tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27230029274893943072024-03-19T06:09:50.830-07:00The New Robert Brault Reader"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.comBlogger264125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-19922864576440766212024-03-18T04:44:00.000-07:002024-03-19T06:09:16.294-07:00On Hope<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> "What does hope get you? It gets you a hopeful life, and when you think about it, what more can you hope for?"</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALBY7fxiLtW5a1scdaM-_c003K_1WtxyAs2vDwj8dmgx4i4kosOqQCZ5UQmirCyQJTealWpL1kMXHJKJbIrhc0MRtuPqqfSdbzQP6dT2rDhxz8QDP6I3uRyAvpZRxVYu1XhLgexD4RMu3k_phhZSm9CijUE9sPKjZTD0f-WMwv_oC-a5HaTSfa6o_d7Rf/s378/hope.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="378" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALBY7fxiLtW5a1scdaM-_c003K_1WtxyAs2vDwj8dmgx4i4kosOqQCZ5UQmirCyQJTealWpL1kMXHJKJbIrhc0MRtuPqqfSdbzQP6dT2rDhxz8QDP6I3uRyAvpZRxVYu1XhLgexD4RMu3k_phhZSm9CijUE9sPKjZTD0f-WMwv_oC-a5HaTSfa6o_d7Rf/w200-h131/hope.png" width="200" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-26439318737664228362024-03-14T06:58:00.000-07:002024-03-14T07:19:59.732-07:003000 Books Sold! Thank you.<p style="text-align: center;"> On the one hand, 3000 books sold over ten years is not exactly best-seller territory. On the other hand, I won't deny the satisfaction I felt upon the sale of my 3000th book yesterday.</p><p style="text-align: center;">My book sales have never been a torrent. They are more a persistent trickle, one or two at a time, sometimes skipping a few days but seldom more than that. So while 3000 copies over ten years doesn't blow your socks off, it does amount to 5 or 6 copies a week, every week, for ten years -- and, that, let me tell you, can be quite an ongoing boost to one's self-esteem.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I am pleased, too, to know that my books have sold without promotion. I have never made a public appearance on behalf of my books, never a signing or a reading, never a celebrity endorsement, never a cent paid for advertising. All I've ever done is to offer my books on my blog and via my Twitter account. For the rest, it has been a case of folks noticing my quotes on the internet, Googling my name and finding their way to my Amazon book pages.</p><p style="text-align: center;">And so I thank all you book buyers out there for your support over these ten years. You are indeed patrons of the arts and, as supporters of the hard-copy printed word, a bit of a dying breed, I'm afraid. I thank you and cherish you. You have made very happy a fellow named Bob in Connecticut.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-88475180291646866282024-03-12T07:03:00.000-07:002024-03-12T07:07:36.028-07:00Cancel My Appointments, Please<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"You can plan a picnic and hope for a sunny day, but sometimes a sunny day just turns up and demands your immediate attention." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0sPCEdVpTEkFgv2OJHZDmWofRflZ5UIYdv4qtfBvWFARtyuiHeJOtAP7EL7M9C9QUyHgF-_pVAWNx5oQGoMsJYxx9UEo4YzjK1zTD81LU2WTgNJ4jXEu7cU45aGyReiWH28sZpd07r8GZZnoTA-097-8_f4uBDgpR3PyamWRDm-8rP0b1p8F2_6eXL7eh/s372/picnic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0sPCEdVpTEkFgv2OJHZDmWofRflZ5UIYdv4qtfBvWFARtyuiHeJOtAP7EL7M9C9QUyHgF-_pVAWNx5oQGoMsJYxx9UEo4YzjK1zTD81LU2WTgNJ4jXEu7cU45aGyReiWH28sZpd07r8GZZnoTA-097-8_f4uBDgpR3PyamWRDm-8rP0b1p8F2_6eXL7eh/w161-h200/picnic.png" width="161" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-29845744627545198032024-03-07T09:00:00.000-08:002024-03-07T09:00:12.156-08:00A Casualty of Prejudice<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"You cannot appeal to the self-interest of prejudiced people, for rarely does an awareness of one's true self-interest survive one's prejudice." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-1810533373949816252024-03-05T06:52:00.000-08:002024-03-05T06:52:55.777-08:00Thoughts of a Godseeker<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"If there's one thing people of tolerance might usefully borrow from people of prejudice, it is their religious zeal."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The test, for me, of any religion is what is left of it when stripped of its theology. Is there a core of human kindness that can be practiced?