WORDS . . .
Collected 1995 . . .

Words . . . 2002-2003

Words . . . 1998-1999

Words . . . 1997

Words . . . 1996

Words . . . 1992-1994



 

"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first."

• Robert Downey, Jr., actor, on PBS's The Charlie Rose Show; 21 December, 1995.

"The 19th Century was the century of the UK. The 20th Century was the century of the U.S.. The 21st Century will be the century of China. - Not Japan - China."

• Jim Rogers, investor, on PBS's The Charlie Rose Show; 18 December, 1995.

"Again, California is leading the way for the whole nation in ground transportation."

• James van Loben Sels, Director of The California Department of Transportation, referring to California's new "laser curtain" technology which automatically charges the bank accounts of commuters (who mount tiny radio transponders on the dashboard of their vehicles) along a ten-mile stretch of highway in Orange County. He was speaking over the honking horns and yelling voices of motorists angry about the four mile traffic jam created by the "laser curtain's" opening ceremony.
• (The Oregonian; 28 December, 1995; p. A15)

"It's a Christmas present for those millions of people in the country trapped in a welfare system that has kept them living in poverty."

• Republican Congressman E. Clay Shaw Jr. of Florida, describing the Republican welfare plan that cancels Medicaid health care for the poor, reduces child care funding for the poor, denies supplemental security income to 320,000 disabled children, and cuts funding for child welfare programs.
• (The Oregonian; 21 December, 1995; p. A14)

"Jesus, the First Palestinian Revolutionary"

• Christmas banner hanging in Bethlehem's Manger Square in December, 1995.
• (The Oregonian; 21 December, 1995; p. A7)

"I want my daughter to grow up around all those conservatives so she'll know how to rebel properly."

• Popular musician Don Henley, Texan, talking about moving to Texas with his new wife and daughter.
• (The Oregonian; 18 December, 1995; p. A2)

"It's the essence of the law that is the problem ."

• Blu Greenberg, author, commenting on Orthodox Jewish divorce law.
• (The Seattle Times; 17 December, 1995; p. A16)

"I remember feeling incredibly anxious about my debt in law school. But after you rack up the first $15,000.00 in loans, it all just begins to seem unreal."

• Nicole Deering, recent graduate of Lewis & Clark University's Northwestern School of Law, and now nearly $60,000.00 in debt.
• (Oregon State Bar Bulletin, "Law Degrees on Credit"; November, 1995; p. 9)

"Our relationship can never be stirred nor shaken."

• U.S. President Bill Clinton, toasting Great Britain (and borrowing James Bond's martini recipe) at a Downing Street state dinner the night before his historic 1995 trip to Ireland.
• (The Oregonian; 1 December, 1995; p. C11)

"They bore in mind one of Lycurgus' statements about long hair; that it renders handsome men better looking, and ugly ones more frightening."

• Ancient writer, Plutarch describing the grooming habits of the esteemed ancient warriors, the Spartans.

". . . [T]he wicked can have only accomplices, the voluptuous have companions in debauchery, self-seekers have associates, the politic assemble the factions, the typical idler has connections, princes have courtiers. Only the virtuous have friends."

• François Arouet (Voltaire), French philosopher.
• Philosophical Dictionary, Amitié: Friendship.

"I mean . . . John would prefer to be alive, I'm sure. Although who knows . . . I've never gotten a postcard from him . . . "

• Living Legend Keith Richards, pausing for a thought about his pal John Lennon .
• (The Oregonian; 15 November, 1995; p. C1)

"Even the state of Florida is shaped like a gun."

• Alternative Diva Courtney Love, waxing philosophically (and geographically) after assault charges against her were dropped by an Orlando, Florida court.
• (The Oregonian; 8 November, 1995; p. A2)

"Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact."

• William Burroughs, quoted in The Birth Of The Beat Generation.
• Steven Watson; Pantheon Books; NY; 1995; Forward (page x).

"How vulnerable we are to those who think of the gun as a legitimate political device."

