159 Quotes by Laurence Overmire

Those of us who oppose hateful bigotry must not be silent when it rears its ugly head. When the tolerant tolerate the intolerant they risk losing the very freedoms they are trying to protect. Bigotry should never be allowed to become acceptable and commonplace in a healthy society.

A society that has no respect, no regard for its bards, its historians, its storytellers, is a society in steep decline, a society that has lost its very soul and may never find its way.

Misinformation destroys trust. When you destroy trust, you destroy the bonds that hold society together.

My forebears played a significant part in making me who I am. I honor their legacy. I will never forget what they gave me. I will love them until the day I die. And no one can take them away from me.

My charge, then, in putting down my pen, and giving over this work to posterity, is this: Take the time. Take the time to preserve the stories, the photographs, the small mementos that mean so much. This is your legacy to future generations. Give it the attention it deserves. Your children and your grandchildren will thank you for it.

Over the course of the millennia, all these multitudes of ancestors, generation upon generation, have come down to this moment in time—to give birth to you. There has never been, nor will ever be, another like you. You have been given a tremendous responsibility. You carry the hopes and dreams of all those who have gone before. Hopes and dreams for a better world. What will you do with your time on this Earth? How will you contribute to the ongoing story of humankind?

From generation to generation, lights are extinguished and darkness threatens until some one stoops to bear the torch.

Wise leaders know that serving the best interests of all will lead to a healthy and prosperous society. That's why they work to bring people together, not tear them apart, to serve the common good.

The cure for much of what ails our society is active citizen participation. Those who don't care, those who do nothing, bear enormous responsibility for the suffering in the world.