By Carlos David Mogollón
America Under Attack—September 11
We will never look at this date the same way again. It will join others in the pantheon of our collective memory. Yet as we watched TV screens in horror as scenes unfolded in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania countryside, my mind turned to quotes of others more profound than I. Reminders of this day will not be lost just to the pages of history, but these declarations from times past may offer some solace to those who seek it in understanding the tragedy of our times:
“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
Thomas Jefferson, U.S. president (1743-1826)
“The temple of our purest thoughts is silence.”
Sarah J. Hale, American author (1788-1879)
“Something startles me where I thought I was safest,
I withdraw from the still woods I loved…”
Walt Whitman, American poet (1819-1892)
“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”
Mark Twain, American author (1835-1910)
“No person was ever honoured for what he received. Honour has been the reward for what he gave.”
Calvin Coolidge, U.S. president (1872-1933)
“All out of doors looked darkly at him,
Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars,
That gathers on the pane in empty rooms.”
Robert Frost, American poet (1874-1963)
“A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
John F. Kennedy, U.S. president (1917-1963)
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., American minister and civil rights leader (1929-1968)
“To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger.”
James Baldwin, American author (1924-1987)
“So little time we live in Time,
And we learn all so painfully,
That we may spare this hour’s term
To practice all Eternity.”
Robert Penn Warren, American poet laureate (1905-1989)
“That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it in a minute… Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journey continue… We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, as they… ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’ ”
Ronald Reagan, U.S. president (1911- ), memorial to those who died on the space shuttle Challenger, Jan. 28, 1986
The Water Quality Association announced the WQA Mid-Year Leadership Conference in Sedona, Ariz., Sept. 19-22, was canceled. All registration fees will be refunded unless otherwise specified. WC&P recommends members decline refunds in support of the Water Quality Research Council. Also, an agreement has been worked out with Amtrak for discounted fares to those planning to attend the WQA Convention in New Orleans in March 2002, said executive director Peter Censky.