The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

My Own Quotes

In my many writings I have created a few quotes that encapsulates my thoughts on a topic. I have, therefore, collected these quotes on this web-page which I will update as I create new quotes:

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, while an entirely open mind can be the hobgoblin of irrationality.”
 - Mark Dawson

"A judicial ruling of Stare Decisis to allow for the continuation of an unjust law or unconstitutional decision is just another means of imposing absolutism."
 - Mark Dawson

"A person with a vision can be a dreamer or a hallucinator, and the dreams or hallucination can become nightmares without a grounding in reality or of human nature."
 - Mark Dawson

"A major difference between a Democrat and Republican candidate is that the Democrat candidate will say one thing on the election trail while doing another thing while in office, while the Republican candidate will say one thing on the election trail while doing nothing about what they said while in office."
  - Mark Dawson

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and a mind that is not fully utilized is a wasted mind."
  - Mark Dawson

"A nation that cannot control immigration has no immigration policy"
 - Mark Dawson

"A picture is worth a thousand words, but it is also subject to a multitude of interpretations and misinterpretations."
  - Mark Dawson

"A politician will often tell you what you want to hear, while a statesman will tell you what you need to hear."
  - Mark Dawson

"Always be wary of an assertion in which the reasoning is not explained, and then be prudent of the reasoning as it may be flawed."
  - Mark Dawson

"An understanding of the economics of a situation leads to a better and fuller understanding of the situation, or, as it has been said, 'follow the money' in any situation."
  - Mark Dawson

"Assertions are not facts, as they often contain Presumptions and Assumptions; Improper Facts; Faulty Reasoning; Logical Fallacies; Cognitive Biases; and the problems of Unintended Consequences that may be inherent in any assertion."
  - Mark Dawson

"At one time people believed that the world was flat, and the earth was the center of the universe. Their belief did not make the earth flat nor at the center of the universe."
  - Mark Dawson

"Be careful in what you say to people, as most people are not interested in hearing the facts or truth, they are only interested in hearing their own opinions reinforced."
  - Mark Dawson

"Be wary of historians who comment on current events. While they may be excellent historians, they all suffer from the issues of rational thought; Proper and Improper Facts, errors in Formal and Informal Logic, Logical Fallacies, and Cognitive Biases in reaching their conclusions"
  - Mark Dawson

"Brownie points should not be awarded for good words, they should only be awarded for good deeds"
 - Mark Dawson

"Change can be good, bad, or indifferent. New governments, new ideas, new laws, and new regulations may help, but they may make things worse, and often they are neutral."
  - Mark Dawson

"Collectivist, Socialists, and Communists have to ignore, forget, or rewrite history, for if they did not, then all people would be aware of the human misery and suffering that these ideologies engender."
  - Mark Dawson

"Conservatives are often do gooders, while Liberals/Progressives are often feel gooders."
  - Mark Dawson

"Conservatives care enough that they wish to solve a problem, while Liberals/Progressives only care enough to alleviate a problem."
  - Mark Dawson

"Control over others is illusionary, as the only control that you have is over yourself."
 - Mark Dawson

"Despotism is just an intermediate step into tyranny."
  - Mark Dawson

"Do not accept responsibility without the authority to do what you believe is correct. For to do so will ultimately result in failure, a failure for which you shall receive the blame."
  - Mark Dawson

"Do not let fear control your actions, but let fear only guide your actions"
 - Mark Dawson

"Doing something is a lot more difficult that saying something, and doing the right thing is the most difficult thing to do."
  - Mark Dawson

"Educated Guesses always have the inherent questions as to the quality of the education and the accuracy of the guess."
  - Mark Dawson

"Empirical data, properly analyzed, will lead you to the truth of any situation."
  - Mark Dawson

"Equality is not a guarantee of equal outcomes but a guarantee of equal opportunity and equal treatment."
  - Mark Dawson

"Explore beyond your boundaries. For the journey will expand your knowledge, and then perhaps lead you to wisdom."
  - Mark Dawson

"Forethought is more desirable that afterthought, as forethought will often lead to better decisions while afterthought often engenders poor decisions and embarrassment."
  - Mark Dawson

"Fortune favors the brave, but it also punishes the foolish."
- Mark Dawson

"I have little difficultly remembering, but much difficulties memorizing."
 - Mark Dawson

“I have no interest in being in the majority. I am only interested in speaking the truth. The truth as determined by the evidence and the facts. A truth driven by Rationality and Reasoning.”
 - Mark Dawson

"I refuse to talk before I have thought."
  - Mark Dawson

"I tried to get them to think, but all they wanted to do was argue."
  - Mark Dawson

