Quotes about ale
page 4

Amir Taheri photo

“It might come as a surprise to many, but the truth is that Islam today no longer has a living and evolving theology. In fact, with few exceptions, Islam’s last genuine theologians belong to the early part of the 19th century. Go to any mosque anywhere, whether it is in New York or Mecca, and you are more likely to hear a political sermon rather than a theological reflection. In the highly politicized version of Islam promoted by Da’esh, al Qaeda, the Khomeinists in Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Boko Haram in Nigeria, God plays a cameo role at best. Deprived of its theological moorings, today’s Islam is a wayward vessel under the captaincy of ambitious adventurers leading it into sectarian feuds, wars and terrorism. Many, especially Muslims in Europe and North America, use it as a shibboleth defining identity and even ethnicity. A glance at Islam’s history in the past 200 years highlights the rapid fading of theologians. Today, Western scholars speak of Wahhabism as if that meant a theological school. In truth, Muhammad Abdul-Wahhabi was a political figure. His supposedly theological writings consist of nine pages denouncing worship at shrines of saints. Nineteenth-century “reformers” such as Jamaleddin Assadabadi and Rashid Rada were also more interested in politics than theology. The late Ayatollah Khomeini, sometimes regarded as a theologian, was in fact a politician wearing clerical costume. His grandson has collected more than 100,000 pages of his writings and speeches and poetry. Of these, only 11 pages, commenting on the first and shortest verse of the Koran, could be regarded as dabbling in theology, albeit not with great success.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

"The mad dream of a dead empire that unites Islamic rebels" http://nypost.com/2014/06/14/the-mad-dream-of-a-dead-empire-that-unites-islamic-rebels/, New York Post (June 14, 2014).
New York Post

“There ys no solas undyr hevene
Of al that a man may nevene
That shuld a man so mochë glew
As a gode womman that loveth trew.”

Robert Mannyng (1275–1338) English chronicler

Source: Handlyng Synne, Line 1909.

Muhammad photo
Dennis Miller photo

“Hey folks, tonight I wanna talk about global warming. Now, The World is Hot and Flat Society is growing increasingly hysterical and that indeed is causing me to sweat a little. In the last month or so, I've heard suggestions that those skeptical of Al Gore's spiritual crisis are deniers and one good way to serve the planet would be to have one less kid and I've also read that mankind is 'a virus' and human beings are 'the AIDS of the earth.' Global warming is officially becoming creepy and I can't tell yet if it's facisitc or fetishistic but it's kinda like piercing or tattoos, I don't even wanna get one, because I see how hooked people are and it spooks me. I just find it odd that we've come to a point in history where if I don't concede that if Manhattan will be completely submerged in 2057 I'm thought to be a delusional contrarian by some of my more zealous fellow citizens. I'm sorry Angst Squad, but if we commissioned a public works project (let's call it 'The Manhattan Project') and tried our hardest to submerge Manhattan in the next 50 years, we couldn't pull it off, mainly because it wouldn't be environmentally sound and you guys would hang it up in the permitting process. Simply put, I can't worry about the earth right now because I'm too worried about the world. Why can't I take terrorism as seriously as Al Gore takes global warming? There are times that you think that liberals only fear car bombs if they have leaky exhaust systems. And why am I constantly beaten over the head with 'the delicate balance of nature'? Am I the only one who watches Animal Planet? Every time I turn it on, I see some demented harp seal chucking peguins down his gullet like they were maitre d'Tic-Tacs. To me, nature always appears more unbalanced than Gary Busey with a clogged eustachian tube. Listen, the weather is just like Hilary's explanation for her war vote: we just don't know, do we? We're here to miss our next Tuesday's weather much less the year 2057. Relax, we'll replace oil when we need to. American ingenuity will kick in and the next great fortune will be made. It's not pretty, but it is historically accurate. We need to run out of oil first. That's why I drive an SUV: so we run out of it more quickly. I consider myself at the vanguard of the environmental movement and I think the individuals who insist on driving hybrids are just prolonging our dillemma and I think that's just selfish. Come on, don't you care about our Mother Earth? Don'tcha?”

Dennis Miller (1953) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actor

6/17 The Half Hour News Hour
The Buck Starts Here

Ron Paul photo
Robert Louis Stevenson photo
Christopher Hitchens photo

“No possible future government in Kabul can be worse than the Taliban, and no thinkable future government would allow the level of Al Qaeda gangsterism to recur. So the outcome is proportionate and congruent with international principles of self-defense.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

2001-12-21
The Ends of War
The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/article/ends-war: On the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
2000s, 2001

Muhammad photo
Uri Avnery photo
Condoleezza Rice photo

“I happened to do the research on the links between al Qaeda and Iraq. (MATTHEWS: And what did you come up with?) SCHEUER: Nothing.”

