Sharing a Quote

Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul

This morning a friend from the 'hood sent me an email with this note:

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
- Adrian Rogers

Adrian Rogers and I were born in the same town: West Palm Beach. Southerners are funny about that sort of thing, too: even though I grew up in Georgia since age three, I expect my obituary to read something like, "Sean lived 99 years in Atlanta, but he is a native of south Florida." I think it's quaint.

Another Rogers quotation worth noting is, "We have dads today that are interested in sports, business, and sex. They've forgotten their God-given assignments to teach the Ten Commandments." Kudos!

Of course, no one is perfect; the same guy also said, "I believe slavery is a much maligned institution; if we had slavery today, we would not have this welfare mess." No thanks.

Rogers is also opposed to smoking tobacco (which I don't care about) and drinking alcohol (my Irish ancestors are doing cartwheels, I'm sure). I have a shot glass in the kitchen that I got when I was in Ireland; it says "Leprechaun's Pint."

Anyway, regarding the original Rogers quote above, I agree -- after all, I know my own character: if I could get by on the sweat of your brow, I'd have the same struggle as the next guy to not take the opportunity.