On this page
Albert Einstein • Nikola Tesla
• Robert Heinlein ~ Notebooks of Lazarus Long
• Don Juan (on perception)
William Blake • Bill Gates ~ "Rules to live by"
• World Summary •
G B Shaw ~ Communications
Power Beyond Measure ~ Marianne Williamson
• Aristotle •
Montaigne •
Nietzsche • John D. MacDonald
Tecumseh • Confucius
• Founding Fathers •
2nd Amendment •
Achtung! • James Joyce ~ Ulysses (excerpt)
Other quotable resources
Aristotle |
John Adams |Samuel
Adams |
Einstein |
Friedrich Nietzsche |
Nikola
Tesla
Liberty Tree Quotes - Index A
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly."
~ Albert Einstein in a letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the controversial appointment of Bertrand Russell (author of "Principia Mathematica" and "A History of Western Philosophy") to a teaching position, March 19, 1940. Bertrand gained the position but then lost it due to his book "Marriage and Morals." His opinions made him "morally unfit" and therefore unfit to teach.
“Like a flash of lightning and in an instant the truth was revealed. I drew with a stick on the sand the diagrams of my motor. A thousand secrets of nature which I might have stumbled upon accidentally I would have given for that one which I had wrestled from her against all odds and at the peril of my existence.”
“Einsteins relativity work is a magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king... its exponents are brilliant men but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists.” ~ New York Times (11 July 1935), p. 23, c.8
“The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries. If timely, it is quickly adopted; if not, it is apt to fare like a sprout lured out of the ground by warm sunshine, only to be injured and retarded in its growth by the succeeding frost.”
“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.”
~ Nikola Tesla | Nikola Tesla quotes
Nikola Tesla (July 9/July 10, 1856 - January 7, 1943) was a physicist, inventor, and electrical engineer of unusual intellectual brilliance and practical achievement. He was of Serb descent and worked mostly in the United States.
Tesla is most famous for conceiving the rotating magnetic field principle (1882) and then using it to invent the induction motor together with the accompanying alternating current long-distance electrical transmission system (1888). His patents and theoretical work still form the basis for modern alternating current electric power systems.
“Were we to seize and eliminate from our industrial world the result of Mr. Tesla‘s work, the wheels of industry would cease to turn, our electric cars and trains would stop, our towns would be dark, and our mills would be idle and dead. His name marks an epoch in the advance of electrical science.”
~ B. Behrend, Vice President of the Institute of Electrical Engineers
From
The Notebooks of Lazarus
Long
(Who was Lazarus Long)
in
“Time Enough For Love”
{& other publications where noted}
by
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American novelist and science fiction writer. He is one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of "hard science fiction". He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality.
Note: “Time Enough For Love” is a science fiction novella encompassing many worlds and times. Thus, the numerous references below to ships, time, etc.
"History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion -- i.e., none to speak of."
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
“What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell”, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"! What are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always in to an unknown future; facts are your only chance. Get the facts!”
“One man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering. “Supernatural” is a null word.”
“When the need arises — and it does — you must be able to shoot you own dog. Don't farm it out — that doesn't make it nicer, it makes it worse.”
“If the universe has any purpose more important than topping a woman you love and making a baby with her hearty help, I've never heard of it.”
“When the ship lifts, all bills are paid. No regrets.”
“Touch is the most fundamental sense. A baby experiences it, all over, before he is born and long before he learns to use sight, hearing, or taste, and no human ever ceases to need it. Keep your children short on pocket money — but long on hugs.”
“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors — and miss.”
“An armed society is a polite society.”
… Beyond This Horizon“The most preposterous notion that Homo sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest and least productive industry in all history.”
“I’ve never understood how God could expect His creatures to pick the one true religion by faith — it strikes me as a sloppy way to run a universe.”
-Jubal Harshaw, Stranger in a Strange Land“History does not record anywhere a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help.”
“Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense.”
“A monarch’s neck should always have a noose around it. It keeps him upright.”
“Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.”
“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.”
“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”
~ Professor Bernardo de la Paz, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”
“If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you’ll abort it if you do. Be patient and you’ll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait.”
“The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive.”
“Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.”
“Learning isn’t a means to an end; it’s an end in and of itself.”
“… brainpower is the scarcest commodity and the only one of real value.”
“Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool.)”
