in a pure anarchist society, but I do believe in the possibility of creating a new social model. The only thing is that we now have to begin afresh. The unions, the labor halls, decentralization, the federative system -- all are gone. The perverse use that has been made of them has destroyed them. The matter is all the more urgent because all our political forms are exhausted and practically nonexistent. Our parliamentary and electoral system and our political parties are just as futile as dictatorships are intolerable. Nothing is left. And this nothing is increasingly aggressive, totalitarian, and omnipresent. Our experience today is the strange one of empty political institutions in which no one has any confidence any more, of a system of government which functions only in the interests of a political class, and at the same time of the almost infinite growth of power, authority, and social control which makes any one of our democracies a more authoritarian mechanism than the Napoleonic state."
-- Jacques Ellul, Anarchy and Christianity

"There are no office hours for champions."
-- Paul Dietzel

"I have no major formula. The only way I know to win is through hard work."
-- Don Shula

"Good things happen to those who hustle."
-- Chuck Noll

"Golf appeals to the idiot in us and the child."
-- John Updike

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it."
-- George Halas

"We compete, not so much against an opponent, but against ourselves. The best test is this: Did I make my best effort on every play?"
-- Bud Wilkinson

"The hardest part for me about writing in Asheville is not being on my mountain bike long enough to do it."
-- Charles Frazier, author of Thirteen Moons, quote in Citizen-Times My Ashville

"If you're going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price than your opponent."
-- Bud Wilkinson

"Success is living up to your potential. That's all."
-- Joe Kapp

"Don't burn your bridges at both ends."
-- Bill Peterson

"The 20th century idea of progress is 'unraveling.' It was a century of record-setting violence, record-setting environmental degradation and record-setting inequality... The thing that is missing is a sense of boundedness or restraint."
-- Gary Gardner, senior researcher at Worldwatch Institute and author of Inspiring Progress: Religions' Contributions to Sustainable Development

"Golf is the most human game of all. You have the same highs and lows -- sometimes in the same round."
-- Lee Trevino

"Love and putting are mysteries for the philosophers to solve. Both subjects are beyond golfers."
-- Tommy Armout

"It was gratifying for those who have held deep convictions about the environment for so long to see a host of new brethren who are coming to share the depth of our feelings about environmental stewardship."
-- Dr. John Wear, founding director of the Center for the Environment at Catawba

"The future isn't what it used to be."
-- Yoggi Berra

"The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law recently declared Florida to be "the most hostile state in the nation to new voters -- particularly in traditionally underserved communities that might otherwise see record-breaking participation in this presidential election year." The number of registered voters in Florida has actually dropped seven percentage points since 2004, to only 65 percent of those eligible.
"Roughly one-third of all eligible Americans, 64 million people, are not registered to vote. This percentage is even higher for African-Americans (30 percent) and Hispanics (40 percent). Shockingly, for those between the ages of 18 and 24, it climbs to 50 percent. Registration rates are directly correlated with income: about 80 percent of those who make $75,000 or more a year are registered to vote, while only about 55 percent of those who make between $15,000 and $24,999 are registered. It's unacceptable for this country's registration rate to be so low."
-- America Is in Major Need of Electoral Reform by Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation), AlterNet 7/7/08

"Feels like dejavu all over again."
-- Yoggi Berra

"In Jesus' real world it is the love of God alone that saves, not violence or any other false god in which we are prone to put our trust."
-- Rev. Paul Seay, pastor, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, Johnson City TN

"When you reach a fork in the road, take it."
-- Yoggi Berra

"For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."
-- I Corinthians 1:25

