Quotes Maa-Mas "We are horrified, to be sure, by the many strong men who have slaughtered tge innocents in our time. But as for an alternative, we still delight in the image of the Lone Ranger with his silver bullet." -- Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins "Optimists are right. So are pessimists. It's up to you to choose which you will be." -- Harvey Mackay "Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another." -- Madonna "We as Americans are completely obsessed and wrapped up in a lot of the wrong values --looking good, having cash in the bank, being perceived as rich, famous and successful or just being famous. It's the most superficial part of the American dream and who would know better than me? The only thing that's going to bring you happiness is love and how you treat your fellow man and having compassion for one another." -- Madonna "The nothingness that I see encircled by a line." -- Tawarik Makutin, the blind mathematician who invented the zero "Without children humankind ceases to exist." --Nelson Mandela "My life is but a dirty penny that is only valued because it is the only one My life is but a ten rand note that can be used only because there may be change" -- Zindzi Mandela "For the rest of my life there are two days that will never again trouble me. The first day is yesterday with all its blunders and tears, its follies and defeats. Yesterday has passed away, beyond my control forever. The other day is tomorrow with its pitfalls and threats, its dangers and mystery. Until the sun rises again, I have no stake in tomorrow, for it is still unborn." -- Og Mandino, The Return of the Ragpicker "You do it with love, even if you think war is stupid." -- Janice Mann, sewing name tags on uniforms for soldiers headed to the Mideast from Fort Stewart, Ga. "Make it a rule of life to never regret and never look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy." -- Katherine Mansfield "Hate is really the same as love. If you�re so consumed by hatred for someone, you might as well be loving them, because you�re thinking about them for the same amount of time." -- Marilyn Manson "Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking." -- Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan "The question before us is whether, consistent with the Massachusetts Constitution, the commonwealth may deny the protections, benefits and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry. We conclude that it may not. The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals. It forbids the creation of second-class citizens. In reaching our conclusion we have given full deference to the arguments made by the commonwealth. But it has failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marriage to same-sex couples . . . Barred access to the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage, a person who enters into an intimate, exclusive union with another of the same sex is arbitrarily deprived of membership in one of our community's most rewarding and cherished institutions. That exclusion is incompatible with the constitutional principles of respect for individual autonomy and equality under law . . . The 'marriage is procreation' argument singles out the one unbridgeable difference between same-sex and opposite-sex couples, and transforms that difference into the essence of legal marriage. Like Amendment 2 to the Constitution of Colorado, which effectively denied homosexual persons equality under the law and full access to the political process, the marriage restriction impermissibly identifies persons by a single trait and then denies them protection across the board. In so doing, the state's action confers an official stamp of approval on the destructive stereotype that same-sex relationships are inherently unstable and inferior to opposite-sex relationships and are not worthy of respect . . . We construe civil marriage to mean the voluntary union of two persons as spouses, to the exclusion of all others. This reformulation redresses the plaintiffs' constitutional injury and furthers the aim of marriage to promote stable, exclusive relationships. ... We declare that barring an individual from the protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution. We vacate the summary judgment for the department. We remand this case to the Superior Court for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion. Entry of judgment shall be stayed for 180 days to permit the legislature to take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this opinion." -- Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ". . . All of man's ingenuity could not create anything to equal the world of the untamed wilderness." -- Robert Marshall "Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes." -- Mary Martin "It is very important to pray for others, because when you pray for someone, an angel goes and sits on the shoulder of that person." -- The Virgin Mary to the children at Medjugorje "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." -- Groucho Marx "She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon." - Groucho Marx "I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make and exception." -- Groucho Marx "I can't cause you to know something, but I can sure impinge upon you - or bribe, incite, or inspire you - to find out for yourself." -- Perry Mason (not the fictional character, but a former professor of mine) Index