| Your feedback and submissions to The Way I See It have been both inspiring and overwhelming. While many of our customers' quotes will appear on cups in the future, we wanted to share other submissions with you here. |
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In fall 2004, Herkimer County, New York, brought 54 of its World War II veterans to the National World War II Memorial, with entirely private donations. A second group of Herkimer veterans will visit the memorial in May 2005, with the remainder going in September 2005. Herkimer's tribute to its Greatest Generation is an example that should be followed by other communities.
-- John Brennan, Herkimer NY
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People use the word "zen" a lot, usually to refer to someone being zoned out or disconnected from reality. The popular idea about zen or meditation is that it makes you passive or remote. My experience after a dozen years sitting and following my breath a little each day is that I feel more active and more connected to day-to-day life - not less.
-- Algernon D'Ammassa, Los Angeles CA
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Voting is the method by which we purchase the right to be critical of government and politicians.
-- Nick Davis, Lawrence KS
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Science is the know-it-all adolescent constantly rebuking old-man Religion as outdated and clueless. Yet both the rational child and the emotional old man are in eternal search for the same exact thing: that incredible energy that started it all at the beginning and still sustains everything we are to this day.
-- Paul Douglass, Portsmouth NH
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When you go to a shelter or contact a rescue group looking to adopt a dog, why is it that only the young dogs are chosen? Older dogs need that chance to be loved as well. You'd be a better person for making the last few years of an older dog's life filled with love and companionship. Consider it, then do it.
-- Roseann Ferrante Werner, American Bullmastiff Association rescue representative, Danvers MA
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TV trays are the new national mascot.
-- Katherine Hamm, San Diego CA
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You can work for peace on earth every day, in the comfort of your very own car. It's easy; just follow the Golden Rule. Don't like being honked at? Don't honk at anyone except in warning. Want to be let into traffic? Let others in. Don't like waiting for the intersection to clear after the light turns red? Then don't push lights. What else can you do for peace today?
-- Amy Houchen, Portland OR
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What if, instead of filing a tax return every year, we had the chance to decide where our tax dollars would be used instead? Programs and government departments that no one likes would simply go away.
-- Bart Jarman, Gilbert AZ
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People are far too concerned with reversing the results of the Industrial Revolution. It was simply progress, and where would humanity be were it not for progress? We would be stagnant and pleading for advance. Therefore it seems far more essential to occupy our thoughts on the path in which our progress takes us, and whether that is in fact the course we wish to allow.
-- Lexi Jenks, Monrovia CA
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There are those who don't understand the nobility of horror fiction. Isn't there enough horror in the world? they ask. For all other forms of literature, the value of human life is optional. For horror fiction, it's absolutely necessary. If we don't value the life of the threatened protagonist, we can't be scared. And through our fear, we better understand the individual fears and values of our species across the world.
-- E.C. McMullen, horror fiction writer, Lomita CA
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The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.
-- Anne Morriss, Boston MA
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People could become better than they are right now by doing one thing: reading! This neglected activity is a pathway to greatness. By reading, people open their minds to be mentored by others whom they may not have the pleasure to meet due to time and space differences. C.S. Lewis, Socrates and Billy Graham are all available to talk when I open a book to listen.
-- Sarah Neri, Covina CA
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As a culture, we don't blink an eye at labeling terrorist attacks immoral. We don't blink an eye at labeling murder or even abusing pets immoral. We pride ourselves on being tolerant, but we certainly aren't tolerant of these things. Maybe it's okay to have standards. Maybe it's okay to admit that the world isn't completely relative. Maybe having standards is being tolerant.
-- Chad Nicholson, Searcy AR
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Behind every angry man is an angry or absent father. I realize this is not a happy thought, or, most likely, not a correct one in this gender-frenzied world. However, in 30 years of working with military personnel, I don't believe I am far off the mark.
-- T.J. Perkins, Tucson AZ
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Many people lack a spiritual belief system and fill that void with obsessions about celebrities. The celebrities are raised to the rank of gods, and these earthly gods will always fail the expectations the masses have set for them. The cycle runs thusly: adoration turns to obsession, obsession turns to disappointment, and from disappointment it is a just a short emotional jump to contempt.
-- Donna Phillips, Claremont CA
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I think every professional athlete should have to attend at least five Little League games every year, just so they remember what the sport is really about.
-- Dan Rapp, Cincinnati OH
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When Einstein explained his theory of relativity, he couldn't express it in the precise, scientific writing of physics. He had to use poetry. Poetry, the connection of words, images and the relationships that gives them meaning. Quantum physics changed the world. No longer can we view the world in separate, mechanical ways, but we must accept the reality of interconnection, unity and togetherness. Life is poetry.
-- David Seel, Annapolis MD
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Today's society thinks a career is the most important job in the world, but it never thinks about what being a stay-at-home mom is. That is the most important job in the world, and it should start to get recognized. I am a single mother and I have a second job. My first job is being a mother and a good one!
-- Annette Sikkema, Brampton ONT
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In every soul there is locked away an adventure. It may be as small as a walk in the park or as grand as climbing a mountain. The key to happiness is unlocking that adventure and bringing it into the light. Go take that walk in the park or climb that Everest and see what joy and further adventures it brings. A life void of adventure is an empty existence and one full of regrets.
-- Keith Stafford, O'Fallon MO
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They told you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What they failed to tell you is that it is best seen with the eyes closed. What you look like isn't important. What is important is who you are inside and the choices you are making in your life.
-- Tiana Tozer, 1992 Paralympic Silver Medalist and 1996 Paralympic Bronze Medalist Women's Wheelchair Basketball, Portland OR
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