Peter Flom is a prolific writer on Quora, and has recently started a blog there, titled Random Thoughts. He recently made a post that I thought was great, but since I'm really not a fan of Quora as a blogging platform, I asked his permission to reprint it here for my readers.

Obviously, the beliefs expressed about what "the 25 best things ever said" consists of are Peter's, not mine, as are the messages conveyed thereby. Nevertheless, I like Peter; we seem to see eye-to-eye on a lot.

The 25 best things ever said

Not in any particular order, except the last one, which is my favorite.

25) If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking.
-- Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) -- I have seen this attributed to Truman, as well.

24) The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there

Selma teaches us, too, that action requires that we shed our cynicism. For when it comes to the pursuit of justice, we can afford neither complacency nor despair.

Just this week, I was asked whether I thought the Department of Justice's Ferguson report shows that, with respect to race, little has changed in this country. I understand the question, for the report's narrative was woefully familiar. It evoked the kind of abuse and disregard for citizens that spawned the Civil Rights Movement. But I rejected the notion that nothing's changed. What happened in Ferguson may not be unique, but it's no longer endemic, or sanctioned by law and custom; and before the Civil Rights Movement, it most surely was.

We do a disservice to the cause of justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are immutable, or that racial division is inherent to America. If you think nothing's changed in the past fifty years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the Fifties. Ask