January is a time for fresh starts, and we at Volcanic Ash observe a tradition of clearing the air each new year by offering public officials we may have offended the year before inspiring quotes from the world’s great minds to lift our leaders to bigger and better things in the year ahead.

>> For President-elect Joe Biden: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

>> For Gov. David Ige: “Guidelines for Bureaucrats: 1) When in charge, ponder. 2) When in trouble, delegate. 3) When in doubt, mumble.” — James Boren

>> For Lt. Gov. Josh Green: “We have two ears and one mouth and we should use them proportionally.” — Susan Cain

>> For gubernatorial candidate Kirk Caldwell: “I have learned from my mistakes, and I am sure I can repeat them exactly.” — Peter Cook

>> For gubernatorial candidate Vicky Cayetano: “We are coming down from our pedestal and up from the laundry room.” — Bella Abzug

>> For lieutenant governor candidates Keith Amemiya, Ikaika Anderson, Sylvia Luke, Sherry Menor-McNamara and Jill Tokuda: “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” — Margaret Mead

>> For state House Speaker Scott Saiki: “Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment.” — Thomas Otway

>> For state Senate President Ron Kouchi: “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” — Emma Goldman

>> For state Health Director Elizabeth Char: “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” — Mark Twain

>> For U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it’s just possible you haven’t grasped the situation.” — Jean Kerr

>> For U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono: “I am continually fascinated at the difficulty intelligent people have in distinguishing what is controversial from what is merely offensive.” — Nora Ephron

>> For U.S. Rep. Ed Case: “Honesty is never seen sitting astride the fence.” — Lemuel K. Washburn

>> For U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele: “Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” — John Wooden

>> For Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” — Woody Allen

>> For City Council Chairman Tommy Waters: “All my life I’ve wanted, just once, to say something clever without losing my train of thought.” — Robert Breault

>> For chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation: “There’s a danger our fiscal bankruptcy might overtake our moral bankruptcy.” — Mort Sahl

>> For interim Police Chief Rade Vanic and interim schools superintendent Keith Hayashi: “Temporary solutions often become permanent problems.” — Craig Bruce

>> For Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald: “You know, the courts may not be working anymore, but as long as everyone is videotaping everyone else, justice will be done.” — Marge Simpson

>> For Ernest Lau, Board of Water Supply chief engineer: “Ain’t nothing like a good cry.” — Dwayne Johnson

>> For University of Hawaii football coach Todd Graham: “The need for control always comes from someone that has lost it.” — Shannon L. Alder

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.