"When you win, nothing hurts."
-- Joe Namath

"When the telegram came on April 10, 1942, Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Roller of Surgoinsville, Tn., were shocked and sad to learn that they had lost a loved one. 'We regret to inform you that Seaman Rufus Bascome Roller is missing, following action in the line of duty,' the brief wire said. The Roller's 24 year old son had enlisted in the United States Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and had been trained as a gunner. The last word they had received from him was a letter, mailed in March, telling them that he was going on sea duty and would write them again, when possible. Depressed and sorrowful over their loss, the Rollers found some comfort in the expressions of sympathy from friends and neighbors. But it was a sad time, and their hearts were grieved. But on Saturday, March 2, a letter came. It was from Rufus! The young sailor had returned from the dead! Seaman Roller's ship had been attacked by a submarine's torpedo, and had sunk within six minutes of the blast. Roller and others aboard had been thrown into the water, but he had managed to get to a small raft, along with five other buddies. The sailors had such a small supply of food and water aboard the raft, they rationed themselves to one half cup of water each day along with 8 crackers, the only food on the raft. For more than 3 weeks they floated on the waves, suffering from sunburn and exposure to the salt water. At last, after 22 days, a passing tanker spotted the survivors and their raft, and rescued them. Roller and his friends were taken to a hospital in Canada, where they were admitted for treatment. Roller had lost ten pounds during the ordeal, and his feet were in bad shape from constant exposure to salt water for the three week period. In his letter, young Roller assured his parents that he was alive and well, and rapidly recovering. He was anxious, he said, to get back to sea and get a crack at the subs. But before that, he said, he expected a month's leave at home, in about three more weeks...."
-- Washington County News, 8/8-14/08, "Cry Havoc and Loose the Dogs of War," part of a continuing story at Kingsport Daily News

"If you want to walk the heavenly streets of gold, you gotta know the password, 'Roll, tide, roll!'"
-- Bear Bryant

"More than 80% of Americans think the U.S. health system needs either fundamental change or a complete overhaul, according to a survey released Thursday... the Harris Interactive poll found -- just as another poll found that health insurance costs have doubled for Americans since 1996.... About 47 million Americans do not have insurance. In the poll, which surveyed a random sample of 1,004 U.S. adults in May, 32% agreed the system needed complete rebuilding, while 50% thought it required fundamental change."
-- Washington County News, 8/8-14/08

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
-- Woody Hayes

"Our Appalachian identity with its music, stories, song and dance is something we can be proud of and must share with others to keep it alive. It is an identity that enriches all who experience it."
-- Joe Sam Queen, Director, 37th Annual Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, Lake Junaluka, NC

"Butterflies are not insects, they are self-propelled flowers."
-- Capt. John Sterling

"The desire to matter, to make a mark, to mean something, never gets dated."
-- Joe Grushecky

"When asked if Fayetteville was the end of the world, 'No, but you can see it from here.'"
-- Lou Holtz

"I'd like to meet the man who invented sex and see what he's working on now."
-- anonymous

"And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of Heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever."
-- Daniel 12:3 (quoted at the beginning of The Celestine Prophecy)

"Lads, you're not to miss practice unless your parents died, or you died."
-- rank Leahy

"Always remember -- Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David."

"I have had maintenance sex, obligatory sex, passionate sex, hotel sex, outdoor sex, make-up sex, vacation sex, mercy sex, quiet sex, loud sex, loving sex and anonymous sex.... The physical emotional connection achieved through sex is huge. Being completely vulnerable on all levels with another human being creates the opportunity to commune with another soul-to-soul. [Orgasm]... is a sacred euphoria.... Being aware of breathing patterns, moans and how you both come to orgasm are all important elements of a meaningful encounter.... Be generous.... Be adventurous. And most of all know that this God-given gift was meant to be used.... There is a powerful creative energy that is unleashed through our root chakra when we have sex.... I encourage you to open up to this part of you.... Feel deeply and live fully.... It will keep you close to those you love and remind you of all the blessings in your life."
-- Rev. Barbara Waterhouse (co-minister, Center for Creative Living, A Science of Mind Spiritual Community, Asheville NC), Women and Power: The Power of Sex, Western North Carolina Woman, 9/08

"Son, you've got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel."
-- Bobby Bowdett

"The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the greatest liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth."
-- Henry Louis Mencken

"A student undergoing a word-assocation test was asked why a snowstorm put him in mind of sex. He replied frankly: 'Because everything does.'"
-- Honor Tracy

"Football is not a contact sport -- it is a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport."
-- Duffy Daugherty

"...his foremost inclination has always been toward education and wellness. His initiatives toward rekindling creativity in higher education while rejecting slavish mindsets are clearly aimed at helping Indians attain their rightful place on the global stage. A strong proponent of India's Vedantic heritage that seeks to reconcile individual accomplishment and collective happiness, Rai is also credited with introducing in Indian higher education a unique Life Skills for Life program aimed at equipping both students and teachers with innovative entrepreneurial, problem-solving and responsible mindsets. This value-based orientation to education is renewing sensibilities and resetting standards for youth and adults alike."
-- cover to Rethinking India by Rai

"We live one day at a time and scratch where it itches."
-- Darrell Royal

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling."
-- Margaret Lee

"If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education."
-- Murray Warmath