</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As for my own religion and politics, I continue to look for a religion that will accept me as a heretic and a political party that will accept me as a dissenter.</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-16259559304089215952024-02-28T09:30:00.000-08:002024-02-29T05:08:14.893-08:00Nostalgia<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Nostalgia is less a longing for a past we once lived than for a future we once dreamed of."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlyGcNJR9gZX0HeV9lQif6XmwBGCrVkcgwE34L_wrPbHQpEZEwwek8OQwetnDeP5R0MAjYiWE28TXQu_-7WwP6zAOepOsjW7QqTFbuv4-6q1KXeW1YPM-Qi81fyoPtYYB4s6eULtnRKPFJ2ALbTcC_amW487TN-OpGnjesKq0dY3mWafQqmHk_6y_DTKJ/s378/nostalgia.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="378" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlyGcNJR9gZX0HeV9lQif6XmwBGCrVkcgwE34L_wrPbHQpEZEwwek8OQwetnDeP5R0MAjYiWE28TXQu_-7WwP6zAOepOsjW7QqTFbuv4-6q1KXeW1YPM-Qi81fyoPtYYB4s6eULtnRKPFJ2ALbTcC_amW487TN-OpGnjesKq0dY3mWafQqmHk_6y_DTKJ/w200-h136/nostalgia.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-29462642157844640272024-02-25T08:40:00.000-08:002024-02-25T08:40:48.222-08:00More Miscellany<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Far from knowing history, you wonder if politicians today even suspect that anyone is taking notes."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"If the human race is good at anything, it is good at surviving people giving up on it." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"A wake-up moment in one's intellectual life is realizing that no impartial third party has ever sided with you."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"There is nothing like really getting to know people to reduce your need for their approval."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-6258603017175755592024-02-22T10:07:00.000-08:002024-02-25T08:32:10.115-08:00Saving The World<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; text-align: left; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">"I am not against people wanting to save the world, but I suspect that if the world is to be saved, it will be saved by people with a smaller objective."</span></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; text-align: left; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; text-align: left; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">"If I could save a life by enduring a pinprick, I would. But if I could save a billion lives by enduring a billion pinpricks, I would not. It is my duty to do what I reasonably can to help another, but it is not my duty to single-handedly save the world, for if it were, what would be your duty?"</span></i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatfJXm48nQ47HbAr6Vi2UEI56mFxlCgacVUYfelFx7MIWjEFz6QYmve_v2k2XkBFft0epNWhsG75qfwpgDZQZGjBx0VucyXYycHEjdeZL1L1Ojn8BhPrTqYT5YZbM9I9XTXNaS-w5OZjEIhz0a7uwuFVjyaJI7eWmf1ER5jZJesHDWcWI2Y2essoOUhz4/s444/globe.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="444" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatfJXm48nQ47HbAr6Vi2UEI56mFxlCgacVUYfelFx7MIWjEFz6QYmve_v2k2XkBFft0epNWhsG75qfwpgDZQZGjBx0VucyXYycHEjdeZL1L1Ojn8BhPrTqYT5YZbM9I9XTXNaS-w5OZjEIhz0a7uwuFVjyaJI7eWmf1ER5jZJesHDWcWI2Y2essoOUhz4/s320/globe.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-54388196354575061782024-02-19T05:07:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:07:25.357-08:00Life Is...<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Life is a collection of moments you might have appreciated more if you had only known they were moments."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Life is a series of stages, each preparation for the one before."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Life is a series of things you do for the first time and the last time, the difference being that you know when it's the first time."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-39092320738784772702024-02-10T09:30:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:10:37.241-08:00What Skeptic Has Not...