Michael Scheuer (1952) American counterterrorism analyst

Hardball with Chris Matthews http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6511081/ November 16, 2004
2000s

M.I.A. photo

“M. I. A.: No. My fashion icon is Colonel [Muammar al-] Gaddafi, and he always has been. He’s rock ’n’ roll.”

M.I.A. (1975) British recording artist, songwriter, painter and director

Sourced quotes, Interview with Romain Gavras for Interview (2010)

Robert Fisk photo

“Now quite apart from the fact that many Iraqis -- along with myself -- have grave doubts about whether [abu Marsab al-] Zarqawi exists and that al-Qaida's Zarqawi, if he does exist, does not merit the title of "insurgency mastermind,…”

Robert Fisk (1946) English writer and journalist

All the news that's fit to slant http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/263664_fisk21.html, March 21, 2006
2006

George W. Bush photo
Hassan Rouhani photo

“The Syrian crisis must be resolved by a vote by Syrians. We are concerned by the civil war and foreign interference. The government [of President Bashar al-Assad] must be respected by other countries until the next [2014 presidential] elections and then it is up to the people to decide.”

Hassan Rouhani (1948) 7th President of Islamic Republic of Iran

"Iran leader warns on Syria intervention" http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/iran-leader-warns-on-syria-intervention/story-fn3dxix6-1226665312188, The Australian, (June 17, 2013)

John Wolcot photo

“No, let the monarch’s bags and others hold
The flattering, mighty, nay, al-mighty gold.”

John Wolcot (1738–1819) English satirist

To Kien Long; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Ode iv. Compare: "Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold,
And almost every vice,—almighty gold", Ben Jonson, Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland.

John Danforth photo
John Napier photo

“13 Proposition. Every one of the first three thundering Angels containeth a Jubelee, and then the last foure al at once compleateth the day of judgement.”

John Napier (1550–1617) Scottish mathematician

A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John (1593), The First and Introductory Treatise

Muhammad bin Qasim photo
David Petraeus photo

“Iran, as we have already discussed, has carried out very, very harmful activities inside Iraq. Funding, trainings, arming and, in some cases, even directing the activities of the special groups associated with the Jaish al-Mahdi and the Sadr Militia.”

David Petraeus (1952) retired American military officer and public official

As quoted in "Ranking House Committee Members Grill Crocker and Petraeus on U.S. Progress in Iraq" in The Washington Post (10 September 2007)

Amir Taheri photo
Lawrence Wright photo
Bill O'Reilly photo

“If I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, "Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if Al-Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead."”

Bill O'Reilly (1949) American political commentator, television host and writer

2005-11-08
The Radio Factor
Fox News Talk
Radio
2005-11-10
O'Reilly to San Francisco: "[I<nowiki>]</nowiki>f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. … You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead"
Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200511100008
2010-11-24
2005-11-11
Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/11/11/headlines
2010-11-19
[2005-11-26, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20051126/ai_n15876099, Protest in San Francisco targets O'Reilly, KNEW, Oakland Tribune, FindArticles.com, 2008-07-17]
2007-08-03
Dodd-O'Reilly: Interview, shouting match or both?
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2007/08/37269190/1
2010-11-19
reacting to 60% of San Francisco voters approving a nonbinding ballot measure encouraging public schools and colleges to prohibit military recruiting on campus

John Cage photo
John Gray photo
Charlie Brooker photo

“Actually, I think this might be an Al-Qaeda recruitment film.”

Charlie Brooker (1971) journalist, broadcaster and writer from England

Screenwipe

Christopher Hitchens photo
Osama bin Laden photo
Mullah Krekar photo

“I believe Al-Qaeda today resembles the Leninist, or Communist, movement, before it came to power in 1917, or the Zionist movement of Herzl, before Ben-Gurion brought it to power in Israel.”

Mullah Krekar (1956) Islamic scholar

Mullah Krekar, Leader of the Al-Qaeda Affiliated "Ansar Al-Islam": Al-Qaeds Resembles the Zionist Movement before the Establishment of the State of Israel http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1511.htm, video clip http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1511wmv&ak=null, 8th of July 2007

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen photo

“With bookës of his ornat endytyng,
That is to al þis land enlumynyng.”

