B R A G Medallion Award Honoree Quotes

On occasion we stumble upon what seems to be a truth. Compared to the surrounding blackness, it sparkles and dazzles our eyes. But are these actually truths? Are our eyes really feasting upon light? Or just patches of grey? ~ Roy L. Pickering Jr.

M S S S T S C P U E S A L L I A E C E E G P N L D D M Q A C I G U A Q P D T U D S A C C A E U A A Q F L T E I E A P N A E C L S E U A H 0 E E I E E E O O A N P P A A N P X E P S A A E E R E E U E L A N R U E E U N E I U R E R S N R U L E O S N T O O R N I A U S N U I 0 R U S P T N U R E E E M D P C T E T R R S A S R A R R E M I R E E S X T E T M T C A E U T D U M C E I T E T S 0 B R T E T P E C E E E A T E D S G S N B D E M R R A T E T C T E R L T R T 0 E T S E I S L L E E I O T E E E E T E R H S E E O 0 R E A T E I E E N R T S U E E T I 0 E S L R E B E R S R R 0 E U U E U E 0 C R S C 0 T T 0 I I 0 B B 0 L L 0 E E ~ Olivier BEAL

I'm very expressive.
i deserve to feel pretty.
i kissed the blarney stone.
i am strong. i am brave.
im a good friend. I'm a good sister. I'm a good wife. i am a good in-law. I'm a good daughter. i am a good niece. I'm a good beagle mother. i am a good granddaughter.
i work hard for it, honey.
im superfly TNT motherfucker.
im a pilot of the airwaves.
im a better third baseman that brooks robinson.
I B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E.
i have exceptionally beautiful feet, eyes, ears, hips, hair, teeth, breasts. and shoulders. and fingernails. in a different pen, she added, and eyelashes and eyebrows, plus in yet another pen, and nose. and chin. ~ Rob Sheffield

be aggressive, BE-BE Aggressive! B-E
A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E ~ Laurie Halse Anderson

One can quite understand vegetarianism. One can quite understand meat-eating. But it is difficult to understand why a person who is a flesh-eater should object to one kind of flesh, namely cow's flesh. This is an anomaly which call for explanation. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

When I was in college, my brother, B.R. Chopra, who is everything to me, was a director in Bombay. He taught me filmmaking. What I am today is because of him. ~ Yash Chopra

A bitter thing cannot be made sweet.
The taste of anything can be changed.
But poison cannot be changed into nectar. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Some men say that they should be satisfied with the abolition of untouchability only, leaving the caste system alone. The aim of abolition of untouchability alone without trying to abolish the inequalities inherent in the caste system is a rather low aim. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

If you ask me, my ideal would be the society based on liberty, equality and fraternity.
An ideal society should be mobile and
full of channels of conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

To the 'Untouchables', Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors.

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (Writings and Speeches, Volume: 9, pg: 296) ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the mind. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

The real explanation of this failure of Hindu-Muslim unity lies in the failure to realize that what stands between the Hindus and Muslims is not a mere matter of difference, and that this antagonism is not to be attributed to material causes. It is formed by causes which take their origin in historical, religious, cultural and social antipathy, of which political antipathy is only a reflection. These form one deep river of discontent which, being regularly fed by these sources, keeps on mounting to a head and overflowing its ordinary channels. Any current of water flowing from another source however pure, when it joins it, instead of altering the colour or diluting its strength becomes lost in the main stream. The silt of this antagonism which this current has deposited, has become permanent and deep. So long as this silt keeps on accumulating and so long as this antagonism lasts, it is unnatural to expect this antipathy between Hindus and Muslims to give place to unity. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

For an individual as well as a society, there is a gulf between merely living and living worthily. To fight in a battle and live in glory is one mode. To beat a retreat, to surrender and to live the life of a captive is also a mode of survival. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

The Hindu civilisation is a diabolical contrivance to enslave humanity. Its proper name would be infamy. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

While I am prepared to bear with the imperfections and shortcomings of the society in which I may be destined to labour, I feel I should not consent to live in a society which cherishes wrong ideals, or a society which, having right ideals, will not consent to bring its social life into conformity with those ideals. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Democracy is not merely a form of Government.
It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience.
It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards our fellow men. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

