If there’s one thing we know for certain about Donald Trump, it’s that he will open his big mouth again. And it’s a virtual certainty that something stupid, racist, or misogynistic will come out. We’ve had some real whoppers from Trump since he threw his hat into the ring; Mexican rapists, letting every country in the world have nukes, John McCain isn’t a war hero because he was captured, blood flowing out of Megyn Kelly… the Donald’s mouth is an ever-flowing fount of BS. Because he’s got the best words, right?
Actually, he doesn’t have the best words. Some of these people did, though. Some of them were instrumental in founding America. Some in making America great — which it is already, thank you very much. A few were not Americans and one or two aren’t even from specific people, just proverbs. But what they all have in common is good advice and wisdom. Trump might want to take their words to heart.
1. It is with trifles and when he is off guard, that a man best reveals his character. — Arthur Schopenhauer
2. I fear you do not fully comprehend the danger of abridging the liberties of the people. Nothing but the very sternest necessity can ever justify it. A government had better go to the very extreme of toleration, than to do aught that could be construed into an interference with, or to jeopardize in any degree, the common rights of its citizens. — Abraham Lincoln
3. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle
4. It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself. — Latin Proverb
5. The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie— deliberate, contrived and dishonest— but the myth— persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. — John F. Kennedy
6. The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. — Helen Keller
7. As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. — Bill Gates
8. Totalitarian thought cannot bear to be disputed. — Andre Glucksmann
9. You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry. — Abraham Lincoln
10. Strength of character means the ability to overcome resentment against others, to hide hurt feelings, and to forgive quickly. — Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik
11. To speak evil of anyone, unless there is unequivocal proofs of their deserving it, is an injury for which there is no adequate reparation. — George Washington
12. We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent nor omniscient, that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse every adversity, and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem. — John F. Kennedy
13. Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. — General Colin Powell
14. When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property. — Thomas Jefferson
15. Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable characters. — Samuel Adams
16. The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. — John F. Kennedy
17. When a man blames others for his failures, it’s a good idea to credit others with his successes. — Howard W. Newton (advertising executive)
18. You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership. — Dwight Eisenhower
19. You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
20. How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg. — Abraham Lincoln
21. A continual circulation of lies among those who are not much in the way of hearing them contradicted, will in time pass for truth; and the crime lies not in the believer but the inventor. — Thomas Paine
22. Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants. — Alexander Hamilton
23. No punishment, in my opinion, is too great for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin. — George Washington
24. No nation, however powerful, any more than an individual, can be unjust with impunity. Sooner or later public opinion, an instrument merely moral in the beginning, will find occasion physically to inflict its sentences on the unjust. — Thomas Jefferson
25. Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity. — Donald Trump
That last one he should really pay attention to. Maybe the guy who said that is still in there somewhere. Maybe he’s been drowned by the orange spray tan. But, if he is in there, Trump needs to find him. Now.