Thomas Occleve (1369–1426) British writer

With books of his ornate writing
That is to all this land illuminating.
Source: Regement of Princes (c. 1412), Line 1973; vol. 3, p. 71; translation from Terry Jones et al. Who Murdered Chaucer? (London: Methuen, 2004) p. 4.

Amir Taheri photo

“Ever since its emergence a few months ago, the declared ambition of the startup caliphate of the Islamic State has been to “wipe out every trace of Infidel influence” in areas under its control. Yet, with each passing day, it becomes more clear that, its deadly fantasies notwithstanding, the IS can’t escape from a world created and dominated by the Infidel. Start with the name that the IS, or Daesh in Arabic, has chosen for itself: ad-dawlat al-Islamiyah, or “Islamic Government.” The concepts of “state” and “government” are entirely Western, not adopted by Muslim peoples until the 19th century. The very words “state” and “government” are never mentioned in the Quran. Daesh’s “caliph” has also appointed a number of vizirs. This, too, is un-Islamic. Of Persian origin, the word vizir designated high officials of the pre-Islamic Sasanian Empire overthrown by Arab Muslim warriors in the 7th century. Mohammad had no vizirs, nor did any of his four immediate successors, the so-called “Well Guided caliphs…” The Islamic State’s most noteworthy embrace of the works of the “Infidel,” however, is surely its use of the satanic Internet. Its personnel, including converts from Europe and North America, regularly display across the Web what seems to be the main, if not the only, thing they’ve learned from Islam: cutting the throats of defenseless captives.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

"The not-so-Islamic State: ISIS’ huge debt to the infidel" http://nypost.com/2014/11/20/the-not-so-islamic-state-isis-huge-debt-to-the-infidel/, New York Post (November 20, 2014).
New York Post

Phil Brooks photo

“Look at you people. Look at what's become of the mighty United Kingdom. This land used to be filled with kings and knights and noblemen. You used to rule half the planet, and now you're just as sad and pathetic as the Americans. You can pretend you're not, you can pretend you don't spend your days tucked away in some little pub downing your pints of ale; you can pretend you don't spend every single night filling your lungs and those around you with carcinogens and poisons from your fancy cigarettes and trendy cigars; you can pretend you don't knowingly stuff chewing tobacco in your mouth in one of the most disgusting habits I've ever seen in my life—something that will give you cancer inside of two years. You people are weak-minded. You have no heart, your spirit is broken. You're practically decomposing right before my very eyes as I talk to you, and the only thing you can do is boo or wave a crooked little finger at me and accuse me of being preachy. You people need somebody as righteous as myself to preach to you the proper way to live. You should all aspire to be as great as I am. Do I think I'm better than you? Absolutely, and it's not that hard because my mind is clear; my body, free of poison. Look at me—I am perfect in every way. My strength comes from within, and I don't need a crutch to get through my everyday life like you people, and I certainly don't need a crooked official like Scott Armstrong to fight my battles for me. I filed a formal complaint with the Board of Directors; and as far as tonight goes, I will beat R-Truth just like I'll beat him at Survivor Series, and just like I can easily beat up everybody here in this arena today. Because I am the Choice of a New Generation, and R-Truth's gonna come out here and ask you people, "What's Up?"”

Phil Brooks (1978) American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist

I'll answer that little riddle for you right now. I tell you "what's up" Straight-edge—that is what's up. No narcotics, no drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes, no prescription medication, and that, you sad, sad people, can save your entire pathetic country and the entire world.
November 13, 2009
Friday Night SmackDown

Ralph Nader photo

“… the only difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door.”

Ralph Nader (1934) American consumer rights activist and corporate critic

quoted in American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good (2015)

Source: [Woodard, Colin, American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good, 1980, Simon and Schuster, 0698181719]

Muhammad photo
Al-Mahdi photo
Muhammad photo
Harun Yahya photo
Christopher Hitchens photo
Michelle Pfeiffer photo

“Many a servant un-to his lord seith,
"Þat al the world spekith of him honour,"
Whan the contrarie of þat is sooth, in feith.”

Thomas Occleve (1369–1426) British writer

Many a servant unto his Lord saith
That all the world speaketh of him honóur,
When the contrary of that is sooth in faith.
Source: La Male Regle (c. 1405), Line 217; vol. 1, p. 32; translation p. 60.

