Quotes about Disaster

We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road—the one "less traveled by"—offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.

Only after disaster can we be resurrected.

I suppose I brought disaster on myself—though if anyone had bothered to warn me of the dire consequences of my actions, I never would have been so careless.

In the business world, unwise men take more that they give. They do not realize that they are breaking the Universal Law which will eventually break them to an equal extent. It may not be balanced in the form of dollars and cents but in the loss of good-will upon which their future business depends.
Man’s ignorance of the Law of Love in personal and world relationships will not serve as an excuse to save him from disaster. Wealth cannot be acquired from others by might, for wealth thus taken will impoverish him who takes anything which is not given. Nor can power be thus acquired, for the weakness of the despoiled will prevail against the might of the despoiler.
Everywhere in the world this law is seen working out its inexorable certainty. Empires built by might are dissolving. Rich world treasuries are disgorging their gold and piling up debt. The blood of every man killed by the sword has been paid for by ten – perchance ten times ten – of those who killed. Nations which have fattened on the food taken from others are starving amid the ruins of palaces in which they feasted.
A new world – one world – cannot grow out of a universe built on the foundations of hate and fear by unbalanced taking.
A new world must have new foundations. An eternal foundation is not built as one whole – it is built lovingly stone by stone. Thus must man rebuild his world.

If you can keep your head when all about you
   Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
   But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
   Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
   And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
   If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
   And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
   Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
   And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
   And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
   And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
   To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
   Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
   Or walk with Kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
   If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
   With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
   And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!

There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.
There is no greater guilt than discontentment.
And there is no greater disaster than greed.

Son of man, keep not silent, forget not deeds of tyranny. Cry out at the disaster of a people, recount it unto your children and they unto theirs. From generation to generation the hordes swept in, ran wild and savage and there was no deliverance, valiance, and revolt. How the mighty are fallen, the great in spirit and stout of heart, walking to their death with a halo of eternity. (reference to the Holocaust)

There are men in the world who derive an exaltation from the proximity of disaster and ruin, as other from success.

We make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villians by compulsion.

Two amateur artists were asked to paint something depicting "peace." On the appointed day, both artists brought their paintings to be shown. One picture was of a quiet, rippleless lake. Here indeed was peace as seen by an artist. The other painting showed a gnarled tree standing on the precipice in a rugged canyon. Nearby was a thundering waterfall, and the river dashed on, angrily below. In the tree, near her nest, a bird was perched, singing above the clamor of the torrent of the water below. A sudden change in the wind could bring disaster to the frail limb upon which the bird and her nest were located. But instinctively she knew that if that happened, she and her young ones could use their wings and mount to the sky. Yes, the two artists had fulfilled what they had been asked to do. One painted a scene depicting the quiet beauty of peace. The other had seen the majestic splendor that accompanies inner peace.

No man made great by death offers more hope to lowly pride than does Abraham Lincoln; for while living he was himself so simple as often to be dubbed a fool. Foolish he was, they said, in losing his youthful heart to a grave and living his life on married patience; foolish in pitting his homely ignorance against Douglas, brilliant, courtly, and urbane; foolish in setting himself to do the right in a world where the day goes mostly to the strong; foolish in dreaming of freedom for a long-suffering folk whom the North is as anxious to keep out as the South was to keep down; foolish in choosing the silent Grant to lead to victory the hesitant armies of the North; foolish, finally, in presuming that government for the people must be government of the people and by the people. Foolish many said; foolish many, many believed. This Lincoln, whom so many living friends and foes alike deemed foolish, hid his bitterness in laughter; fed his sympathy on solitude; and met recurring disaster with whimsicality to muffle the murmur of a bleeding heart. Out of the tragic sense of life he pitied where others blamed; bowed his own shoulders with the woes of the weak; endured humanely his little day of chance power; and won through death what life disdains to bestow upon such simple souls - lasting peace and everlasting glory.

I know a nice fellow named Mike An agent you can't help but like In the midst of disaster There's nobody faster He'll bring you the cash on his bike!

