Monthly Archives: May, 2025

Though they sleep

“The brave die never, though they sleep in dust:   Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” — Minot J. Savage Dear readers, though I don’t typically re-blog earlier posts, today I wanted to share this one again. Arlington National Cemetery is very much on my mind for so many reasons. May this Memorial Day …

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Count on flowers

“No matter how uncertain our world sometimes seems, we can count on flowers to appear each spring.” – Barbara Milo Ohrbach Longtime members of the Defeat Despair community will be familiar with Susan, whom I first met here and whose previous visits have inspired earlier posts. She spent some time with Matthew and me this …

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The jangled soul can flee

‘Tis fitting in these days of noise, Here in these thunder years of steam, The soul should keep its equipoise And think its thoughts and dream its dream. We scar the placid vales with mills, We scoop the seas and shear the hills: ‘Tis well that to these temples of the mind The jangled soul …

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Nothing but the thread

“I have gathered a posy of other men’s flowers and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.”― John Bartlett In a recent post, we talked about the fondness for quotes that many of us share. Probably no name has been more associated with quotations than John Bartlett, whose classic collection has continued …

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The quintessential optimist

“The gardener is the quintessential optimist. Not only does he believe that the future will bear out the fruits of his efforts, he believes in the future.” – Joyce Carol Oates Maybe this quote explains why I love few activities as much as taking a walk in a beautiful garden setting. It’s hard to feel …

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