Geoffrey Chaucer photo

“And brought of mighty ale a large quart.”

The Miller's Tale, l. 3497
The Canterbury Tales

Muhammad bin Tughluq photo
Jesse Ventura photo
Ali Meshkini photo
David Cameron photo
Gavin Douglas photo

“Bot a sentens to follow may suffice me:
Sum tyme I follow the text als neir I may,
Sum tyme I am constrenyt ane other way.”

Gavin Douglas (1474–1522) Scottish Churchman, Scholar, Poet

Bk. 1, prologue, line 356.
Eneados

Thomas Robert Malthus photo
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi photo

“al-Sisi has nothing to do with democracy, and that he’s killed thousands of his own people.”

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (1954) Current President of Egypt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his interview with al-Jazeera on July 2016 http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/erdogan-did-not-attend-un-dinner-to-avoid-egypts-sisi/40683
About

George Soros photo
Robert P. George photo
George Friedman photo

“Al Qaeda has failed in its goals. The United States has succeeded, not so much in winning the war as in preventing the Islamists from winning, and, from a geopolitical perspective, that is good enough.”

George Friedman (1949) American businessman and political scientist

Source: The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century (2009), p. 18

Assata Shakur photo
Maithripala Sirisena photo
Geoffrey Chaucer photo
Bill O'Neill photo
Muhammad bin Tughluq photo

“The Sultan is not slack in jihad. He never lets go of his spear or bridle in pursuing jihad by land and sea routes. This is his main occupation which engages his eyes and ears. He has spent vast sums for the establishment of the faith and the spread of Islam in these lands, as a result of which the light of Islam has reached the inhabitants and the flash of the true faith brightened among them. Fire temples have been destroyed and the images and idols of Budd have been broken, and the lands have been freed from those who were not included in the darul Islam, that is, those who had refused to become zimmis. Islam has been spread by him in the far east and has reached the point of sunrise. In the words of Abu Nasr al-Aini, he has carried the flags of the followers of Islam where they had never reached before and where no chapter or verse (of the Quran) had ever been recited. Thereafter he got mosques and places of worship erected, and music replaced by call to prayers (azan), and the incantations of fire-worshippers stopped by recitations of the Quran. He directed the people of Islam towards the citadels of the infidels and, by the grace of Allah, made them (the believers) inheritors of wealth and land and that country which they (the believers) had never trodden upon.”

Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290–1351) Turkic Sultan of Delhi

Tughlaq Kalina Bharata, Persian texts translated into Hindi by S.A.A. Rizvi, 2 Volumes, Aligarh, 1956-57. p. 325 ff. Vol I. (Shihabuddin Al Umari.) Also quoted (using a different translation) in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. 8th to 15th Centuries, p. 274.

“There is no capital more useful than intellect and wisdom, and there is no indigence more injurious than ignorance and unawareness.
Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 198”

Ali (601–661) cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad

Variant translation: There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance
Regarding Knowledge & Wisdom, General

James Mattis photo
John Fortescue photo
Ali Zayn al-Abidin photo
Tawakkol Karman photo

“We cannot let the bogeyman of al-Qaida and extremism be used to stall historic change in our country”

Tawakkol Karman (1979) Yemeni journalist, politician, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient

2010s, Our revolution's doing what Saleh can't – uniting Yemen (2011)

Ann Coulter photo

“I don't know if he's gay. But Al Gore — total fag.”

Ann Coulter (1961) author, political commentator

Response to Chris Matthews on * Hardball
2006-07-26
Television
MSNBC as to why she said Bill Clinton "show[s] some level of latent homosexuality" on * The Big Idea
2006-07-25
Television
CNBC, as quoted in * On MSNBC, Coulter called Gore a "total fag," while Matthews said "we'd love to have her back"
Media Matters for America
2006-07-27
http://mediamatters.org/items/200607280001
2006

Ilana Mercer photo

“The National Education Association is the al-Qaida of education.”