“ ‘Love’ is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
- Jubal Harshaw, Stranger in a Strange Land“First, what is it you want us to pay taxes for? Tell me what I get and perhaps I’ll buy it.”
~ Manuel O’Kelly, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress“All men are created unequal.”
“History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.”
“A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gamete’s. This may be the purpose of the universe.”
“Everything is excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.”
“Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.”
“Always listen to the experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it.”
“There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know. So why fret about it?”
“Get a shot off fast. This upsets him long enough to let you make your second shot perfect.”
“By the data to date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man — man himself. So he must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him.”
“If it can't be expressed in figures, it is not science; it is opinion.”
“Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.”
“Small change can often be found under seat cushions.”
“Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate — and quickly.”
“Of all the strange ‘crimes’ that human beings have legislated out of nothing, ‘blasphemy’ is the most amazing — with ‘obscenity’ and ‘indecent exposure’ fighting it out for second and third place.”
“The phrase ‘we (I) (you) simply must — ’ designates something that need not be done. ‘That goes without saying’ is a red warning. ‘Of course’ means you had best check it yourself. These small-change clichés and others like them, when read correctly, are reliable channel markers.”
“Never crowd youngsters about their private affairs — sex especially. When they are growing up, they are nerve ends all over, and resent (quite properly) any invasion of their privacy. Oh, sure, they'll make mistakes — but that's their business, not yours. (You made your own mistakes, did you not?)”
“There is only one way to console a widow. But remember the risk.”
“It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier.”
“One man's theology is another man's belly laugh.”
“Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.”
“You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.”
“Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.”
“In a mature society, ‘civil servant’ is semantically equal to ‘civil master’.”
“ ‘No man is an island — ’ Much as we may feel and act as individuals, our race is a single organism, always growing and branching — which must be pruned regularly to be healthy. This necessity need not be argued; anyone with eyes can see that any organism which grows without limit always dies in its own poisons. The only rational question is whether pruning is best done before or after birth. Being an incurable sentimentalist I favor the former of these methods — killing makes me queasy, even when it's a case of ‘He's dead and I'm alive and that's the way I wanted it to be.’ But this may be a matter of taste. Some shamans think that it is better to be killed in a way, or to die in childbirth, or to starve in misery, than never to have lived at all. They may be right. But I don't have to like it — and I don't.”
“Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.”
“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of — but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.”
“Thou shalt remember the Eleventh Commandment and keep it Wholly.”
“A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an ‘intellectual’ — find out how he feels about astrology.”
“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.”
“Money is the sincerest of all flattery.
Women love to be flattered.
So do men.”
“You live and learn. Or you don't live long.”
“Whenever women have insisted on absolute equality with men, they have invariably wound up with the dirty end of the stick. What they are and what they can do makes them superior to men, and their proper tactic is to demand special privileges, all the traffic will bear. They should never settle merely for equality. For women, ‘equality’ is a disaster.”“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”
On Perception
“For me there is only the traveling on the
paths that have heart,
on any path that may have heart.
There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is
to traverse its full
length.
And there I travel—looking, looking, breathlessly.
Don Juan Matus quoted in:
"The Teachings of Don Juan:
A Yaqui Way of Knowledge"
by Carlos Castaneda
On William Blake:
“I do not behold the outward creation… it is a hindrance and not action.” Thus William Blake - -painter, engraver, and poet - - explained why his work was filled with religious visions rather than with subjects from everyday life. Few people in his time realized that Blake expressed these visions with a talent that approached genius. He lived in near poverty and died unrecognized.
Today, Blake is acclaimed one of England's great figures of art and literature and one of the most inspired and original painters of his time.
|
To see a World in a grain of sand And a Heaven in a wild flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. |
Tyger, Tyger |
|
|
Tyger! Tyger! burning
bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? and what dread feet? |
What the hammer? what the
chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears, And water'd heaven with their tears, Did He smile His work to see? Did He who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? |
Bill Gates speech to a High School commencement regarding the 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He speaks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Life is not fair - get used to it!
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you
to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be
a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a
different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your
mistakes, learn from them.
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.
They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to
you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest
from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your
own room.
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS
NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as
MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest
resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very
few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own
time.
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave
the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
If you are reading it in English -Thank a soldier!!
