Monthly Archives: August, 2021
Now that I am fifty
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” — …
More power than will
“We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible.” – Francois VI, Duc De la Rochefoucauld “I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.” — Henry Ford “Ford decided to produce …
Finished and complete
“For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught …
The indispensable ingredient
“It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.” …
Solaced and refreshed
“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” ― Martin Luther I connect with a lot of things Martin Luther said, but none more than this quote. There is nothing quite like music to soothe, heal, cheer, console or bring cathartic tears. Music …
For others
“The dip of the light meant that the island itself was always left in darkness. A lighthouse is for others; powerless to illuminate the space closest to it.” ― M.L. Steadman I was surprised at the controversy that erupted when the private journals of Mother Teresa were made public, revealing that she suffered from depression …
A very common phenomenon
“[Fame is] like having Alzheimer’s Disease. You don’t know anybody, but they all know you.” — Tony Curtis “Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to be insulted.” — Sammy Davis Jr. “Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want …
Stored honey
“Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail.” — Theodore Dreiser Until I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2010, I used to put lots of honey in my tea each morning. I’ve always loved honey. It amazes me how hard the bees have to work to make …
Tickled silly
“Optimist: someone who isn’t sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play.” — Robert Brault One year ago I wrote about my precious Aunt Peggy, who has survived things that might have left less optimistic people feeling bitter. Peggy is one of those people …
Not yourself
When you look into a mirror it is not yourself you see, but a kind of apish error posed in fearful symmetry kool uoy nehW rorrim a otni ton si ti ˛ees uoy flesruoy dnik a tub rorre hsipa fo lufraef ni desop yrtemmys — John Updike WOW, I love this poem! What do you see …
Odd corners
“It is not on mountaintops that the charm of life lies, for we are seldom there. It is in nooks and vales, in odd corners, that life is spent and finds its settings.” — Wallace Nutting Your summer vacation might now be a pleasant memory, or maybe you didn’t even take one. In any case, …
Fuel for our journey
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” — Kenji Miyazawa That sounds like a good idea to me. However, it may be difficult to implement. As fuels go, pain is an expensive one. And it’s not particularly clean-burning, either. Still, there are times when we don’t have much choice. It …
Not the same thing
“They say that we are better educated than our parents’ generation. What they mean is that we go to school longer. It is not the same thing.” — Richard Yates “But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.” — 1 …
Wildly enthusiastic
“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things…It has been after such times of joy that I have achieved my greatest creativity and produced my best work.” — Leo F. Buscaglia More than once over the years, people have made fun of me for getting excited over things they considered minor or insignificant. Confusing their …
Sometimes to go
“Oh, how one wants sometimes to go from such giftlessly high-flown, cheerless human wordiness into the seeming silence of nature, into the arduous soundlessness of long, persistent labor, into the wordlessness of deep sleep, of true music, and of a quiet, heartfelt touch grown mute from fullness of soul!” — Boris Pasternak Probably nobody I …
Like an inheritance
“Avoid providing material for the drama that is always stretched tight between parents and children; it uses up much of the children’s strength and wastes the love of the elders, which acts and warms even if it doesn’t comprehend. Don’t ask for advice from them and don’t expect any understanding; but believe in a love …
To build or to destroy
“Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.” ― Malcolm X “Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters. It’s like anything else. You can …
This twenty minutes
Sit, drink your coffee here; your work can wait awhile. You’re twenty-six, and still have some life ahead. No need for wit; just talk vacuities, and I’ll Reciprocate in kind, or laugh at you instead. The world is too opaque, distressing and profound. This twenty minutes’ rendezvous will make my day: To sit here in …
Unfailing love
“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” — Psalm 33:5 One year ago today, I wrote of my joy in seeing Dr. and Mrs. Rodriguez, and having a new grandson, and all the ways we had been blessed with gifts of comfort and consolation amid all the sorrows. …
First adventure
“I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.” — Heywood Broun Unless maybe the first or second adventure with birthday cake. (Grady got a sneak preview with Megan’s chocolate cake.) Maybe it’s my imagination, but Bailey (she’s the one on the right) seems to …
Like a hand waving
“Time was passing like a hand waving from a train that I wanted to be on.” — Jonathan Safran Foer This has to be one of the most evocative analogies I’ve ever known. It captures perfectly the wistful experience of watching years roll away, just far enough from us to be out of reach. It …
Growing wildly
“After growing wildly for years, the field of computing appears to be reaching its infancy.” — John Pierce When I first read this quote, I thought, “How true!” Then I realized that what we once thought of as computers, even the notebooks and netbooks, are fast becoming obsolete themselves. But the term “computing” can be …
Defeat Despair 