“Have no friends not equal to yourself.”
– Confucious (551 – 497 BC) Chinese philosopher.

“Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends.”
– Jacques Delille (1738 – 1813) French poet.

“A Friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) US poet & essayist.

“Keep your friendships in repair.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson (as above)

“A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.”
– Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784) British lexiographer.

“True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in their worth and choice.”
– Samuel Johnston, (as above)

“It is more shameful to distrust one’s friends than to be deceived by them.”
– Duc de la Rochefoucauld (1613 – 1680) French writer.

“If it is abuse – why one is always sure to here of it from one damned good-natured friend or other!”
– Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 – 1816) British dramatist.

“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
– George Washington (1732 – 1799) US Statesman.

“True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.”
– George Washington, (as above)

If Prometheus was worthy of the wrath of heaven for kindling the first fire upon earth, how ought all the gods honor the men who make it their professional business to put it out? ~John Godfrey Saxe

But sound aloud the praises, and give the victor-crown
To our noble-hearted Firemen, who fear not danger’s frown.
~Frederic G.W. Fenn, “Ode to our Firemen,” 1878

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ~Maya Angelou

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~Bible, John 15:13

Hug a firefighter and feel warm all over. ~Author Unknown

When fire is cried and danger is neigh,
“God and the firemen” is the people’s cry;
But when ’tis out and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the firemen slighted.
~Author unknown, from The Fireman’s Journal, 18 Oct 1879

All men are created equal, then a few become firemen. ~Author Unknown

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.
Thomas Jefferson

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
Thomas Jefferson

Speeches that are measured by the hour will die with the hour.
Thomas Jefferson

Taste cannot be controlled by law.
Thomas Jefferson

That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
Thomas Jefferson

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.
Thomas Jefferson

The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.
Thomas Jefferson

The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.
Thomas Jefferson

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
Thomas Jefferson

The Creator has not thought proper to mark those in the forehead who are of stuff to make good generals. We are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold, and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses.
Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
Thomas Jefferson

“A home without a cat- and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat- may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?”
– Pudd’nhead Wilson

“If animals could speak the dog would be a a blundering outspoken fellow, but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”
– Mark Twain

“A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime.”
-Mark Twain Notebook, 1895

“I simply can’t resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course.”
– Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field, Fisher

“Of all God’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”
– Mark Twain Notebook, 1894

“You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.”
– George Mikes from “How to be decadent

“Dogs come when they’re called. Cats take a message and get back to you.”
– Mary Bly

“For a man to truly understand rejection, he must first be ignored by a cat.”
– Anon

“I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul.”
– Jean Cocteau

“There are two means of refuge from the misery of life – music and cats.”
– Albert Schweitzer

“There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.”
– Tay Hohoff

” God made the cat in order that humankind might have the pleasure of caressing the tiger.”
– Fernand Mery

“Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. “
– Jeff Valdez

“Way down deep, we’re all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them.”
– Jim Davis

“There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person.”
– Dan Greenberg

“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.”
– Leonardo da Vinci

“In a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats.”
– English Proverb

“Beware of people who dislike cats.”
– Irish Proverb

“You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.”
– Colonial American Proverb

“With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?”
– Fernand Mery

“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
– Winston Churchill

“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.”
– Hippolyte Taine

“A meow massages the heart.”
– Stuart McMillan

“No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.”
– Abraham Lincoln

“Dogs believe they are human. Cats believe they are God.”
– Unknown

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.”
– Unknown

“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.”
– Unknown

” No heaven will not ever be Heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me.”
– Unknown

“No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.” – Abraham Lincoln

“Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” – Mark Twain

“With their qualities of cleanliness, discretion, affection, patience, dignity, and courage, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?” – Fernand Mery Her Majesty the Cat

“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.” – Hippolyte Taine

Actually, cats do this to protect you from gnomes who come and steal your breath while you sleep. – John Dobbin

Don’t think that I’m silly for liking it, I just happen to like the simple little things, and I love cats! – Michelle Gardner

Everything I know I learned from my cat: When you’re hungry, eat. When you’re tired, nap in a sunbeam. When you go to the vet’s, pee on your owner. – Gary Smith

Fans think they want to see more than the 10 to 20 seconds of Itchy and Scratchy that we put on the show, but my feeling is less is more. Once you’ve skinned and flayed a cat, ripped his head off, made him drink acid and tied his tongue to the moon, there really isn’t that much to say. – Matt Groening, 1993

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. ~W.C. Fields

Riding: The art of keeping a horse between you and the ground. ~Author Unknown

It is not enough for a man to know how to ride; he must know how to fall. ~Mexican Proverb

The wagon rests in winter, the sleigh in summer, the horse never. ~Yiddish Proverb

Many people have sighed for the ‘good old days’ and regretted the ‘passing of the horse,’ but today, when only those who like horses own them, it is a far better time for horses. ~C.W. Anderson

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. ~Winston Churchill

People on horses look better than they are. People in cars look worse than they are. ~Marya Mannes

Horses and children, I often think, have a lot of the good sense there is in the world. ~Josephine Demott Robinson

It’s always been and always will be the same in the world: The horse does the work and the coachman is tipped. ~Author Unknown

Heaven is high and earth wide. If you ride three feet higher above the ground than other men, you will know what that means. ~Rudolf C. Binding

He knows when you’re happy
He knows when you’re comfortable
He knows when you’re confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.
~Author Unknown

The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse’s ears. ~Arabian Proverb

Ah, steeds, steeds, what steeds! Has the whirlwind a home in your manes? Is there a sensitive ear, alert as a flame, in your every fiber? Hearing the familiar song from above, all in one accord you strain your bronze chests and, hooves barely touching the ground, turn into straight lines cleaving the air, and all inspired by God it rushes on! ~Nikolai V. Gogol, Dead Souls, 1842, translated from Russian (above is combination of translations by Bernard Guildert Guerney, Richard Peaver, and Larisa Voloklonsky)

To ride a horse is to ride the sky. ~Author Unknown

There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse. ~Robert Smith Surtees, “Chapter XXX: Bolting the Badger,” Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour, 1853

A horse loves freedom, and the weariest old work horse will roll on the ground or break into a lumbering gallop when he is turned loose into the open. ~Gerald Raferty