• New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis, commenting on the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
• (The Oregonian; 6 November, 1995; p. B7)

"Good literature is dangerous."

• Dennis Kilgore, Computer Game Designer, speaking in the hallway of software company Dynamix, Inc.
• Eugene, Oregon; October 1994

"Would you want a jury to read this?"

• According to Joan Feldman, the head of Computer Forensics, Inc., this is the question we should all ask ourselves before transmitting E-mail.
• (The Oregonian; 29 October, 1995; p. C5)

"There's a difference between being SUBTLE and being BORING."

• John A. Lee, Lawyer.
• Shadyside Arabíca Café, Pittsburgh, USA; early February, 1994.

"The problem with self-improvement is knowing when to quit."

• Former Rock Star David Lee Roth.
• (The Oregonian; 27 October, 1995; p. A2)

"Everyone will represent people for sitting-in outside the South African Embassy. We're one of the few offices that will represent people for blowing it up."

• Ron Kuby, law partner of the late William Kunstler.
• (The Oregonian; 17 October, 1995; p. A11)

"Exxon? That's not a corporation. That's a government."

• Jerry Richards, author, publisher, and guy from Montana; explaining reality during a light drizzle, on the corner of 32nd and Burnside in Portland, Oregon.
• October, 1995.

"The people who delight in the failure of the sixties are the people who delight in the failure of dreams."

• Studs Terkel, author, on PBS's The Charlie Rose Show; 13 September, 1995.

"Is there anyone I wouldn't take as a client? . . . Well . . . I'd never represent a banker."

• Gerry Spence, Wyoming Attorney, putting O.J. Simpson's right to effective legal counsel in perspective.
• On CNBC's The Charles Groden Show June, 1995.

" A very short one."

• 120 year-old Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, when asked what kind of future she expects.
• (Eugene Register-Guard; p. 1A; 22 February, 1995)

"I was never very pretty, or ugly either, and aging actually suits me rather well."

• 120 year-old Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, the world's oldest ,documented, living human.
• (Eugene Register-Guard; p. 1A; 22 February, 1995)

"If you listen to Rush Limbaugh and you are a god-fearing Christian and believe in ultra-right things, you are compared to a Nazi."

• Nason Cox, Oregon City, Oregon man who's vanity license plate reads "SIG HIL" (short for "Sieg Heil")
• (Eugene Register-Guard; 14 March, 1995; p. 3C)

"Well, due to peer pressure, I played football in college. If I had spent that time studying, I probably would have gotten further."

• David Packard, visionary engineer who co-founded Hewlett-Packard with $538.00 in 1938, describing his regrets.
• (USA Today; 9 June, 1995; p. 6B)

"The difference between e-mail and regular mail is that computers handle e-mail, and computers never decide to come to work one day and shoot all the other computers."

• Internet posting by Jamais Cascio, quoted in "The Edge" newspaper column.
• (The Oregonian; 8 August, 1995; p. C1, "The Edge")

"If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet"

• Keith Richards
• (The Oregonian; 29 September, 1995; p. D1)

"Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything."

• Bob Dylan
• (The Oregonian; 29 September, 1995; p. D1)

"When you're as rich as I am, you don't have to be political."

• Sting
• (The Oregonian; 29 September, 1995; p. D1)

"O.J. you owe the gangster of Florence and Normandie your life."

• Graffiti spray-painted on the wall of Tom's Liquor at the corner of Florence & Normandie avenues (the flashpoint of L.A.'s 1992 riots) hours after O.J. Simpson's acquittal on charges of murder.
• (The Oregonian; 4 October, 1995; p. A5)

"Hyperbole expands in societies where articulateness atrophies [.]"

• George Will
• (The Oregonian; 4 October, 1995; .C7)

"Humility is indeed beatness, a compulsory virtue that no one exhibits unless he has to."

• William Burroughs, quoted in The Birth Of The Beat Generation.
• Steven Watson; Pantheon Books; NY; 1995; page 3.