Ilana Mercer South African writer

"Shafting Boys," http://www.ilanamercer.com/Shafting%20Boys.htm WorldNetDaily.com, January 27, 2006.
2000s, 2006

George W. Bush photo

“As you watch the developments in Baghdad, it's important to understand that we will not be able to prevent every al Qaeda attack. When a terrorist is willing to kill himself to kill others, it's really hard to stop him. Yet, over time, the security operation in Baghdad is designed to shrink the areas where al Qaeda can operate, it's designed to bring out more intelligence about their presence, and designed to allow American and Iraqi forces to dismantle their network.We have a strategy to deal with al Qaeda in Iraq. But any time you say to a bunch of cold-blooded killers, success depends on no violence, all that does is hand them the opportunity to be successful. And it's hard. I know it's hard for the American people to turn on their TV screens and see the horrific violence. It speaks volumes about the American desire to protect lives of innocent people, America's deep concern about human rights and human dignity. It also speaks volumes about al Qaeda, that they're willing to take innocent life to achieve political objectives.The terrorists will continue to fight back. In other words, they understand what they're doing. And casualties are likely to stay high. Yet, day by day, block by block, we are steadfast in helping Iraqi leaders counter the terrorists, protect their people, and reclaim the capital. And if I didn't think it was necessary for the security of the country, I wouldn't put our kids in harm's way.…Either we'll succeed, or we won't succeed. And the definition of success as I described is sectarian violence down. Success is not, no violence. There are parts of our own country that have got a certain level of violence to it. But success is a level of violence where the people feel comfortable about living their daily lives. And that's what we're trying to achieve.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

President Bush Discusses War on Terror, Economy with Associated General Contractors of America http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070502-2.html (May 2, 2007)
2000s, 2007

Fritjof Capra photo

“p. 22 as cited in: Patrick Fitzgerald et al. (1995) Managing sustainable development in South Africa.”

Fritjof Capra (1939) American physicist

Source: Uncommon Wisdom (1988), p. 302.

John McCain photo

“Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.”

John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States

Address at Virginia Beach (2000), as quoted in The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000228/aponline165646_000.htm (28 February 2000).
2000s

Thomas D'Arcy McGee photo
Osama bin Laden photo
Ibn Warraq photo
Muhammad photo
Amir Taheri photo
Lawrence Wright photo
George W. Bush photo
Muhammad photo

“There is information showing that in the 1993-1994 period bin Laden began to work with Sudan and Iraq to acquire a CBRN capability for al Qaeda.”

Michael Scheuer (1952) American counterterrorism analyst

Through Our Enemies Eyes (p. 124) Scheuer later retracted this statement. https://archive.is/nLW4y.
2000s

Muhammad photo
Christopher Hitchens photo

“We are introduced to Iraq, "a sovereign nation"…In this peaceable kingdom, according to Moore's flabbergasting choice of film shots, children are flying little kites, shoppers are smiling in the sunshine, and the gentle rhythms of life are undisturbed. Then—wham! From the night sky come the terror weapons of American imperialism. Watching the clips Moore uses, and recalling them well, I can recognize various Saddam palaces and military and police centers getting the treatment. But these sites are not identified as such. In fact, I don't think Al Jazeera would, on a bad day, have transmitted anything so utterly propagandistic. You would also be led to think that the term "civilian casualty" had not even been in the Iraqi vocabulary until March 2003…the "insurgent" side is presented in this film as justifiably outraged, whereas the 30-year record of Baathist war crimes and repression and aggression is not mentioned once.That this—his pro-American moment—was the worst Moore could possibly say of Saddam's depravity is further suggested by some astonishing falsifications. Moore asserts that Iraq under Saddam had never attacked or killed or even threatened (his words) any American. I never quite know whether Moore is as ignorant as he looks, or even if that would be humanly possible…Baghdad was the safe house for the man whose "operation" murdered Leon Klinghoffer…In 1991, a large number of Western hostages were taken by the hideous Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and held in terrible conditions for a long time. After that same invasion was repelled—Saddam having killed quite a few Americans and Egyptians and Syrians and Brits in the meantime and having threatened to kill many more—the Iraqi secret police were caught trying to murder former President Bush during his visit to Kuwait. Never mind whether his son should take that personally…Iraqi forces fired, every day, for 10 years, on the aircraft that patrolled the no-fly zones and staved off further genocide in the north and south of the country…And it was after, and not before, the 9/11 attacks that Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi moved from Afghanistan to Baghdad and began to plan his now very open and lethal design for a holy and ethnic civil war.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

2004-06-21
Unfairenheit 9/11
Slate
1091-2339
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2004/06/unfairenheit_911.html: On Michael Moore
2000s, 2004

Otto Weininger photo
David Horowitz photo

“They are radical groups who identify with the violent jihad of Islamacist terror organizations like al-Qaeda, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. And they have the support of a radical culture that regards America as the Great Satan, and Muslims and Arabs as the people whom America oppresses.”