"I know nothing about sex because I was always married."
-- Zsa Zsa Gabor

"Oh, we played about like three tons of buzzard puke this afternoon."
-- Spike Dykes

"You can come out of the furnace of trouble two ways: if you let it consume you, you come out a cinder; but there is a kind of metal which refuses to be consumed, and comes out a star."
-- Jean Church

"Babies are a nuisance, of course. But so is everything seem to be that is worth while. We have to choose between barren ease and rich unrest."
-- Winfred Holtby

"... As the lighthouse guides the boats in to safety/ the women guide in the men...."
-- Tamara Nesbet in the poem "Stonington"

"The American Dream, alive and well, flourished in the 1950s. After two world wars, adults worked diligently to build a country. Families gathered around the first televisions, black and white, to glimpse far away places as jet planes carried prosperity across the continents.... It was a hopeful time, an uncomplicated time...."
-- belinda dunn in "sisters," WNC Woman, 8/08

"We didn't tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking."
-- John McKay

"... when does shock outweigh artistic value in work that is designed to be provocative? And in a global culture jaded by graphic movies, rap songs, and deliberately repulsive reality TV, is such a question even relevant? Since the early 1970s when Christ Burden had himself publicly shot in the arm and Vito Acconci masturbated under a gallery floor as his audience walked above him, performance, installation, and video art have increasingly pushed the envelope into new, often transgressive territory.... taking into account not only First Amendment rights but an artist's traditional role of challenging the status quo, is there a point beyond which art can go too far?... 'Something's being a work of art doesn't excuse you from moral considerations,' says critic Arthur Danto.... he [Tom Eccles, former director of the Public Art Fund and current executive director of the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College] says, 'It's not about what the public should or shouldn't be exposed to; it's what you should or shouldn't be complicit in.... Humiliating people permanently within an artwork in public is for me the antithesis of what we hope an artwork will do.'... Says [collector Mera] Rubell, 'It is all about how much you trust the intention of the artist.' ... The Whitney Museum's director, Adam Weinberg, explains, 'Our role has been, historically, to follow the lead of artists, and that can mean territory that is not so comfortable, even for curators and directors of institutions.' ... Still, Alanna Heiss, director of P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, points out that a publicly funded museum has a 'moral contract.' She says, '... There is no legal obligation, but we feel that it is our duty to inform people about visual information that may be explicit or challenging.' ... In P.S.1's recent show 'WACK!' which covered a wide swath of feminist art, a sign outside a room filled with photographs of variously splayed vaginas warned, 'Please note this exhibition contains graphic content.' ... [Marina] Abramovic reenacted famous performances in 'Seven Easy Pieces,' at the Guggenheim Museum during the biennial series Performa 2005. They included Acconci's masturbation piece, Seedbed (1972), and one of her works, Lips of Thomas (1975), in which [naked] she carves a star into her stomach with a razor blade, lies on a crucifix of ice, and then whips herself.... 'I always think the public can go much farther than the artist himself can go,' she explains, 'because we know our limits and there's some kind of ethics there. But the public actually can kill you if you give them entire control of the situation.' ... As to why one would employ bodily harm at all, Abramovic answers, 'In order to transcend the body. The reason for doing these art actions was not just to hurt myself and see how far it could go,' she insists. 'It's all about elevating the spirit and eliminating fear. It aims very high, and the body is just a tool, and once the body is just a tool, you can go very far. A razor can be like a pencil. Sometimes you need to disturb in order to make the space for somebody to think.' ... For Acconci, the 'point beyond which art shouldn't be pushed is when you start to make a fool of the viewer, take advantage of the viewer's gulllibility. That's immoral.' He adds, 'I don't like art where the artist becomes all-powerful and either people are used as material or the audience is being turned into a kind of sucker.' ... There are, of course, artists who manage to inspire debate without resorting to such extremes. John Currin, known for his meticulous painting technique, has used imagery that could be considered both sexist and pornographic -- from women with Dolly Parton-esque figures to people engaged in polymorphous sexual activities. Says Currin, 'I don't intend to be provocative. That's not really something that I consider part of the meaning of my work. I'm still working with pornographic images, and it actually upsets me that it might provoke.'... Beauty may be nothing but the 'beginning of Terror, we're still just able to bear,' as Rainer Maria Rilke put it...."
-- ARTnews summer 08 "How far is TOO far?" by Phoebe Hoban

"Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this Football."
-- John Husman

"We realize that when times are tough, one of the first areas that gets cut is charitable donations."
-- Mark Matteau, founder and owner of The SleepZone Mattress Center, Johnson City and Kingsport, announcing Give Back program donating 3% of purchase price to consumer-chosen charity