<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> What skeptic has not, in the dark of despair</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Or the shadow of anguish and grief,</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Sent out from his heart a questing prayer</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">To the God of his disbelief?</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-32450968088024662542024-02-07T08:40:00.000-08:002024-02-22T12:01:43.004-08:00From The Miscellany Drawer<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"The most certain measure of a dumbed-down population is that nobody is asking dumb questions."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"If I were awarding an all-time prize for human ingenuity, it would go to the person who, unable to command anyone's respect or gratitude or love, invented the concept of loyalty." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Ever wonder what an atheist says the ten or twenty times each day when everyone else says, "Thank God!"</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"The central fallacy in parenting is that it's a teaching experience when, in fact, it's a learning experience. We are asked as parents to absorb each lesson quickly enough to convert it, real-time, into advice and counsel." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-65771158234901632612024-02-02T08:31:00.000-08:002024-02-02T08:31:21.489-08:00A Trail You Blaze<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"One key to succeeding is to get it out of your head that there's always going to be clear evidence that you are."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhqe2DA6Apoghk_iCKLeFOYoov_5IhMTu7-8QV05WsyG1eazTcOJWpS3t0ZwqOS9MwMkFNmfhJmjR606hTwr7re5aNpfq8EHRNPCGwy_oHnsDd7K93xSO7bEpAdwP2qPwEgAOKwCjfdkMIJMlS7UXPmkpvL4-pQ_zqrESpLwJKyGyv5HxTwsYFNhGlnvQ/s400/desert.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="400" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhqe2DA6Apoghk_iCKLeFOYoov_5IhMTu7-8QV05WsyG1eazTcOJWpS3t0ZwqOS9MwMkFNmfhJmjR606hTwr7re5aNpfq8EHRNPCGwy_oHnsDd7K93xSO7bEpAdwP2qPwEgAOKwCjfdkMIJMlS7UXPmkpvL4-pQ_zqrESpLwJKyGyv5HxTwsYFNhGlnvQ/s320/desert.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-56178658492626191322024-01-29T04:57:00.000-08:002024-01-29T05:10:04.874-08:00On Faith<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Who is the person of greater faith -- the person of certainty or the person who every day overcomes doubt?"</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDsAbUF6Ox7SNEzvUdO-8w_Jq_J0h4ssFek0j0IMyywYG8xKZBZ43nUrqCtpMPql4OsfhVsPJ1Cv8ZfsaXLcl9C_zoBTYA9z40QXITPl3I2udles2XYxpWh9CM9X0ZwHdGBJD6RD8_jMRJD2MVb3hwLQf3ZrVBMqUjxrNB6y4dskD0xWcl5bSxUXnN2b-/s413/lone%20worshipper.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="413" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDsAbUF6Ox7SNEzvUdO-8w_Jq_J0h4ssFek0j0IMyywYG8xKZBZ43nUrqCtpMPql4OsfhVsPJ1Cv8ZfsaXLcl9C_zoBTYA9z40QXITPl3I2udles2XYxpWh9CM9X0ZwHdGBJD6RD8_jMRJD2MVb3hwLQf3ZrVBMqUjxrNB6y4dskD0xWcl5bSxUXnN2b-/w200-h139/lone%20worshipper.png" width="200" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-52590048876167557682024-01-27T05:15:00.000-08:002024-01-29T05:00:46.786-08:00On Happiness<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"One thing you notice about the happiest people is that they always seem to have the littlest reason."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbFJW8dq0q8FwCYu9B_BoGG3AG0l5P20-l1BI64zxkfJujvxcdYI1Bmwh7EjvdsAAc_kXxaRlHDWz7UwaR6VC5NU0Cpy8qYByjUM28gO0L7w89mKKUDY4F5In64653lTuckstgkrMtWmRbFghzyY6AiYydX4t-LCKejnHHpY48QoDGBfBvm2qHROqoC4O/s420/happy%20people.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="420" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbFJW8dq0q8FwCYu9B_BoGG3AG0l5P20-l1BI64zxkfJujvxcdYI1Bmwh7EjvdsAAc_kXxaRlHDWz7UwaR6VC5NU0Cpy8qYByjUM28gO0L7w89mKKUDY4F5In64653lTuckstgkrMtWmRbFghzyY6AiYydX4t-LCKejnHHpY48QoDGBfBvm2qHROqoC4O/w320-h218/happy%20people.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-14492355731958931682024-01-23T09:33:00.000-08:002024-02-06T05:30:31.624-08:00On Parenting<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"There is this curious feeling you have as a parent that nothing you do makes any difference and yet has lifelong consequences."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"All you can do as a parent is to make the recommended mistakes at the recommended age and trust to God."