# December 21

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2003

    We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it. ~ Thomas Jefferson
   * selected by Kalki

## 2004

    i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun's birthday... ~ e. e. cummings
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom. ~ George S. Patton (died 21 December 1945)
   * proposed by UDScott

## 2006

    This is the stillness behind motion, when time itself stops; the center is also the circumference of all. We are awake in the night. We turn the Wheel to bring the light. We call the sun from the womb of night. Blessed Be! ~ Starhawk ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2007

    If there is a God, I don't think He would demand that anyone bow down or stand up to Him. I often have a suspicion that God is still trying to work things out and hasn't finished. ~ Rebecca West (born 21 December 1892)
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2008

    There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald (died 21 December 1940)
   * proposed by UDScott

## 2009

    All of us encounter, at least once in our life, some individual who utters words that make us think forever. There are men whose phrases are oracles; who condense in one sentence the secrets of life; who blurt out an aphorism that forms a character or illustrates an existence. ~ Benjamin Disraeli in Coningsby
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2010

    I was persuaded and am, that God's way is first to turn a soul from its idols, both of heart, worship, and conversation, before it is capable of worship to the true and living God. ~ Roger Williams
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2011

    The God of Peace, the God of Truth will shortly seal this truth, and confirm this witness, and make it evident to the whole world, that the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience, is most evidently and lamentably contrary to the doctrine of Christ Jesus the Prince of Peace. ~ Roger Williams ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2012

* It will happen — a seeing … It is the display of B'olon-Yokte' in a great investiture.
* ~ Mayan prophecy relating to 21st December 2012 ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2013

* Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe. All this is suggested by the systematic procession of events and the harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face the facts, as they say, "with both eyes open."
* ~ Nicolaus Copernicus ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2014

* The light Begin to bleed, Begin to breathe, Begin to speak. D'you know what? I love you better now.
* ~ Kate Bush ~
   * proposed by Kalki, for the day of the Solstice, with the darkest periods in the Northern hemisphere again proceeding toward the lighter days, as the Sun's path again begins it ascent in the sky, though many of the coldest days remain... for a time.

## 2015

* I am waking from a dream, I am choking on a scream, You were trying to show me something. But the dark is wide and long, The gates are closed, the crowd's all gone, You're still shimmering and leading me on…Firefly that's what you are Burning for me in my darkest hour "Light breaks where no sun shines" So shine for me tonight — firefly.
* ~ Greta Gaines ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2016

* It is infinitely better that the profane and loose be unmasked than to be muffled up under the veil and hood of traditional hypocrisy, which turns and dulls the very edge of all conscience either toward God or man.
* ~ Roger Williams ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2017

* I myself have never been able to find out what feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.
* ~ Rebecca West ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2018

* Life ought to be a struggle of desire towards adventures whose nobility will fertilise the soul and lead to the conception of new, glorious things.
* ~ Rebecca West ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2019

* Fascism … is a headlong flight into fantasy from the necessity for political thought … persons supporting Fascism behave as if man were already in possession of principles which would enable him to deal with all our problems, and as if it were only a question of appointing a dictator to apply them.
* ~ Rebecca West ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2020

* The tide has turned! The light will come again! In a new dawn, in a new day, The sun is rising! Io! Evohe! Blessed Be!
* ~ Starhawk ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2021

* What is earnest is not always true; on the contrary, error is often more earnest than truth.
* ~ Benjamin Disraeli ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2022

* The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.
* ~ Gary Zukav ~
   * proposed by Kalki; in regard of this solstice date for 2022.

## 2023

* President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three; because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.
* ~ Supreme Court of Oregon ~
   * proposed by Kalki; recent landmark decision applying Section 3 of the 14th Amendement of the Constitution of the United States.

## 2024

* The coming and going of the seasons give us more than the springtimes, summers, autumns, and winters of our lives. It reflects the coming and going of the circumstances of our lives like the glassy surface of a pond that shows our faces radiant with joy or contorted with pain. It also shows us our amazing independence from our circumstances. In cold or warmth, light or dark, deprivation or abundance, we can choose to respond with love or react in fear.
* ~ Gary Zukav ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2025

    Rank or add further suggestions…
The Quote of the Day (QOTD) is a prominent feature of the Wikiquote Main Page. Thank you for submitting, reviewing, and ranking suggestions!

   ## Ranking system

    4 : Excellent – should definitely be used. (This is the utmost ranking and should be used by any editor for only one quote at a time for each date.)
    3 : Very Good – strong desire to see it used.
    2 : Good – some desire to see it used.
    1 : Acceptable – but with no particular desire to see it used.
    0 : Not acceptable – not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.
    An averaging of the rankings provided to each suggestion produces it’s general ranking in considerations for selection of Quote of the Day. The selections made are usually chosen from the top ranked options existing on the page, but the provision of highly ranked late additions, especially in regard to special events (most commonly in regard to the deaths of famous people, or other major social or physical occurrences), always remain an option for final selections.
    Thank you for participating!

