Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003
It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word. ~ Andrew Jackson
  • selected by Nanobug
2004
A man should be upright, not kept upright. ~ Marcus Aurelius
  • selected by Kalki
2005
Intelligence is like four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places. ~ Garrison Keillor (born 7 August 1942)
  • proposed by 121a0012
2006
We help the internet not suck. ~ Jimmy Wales (born 7 August 1966)
  • proposed by Kalki
2007
Wikipedia is first and foremost an effort to create and distribute a free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to every single person on the planet in their own language. Asking whether the community comes before or after this goal is really asking the wrong question: the entire purpose of the community is precisely this goal. ~ Jimmy Wales
  • proposed by Kalki
2008
The question isn't whether you have a good master or a bad master. It's to be your own master. That is the dignity of humanity. ~ Alan Keyes
  • proposed by Zarbon
2009
Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car. ~ Garrison Keillor
  • proposed by 121a0012
2010
The real struggle is not between the right and the left but between the party of the thoughtful and the party of the jerks. ~ Jimmy Wales
  • proposed by Kalki
2011
Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentives. ~ Jimmy Wales
  • proposed by Kalki
2012
It turns out a lot of people don’t get it. Wikipedia is like rock’n’roll; it’s a cultural shift.
~ Jimmy Wales ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2013
There's not a single thing on offer in this all-too-temporary world for which you should ever sell your soul.
~ Alan Keyes ~
  • proposed by Zarbon
2014
If the government can round up someone and never be required to explain why, then it's no longer the United States of America as you and I always understood it. Our enemies have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They have made us become like them.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2015
Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.
The Japanese began the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form these bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development.
It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East.… The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man's understanding of nature's forces.
~ Harry S. Truman ~
  • proposed by Kalki for the 70th anniversary of the first public announcement of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
2016
Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2017
When the country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect, walk on fences, sleep in trees, and have faith that all this woofing is not the last word. What is the last word, then? Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids — all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through. Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2018
God writes a lot of comedy, Donna; the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play "funny".
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2019
It’s important … to know who the real enemy is, and to know the function, the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary. There will always be one more thing.
~ Toni Morrison ~
  • proposed by Kalki, in regard of her recent death.
2020 
Rank or add further suggestions…

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

  • Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing. ~ Jimmy Wales

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.
3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.
2 : Good - some desire to see it used.
1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.
0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

Suggestions

When someone just writes 'fuck, fuck, fuck', we just fix it, laugh and move on. But the difficult social issues are the borderline cases - people who do some good work, but who are also a pain in the neck. ~ Jimmy Wales (born that day) "Who knows?", The Guardian, October 26, 2004

  • 3 ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 05:42, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
  • 3 AllanHainey 12:00, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
  • 0 Kalki 22:34, 5 August 2005 (UTC) "laugh and move on..."
  • 0 Zarbon 15:09, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 0 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC) His Wikiquote page says he was born August 8.

When a feeling dissolves, it ceases to be your enemy and begins to be one of your allies. ~ Ed Seykota

  • 2 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Freedom does not mean doing what you can get away with, doing what you please. It means, instead, having the opportunity to do what you ought to do--for family and for community and for humanity as a whole. ~ Alan Keyes

  • 2 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 3 or 4.
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

There can be no self-government without self-discipline. There can be no self-government without self-control. There can be no liberty unless it is grounded in moral discipline and the ability to do what is right. ~ Alan Keyes

  • 2 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 3 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

The travesty of slavery wasn't physical abuse. It was the moral abuse of looking at a human being as if they are an animal. ~ Alan Keyes

  • 2 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Our success or failure is not in the hands of our leaders. It is in our hands. ~ Alan Keyes

  • 2 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Every leader, and every regime, and every movement, and every organization that steps across the line to terrorism must be banished from the discourse of civilized human life. ~ Alan Keyes

  • 2 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
  • 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

The answer to crime is not gun control, it is law enforcement and self-control. ~ Alan Keyes

  • 3 Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

"The Russians aren't dedicated world dominationists. You know, they just sort of want it on account of a sentimental way, you know, but not like 'By God, we got to have it!' It just doesn't make sense for them to really push too hard, you know, but just to push easy." Herman Kahn

  • 4 Abattoir666 (talk · contributions) 11:33, 5 August 2014 (EST) I'm sorry, but the incessant optimism is kinda killing me, besides, this ones kinda funny.
  • 1 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC) there is no clear relation to the date, and there are many others by Kahn I would prefer to use, even on such dates as have more relation to Kahn, or the statement.
Jesus said the meek would inherit the earth, but so far all we've gotten is Minnesota and North Dakota.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
The funniest line in English is “Get it?” When you say that, everyone chortles.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
I want to resume the life of a shy person.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 13:51, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
Some of the following suggestions related to Jimmy Wales for a time were posted as suggestions for 8 August, due to disputes as to his birthdate — which seems to have been resolved with his birth occurring on the 7th, just prior to midnight, though it was listed on his birth certificate as the 8th.

We are Wikipedians. This means that we should be: kind, thoughtful, passionate about getting it right, open, tolerant of different viewpoints, open to criticism, bold about changing our policies and also cautious about changing our policies. We are not vindictive, childish, and we don't stoop to the level of our worst critics, no matter how much we may find them to be annoying.~ Jimmy Wales

  • 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 11:33, 3 August 2010 (UTC)
  • * 0 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC)  Love this quote. I would rate this a '3' but according to this article, Jimmy Wales was born August 8.
I will move the suggestions here for quotes of Wales to 8 August, but perhaps retaining them here for reference. ~ ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 12:07, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Greatest misconception about Wikipedia: We aren’t democratic. Our readers edit the entries, but we’re actually quite snobby. The core community appreciates when someone is knowledgeable, and thinks some people are idiots and shouldn’t be writing.~ Jimmy Wales

  • 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 11:33, 3 August 2010 (UTC)
  • 0 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC) [struck as this user was objecting to the error in the date, because this originally was placed on the "7th August" suggestion page]

I don't really agree that most academics frown when they hear Wikipedia. Most academics I find quite passionate about the concept of Wikipedia and like it quite a bit. … The number of academics who really really don't like Wikipedia is really quite small and we find that they get reported on in the media far out of proportion to the amount they actually exist. ~ Jimmy Wales

  • 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 11:33, 3 August 2010 (UTC)
  • 0 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC) [struck as this user was objecting to the error in the date, because this originally was placed on the "7th August" suggestion page]

Frankly, and let me be blunt, Wikipedia as a readable product is not for us. It's for them. It's for that girl in Africa who can save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around her, but only if she's empowered with the knowledge to do so. ~ Jimmy Wales

  • 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 11:33, 3 August 2010 (UTC) with a VERY strong lean toward 4.
  • 0 //Gbern3 (talk) 10:45, 30 July 2013 (UTC) If posted on the right date, I would've given this one a '3' as well.
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