Sydney M. Williams www.swtotd.blogspot.com Thought of the Day “ New Deal Rebels by Amity Shlaes – Random Thoughts and Questions” August 18, 2023 “…it is neither humanitarian nor Democratic nor American to indoctrinate the people of the United States with the idea that it is the duty of the government to support the citizen, rather than the duty of the citizen to support the government.” Speech by John W. Davis, October 21, 1936 Democrat Presidential candidate 1924 Davis’ words in 1936 anticipated the penultimate sentence in President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address twenty-five years later: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Davis’s and Kennedy’s words expressed a longing for a time when government was limited and the individual paramount, when Horatio Alger was honored, and when children were told success was up to them, that they could become whatever they wanted, as long as they were aspirant
Sydney M. Williams Burrowing into Books The Girl in Blue , 1970 P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) August 15, 2023 “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) Marmion , 1808 Like his character Uncle Fred, P.G. Wodehouse spread sweetness and light over a career that lasted more than seventy years. He was the author of over ninety books, more than three hundred short stories, and, along with Guy Bolton, wrote the lyrics for more than twenty musicals. With the first name Pelham, he was called “Plum” by his friends, but to his thousands of fans he was, and still is, “The Master.” No one could (or has been able to) match his literacy, freshness, and humor in perfecting a sentence. Consider a small sample from