## Suggestions

Usual date of the solstice and a primary point of Yule, or Jul celebrations.
    DOB: Benjamin Disraeli · Joseph Stalin · Rebecca West · Roger Williams
Once one is caught up into the material world, not one person in ten thousand finds the time to form literary taste, to examine the validity of philosophic concepts for himself, or to form what, for lack of a better phrase, I might call the wise and tragic sense of life. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald (Date of death)
* 3 ~ UDScott 23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
* 2 - --Mister Six 11:10, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 00:50, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
* 3 Aphaia 06:46, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
* 2 and I would prefer if this was moved to his date of birth, September 24. Zarbon 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 02:14, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
* 3 Hydrangeans (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand circle amid the rest of the planets in an annual revolution around the sun. ~ Nicolaus Copernicus
* 3 Kalki 17:04, 20 December 2005 (UTC) (Date of the solstice, and Yule, or Jul celebrations) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 2 InvisibleSun 00:50, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Hydrangeans (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
Religion cannot be true which needs such instruments of violence to uphold it so. ~ Roger Williams (born December 21, 1603)
* 3 InvisibleSun 00:50, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 06:29, 17 December 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4, but would extend this to:
       A civil sword (as woeful experience in all ages has proved) is so far from bringing or helping forward an opposite in religion to repentance that magistrates sin grievously against the work of God and blood of souls by such proceedings. Because as (commonly) the sufferings of false and antichristian teachers harden their followers, who being blind, by this means are occasioned to tumble into the ditch of hell after their blind leaders, with more inflamed zeal of lying confidence. So, secondly, violence and a sword of steel begets such an impression in the sufferers that certainly they conclude (as indeed that religion cannot be true which needs such instruments of violence to uphold it so) that persecutors are far from soft and gentle commiseration of the blindness of others....
* 3 because forcing others to believe in a faith is in itself negligent to truth. Zarbon 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Hydrangeans (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
Property has its duties as well as its rights. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
* 3 InvisibleSun 00:50, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 06:29, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide. ~ Rebecca West (born December 21, 1892)
* 3 InvisibleSun 00:50, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 06:29, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
* 2 although infanticide is widely accepted in many places across the planet in order to keep population crowding, such as China, for example. I don't think infanticide is indefensible either, especially if the parents agree not to keep the child. But I do understand the comparison West is trying to make here and although I don't particularly agree with using infanticide as a comparison, the quote still holds some truth...the value of a book is indeed sacred. Zarbon 20:09, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Hydrangeans (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
History shows that there are no invincible armies and that there never have been. ~ Joseph Stalin (born December 21)
* 3 because he is more than right. Caesar, Khan, Napoleon, and Hitler all succumbed and their armies with them. Zarbon 16:54, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
** SOURCE: The Stalin Era - Page 122 by Philip Boobbyer - History - 2000
* 2 Kalki 02:14, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 23:10, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
* 1 Hydrangeans (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2024 (UTC)
A Lieutenant is not worth a General ...even if that Lieutenant is my son! I do not change the soldier for the marshal! ~ Joseph Stalin (born December 21)
* 3 because this is true honor. It is never respectable to protect one's own son just for the sake of the person being one's own son. It is better to be loyal to military principle and follow military code. When Stalin's son was captured and was used as a trump card in order for Stalin to give up one of his highest generals, Stalin said this statement, obliterating the chances of allowing the enemy to feel any reassurance. And truly, this statement is magnificent and sheer brilliance. Zarbon 16:54, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
** SOURCE: Stalin: The First In-Depth Biography - Page 476 by Edvard Radzinsky - Biography & Autobiography - 1997
* 2 Kalki 02:14, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed. ~ Joseph Stalin
* 4 because knowledge is power. Zarbon 03:25, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
* 1 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 18:26, 19 December 2013 (UTC) 2 Kalki 02:14, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:10, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
The German army is a machine, and machines can be broken! ~ Konstantin Rokossovsky (born December 21)
* 3 because the comparison of a machine and an army is very true, and moreso beautiful if anything. The fact that a machine can be broken is also a nice recreation of the imagery brought about here, the destruction of an army on par with the destruction of a machine. Zarbon 16:59, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
** SOURCE: Current Biography - Page 562 by H.W. Wilson Company - Current biography - 1945
* 2 Kalki 02:14, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 23:10, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
* The general tendency to be censorious of the vices to which one has not been tempted was present in her in a specially rank form.
* ~ Rebecca West ~
* 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 17:58, 21 December 2017 (UTC)
* Les fous sont aux échecs les plus proches des rois. -- In chess the fool stands next to the king. ~ Mathurin Régnier
** 3 Ficaia (talk) 18:37, 19 June 2024 (UTC)