August 7

August 7

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

Rank or add further suggestions…

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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
  • used 15 January 2006

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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.

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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)

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It turns out a lot of people don’t get it. Wikipedia is like rock’n’roll; it’s a cultural shift. ~ Jimmy Wales

• 3 Kalki 21:51, 1 August 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 23:43, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 15:09, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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There's not a single thing on offer in this all-too-temporary world for which you should ever sell your soul. ~ Alan Keyes

• 3 for the soul should never be sold. Zarbon 04:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 17:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentives.~ Jimmy Wales

• 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 11:33, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

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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)

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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.

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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

• 4 Kalki (talk · contributions) 11:33, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

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