odd quotes-odd thoughts

here's a line from the book I'm currently reading:

"They sat low in saggy seats and the cab crashed and bounced like the wheels were square."

That would be a heck of a ride, I hope they weren't going too far.


another few lines:

" He believed hunger kept him sharp. He believed it stimulated creativity in the brain. Another old evolutionary legacy. If you're hungry, you work out a smarter way to get the next woolly mammoth, today, not tomorrow."

The book?

Never Go Back.  A Jack Reacher story by Lee Child.



And now for something entirely different.....a quote by Winston Churchill that I read a few weeks back in a post by Susan Swiderski, who writes at  I Think; Therefore, I Yam

"We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle" - Winston Churchill

Does this mean that our governments should NOT fill their coffers by taxing the life out of us?

Comments

  1. Hunger keeps you sharp - I believe that.(No chance of me ever being sharp, then!)

    Churchill spoke a lot of sense . . .

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  2. There are various 'diets' about that agree with this premise. You apparently live longer if you eat less - or perhaps it just feels that way.
    And Winston Churchill had a wonderful turn of phrase didn't he? Some of his insults are clever too.

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  3. If hunger keeps you sharp, I must be the slowest minnow in the pond.

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  4. A lot of very clever comments are beyond me, my reaction is ''what the hell is he talking about '' , OH well I don't really care, I things clear and only have one meaning.
    And as far as food goes hunger might keep you sharp but I do like soft.
    Merle.............. ...........

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  5. I LOVE the Jack Reacher series!!

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  6. jabblog; I'm quite dull myself. I don't know much about Winston Churchill, maybe I should find out.

    Elephant's Child; the time between meals certainly seems much longer. I'll have to look up some of the insults.

    Delores; you're probably a fin or two ahead of me still. I've just "rediscovered" cheesecake.

    Merlesworld; I "get" a lot of them, but when people ask why I'm laughing or why I say that's a good one, I'm unable to explain why.

    fishducky; have you read the latest one? I'm 3/4 through it.

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  7. I always so much enjoy many of the lines in Lee Child's books. I am looking forward to reading Never Go Back. It's on special at Big W and I think I'll buy it rather than wait 3 months on a list at the library.
    Winston Churchill was quite the orator and said so many wise things. EC is right too about his insults...he was a past master at them.
    The Dick Francis books were mailed on Tuesday.

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  8. Mimsie; I'm going to look up Winston Churchill and his quotes. I feel I should know more about him, he seems to have been very sensible.
    Thanks for the books, I'll keep an eye out for the postman.

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  9. I don't think we really pay enough tax. We don't get enough services, and they have to be paid for by us. I used to have a phone app of Winston Churchill quotes. He was rather good at the sound bite, before there were sound bites.

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  10. Andrew; I don't think it would make much difference if we did pay more tax, the level of services wouldn't change. Look at the petrol tax, that is supposed to take care of roads maintenance and repairs, yet with all the motorists in Aus. we still have poor roads and not enough freeways. The GST was supposed to replace several other taxes such as stamp duty, yet we still have those and the HST. The River Murray Levy was supposed to do so much to help the Murray, yet nothing much really happened there. I'm sure you know of a few more examples. New or larger taxes would probably just be used to pay more committee men, those who investigate the situation, write the report then those who read and discuss the report, later those who make the decisions regarding said report and with the $1.50 that is left, someone might send a letter to someone else recommending action of some kind.

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  11. ...I've read a few of Lee Child's books ... I enjoyed them..Jack Reacher is great.
    I agree with what you say about taxes and committees.....
    hugs and Blessings..
    Barb xxx

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  12. Here in Oz we once had a host of government organisations which not only did public works but returned a profit to the government thereby lowering their need to tax us. Companies like Telstra, ETSA and others sold services to us and returned the profits to us through the government. Now they are sold and gone they still charge us for their services but return nothing to the government which then taxes us the amount they once got from the companies they sold. Thus we pay and are taxed twice by an inept and short sighted government. (both sides and for a long time now)
    Rant over.....

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  13. I agree with you, River. The government has begun a rampage, where money is a toy, and we have to give it to them.

    These are crazy times.

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  14. Thanks. I enjoy the quotes and comments from everyone. Nothing clever from me. Except that I have been on the 5:2 diet advocated by Michael Mosley since march. On the days of 500 calories, I seemed to be more efficient and think faster.

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  15. Barbara Neubeck; I've just finished the latest Jack Reacher and I hope there is another one coming.

    Kymbo; you've hit on the problem. Those companies should never have been privatised. The governments sold them off to get themselves a few quick bucks, and now the problem is escalating. they've spent that few quick bucks, sold off more companies and now don't know how to get even more money, so they are raising taxes etc for people who can no longer afford to pay any more because the privatised companies are screwing us as well. Their profits are huge, every now and again you see them on the news, So-and-so made $xxxxbillion dollars last year.....none of which goes to the governments like it used to.

    Susan Kane; you make them sound like spoiled brat kids, ha ha. You may even be right...

    mm; I've noticed a similar effect, when I eat a light meal at dinner and don't snack after, I wake up the next day feeling so much sharper in mind.

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