Explain quotes?

Question

1.It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much
- Steve Jobs (1955 - ), BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 12, 2004

2. A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.
- Ogden Nash (1902 - 1971)

3.The glory of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.
-Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

4.What can you say about a society that says that God is dead and Elvis is alive?
-Irv Kupcinet

Answer 1

I choose to answer...

3. There are a lot of notable people out there. Fame is easier to achieve than people think. History records the names and actions of thousands of people.
The question is raised, how should we view people? If their famous, does that mean we should act like them or love them because of their fame?
We should judge people not on the fact that they are famous, but on what they did to get there.
Adolf Hitler has lots of history written about him and his actions, should we copy him? No, we should judge his glory by what he did, and what he did was evil.
Do we hold George Washington and Vlad "the impaler" in the same light? Do we love "Bloody" Mary Tudor (Mary I of England) to be equal to Elisabeth her half-sister?
What the person does is more important than how famous they are.

Answer 2

The word "pen" might be seen as an allegory for the will of the person or people. Real change only really occurs with the will to do so. You can force a person or nation to change (sword), but in the end, all that is brought about is resentment, and second they get a chance to, people change back. Look at the Polish people. Look at how many times Poland was invaded through the centuries: the Russians, the Germans. And yet they remained Polish. They maintained their ideals. The idea never died. And when the media broadcast the Solidarity movement, everyone rallied for their cause. This is but one example; I doubt this page would be large enough to show you them all. The pen really IS mightier than the sword.