In my opinion, it is only when Hindu society becomes a casteless society that it can hope to have strength enough to defend itself. Without such internal strength, swaraj for Hindus may turn out to be only a step towards slavery. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Slavery does not merely mean a legalised form of subjection.
It means a state of society in which some men are forced to accept from others the purposes which control their conduct. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

The fallacy of the socialists37 lies in supposing that because in the present stage of European society property as a source of power is predominant, the same is true of India, or the same was true of Europe in the past. Religion, social status, and property are all sources of power and authority which one man has to control the liberty of another. One is predominant at one stage; the other is predominant at another stage. That is the only difference. If liberty is the ideal, and if liberty means the destruction of the dominion which one man holds over another, then obviously it cannot be insisted upon that economic reform must be the one kind of reform worthy of pursuit. If the source of power and dominion is, at any given time or in any given society, social and religious, then social reform and religious reform must be accepted as the necessary sort of reform. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

The sovereignty of scriptures of all religions must come to an end if we want to have a united integrated modern India. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean,
man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives.
Man's life is independent.
He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self too. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Majorities are of two sorts: (1) communal majority and (2) political majority. A political majority is changeable in its class composition. A political majority grows. A communal majority is born. The admission to a political majority is open. The door to a communal majority is closed. The politics of political majority are free to all to make and unmake. The politics of communal majority are made by its own members born in it. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

The power that conquers Fear is the power that becomes the forge in creating a hero's heart' a quote from one of the Roland of the High Crags novels. ~ B.R. Stateham

In the Hindu religion, one can[not] have freedom of speech. A Hindu must surrender his freedom of speech. He must act according to the Vedas. If the Vedas do not support the actions, instructions must be sought from the Smritis, and if the Smritis fail to provide any such instructions, he must follow in the footsteps of the great men.
He is not supposed to reason. Hence, so long as you are in the Hindu religion, you cannot expect to have freedom of thought ~ B.R. Ambedkar

I've really enjoyed B.R.P.D. since its first days when Guy Davis was an artist on the title, and if anyone is looking for an end of the world Cthulhu apocalypse title, Mignola and Arcudi and the artists who work the title do a fantastic job. ~ Ben Peek

Bold. Ruthless. Energy. Action. Tenacity. Hunger. That was what B-R-E-A-T-H was. ~ Karen Marie Moning

Caste is another name for control. Caste puts a limit on enjoyment. Caste does not allow a person to transgress caste limits in pursuit of his enjoyment. That is the meaning of such caste restrictions as inter-dining and inter-marriage ... These being my views I am opposed to all those who are out to destroy the Caste System.57 ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Why is it that a large majority of Hindus do not inter-dine and do not inter-marry? Why is it that your cause is not popular? There can be only one answer to this question, and it is that inter-dining and inter-marriage are repugnant to the beliefs and dogmas which the Hindus regard as sacred. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

To leave inequality between class and class, between sex and sex, which is the soul of Hindu society, and to go on passing legislation relating to economic problems is to make a farce of our constitution and to build a palace on a dung heap ~ B.R. Ambedkar

I would rather be told an R-rated truth than a G-rated lie. ~ Ken Gire

Untouchability shuts all doors of opportunities for betterment in life for Untouchables. It does not offer an Untouchable any opportunity to move freely in society; it compels him to live in dungeons and seclusion; it prevents him from educating himself and following a profession of his choice. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Every new book we read in our brief and busy lives means that a classic is left unread. ~ B.R. Myers

Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government. ~ B.R. Ambedkar

Hang tight
Hold on
Look up
Stay strong
Hang on
Hold tight
Look strong
Stay up
One day I might break
One day I might
b r e a k
free ~ Tahereh Mafi

My final words of advice to you are educate, agitate and organize; have faith in yourself. With justice on our side I do not see how we can loose our battle. The battle to me is a matter of joy. The battle is in the fullest sense spiritual. There is nothing material or social in it. For ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is battle for freedom. It is the battle of reclamation of human personality. ~ B.R. Ambedkar