From the “World Teach” Ecuador
newsletter
A Summary Of The World
“If we could, at this time, shrink the Earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this: There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere (North and South America) and eight Africans; 70 would be non- white, 30 white; 70 would be non- Christian, 30 Christian; 50 percent of the entire world wealth would be in the hands of only six people, all six would be citizens of the United States; 70 would be unable to read; 50 would suffer from malnutrition; 80 would live in sub-standard housing; only one would have a college education.”
“When one considers our world from such an incredibly compressed perspective,
the need for both tolerance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent.”
"The single biggest problem in communications is the illusion that it has taken place."
George Bernard Shaw
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most
frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented,
fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing
small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so
that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as
children do.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light
shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are
liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
from
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
“We can be knowledgeable with
other men's knowledge
but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.”
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) ~ French Philosopher and Writer
“I'm not upset that you lied
to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you”
Friedrich Nietzsche - (1844-1900) German classical Scholar & Philosopher
"Friendships, like marriages, are dependent on avoiding the
unforgivable."
John D. MacDonald - (1916 - 1986) American crime-suspense writer
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
~ Tecumseh (Tekamwthē:
"He who Walks Across [the Sky]" 1768-1813
famous Shawnee leader
“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life!”
Confucius (550-478 B.C.)
Be
nice to your siblings!
They are your best link to your past and
the people most
likely to stand by you in the future!
“Words Of Wisdom” from
the Founding Fathers
|
|
|
“Individual liberty is
individual power, and as the power of a community is a mass
compounded of individual powers, the nation which enjoys the most
freedom must necessarily be in proportion to its numbers the most
powerful nation.” ~ John Quincy Adams “The tree of liberty must be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and
“tyrants.” |
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the
price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not
what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give
me death!" ~ Patrick Henry, before the Virginia legislature, March 23rd, 1775 “The way
to be safe is never to be secure” |
|
“The liberties of our
country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending
at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all
attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our
worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger
and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with
care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on
the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer
them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be
cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.” ~ Samuel Adams |
“If there must be trouble,
let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” ~ Thomas Payne “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.” ~ Samuel Adams |
|
“And that the said
Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe
the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to
prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens,
from keeping their own arms; or to raise standing armies, unless
necessary for the defense of the United States, or of some one or
more of them; or to prevent the people from petitioning, in a
peaceable and orderly manner, the federal legislature, for a redress
of grievances; or to subject the people to unreasonable searches and
seizures of their persons, papers or possessions.” ~ Samuel Adams |
“Bid us and our posterity bow
the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap,
to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of
war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth?” ~ Samuel Adams "If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed! If you
do read the newspaper, ~ Mark Twain |
| "We must not confuse dissent with
disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not
proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of
law. "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak and to defend the causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. "We can deny our heritage and our history but we cannot escape responsibility for the results. We proclaim ourselves, indeed as we are, the defenders of freedom wherever it continues to exist in the world. But we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. ~ Edward R. Murrow 1954 |
“The most valuable of talents
is that of never using two words when one will do.” ~ Thomas Jefferson "It Is The Soldier" It
is the Soldier, not the minister |
“2nd Amendment” quotes & related info |
|
| “By calling attention to
'a well regulated militia,' 'the security of the nation,' and the
right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms,' our founding fathers
recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy... The Second Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.” ~ John F. Kennedy “Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.”
~ John F. Kennedy "The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world... The first step – in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come – is to teach men to shoot!" ~ President Theodore Roosevelt |
“That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class
flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.” ~ George Orwell “Hoplophobia is a mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons, as opposed to justified apprehension about those who may wield them.” ~ Jeff Cooper "To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth" “A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional
maturity.” "The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose." ~ James Earl Jones "To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cowardly. How pathetic." ~ Ted Nugent |
More interesting facts RE: the “founding fathers.” |
|
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in
May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to
smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence
the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying: "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water". Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying: "It's raining cats and dogs!" There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors That would get slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying: "thresh hold". In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old!” Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and “chew the fat.” Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning, occasionally death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the “upper crust”. Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake. England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would sit in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift!) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be: "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer"! Whoever said history was boring ! ! ! |
|
|
ACHTUNG! Das machine is nicht fur gerfingerpoken und mittengrabben! |
|
|
|
PEI Home | Atlanta Corel | Special Forces #9 | Pamplin Family Info | GBA | Balloons Over Georgia |
