SOME RANDOM WORDS OF WISDOM AS 1999 GIVES WAY TO 2000

"We're last-century boys, you and I. When we were born, the horse count in this country was higher than the human population. The city was a place you went to buy oats. Today our parents wouldn't be able to understand more than one word out of 10 in a normal conversation. That's how far we've come in just 50 years." -- Edsel Ford

* * * * *

Tax and send: "When someone in Washington State uses America Online in Virginia to buy a gift basket from Harry and David's in Oregon that's shipped to someone in Ohio and pays for the transaction using a bank account in San Francisco, how many states can tax the sale?" asks Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The answer: All of them. To prevent such tax chaos, Mr. Wyden and Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., introduced the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

In their wildest dreams the Founding Fathers could not have imagined personal computers or the Internet. But in their wisdom, they defined the regulation of interstate commerce as one of the few clearly marked responsibilities of federal authority. -- Max Schulz, Washington Times

* * * * *

Wide-open spaces: Thomas Jefferson liked to think of the West in much the same way that some modern optimists think of technology, as almost endlessly renewable and boundlessly prolific. It was America's fountain of youth. -- Joseph J. Ellis, American Sphinx

* * * * *

Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. -- Cicero

* * * * *

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. -- Publilius Syrus

* * * * *

Abraham Lincoln didn't quit: Abraham Lincoln could have quit many times, but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.

"The sense of obligation to continue is present in all of us. A duty to strive is the duty of us all. I felt a call to that duty."

Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

But Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:

1831 -- Failed in business

1832 -- Defeated for legislature

1833 -- Second business failure

1836 -- Suffered nervous breakdown

1838 -- Defeated for speaker

1840 -- Defeated for elector

1843 -- Defeated for Congress

1848 -- Defeated for Congress

1855 -- Defeated for Senate

1856 -- Defeated for vice president

1858 -- Defeated for Senate

1860 -- Elected president

"The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way," Lincoln said, after losing a Senate race. "But I recovered and said to myself, It's a slip and not a fall.'"

* * * * *

I had a lot of nice compliments about my column last week ... particularly the part about life lessons. I certainly agree with all the points made, and I would like to take credit for being the author. But that was sent to me in an anonymous e-mail ... so I can't give proper credit to the originator. If anyone knows who wrote those words about life lessons, please let me know.

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.