IF If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;* If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - You'll be a Man, my son! *These two lines are inscribed over the door to the center court at Wimbledon.

Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster.

For a moment, off balance, was I annoyed? Anger is always fear, I thought, and fear is always fear of loss. Would I lose myself if he made those choices? It took a second to settle down: I'd lose nothing. They'd be his wishes, not mine, and he's free to live as he wants. The loss would come if I dared force him, tried to live for him and me as well. There'd be disaster worse than life on a bar stool.

It's queer how it is always one's virtues that precipitate one into disaster.

If we put the emphasis upon the right things. If we live the life that is worth while, and then fail, we will survive all disasters, we will out-live all misfortune. We should be so well balanced and symmetrical, that nothing which could ever happen could throw us off our center, so that no matter what misfortune should overtake us, there would still be a whole magnificent man or woman left after being stripped of everything else.

Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace The day's disasters in his morning face; Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee At all his jokes, for many a joke had he; Full well the busy whisper circling round Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd. Yet was he kind, or if severe in aught, The love he bore to learning was in fault; The village all declar'd how much he knew, 'Twas certain he could write and cipher too.

Government at all levels has emerged as our number one growth industry...for the first time in American history - even in the history of the Western industrialized world - there are more people working for government at all levels (18.7 million) than in manufacturing (18.1 million). Since manufacturing jobs make money while government jobs take money, this has become an equation for economic disaster.

The only aspect of our travels that is interesting to others is disaster.

The only ultimate disaster that can befall us, I have come to realize, is to feel ourselves at home here on earth.

There are two big forces at work, external and internal. We have very little control over external forces such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, disasters, illness and pain. What really matters is the internal force. How do I respond to those disasters? Over that I have complete control.

Thomas Edison devoted ten years and all of his money to developing the nickel-alkaline storage battery at a time when he was almost penniless. . . . One night the terrifying cry of fire echoed through the film plant. Spontaneous combustion had ignited some chemicals. Within moments all of the packing compounds, celluloids for records, file, and other flammable goods had gone up with a whoosh. Fire companies from eight towns arrive, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the fire hoses had no effect. Edison was 67 years old - no age to begin anew. His daughter was frantic, wondering if he were safe, if his spirits were broken, how he would handle a crisis such as this at his age. She saw him running toward her. He spoke first. He said, "Where's your mother? Go get her. Tell her to get her friends. They'll never see another fire like this as long as they live." At 5:30 the next morning with the fire barely under control, he called his employees together and announced, "We're rebuilding." Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Oh, by the way, anybody know where we can get some money?" Virtually everything we now recognize as a Thomas Edison contribution in our lives came after that disaster.

Just before he ascended the gallows following the Nuremberg trials, Hans Frank, one of the top Nazis who controlled Poland, made a statement. He claimed he had little idea, until it was too late, that turning away from God could have such destructive and deadly consequences. "It was not only because of technical reasons and unfortunate coincidences that we lost the war. It was not just ill luck and treason. Rather God has passed sentence on Hitler. He has passed it on him and his system which we served in a state of mind hostile to God." He then implored that everything be done to warn others not to follow in his path. "Not even one step," he emphasized, since the way he followed was "the way without God, the road from Christ, and in the final outcome the road of political stupidity, of disaster and death."

Part of human nature resents change, loves equilibrium, while another part welcomes novelty, loves the excitement of disequilibrium. There is no formula for the resolution of this tug-of-war, but it is obvious that absolute surrender to either of them invites disaster.

The peace and joy of the Christmas season was marred by a proclamation of a general strike of all the military forces of the world. Panic reigns in the hearts of all the patriots of every persuasion. Meanwhile, fears of universal disaster sank to an all-time low over the world.

If we die, do not mourn for us. This is a risky business we're in, and we accept those risks. The space program is too valuable to this country to be halted for too long if a disaster should ever happen.

Meet success like a gentleman and disaster like a man.

It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she just began to move in,-glittering like the morning star full of life and splendour and joy. . . . Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her in a nation of gallant men,-in a nation of men of honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded.

Whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster.