I know. The worst thing about public service is the political enemies you make. Try as you will, if you stay in office very long and do much of anything, it happens. You especially regret it when it’s a friend - or a former friend. Conversely, the best reward from elective office is the new friends you make – people who oft-times become life-time friends and important people to you.
I know. There are many such people in my life.
I have several new friends at the Georgia Department of Transportation in Atlanta – staff people and, presently, 11 other Board members. But, the board member I write about is Bill Kuhlke from Augusta. You will see why, today, I pick Bill from this good group.
First, let me say that I had never met anyone named Kuhlke, before. I still have to look Kuhlke up before I write it down. I don’t want to transpose the h and the l. I will get better at spelling it as we (Bill and I) “go along”.
Week before last, we had a called Transportation Board meeting in Atlanta. You may have read, seen or heard that we’ve had some interesting matters to deal with at DOT of late. Well, when I started home from Atlanta on a Tuesday afternoon, there was a small book in my box titled Wonderful Thoughts To Live By. It was a gift from Bill Kuhlke and this was part of the printed note inside the cover from The Family of William B. Kuhlke, Sr.
A New Ministry
Having published and given away 40,000 of these books . . . from 1975 -1989, William B. Kuhlke, Sr. decided to have 5,000 additional copies printed in 1990 for distribution and enjoyment as a new ministry . . . Khulke was an eternal optimist and devout Christian businessman . . .
Bill, thanks for sharing your father’s wonderful little book with me. Let me share some of my favorites from the book (there must be close to 1,000) with the readers.
“The smallest good deed is better than the greatest intention.” – Clara G. Colson, Church of the Most Holy Trinity
“You can tell a great deal about a person by observing how he treats someone who can’t do him any good.” – Nita Doss, Burns Memorial United Methodist Church
“I refuse to let any man ruin my life by making me hate him.” – Virginia Weiss, First Presbyterian Church
“For those of us who can’t see our own mistakes, God gave us neighbors.” – Mrs. Theron Thompson, Trinity-On-The-Hill United Methodist Church
“It’s better to say something good about a bad man than to say something bad about a good man.” – Mrs. J. O. Phillips, Fayetteville United Methodist Church, Fayetteville
“We like a man who comes right out and says what he thinks - if we agree with him.” – Mark Twain
“Every religion is good that teaches man to be good.” – Thomas Paine
“It is better to be criticized by a wise man than to be praised by a fool.” – Ecclesiastes 7:5
“A man who hoards riches and enjoys them not is like an ass that carries gold and eats thistles.” – Worth Dalton, Trinity-On-The-Hill United Methodist Church
So there you have it. A dozen I selected out of about 1,000. Indeed, wonderful thoughts to live by. If you’d like one of these little books, let me know, and I will see if Bill will let me have one for you. For, after all, Mr. Kuhlke, Sr., gave away about 45,000 of the books, and Bill is one of my new, good friends. I’m even learning to put the h before the l. Selah.
