Aesop

I am doing a quote by a man named Aesop, he was perhaps to have lived between the years of 620 to 560 B.C. I know this is a long time ago, so this part may be relatively short. His birthplace is uncertain, and probably will never be known. There is not much known about him actually except for some fables that he has written. These include, The Lion and the Mouse, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Fox and the Goat, The Fox and the Crane (Crow), The Fox and the Grapes, The Dog and the Bone, The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, The Boy who Cried Wolf, The Hen that Laid Golden Eggs, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, The North wind and the Sun, The Ass in the Lion's Skin, and the Old man and Death.
His quote is, "It is no use fixing our minds on higher things if we ignore what is going on around us." Truthfully, I'm not sure I agree witht his quote, just because I think we should always look forward. Sometimes we need to ignore what is going on around us and move forward, getting past the present is what makes you have a better future.
The word for today is, Exacting meaning: Greatly demanding.

Albert Einstein

Yes, the man I will be quoting today will be one of the best scientists of all time, none other than Albert Einstein. Believe it or not, Einstein was not even born in America, he was German. Born on March 14th, 1879 in Wurttemberg, Germany. Roughly about a month later his family moved to Munich. His education for the first 20 years of his life was pretty hectic. He started his education in Munich, later moving to Italy to further his education, and when he was a mere 17 years old, he moved to Switzerland to start his education to become a physics and mathematics teacher. He got his diploma in 1901 and could not find a teaching job so became a technical assistant, later in 1905 he obtained his doctor's degree. Later, Einstein moved back to Berlin to become a professor at the University of Berlin. In 1933, he renounced his citizenship to Germany and emmigrated to America where he became a physics professor at the University of Princeton. He obtained his citizenship in 1940 and retired in 1945. During his time in Berlin he had come up with several theories, like the Theory of Relativity, Theory of Radiation, and Theory of Statistical Mechanics. In Einstein's life he was married twice, the first person he married, he had two children with, then in 1919 they divorced and Einstein married his cousin. She died in 1936, and Einstein later died on April 18th, 1955 at Princeton in New Jersey.
The quote for Einstein is, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Of course, this is something that would come from Albert Einstein. He changed the way people think of Physics. In order for him to even come up with new theories, and disprove some of the older theories, he had to have a new mind set, and think of new ways to find out the real answers that are out there. Maybe you could take this quote into consideration, because everyone out there has the opportunity to be something great. You just have to work at it.
Thw word for this post is, Nemesis meaning: A powerful rival.

Shirley Hufstedler

Shirley Hufstedler was born on August 24th, 1925. She grew up knowing she would have a good career. Shirley went to the University of New Mexico and obtained her Bachelor's degree in 1945. She was the first person to ever be the Secretary of Education. Now a days she holds a seat at Stanford University and has been a guest speaker for years, giving speeches at colleges all over America. Suprisingly, she is also the first person I've blogged about that is still alive today.
The quote I have from Shirley is, "Security is not the meaning of my life. Great opportuniites are worth the risk." Honestly, it sounds like she likes to play next to the shark pool. In the article I read, she was had a quote that said, "if you play it safe in life, you’ve decided that you don’t want to grow anymore." Which definitely tells me this is a woman who likes to take risks. Apparently, she has happened to make all of the right decisions when taking those risks, so lucky her. But, in my opinion she the point she is trying to get across is, if an opportunity comes up to move up higher, take it, even if it could be a risk. I personally don't take too many risks, though I probably should, because if I did more than likely I would have quit my first job by now since I have a better one.
The word of the day is Morose meaning: Gloomy or bad tempered.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Truthfully, when I saw this name I thought it would be a woman...obviously I was mistaken. Jean was born on June 28th, 1712. in Geneva, Switzerland. Jean was a well known man in his day. In his lifetime he was a philosopher, author, political theorist, and a composer. Also he was one of the greatest figures of the French Enlightenment. The first 13 years of his life were pretty rough. 9 days after he was born his mother died. and when he was 10 his father fled the country to avoid imprisonment. Getting a job at 13, but was later dismissed to watchmaking. He was locked out of the city gates and had not money or any obvious talents. Jean had a lot of jobs in his lifetime, most of them he did not like. Later in 1743, his first musical work was published. Later Jean was banished from France and moved around trying to find out where to go. Eventually, Jean was allowed back to France and settled in Paris, where he died on July 2nd, 1778. It's not official but it is suspected that he died of kidney disease.
Jean's quote today is, "The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless." I definitely agree with him. Just look at kids. They can run around and play with their toys for hours, and they just keep coming up with different scenarios in their heads. But in reality, monsters don't come and you don't come to save the day. You get an education and get a job, you get married and have kids, and you settle and pay bills until you die at the age of 80, that is the reality. Sometimes it makes me want to find a way to hide in my imagination.
The word for today is, Guise: External appearance.

