Japan, Caroline Kennedy

The United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors.

- Caroline Kennedy (1957- ), a statement posted on the website of the U.S. embassy in Tokyo (Dec 26, 2013)

Mr. Abe's provocative move prompted the U.S. government to issue a statement expressing its disapproval.

Love, Michael Garrett Marino

A love affair with knowledge will never end in heartbreak.

- Michael Garrett Marino

Japan, Luo Zhaohui (羅照輝)

Japan must bear the consequences arising from this. The visit, the first by an incumbent Japanese prime minister since 2006, causes great harm to the feelings of the Asian people and creates a significant new political obstacle to bilateral relations.

- Luo Zhaohui (羅照輝), a director-general of the ministry's department of Asian affairs, in a statement posted on a verified ministry microblog (Dec 26, 2013)

Winter, William Shakespeare

Blow, blow, thou winter wind. Thou art not so unkind, As man's ingratitude.

- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Japan, Koichi Nakano

Bilateral summits will now be even more of a long shot. It will likely also hurt Tokyo's ties with Washington, considering how the U.S. has been pushing for Japan to improve ties with its Asian neighbors. The visit seems to make it obvious that Mr. Abe's economic polices were a guise to hide his nationalistic intent.

- Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo (Dec 26, 2013)

Beauty, Spanish Proverb

The more a woman admires her face, the more she ruins her house.

- Spanish Proverb

Japan, Qin Gang (秦剛)

The essence of Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni shrine is to beautify Japan's history of militaristic aggression and colonial rule. It is an attempt to overturn international society's just ruling on Japan's militarism and to challenge the results of World War II and the post-war international order.

- Qin Gang (秦剛), Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman, immediately after Abe's visit to the shrine (
Dec 26, 2013)

Writings, James Dickey

A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning.

- James Dickey (1923-1997)

Japan, Qin Gang (秦剛)

We strongly protest and seriously condemn the Japanese leader's acts.

- Qin Gang (秦剛), Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman, immediately after Abe's visit to the shrine

Accomplishment, Ecclesiastes

Critique of Sages on the Day of Adversity

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; better is a patient spirit than a lofty one.

+ Bible, The Book of Ecclesiastes 7:8

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ecclesiastes/7

Advice, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Beauty, Christopher Paolini

Her sculptured face was as perfect as a painting.

― Christopher Paolini (1983- ), Eragon and Eldest

Happiness, Booker T. Washington

I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.

- Booker T. Washington (1858-1915)

Advice, Chinese Proverb

Not been on the Great Wall, not a great man.

- Chinese Proverb

Environment, Dennis Weaver

When I was a kid, we never heard of smog, ozone depletion, acid rain, green house gasses.

- Dennis Weaver (1924-2006)

Winter, Anne Bradstreet

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

- Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

War, Chester W. Nimitz

Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

- Chester W. Nimitz (1885-1966)

Leader, Peter Drucker

The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I.” And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I.” They don’t think “I.” They think “we”; they think “team.” They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but “we” gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.

- Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005)

---

There are people who prioritize themselves, then the team, and finally the company; on the other hand, there are people who prioritize the company and team over themselves. The leader who delivers results while earning the trust and respect of his peers is the latter.

Beauty, Western Proverb

Casting pearls before swine.

- Western Proverb

Advice, John Murray

Go out into the highways and byways of America, your new country. Give the people, blanketed with a decaying Calvinism, something of your new vision. You may possess only a small light, but uncover it, let it shine, use it in order to bring more light and understanding to the hearts and minds of men and women. Give them not hell but hope and courage. Do not push them deeper into their theological despair, but preach the kindness and everlasting love of God.

- John Murray (1741–1815, minister)

Faith and Works, Bible, New Testament

Faith and Works.

Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless?

+ Letter of James 2:20

http://www.usccb.org/bible/James/2

Women, H. L. Mencken

Bachelors know more about women than married men; if they didn’t, they’d be married, too.

- H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Beauty, Khalil Gibran

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.

- Kahlil Gibran (1983-1931)

아름다움은 얼굴에 있지 않습니다. 마음 속에 있는 빛입니다.

- Khalil Gibran

Fact, Chinese Proverb

事实胜于雄辩[shìshíshèngyúxióngbiàn]。

- 中國俗談

Facts are stronger than rhetoric.

- Chinese Proverb

Facts are more eloquent than words.

Economy, Marc Faber

The problem with Mr. Obama is that you get more regulation and it’s a disincentive for businessmen to hire people. You probably also get higher taxes, so in terms of the economy, he is very negative in my view.

- Marc Faber (1946- )

Advice, Mark Twain

Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Winter, Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

- Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Beauty, Lew Wallacee

Beauty is altogether in the eye of the beholder.

- Lew Wallacee (1827-1905)

Parting, Western Proverb

Rats desert sinking ship.

- Western Proverb

Beauty, Richard Armour

Beauty is only skin deep, and the world is full of thin-skinned people.

- Richard Armour (1906-1989)

Faith of the Ancients, Hebrews

Faith of the Ancients.

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

+ Letter to the Hebrews 11:1

http://www.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/11

Beauty, Laurence J. Peter

Every girl should use beauty that Mother Nature gave her before Father Time takes it away.

- Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990) Canadian teacher and author of the best-selling book The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong (1969)

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Laurence_J._Peter

Love, Landon Carter from A Walk to Remember (2002)

Love is always patient and kind, it is never jealous;
Love is never boastful or conceited;
It is never rude or selfish, it does not take offense and is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth;
It is always ready to excuse; to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes.
Love does not come to an end

- Shane West as Landon Carter from A Walk to Remember

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_to_Remember

Beauty, Amy Bloom

You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.

- Amy Bloom (1953- )

Advice, Chinese Proverb

吠犬不咬人。

- 中國俗談

A barking dog doesn't bite!

- Chinese Proverb

Gun, Al Capone

You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

- Al Capone (1899-1947)

Winter, George Herbert

Every mile is two in winter.

- George Herbert (1593-1633)

Beauty, Christian Dior

Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.

- Christian Dior (1905-1957)

Failure, Irish Proverb

The girl who can't dance says the band can't play.

- Irish Proverb

Education, Albert Camus

Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep.

- Albert Camus (1913-1960)

Journey, Mark

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

+ Gospel of Mark 6,8-9

http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/6

Beauty, Steve Maraboli

You are beautiful. Your beauty, just like your capacity for life, happiness, and success, is immeasurable.

- Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Heroine, Wonder Woman

I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons! I won't be denied!

- Wonder Woman, Justice League, Paradise Lost

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justice_League

Beauty, P.C. Cast

The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.

- P.C Cast (1960- )

Advice, Avatamsaka Sutra

自利利他，如鳥兩翼。

- 華嚴經

Likewise, helping oneself and helping others are like the two wings of a bird.

- Avataṃsaka Sūtra (華嚴經)