"I would rather be factually correct than politically correct."
  - Mark Dawson

"I would rather live with the rashness of speech that the foolhardiness of action."
  - Mark Dawson

"If a person has a toothache it is not proof that they have a root abscess and need a root canal, it only means that they need to go to the dentists to discover what is the real problem."
  -  Mark Dawson

"If an argument is not intellectually rational and reasonable then it cannot reach a sound conclusion, except by accident."
  - Mark Dawson

“If you cannot utilize the proper facts properly, then you will reach an improper truth.”
 - Mark Dawson

"If you do not investigate allegations that have veracity then it is impossible to find evidence of wrongdoing."
  - Mark Dawson

“If your reasoning is torturous and convoluted, then there is a high probability that it is improper reasoning, and you will reach a wrong conclusion.”
 - Mark Dawson

“In regard to human interactions, time passes, things change, and what was true yesterday may not be true today, and what will be true tomorrow is unknown. Therefore, remember yesterday, live for today, and think about tomorrow.”
 - Mark Dawson

"In this world, as regards to reproduction, the male is the inseminator, and the female is the incubator. It is neither fair nor unfair that you are male or female. Rather it is by random chance you ended up male or female."
  - Mark Dawson

"Incorrect facts, incomplete facts, improper facts, ignored facts, irrelevant facts, misinterpreted facts, misstated facts, misunderstood facts, unknown facts, and sloganeering replacement for facts are widespread and believed in today's world."
  - Mark Dawson

"It always helps to know where you are going so that you may plan on how to get there."
  - Mark Dawson

"It can be said that the greater the complexity and interrelationships of a model, and the further it projects into the future, the more likely it is to be wrong."
 - Mark Dawson

"It is easy to be wrong but it is far more difficult to be right. For to be right, you need to research, learn, and intellectually reason about which you speak, but to be wrong only requires that you speak about which you feel."
  - Mark Dawson

"It is much more important to do good than to feel good."
  - Mark Dawson

“It is my fondest wish that historians knew more of economics, and economists knew more of history. If this were so, we could expect that history and economics would be more grounded in reality.”
 - Mark Dawson

“It is not possible to do the wrong thing rightly, as no wrong thing can be done rightly.”
 - Mark Dawson

"Judges are not meant to legislate the law, but only to adjudicate the law."
 -Mark Dawson

"Just because something is difficult or hard to achieve doesn't mean that it cannot, or should not, be attempted."
 - Mark Dawson

"Just because you 'believe' something to be true does not mean that you 'know' something is true, and just because someone says it is true or false doesn't make it true or false."
  - Mark Dawson

"Just because you have committed an unlawful, immoral, unethical, or unwise act, and upon reflection determine that it is an unlawful, immoral, unethical, or unwise act, does not preclude you from speaking out against others committing that unlawful, immoral, unethical, or unwise act. It does not make you a hypocrite, it makes you repentant."
  - Mark Dawson

"Know whereof you speak or write before you speak or write."
 - Mark Dawson

"Knowing why is often more important than knowing how."
  - Mark Dawson

"Liberty is to choose the what and how in exercising your Natural Rights, while Freedom is the absence of repression before, during, or after exercising your Natural Rights."
  - Mark Dawson

"Life is like a double entry ledger. For everything that happens, there are both positives and negatives, especially for anything that you say or do."
  - Mark Dawson

"Life is neither fair nor unfair. Life is what it is. To deal with life, other than for what it is, is foolhardy and wasteful."
  - Mark Dawson

“Making a mistake is human, and all people make mistakes. If we cannot admit to our mistakes, then we deny our own humanity. If we cannot accept that another has made a mistake, then we deny their humanity. If we cannot forgive another for their mistakes, then we cannot ask others for forgiveness for our mistakes.”
 - Mark Dawson

"Many people believe if they were right once they are right most of the time. That belief is as foolish as if you believed if someone were wrong once they must be wrong most of the time."
  - Mark Dawson

"Many people are aware that 'There is No Free Lunch', but most people are unaware of the indirect costs of getting a free lunch. Especially when they are the recipient of Governmental 'Entitlements'."
  - Mark Dawson

"Most of the nonsense spewed forth in America comes from ignorance or overeducation. Ignorance due to a lack of education, and overeducation that complicates rational thinking."
  - Mark Dawson

"Most people don't really think about what they think about. They bring their own viewpoints and prejudices to their thinking to reinforce what they already believe. They rarely consider alternate viewpoints, and almost never consider both the negative and positive consequences of what they think or believe. And it is the very rare person who looks for the unintended consequences of what they think or believe."
  - Mark Dawson