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"What's missing from most How-To books on parenting is how to be on the receiving end of it." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-75068302315806826902024-01-20T08:40:00.000-08:002024-01-23T09:38:12.272-08:00A Thought By The Fire<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> How often do we search to find</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> in memories of old</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Or in some fancied, wistful dream</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> of days to yet unfold</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Or in our fond imaginings of places</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> far and wide</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The happiness that all the while</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> is sitting by our side.</span></i></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8NF1VGH_wW8pzRYjhyphenhyphen9NtniMllxEAT3uqE0vobhLTOPuAS_PKmJL061AaB_kxqbxvYXxgrRuuo_Lhfv7u_F2XSAS2ozdvb3CSFdauUYWenjXHT53MF_wQNzEOVg83Xquy_uGJcHWKOdt87mrZ9cPHcwwORV5k-BNvW0zNYuNcJCfBvqokgYcFR0PFOMbc/s400/fireplace.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="400" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8NF1VGH_wW8pzRYjhyphenhyphen9NtniMllxEAT3uqE0vobhLTOPuAS_PKmJL061AaB_kxqbxvYXxgrRuuo_Lhfv7u_F2XSAS2ozdvb3CSFdauUYWenjXHT53MF_wQNzEOVg83Xquy_uGJcHWKOdt87mrZ9cPHcwwORV5k-BNvW0zNYuNcJCfBvqokgYcFR0PFOMbc/s320/fireplace.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-35451970360586075722024-01-10T09:02:00.000-08:002024-01-14T08:11:57.333-08:00Tender Subjects<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I asked, "How can anyone who really knows me ever love me?" only to discover that it was the only way anyone ever would.</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"It's not easy -- loving someone through the chinks in their armor -- and we seldom appreciate enough the person we ask it of."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"To truly know someone is to know the thing they never speak of -- and to recognize the silences that speak of it."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-12478259258504385262024-01-09T06:05:00.000-08:002024-01-14T17:56:21.967-08:00Just We Three<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"There are memories I choose not to live with, although we occasionally walk the same beach."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2frSyl1KE_Y7MplajZyqU7_sUrgj6D-xkfDh579z5y8fLFtQb1-Of-HO0w3aU8qh7mEQR4i5cWiVHQ4z6VuaRuoTN2D3Xa7savq7RGNCPQAwjmjsXost2bZNyA4VCheLBxSz_MAMewGzdDIk2b66xkfZ9dgv-BoLpkLS7FWhXtaTuCFvkp8Xgh94_A/s292/beach.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="292" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2frSyl1KE_Y7MplajZyqU7_sUrgj6D-xkfDh579z5y8fLFtQb1-Of-HO0w3aU8qh7mEQR4i5cWiVHQ4z6VuaRuoTN2D3Xa7savq7RGNCPQAwjmjsXost2bZNyA4VCheLBxSz_MAMewGzdDIk2b66xkfZ9dgv-BoLpkLS7FWhXtaTuCFvkp8Xgh94_A/s1600/beach.png" width="292" /></a></div></blockquote></blockquote>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-40722847407846444482024-01-07T07:42:00.000-08:002024-01-07T07:42:57.943-08:00New Year's Thoughts<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"> "<span style="font-size: medium;">If everyone were a perfectionist, there would never have been an opening night on Broadway."</span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"It is a rare person who can distinguish a purpose in life from the side effects of having been born." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"A Supreme Court justice can only be one of the following: liberal, conservative or just."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"If you have never lied to protect your honor, then you may call yourself honorable."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"Nothing runs out sooner than time to spare."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></i></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-75971453629608845492023-12-18T13:43:00.000-08:002024-01-07T07:07:45.502-08:00A Final Thought For 2023<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"On either side of faith lie certainty and doubt. Of the two, certainty is the greater enemy of faith." </span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-17441259007018814502023-12-14T07:54:00.000-08:002023-12-19T05:50:00.876-08:00Reality vs Possibility<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"It is not so much that we accept reality as that we accept a limiting perception of things that then becomes our reality. Would it not be better to see reality as possibility, not something to accept but to explore, a perception not of constraints but of opportunity?"</span></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69-3-uU3ekgG1IgvTPtck51b9sJ0D-OwV4FzQLo8cFoUAXYaXZrJQR1G85wze3Ob0slEF0T1FYz6LE7VwfDuRr3MCc7R9PnW9gj5xTd1INqnyQsFa2vnmmadtxkq7axgtqsC46JscruuotaHgvy_xn_3j9tfriUXV_ltSLeTa1YjwMqCKwHn3hV9KF0UX/s555/possibility.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="555" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69-3-uU3ekgG1IgvTPtck51b9sJ0D-OwV4FzQLo8cFoUAXYaXZrJQR1G85wze3Ob0slEF0T1FYz6LE7VwfDuRr3MCc7R9PnW9gj5xTd1INqnyQsFa2vnmmadtxkq7axgtqsC46JscruuotaHgvy_xn_3j9tfriUXV_ltSLeTa1YjwMqCKwHn3hV9KF0UX/s320/possibility.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-27680560500484571062023-12-08T10:45:00.000-08:002023-12-08T10:45:04.872-08:00The True History...<p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"> "The true history of any era is of what human ingenuity accomplished while some would-be conqueror was distracting historians."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-31362218677291177802023-12-05T07:27:00.000-08:002023-12-05T07:31:42.594-08:00The Eyes of Faith<p style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">"No matter how devoted you are to cold, hard fact, you should always allow yourself enough religious faith to recognize your blessings."</span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZzGWzps7VLs3cfrv4vhgCnkD9hVWkAUYgGYc6_V0u5Xp1cgh8Sy8kRw4s1xHFDfwABx9Nuxggeb9S8XkaZ0l-NTnzV3ZYeIUIQ4knI8TA9L9c2Za5CBEMsJjX7K2k5pnx9Lwl0ZFNZYmPhoKBfZow1GdzhoadsGcpwIEiYvVUqUHhsfptbqxBHuoaPuk/s400/hand%20of%20god.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="400" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZzGWzps7VLs3cfrv4vhgCnkD9hVWkAUYgGYc6_V0u5Xp1cgh8Sy8kRw4s1xHFDfwABx9Nuxggeb9S8XkaZ0l-NTnzV3ZYeIUIQ4knI8TA9L9c2Za5CBEMsJjX7K2k5pnx9Lwl0ZFNZYmPhoKBfZow1GdzhoadsGcpwIEiYvVUqUHhsfptbqxBHuoaPuk/w200-h104/hand%20of%20god.png" width="200" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-50027305315376617672023-11-17T07:06:00.000-08:002023-11-18T07:52:28.607-08:00The Artist Within<p style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><i>It is said that beauty lies in the e</i></span></span><span><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">ye of the beholder, which is to say that the satisfactions of life lie in our own perception. The happiness we pursue is ours to define. The rainbow we seek is ours to color in.</span></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQJEEqUU9bCa5IuaQhw_IfvtRS9KQmJkRE8rbCsq0VywVlGRP4PzdneJ9020QVEI_-u-rkVWw2fEyFFLQY__rkcA95hGMOMSKNxFIHO1GU8frVR1TGg5fQjUhMsihNwfTnthwuoq-uN8mKcfSsuV9TwBvBVz72NYAgw1SZdAaepGu2h2Jr-coT-iKYBJF/s328/rainbow.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="328" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQJEEqUU9bCa5IuaQhw_IfvtRS9KQmJkRE8rbCsq0VywVlGRP4PzdneJ9020QVEI_-u-rkVWw2fEyFFLQY__rkcA95hGMOMSKNxFIHO1GU8frVR1TGg5fQjUhMsihNwfTnthwuoq-uN8mKcfSsuV9TwBvBVz72NYAgw1SZdAaepGu2h2Jr-coT-iKYBJF/s320/rainbow.png" width="320" /></a></i></div><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2723002927489394307.post-74253516062537443272023-11-14T07:10:00.000-08:002023-11-14T07:10:01.835-08:00Stray Thoughts<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i> "Ah, the quest for fame -- the idea that you can find happiness by increasing the number of strangers who know who you are."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>"I think the attraction, for many people, of religion over science is that religion has done the better job of sticking to its story."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>"I believe this -- that you can be knowledgeable enough to be called wise but not doubtful enough."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p>Robert Braulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075269686047305038noreply@blogger.com0