Need a quote for a friend. Hope DUers can help.

A very good friend died yesterday. The world has lost an intelligent, kind, wise, liberal Democrat. He was diagnosed with leukemia last June and has fought a valiant battle ever since. He was scheduled for a stem cell transplant on January 10th but unfortunately he just couldn't make it until then. He was not religious but very spiritual, he lived his life according to the Golden Rule. He and his wife have been very good friends of mind for over 15 years.

One quick example - several years ago I went through a very horrific divorce after a long marriage. The ex was determined to knock me down and make sure I never got up again (his words). One way he chose was demanding that every single thing we own was to be auction off to settle any property disputes. Since this guy had literally taken every dime we had to our names (cashed stock, closed checking and savings, maxed out credit cards, you know the drill) we had earned together I was penniless - both figuratively and literally. The day of the auction I watched as everything I owned was pulled out of my rented house and put on the lawn as crowds of his friends and family lined up to purchase my few family antiques, furniture and memories. I knew it was all gone as I didn't have any way of purchasing anything. When the bidding began my friend and her husband bid on everything that was mine personally, outbidding the ex, his girlfriend, her family and his brother. When the day was done the most important things I cherished was carried back into my home due to the kindness of two friends. (At one time they were do determined that "The Ex & Co." would not get my grandmother's bed the friend and her husband were bidding against each other before the auctioneer told them to pay attention!)To this day they will not let me pay them back the money they spent.

I am now helping his wife plan his funeral. I told her I would try and find a quote that could possibly sum up the life this kind and gentle man lived to be read at his funeral. The service will be crowded with many people who certainly know this man and the life he led but his wife needs an affirmation of this good man for all to hear. I have searched the internet, come up with a few but nothing that really captures the essences of this man. I was hoping the smart crowd at DU would have a few favorites they would share.

Oh, and by the way, he hated George Bush with a white hot passion. He freely gave his time and his money to see Chucklenuts not get elected (or re-selected). I only wish he had lived to see how far down this administration is going to go, he would have laughed so hard.

Thanks for listening and any help you can give.

would be. Why not use your own memories & maybe ask a few others to do the same?

That sums up his character in a very clear way. I obviously never met the man, but, after reading your story about the auction, it is crystal clear what a kind, generous soul he was.

Tell your story. It'll honor him far better than any quote.

Winston Churchill:

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

your experience, which you shared with us, is one for the books. Though I'm sure detailing this experience at his funeral might embarrass his wife somewhat (people who do kind things without wanting anything in return tend to avoid adulation)there is a way that you could "generalize" that particular instance in your life when he (and his wife) were incredibly helpful and kind.

Sure, you could go to a bookstore or even check online for "Bartlett's Quotations" -- but I would only use such a quotation as a "topper" to your own wonderful story.

I've conducted funerals where those whose lives were especially touched by the deceased were asked to give a brief "testimony".

I sure do thank you for sharing that story. And I am so sorry for your lost. We all lost a good one with him.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."


"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

And it comes from you, which is far more personal and fitting.

Trust it.

and friends will miss him sorely.

else that your own story is far more valuable than any quote could possibly be. prayers and peaceful thoughts for you and your friends. and thank you so very much for sharing this with us--we need all the reminders we can get that the cesspool of corruption and greed that we deal with all the time is not all that there is.

I agree with the other posters that you have already expressed it as beautifully as anyone else could; as a matter of fact, you could use your entire post as a guide, and quote the whole thing almost exactly, changing very few words. You already have the start, and the theme, for the statement.

You said the person was not really religious, but a couple of ideas from the Bible might be loosely described: You might contrast the outward, blathering, phony pretense of the Republican/neo-con fake-"Christian" with the true, inward, no-show, actual servant who pleased God by helping those who needed it, then not seeking vainglory and praise for it; that kind of thing. The good person who actually helps those who need it--a blessing in the world--as opposed to the phony, public display of the "Pharisees and the hypocrites," etc. Matthew 6: 5-6 etc., "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Get rid of the "Father" presumption, and the message was clear--that the "cross-wearing" public display (of Bush, etc., the phony rich people, who never remind you of Christians) is exactly what God hates. The true children of God are all around us, but they do not announce themselves. Their actions save our lives, though--quietly.

Matthew chapters 23 and 25 both have a lot of good things about hypocrites who criticize others, yet will not help or correct their own mistakes, and Matt. 25: 35-46 has the great part about I was hungry and ye fed me etc., as opposed to the later, hungry and ye fed me not, etc., and that (verse 40), "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Again, skipping the actual wording, the theme could be that truth that God does not care how grand and glorious a public pretense you put on about how "religious" or "worshipful" you are, if you turn away from those who need help, when you might have helped. Many great people, such as Lincoln, hated organized religion and criticized hypocrites, yet Lincoln served God better than all the George Bush drunken, greedy capitalists pretending to be "pious." 1 Corinthians 13: 13, "Faith, hope, charity;... but the greatest of these is charity" (sometimes "charity" is quoted as "love").

I would make that the theme--that person was the good servant who pleased God, and was never even trying to, because the goodness was real, and not self-conscious. This as opposed to all the phonies in this deceitful world, whose only "religion" is a mask and an act, on the outside. The real spirit, not the fake letter.

no way his wife would quote anything from the bible and since we are deep into Red State Country (repugs to the left of me, neocons to the right and here we are, stuck in the middle again) she would never want anyone to bring anything political to his service. Everyone - both repugs and Dems - knew him to be a strong, determined liberal (he was always saying, "If you can remember the 60s you didn't LIVE the 60s") that could squash any argument with intelligence, logic and humor. I do not think it would help his wife to bring the division of the country to his service. I understand and appreciate your words but we are going to celebrate this man's life and forget about Chimpy & Co. for one day.

Plenty of excellent quotes here:
http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=539

President John F. Kennedy on being a liberal...
"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves

I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a superstate. I see no magic in tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale federal bureaucracies in this administration as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.

Our responsibility is not discharged by announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons that liberalism is our best and only hope in the world today. For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them. Only liberalism, in short, can repair our national power, restore our national purpose, and liberate our national energies.

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I am sorry for your loss.
I love this quote by Longfellow:

"Lives of great men remind us,
We can live our lives sublime
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time".