David Horowitz (1939) Neoconservative activist, writer

[David, Horowitz, http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/horowitz.html, "As a former 'Radical,' I see the threat of Militant Islam on our Campuses,", jewishworldreview.com, April 08, 2003, 2010-01-05]
2003

“And ich wulle uaren to Aualun to uairest alre maidene.
to Argante þere quene aluen swiðe sceone.
& heo scal mine wunden makien alle isunde.
al hal me makien mid haleweiye drenchen.
And seoðe ich cumen wulle. to mine kineriche.
and wunien mid Brutten mid muchelere wunne.”

And I will fare to Avalun, to the fairest of all maidens, to Argante the queen, an elf most fair, and she shall make my wounds all sound; make me all whole with healing draughts. And afterwards I will come to my kingdom, and dwell with the Britons with mickle joy.
Source: Brut, Line 14277; vol. 3, p. 144.

A.E. Housman photo
Osama bin Laden photo
Al-Mahdi photo

“Al-Suyuti, History of The Caliphs, Translated by Major H. S. Jarrett, Calcutta (India), 1881.”

Al-Mahdi (744–785) the third Abbasid Caliph

Further Readings

John McCain photo

“It's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq. That's well known. We continue to be concerned about the Iranians taking al-Qaeda into Iran and training them and sending them back…. I am sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda, not al-Qaeda, I am sorry.”

John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States

During an official visit in Amman, Jordon, making a statement and then being corrected by Senator Joe Lieberman http://web.archive.org/web/20080324115205/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtqD_x9yYIuq_7S2dimSjMV5qRmg (18 March 2008)
2000s, 2008

Muhammad photo
Neil deGrasse Tyson photo

“Ibn al-Haytham was the first person ever to set down the rules of science. -S01E05”

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958) American astrophysicist and science communicator

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014)

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan photo
Charles Krauthammer photo
Thomas Jefferson photo

“I observe an idea of establishing a branch bank of the United States in New Orleans. This institution is one of the most deadly hostility existing against the principles and form of our Constitution. The nation is at this time so strong and united in its sentiments that it cannot be shaken at this moment. But suppose a series of untoward events should occur sufficient to bring into doubt the competency of a republican government to meet a crisis of great danger, or to unhinge the confidence of the people in the public functionaries; an institution like this, penetrating by its branches every part of the union, acting by command and in phalanx may, in a critical moment, upset the government. I deem no government safe which is under the vassalage of any self-constituted authorities, or any other authority than that of the nation or its regular functionaries. What an obstruction could not this Bank of the United States, with al its branch banks, be in time of war! It might dictate to us the peace we should accept, or withdraw its aids. Ought we then to give further growth to an institution so powerful, so hostile?”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Letter to Albert Gallatin (13 December 1803) http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/biog/lj34.htm ME 10:437 : The Writings of Thomas Jefferson "Memorial Edition" (20 Vols., 1903-04) edited by Andrew A. Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh, Vol. 10, p. 437
1800s, First Presidential Administration (1801&ndash;1805)

Alberto Gonzales photo

“Torture is not tolerated by this country on the battlefield or off. Anyone who tortures or abuses a detainee tarnishes the service of every honorable student and soldier in this room today. The President has said this, and I will say it again: those who commit torture in the name of the United States government will be prosecuted. In any discussion of Guantanamo, detainees and military commissions, I think that one final fact helps put things in perspective — and that is the fact that members of al Qaeda are not merely common criminals. Some critics around the world have argued that they are “just” criminals, that their crimes somehow do not amount to war crimes. But here are the facts: al Qaeda seeks to employ weapons of mass slaughter as a means of achieving political goals against both the civilian and military capacity of the United States, Europe, and our allies throughout the world. Its members continue to fight our Armed Forces on battlefields around the world, and they will continue to do so until we stop them. Al Qaeda has committed acts on a scale that transcends mere crime, as recognized by NATO immediately after the attacks of September 11th. Their crimes are therefore nothing less than war crimes. Given the magnitude of the atrocities al Qaeda has committed, there can be no comparison between the crimes of its members and that of common civilian criminals.”

Alberto Gonzales (1955) 80th United States Attorney General

Speech regarding Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism (November 20, 2006)

Al Hurricane photo

“My mom picked the name "Al Hurricane", because I used to knock things over as a kid and it stuck to me. So I took it as my professional name.”

Al Hurricane (1936–2017) American singer-songwriter

"Local Legends" on the CBS Early Show (December 26, 2011)