I usually look for inspiration, wisdom, or humor in my favorite quotations. But recent events have provided such a wealth of mind-bending comments from a wide variety of sources, I find it hard to resist passing them along to those who may have missed them.

Yesterday was no exception. In fact, I was originally undecided between Donald Trump’s description of Canada as “one of the worst countries in the entire world,” and his wife’s characterization of his presidency as “doing the best that he can.”

Good stuff, huh?

But then I read this from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, uttered after his meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on the sidelines of the United Nations meeting in New York on September 26th. When Wadephul urged that Russia deescalate the war in Ukraine as well as its hybrid attacks in Europe, Lavrov unflinchingly responded:

“[The fighting] will continue through to the end. . . . Does Berlin understand what this could lead to? Didn’t they not [sic] learn the lessons of World War II?”

[Source: Rikard Jozwiak, RFE/RL, September 28, 2026.]

That’s not inspirational, wise, or funny. But I felt it bore repeating, in case anyone out there had any doubts about Vladimir Putin’s intentions.

Anyone other than Trump, that is.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/30/26