Who Said What

There are a lot of good things said by a lot of people.  I did not say there are a lot of good things said by a lot of good people.  There are sayings that come from all over.  Some are by historical figures, and some are from my contemporaries.
I know the end of historical figures, but I don’t know how my contemporaries will turn out.  I think Bill Cosby highlights that.  For most of his adult life he was known as the father of America.  Yet in later life he has been convicted.  For most of his life no one knew what lurked.
What got me thinking about this, is I am reading famous speeches of figures.  Some of what is said really resonates with me.  For example this was said “I have approached all apparently impossible problems with a firm resolve to solve them peaceably.”  Many would agree with that statement.  Yet it was said by Hitler and we know he was being duplicitous (balancing that out, Lincoln and Chamberlin said stuff I really like too). 
My question to myself is “is who said something negated by future insights about them?”  I’ll admit there is stuff Starlin said which I think was good.  Yet I know he caused misery and death unnecessarily to millions of people.
My thinking is, I don’t know how people will end up.  Some of the things they said I hold to.  Because they went astray, does not to me negate everything they said in the past.  If I follow that through, I may hold to something or someone for 50 years and then they blow it.  If I was to dismiss everything then I would be totally at sea.  All I stood for would be for nothing.  My carpet would be totally pulled out from under me.  There is no doubt I would be rightly disappointed, but if my life is built on nothing more that one of my contemporaries disappointment is inevitable.
It seems like one of those “eat the worms and spit out the germs” things.  If what is said I agree with and believe in, I will make it a guiding principle in my life.  Who said it is really inconsequential.  The truth of the matter matters, not who said it.
I need to be careful though.  Something can sound right but have a sting in its tail.  Politicians seem to be really good at it.  They may tell the truth but not the whole truth.  There is a word for that which I have forgotten.  The English in the war set up whole encampments of cardboard.  It was designed to deceive enemy pilots.  It made something that was not, appear as though it was.
A lot of people post things on Facebook.  They are good sayings.  Often I have no idea who the person is saying it.  My liking it or not is conditional on what is said, not who said it.
It never sounds right but this is one of those times it really is all about me.  In the end I stand or fall alone.  I cannot blame another for my actions.  They may have played a big part, but it is always my choice.