Proverbs that Might be True, pt. 5

Barbarism is not a picturesque myth or a half-forgotten memory of a long-passed stage of history, but an ugly underlying reality that may erupt with shattering force whenever the moral authority of a civilization is lost.

Christopher Dawson

(Ok, so it's a bit long for a proverb, I admit...)

Jesus Stirs in Us

"It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal."

- JP II

Proverbs that Might Be True, pt. 4

Men must be governed by God, or they will be
ruled by tyrants.

-William Penn

Proverbs That Might Be True, pt. 3

We love to the degree that we see ourselves as loved.

-St. Catherine of Siena

Proverbs That Might Be True, pt. 2

Life is pain, princess. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.

-The Dread Pirate Roberts, "The Princess Bride"

Proverbs That Might Be True, pt. 1

I am going to start a new series of random aphorisms and proverbs that I either make up or hear from other untrustworthy sources. PLEASE give me feedback on these. If nothing else, they might be cool conversation starters. Here's the first one:

Silence is nine tenths of discretion, and discretion is nine tenths of prudence.

- Le sage, c'est moi

A Good Proverb for America

"Bis interimitur qui suis armis perit,"

said Publilius Syrus in the last century before the birth of Our Lord. We as a nation would do well to listen to it as we sell bombs and bombers and God-knows-what-else to anybody who will buy them. How many of our enemies have we armed? Both Saddam Hussein and the Taliban certainly, and maybe Chavez's army. Did we think we could buy their love by arming them to kill our mutual enemies?

"He is slain twice who by his own weapons perishes."