“Nobody really knows politics, economics, and sociology, as those topics are often tied to human nature and the unpredictable reactions of people to circumstances.”
 - Mark Dawson

"Nothing is as good as it appears, or as bad as it seems. But on rare occasions, it can be better, or worse."
  - Mark Dawson

"Obtaining advice from a person who is neither knowledgeable nor experienced in that particular subject is obtaining worthless advice (i.e. don't ask an opinion of someone who does not know what they're talking about)."
  - Mark Dawson

"One of the hubris of many intelligent people is that they believe that if they are smart about one thing they are smart about many things, including politics, economics, and sociology. What they do not realize is that nobody is really smart about politics, economics, and sociology, especially politicians, economists, and sociologists, as there is nothing definitive about politics, economics, and sociology."
  - Mark Dawson

"Perfection is reserved for God; humans should strive to do their best."
  - Mark Dawson

"Progress can be good, bad, or indifferent. New science and technology, new approaches to problem solving, new ways of doing something may help, but they may make things worse, and often they are neutral."
  - Mark Dawson

"Progressives/Leftists seemed to want the issue more than they want a solution."
  - Mark Dawson

"Reasonable people can agree or disagree on an issue, as long as both sides utilize reasoned arguments. Unreasonable people often wish to suppress the arguments of those with whom they disagree."
  - Mark Dawson

"Reasons are often not Reasoning, as reasons are generally emotionally based while reasoning is intellectually based."
  - Mark Dawson

"Respect is something that must be earned through words and deeds, while disrespect is something that is attained by words or deeds."
  - Mark Dawson

“Semi-Fascism is as semi-fascism does.”
 - Mark Dawson

"Shit happens. Sometimes you shit on yourself, sometimes others shit on you,
and other times shit just happens.
It doesn't matter how shit happens, it only matters how you deal with the shit.
You can either clean yourself up and smell the roses,
Or you can wallow in the shit and everything stinks.
And remember; It's just as important to learn from the shit,
as it is to clean yourself up from the shit!"
  - Mark Dawson 

“Socialism is as Socialism does.”
 - Mark Dawson

“Studies can show anything that the author(s) wish to find, and statistics can be misleading as they are dependent on the data inputs and the data manipulations of the author(s).”
 - Mark Dawson

"The best way to overcome irrational fear is with proper facts and proper reasoning."
 - Mark Dawson

"The bedrock of our American Ideals and Ideas is the Declaration of Independence. The foundation of our American Ideals and Ideas is the Constitution. Anything that contravenes this bedrock or foundation is anathema to our American Ideals and Ideas and should not be tolerated."
 - Mark Dawson

"The biggest difference between socialism and democratic socialism is that one is imposed by the tyranny of the minority, while the other is imposed by the tyranny of the majority."
  - Mark Dawson

"The Burden of Proof always rests with the person who makes an assertion. To not do so is to ask the other person to prove a negative - which is very difficult to accomplish."
  - Mark Dawson

"The Burden of Proof must be based upon reasoning rather than emotions, for emotions will almost always lead to a false conclusion."
  - Mark Dawson

"The Declaration of Independence expresses our American ideals, while the Constitution of the United States is the ideas of how to implement our ideals."
  - Mark Dawson

"The Democrat Party does not seek accommodation with its opponents, but acquiescence to its political agendas and policies"
 - Mark Dawson

"The hubris of a government that believes they can direct or control a free people is astounding. Only a subjugated or subservient people can be directed or controlled."
- Mark Dawson

"The hubris of governmental leaders who believe that they can correct or control any situation is astounding."
  - Mark Dawson

"The Law is not all that is needed for Human Rights to be established. For human rights require the Morality and Ethics of all for the protection of human rights."
- Mark Dawson

"The law is meant to control a person's actions, not their thoughts or speech. The thoughts and speech of each person are controlled by their own morality, ethics, and religious beliefs."
  - Mark Dawson

"The liberty and freedom to choose what you do or say does not free you from the consequences of your deeds or words."
 - Mark Dawson

"The more that the government intervenes to correct a social problem, the worse the social problem becomes."
 - Mark Dawson

"The problem with most lawyers is that they think of life in legal terms, when life is more about morality and ethics then legalities."
  - Mark Dawson

"The shoe on the other foot requires that you have both shoes on your feet."
  - Mark Dawson

"The way you react to adversity is often revealing as to the person that you really are."
- Mark Dawson

"The will of the majority does not override the Natural Rights of the individual."
  - Mark Dawson

"The words of a person are important to adjudge their virtue. However, the deeds of a person are important to judge their character. And deeds have much more of an impact than words. Or, as Benjamin Franklin has said 'Well done is better than well said.'".
  - Mark Dawson