Oliver Goldsmith

Another post another day. Today we will be going over a man named Oliver Goldsmith. He was born in 1730, he lived in a town called Lissoy, where he started becoming intrigued by writing. When he was 8 years old he got smallpox...of course he recovered but after recovery he was disfigured for the rest of his life. He attempted to go to college many times but dropped out. His uncle finally decided to do something with him, he sent him to Edinburgh University to study medicine, which he was interested in. After graduation he moved to London to improve his skills. In 1759 he wrote a book called, An Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe. Which was a big hit, and got him to start earning money when ever he wrote. In his lifetime he was an Irish poet, a dramatist and an essayist. He died in 1774.
The quote for today is, "The first blow is half the battle."...this is an OK quote, but I don't particularly think it falls under every scenario. For example, in a boxing match, hitting your opponent in the face once doesn't mean that the fight is over. But perhaps if your at the doctor's office and getting two shots, one blow from a shot would be half the battle.
Personally I don't use this quote in day to day life, but if you feel it applies to you in a positive way, then go ahead and keep using it. Maybe something little can change someone.
The word for the post is, Eclectic: Drawn from many sources.

Anna Pavlova

Anna Pavlova was a famous Russian Dancer who was born on January 31st, 1881. Anna's father died when she was only a mere two years old, leaving her and her mother to be very poor. At the age of 8 is when Anna became interested in ballet dancing. She attended a play called "The Sleeping Beauty." Two years later she was accepted to the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet School. For a long period of her life she went on tours almost all the time, going to many different countries to show off her dancing skills. Though people were not particularly familiar with ballet in America, people were still impressed by what they were watching. She died January 22nd, 1931, from pneumonia. She had refused to rest, even though she grew ill. She collapsed and died within a week of her fiftieth birthday.
Anna's quote I have sitting in front of me says, "To tend, unfailingly, unflinchingly, towards a goal, is the secret of success." For her I'm not so sure this is true, since she refused to stop working, she died from it. But I do agree with this quote. Naturally, if you try hard towards a goal you will get it. Whether that is in your job, at school, or even at home, eventually you will get it if you try hard enough.
The word of the day is Flourish: To grow strong or thrive.

Joseph Campbell

I dont know if it's just me or if my list just happens to generate a bunch of people that don't live in our time period. Sorry about that. But today my quote is from a man named Joseph Campbell. He was born on March 24th, 1904, in New York, New York. He had a younger sister named Alice. As a child he became obsessed with Native American Culture, even dedicated himself to find out the most amount of information on the matter. He even admitted to the adult stacks in the local library. He went to Columbia University where he was a member of the track team. Being on the track team made him able to go all over the world to run. In his travels he met a man who sparked his interest in Hinduism and Buddhism. His major ended up being European philosophy. He is most well known for his publications of comparative mythology. Joe died in 1987 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The quote from Joe is, "Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging." People see this a lot in movies. Just look at Rocky. A nonfamous boxer was able to make it all the way up to the championship, and even after taking a pounding, he ended up on top (even though it really did seem like he was going to lose for the majority of the fight). Also The Karate Kid is another great example. Daniel was beaten almost to a pulp, and even had one of his legs particially broken, but yet he was able to defeat the challenger with a swift kick, making him the champion of the martial arts tournament. If you dont understand by now, it means when you are backed into a corner sometimes you will come out on top, even though the odds are against you. Personally, I used to be in wrestling in middle school, and I was in a match where I was facing a 250 lb. guy against me...a 145 lb. Somehow I pulled myself together and got him in a headlock and won the match. Hopefully you will be able to test this on yourself someday, it truly amazes you when you realize what you have just done.
The word for today is Depreciate: To lessen in value.

Charlotte Bronce

Today's quotist is Charlotte Bronce. It seems that there isn't much information on her so I will try to give you as much as I can. She lived from 1816-1855. She was the third born of four sisters. When she was 8 years old she was sent to a Clergy Daughter's School. After a short time of being there, her two eldest sisters, got sick, they were sent home, and later died. After this event, Charlotte and her younger sister were brought home to stay. Later in her life after moving around a lot, she decided to publish some of her sisters poems, the following year, herself and two of her other sisters got books published. Soon after, the rest of her sisters died from unknown reasons. Later in 1854, Charlotte caught pneumonia. She was pregnant at the time and thought of being sick as the perfect opportunity to end her life. She could have gotten a cure but decided to let it kill her. After a long illness, she died in 1855. 3 years later, a publisher looked at her book The Professor and they decided to publish it.
Charlotte's quote that I have is, "The shadows are as important as the light." This quote I believe would probably tie in with, "keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." In my opinion, what I think that means is everyone thinks that the good side is always the important part but sometimes important things come out of the dark also.

Sorry, there is not word of the day today.

William Hazlitt

Today's quote is over a man named, William Hazlitt. He was born on April 10th, 1778 in England. When he was small him and his family sailed to America. After spending a short time there, Hazlitt left America to go back to England after saying, "a great deal better for America if the white people had not found it out." Which is kind of true. Anyway, he went to New College for a few years, and dropped out because he did not think he was fit enough to go there. He didnt know that his professor actually thought very highly of him. Hazlitt started getting into painting and got married. After a short time he left his wife for another woman and got a divorce. Later marrying a rich widow who later divorced him. He died on September 18th, 1830. His last words were, "I have had a happy life."
The quote for today is, "As is our confidence, so is our capacity." In my opinion, possibly what he meant was the capacity of the population is the same as our confidence. Our population keeps growing and so does our confidence. But eventually the capacity of a city will meet it's limit and so will our confidence. This is my interpretation of the quote, but in reality...capacity can mean anything. So if you have your own let me know :).

The word of the day is Lucid, meaning...Clear or easily understood.