I came across some interesting quotes this week, and that was one of them. When I read it, I thought to myself, "How true."

Immediately coming to my mind when I read that quote were the lyrics of RAP. Those "song writers" say practically anything they want, including racist comments. They "sing" what most would not dare speak (consider Imus). They "sing" what is too stupid to say.

Voltaire was right!

Who was Voltaire? His real name was Francois Marie Arouet. He was a French author, humanist, rationalist and satirist.

"Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening," is a quote by Barbara Tober. I do not know who she is, but I like her quote.

When I read her quote, I immediately thought of the lyrics of the song, "Tradition," from Fiddler on the Roof.

"Who, day and night, must scramble for a living, feed a wife and children, say his daily prayers? And who has the right, as master of the house, to have the final word at home? The Papa, the Papa! Tradition. Who must know the way to make a proper home, a quiet home, a kosher home? Who must raise the family and run the home, so Papa's free to read the holy books? The Mama, the Mama! Tradition!"

Papa in the Fiddler on the Roof found himself amid turmoil surrounded by traditions. He found the unexpected happening and struggled with it. He liked everything remaining the same. Trouble is, little remains the same for long.

Tober was right!

"A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things," Herman Melville said. He was a U.S. novelist and sailor.

When I read his quote, I immediately thought of the current presidential campaign. So many candidates are speaking so many "hard" words but appear to not really understand "hard" things. For that matter, how many of us do?

Will Rogers, American humorist and showman, said, "An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh." I wonder whether Rogers ever ate or had been around people who ate broccoli? Depending upon one's frame of mind, that can be very funny!

"Education begins a gentleman, conversation completes him," Dr. Thomas Fuller, a British physician.

Since area high school students are graduating now, I thought a quote about education was in order. I like that one by Fuller. Education does not a gentleman make, but it is the foundation. His conversation makes the gentleman.

Jack Rollins is the managing editor of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.