"I could have been a Rhodes scholar, except for my grades."
-- Duffy Daugherty

"I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' to a nation that did not call on my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people.'"
-- Isaiah 65:1-2

"It's not your life. It's not your wife. It's only a game."
-- Lloyd Mangrean, on playing golf

"So I will bless thee as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on thy name."
-- Psalm 63:4

"I've found that prayers work best when you have big players."
-- Knute Rockne

"Our heart has dreams, gifts and callings deposited inside it to accomplish God's purpose and destiny. Our hearts were created to be the original dwelling place of God, the sacred sanctuary, and there is a beautiful mystery about such a place. While we live in this world, our hearts and souls can be branded by God with an internal compass directing us to live higher, where our spiritual ears are engaged to hear His voice. We long for vision, blissful rest, perfect protection, and eternal value."
-- LIFE today, based on devotions from The Original Sanctuary by Marc Owings

"Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries."
-- Douglas Casey

"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world."
-- Joel Barker

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
-- Ronald Reagan

"One of the functions of organized religion is to attempt to explain and codify the great mysteries, and allowing individuals to take responsibility for their own spirituality and sexuality might be considered as wise as letting children play with matches. But how else can we learn to harness fire?"
-- Kate Reynolds, Finding God in the Bedroom, Western North Carolina Woman, 9/08

"He celebrated life, both the dark and the light."
-- Polly Apfelbaum, ARTnews summer 08 "Poet, Explorer, Innovator, Scavenger, Jester"

"... there was a real emphasis on being open to the experience of the work rather than feeling that one needed to have things all wrapped up in advance. He understood that the work could be a kind of adventure, and that, for me, was the most important thing."
-- Jessica Stockholder, ARTnews summer 08 "Poet, Explorer, Innovator, Scavenger, Jester"

"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
-- Ronald Reagan

"I took away from Rauschenberg the willingness to make a fool of yourself in public, in the best possible way. That gives you permission as a young artist to say, 'Well, let's try this.' It's that freedom, that willingness not to take yourself so seriously, that I loved about him."
-- Ellen Harvey, ARTnews summer 08 "Poet, Explorer, Innovator, Scavenger, Jester"

"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session."
-- Mark Twain

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."
-- Will Rogers

"... The other thing that stays with me is the intimacy of the work. There's a poetic quality to his choices -- a bed is the location for sex, death, birth. He always retains a certain small-scale touch, no matter how large the work. The idea of taking the commonplace and the banal and imbuing it with a sense of intimacy comes straight from Rauschenberg.... his mother made Rauschenberg shirts out of scraps of fabric and once made herself a skirt out of the back of the suit that her brother was buried in. It seems to be true of all great artists that even their mature works can contain this kind of resonance, even though you may not know the exact narrative."
-- Sarah Sze, ARTnews summer 08 "Poet, Explorer, Innovator, Scavenger, Jester"

"Local girls have a great new playground to enjoy, thanks to the efforts of local volunteers. The playground has been a combined effort of over 750 hours of volunteer work by board members and other volunteers.... The playground was started on May 15 and completed by July 1. '... we had to haul all the dirt out by wheelbarrow. That was a lot of fun! there was lots of sore backs,' [Chairman Michael Ray] said. The [Ray of Sunshine Playground] started as part of the 'Healthy Girl Initiative.' 'The obesity rate is so high we wanted to get the girls into some fitness and the playground equipment is designed for fitness not just for fun,' he said. Girls, Inc. has also changed to having more healthful snacks and offers programs about obesity, fitness and the importance of exercise."
-- The Johnson City News and Neighbor, "The Spirit of the Community," 8/15/08

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"The only difference betwween a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin."
-- Mark Twain

"They have to practice at home every day, and if they don't practice you can tell. And it affects the rest of the band if somebody doesn't do their part. We have to spend 15 minutes of everybody's time getting their part right.... I'm thinking about becoming a Navy SEAL, actually. It's really appealing to me -- a lot of adventure. Danger is there, too, but as long as you do everything right -- follow instructions -- you'll be all right. They aren't the best in the world for nothing.... If the musicians play everything right, everything will come together and it'll create something that's really amazing, really beautiful."
-- Michael Ramirez, 17-year-old trombone player for the Homeschool Symphonic Band and twice-named to the Statewide Honors Band, Unicoi TN, from August 2008 A! Magazine interview with Dotties Havlik, President of the Board of Directors of Arts Alliance Mountain Empire and Chair of AAME's Arts for Youth Committee

