Lyndon Johnson was fond of differentiating between two kinds of speeches: "The Mother Hubbard speech, which, like the garment, covers everything but touches nothing; and the French bathing suit speech, which covers only the essential points."
Shortly after the Watergate story broke, Richard Nixon was asked by British television interviewer David Frost to explain his approval of such illegal activities as burglary and the unauthorized opening of mail. "Well," Nixon boldly replied, "when the president does it, that means it is not illegal."
The latter portion of Jimmy Carter’s presidency was plagued by recession. The American economy did not pick up again until Ronald Reagan had assumed the helm (in the early 1980s).
“Depression is when you are out of work,” Reagan declared after taking office. “Recession is when your neighbor is out of work…”
And a recovery? “A recovery is when Jimmy Carter is out of work!
In 1846, Lincoln ran for Congress as a Whig against an evangelical Methodist named Peter Cartwright.
One day during the campaign, Lincoln attended a religious meeting at which Cartwright, after a stirring welcome, invited everyone who wished to go to heaven to rise. Several congregants complied.
“Now,” Cartwright continued, “those who do not wish to go to hell will stand!” With these words, everyone else rose up, with a single notable exception.
“May I inquire of you, Mr. Lincoln,” Cartwright asked, “where you are going?” Lincoln rose. “I came here as a respectful listener,” he calmly replied. “I did not know I was to be singled out by Brother Cartwright. I believe in treating religious matters with due solemnity. I admit that the questions propounded by Brother Cartwright are of great importance. I did not feel called upon to answer as the rest did. Brother Cartwright asks me directly where I am going. I desire to reply with equal directness: I am going to Congress!”
Beethoven once dismissed a housekeeper for telling a lie. Nanette Streicher, who had procured the housekeeper on his behalf, pleaded the woman's case, pointing out that she had only lied because she thought it would benefit him. Beethoven was not so easily persuaded: "Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart," he declared, "and cannot make pure soup!"
"Within a few years after his marriage, Cole Porter had written, and had courteously tossed off at one party or another, such songs as 'Two Little Babes in the Wood,' 'Let's Do It,' and 'What Is This Thing Called Love?' He turned a bland eye upon his excited friends when they insisted that these songs should be published. He had plenty of money [much of it inherited] and a vast indifference toward making any more. To one enthusiastic pep-talker, he solemnly explained his fear of commercial success. 'Suppose I had to settle down on Broadway for three months just when I was planning to go to Antibes,' he said."
One day Gustav Mahler and his sister Justi visited a two-story cafe in Budapest's City Park. Mahler, who was in the habit of wiping utensils and rinsing glasses before using them, filled his glass with water and absent-mindedly emptied it over his shoulder, eliciting a cry of alarm from a group of ladies on the terrace below. "So sorry," Mahler gasped, realizing his mistake. As director of the Opera, Mahler was much-loved and his absent-mindedness quickly forgiven. Indeed when, minutes later, he repeated the incident with Justi's glass, the entire restaurant just burst out laughing.
In 2004, Sir Paul McCartney, a vegan and outspoken animal rights activist, confessed that his production of a series of animated films (including Tropic Island Hum, Tuesday, and Rupert and the Frog Song) was motivated in part by childhood guilt. "When I was a kid and I remember thinking as I would have to go into the Army," he explained, "cruelty to frogs seemed justified as a practice for the Army.
"Obviously, now this is something I regret and who knows, I may be trying to make it up to the little dears by putting them in every single one of these films.
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