Ten random things: October 17

Ten quotations carved into the base of the north fountains at the United States Navy Memorial:

1. Whosoever can hold the sea had command of everything. - Themistocles
2. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. - Neil Armstrong, former Naval aviator
3. I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way. - Captain John Paul Jones
4. We have met the enemy and they are ours. - Commodore Oliver Hazzard Perry
5. Without a decisive naval force, we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious. - General George Washington
6. Don't give up the ship. - Commander James Lawrence
7. Uncommon valor was a common virtue. - Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
8. I have not yet begun to fight. - John Paul Jones
9. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. - Rear Admiral David G. Farragut
10. Sighted sub, sank same. - Ensign Donald F. Mason

I love the Navy Memorial, because it's a functional public space in a way that few other memorials in DC are. It's located right downtown, and on nice days you can always find a ton of people who work in nearby office buildings hanging out eating lunch or having a smoke break. And during the summer, various military musical ensembles give concerts there. When I lived in the city, I spent many a summer evening there attending those concerts.