"What this country needs are more unemployed politicians."
-- Edward Langley

"The summer edition of Now and Then: the Appalachian Magazine, published by East Tennessee State University, is themed 'Urbane Appalachia.' According to editor Fred Sauceman, 'We hope this issue shapes perceptions, and that readers who may only be vaguely familiar with our rich, varied, and complex region come to see no tension between the words urbane and Appalachia.'... Arts-related articles include a look at the 100-year anniversary of John Fox, Jr.'s book The Trail of the Lonesome Pine; the resurgence of individual bookstores; the flourishing of symphony orchestras in Appalachia; profiles of Appalachian classical masters Kenton Coe and Edgar Meyer; and three articles about the culinary arts. As with each issue, some of Appalachia's best poets contribute their works, and noteworthy Appalachian books and CDs are reviewed."
-- A! Magazine, August 2008

Signs on:
bar: "Lunch now being poured"
country shop: "We buy junk and sell antiques"
demolition truck: "Edifice Wrecks"
divorce lawyer's office: "Satisfaction guaranteed or your honey back"
elevator door: "The elevator is out of whack.... more whack on order"
plumber truck: "Don't sleep with a drip. Call your plumber."
shoe shine stand: "One shoe shined absolutely free."
-- from "Creative Signage" by Bill Derby, The Johnson City News and Neighbor, 7/19/08

"If the trends of the past three decades continue, it's possible that every American adult could be overweight 40 years from now, a government-funded study projects.... two-thirds of the population is already overweight."
-- Washington County News, 8/8-14/08

".... Japan struggles with the world's fastest growing elderly population and a workforce that is forecast to shrink, potentially devastating the economy."
-- Washington County News, 8/8-14/08

"Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass -- recently living organisms or their metabolic by-products, such as manure from cows. It is a renewable energy source, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal and nuclear fuels. Agricultural products specifically grown for use as biofuels include corn and soybeans as well as flaxseed and rapeseed. Waste from industry, agriculture, forestry and households can also be used to produce bioenergy; examples includes straw, lumber, manure, sewage, garbage and food leftovers. Most biofuel is burned to release its stored chemical energy. The largest advantage of biofuel in comparison to most other fuel types is that the energy within the biomass can be stored for an indefinite time period, while remaining resistant to all weather conditions with no corrosive behavior.... Sustainable Power Corp. (OTC: SSTP) has received global accolades since 2006 for its research and creation of a celebrated biofueld -- a world-changing discovery and green-energy advancement that is made from 100% renewable resources and yeilds three times more fuel than other methods.... The company's biofuel demonstrates a per-gallon performance rating that's higher than current petroleum products and is made at a fraction of the production cost of any green alternative, providing perhaps the most viable green-energy solution available. For information visit http://www.sustainablepower.com."
-- Washington County News, 8/8-14/08

"Area women attending the monthly luncheon of the Kingsport Tennessee Women's Connection last month sat through a range of emotions as guest speaker Valerie Williams spoke of her frightening ordeal at the hands of an abusive husband whose rage ended with her being shot multiple times. But God works in mysterious ways, and the near death experience brought her not only closer to the Lord but prompted her to write books and to share her experience and faith with others. The Brunswich, Georgia [African-American] author is one of many speakers affiliated with Stonecraft Ministries who share their experiences, faith and messages to many groups.... 'my faith and truth in God brought me through the toughest time in my life. I lost everything and I thought my life had no direction... no purpose but I soon found out that God had spared my life to be a testimony and a witness to many others. As I've trusted Him, He has changed my life and I've found my purpose,' she said. 'I believe all things are possible with God.' Valerie is the author of two books, God's Divine Intervention and Sweet Oil from a Broken Vessel."
-- Washington County News, 8/8-14/08

"Contre qui m'aimez-vous?" ("Against whom do you love me?")
-- unattributed French saying

" 'We the people in order to form a more perfect union....' Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy....
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze -- a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many....
It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances -- for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs -- to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who's been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family....
But what we know -- what we have seen -- is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope -- the audicity to hope -- for what we can and must achieve tomorrow....
It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and whtie children will ultimately help all America prosper. In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand -- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper....
This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected....
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign -- to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I have asserted a firm conviction -- a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people -- that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union...."
-- Barack Obama, A More Perfect Union speech, Philadelphia PA, 3/18/08