"The world is full of quotes, but not so many quotes of wisdom."
  - Mark Dawson

“There are things that we know, things that we know we don't know, and things that we don't know that we don't know. It is the things that we don't know that we don't know that often cause the most problems.”
 - Mark Dawson

"There are three sides to every story: one side, the other side, and the truth. And it is always best to determine the truth before voicing an opinion."
  - Mark Dawson

"There can be no truths without proper facts and proper reasoning."
  - Mark Dawson

“There is a big difference between be a smart person and being a wise person. The difference is often that a smart person knows what to say, while a wise person knows when to say it.”
 - Mark Dawson

"There is always a way. And when you have the will you will find the way."
  - Mark Dawson

"There is no place for accomplishment and success within equity, as equity focuses on results and not equality of opportunity."
  - Mark Dawson

"There is no such thing as 'my truth' or 'their truth', as there is only 'the truth'."
  - Mark Dawson

"Those that do not know history or science should not speak of history or science."
 - Mark Dawson

"Those that do not know history should not speak of history."
 - Mark Dawson

"Those that do not know science should not speak of science."
 - Mark Dawson

"Throwaway lines in discussions, dialogs, and debates often conceal as well as reveal information, and they are just as likely to be wrong as well as be right."
 - Mark Dawson

"Tis better to laugh than to cry, as laughter will often cleanse the soul while crying often befouls the soul."
  - Mark Dawson

"To deny economics, or to not acknowledge economics, is foolish. To do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure."
  - Mark Dawson

"To deny human nature, or to not acknowledge human nature, is foolish. To do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure."
  - Mark Dawson

"To deny human nature or economics, or to not acknowledge human nature or economics, is foolish. To do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure."
  - Mark Dawson

"To deny human nature, economics, or science, or to not acknowledge human nature, economics, or science is foolish. To do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure."
  - Mark Dawson

"To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, 'If passions drives you, let reason hold the steering wheel'."
  - Mark Dawson

"To understand well you must read; and read well, often, and on subjects on which you are unfamiliar."
  - Mark Dawson

"True Courage is doing the right thing, at the right time, regardless of personal consequences."
  - Mark Dawson

"True Wisdom Most Often Comes from Bitter Experience... Considered!"
  - Mark Dawson

"Try to think philosophically, but always act pragmatically."
  - Mark Dawson

"What is best for all Americans is to allow the individual American to decide what is best for them, as long as they do not harm others nor infringe on the Liberty and Freedoms of others."
 - Mark Dawson

"What is best for you should be decided by you. If you let others decide what is best for you, it will often not be best for you, but it will often be best for them."
 - Mark Dawson

"When a civilization loses its collective mind it usually collapses or is conquered."
  - Mark Dawson

"When faced with a dilemma or predicament,
choose to do the right thing for all,
not the right thing for yourself.
For doing the right thing for all may not work out well in the short term,
it will work out well in the long term."
  - Mark Dawson

"When you cannot accept the facts and truths, you live a life of lies. Such a life of lies is detrimental to your life and often leads to unhappiness."
 - Mark Dawson

"When you free yourself from religion you often stray into immorality."
  - Mark Dawson; 

"Whether it is lack of foresight, willful ignorance, or enriching or protecting our own interests, we are not making the tough political decisions required to solve the issues and problems in America."
  - Mark Dawson

"Without knowing the details, it is impossible to know the devils."
  - Mark Dawson

"You'll never get confused if you simply tell the truth. Then you don't have to remember what you have said, and you never forget what you have said. And you won't get in trouble for telling a lie if you have told the truth."
  - Mark Dawson

"You cannot avoid the serious problems of today and not expect them to come back in the future. And when serious problems come back, they often come back furiously. Therefore, do not put off until tomorrow what you should do today."
  - Mark Dawson

“You cannot educate a person who has no interest in the subject matter, as you will only bore them and possibly make them apathetic or adverse to the subject matter. First, you must interest them in the subject matter, and only then can you educate them on the subject matter.”
 - Mark Dawson

"You cannot implement a wrong social policy the right way. For if it is a wrong social policy it will always fail. While the goals of a social policy may be noble, the details of its implementation will determine if the goal can be reached (i.e., the devil is in the details)."
  - Mark Dawson

"You may be the smartest person in the room, but you're not the only person in the room, and most times, you are not the smartest person in the room."
  - Mark Dawson

“You should not learn your history from movies and television, but you should be inspired to learn history from movies and television.”
 - Mark Dawson

“Your freedom of speech does not give you the right to violate my freedom of speech.”
 - Mark Dawson