From The Archives

How often do we search to find

  in memories of old

Or in some fancied, wistful dream

 of days to yet unfold

Or in our fond imaginings of places

  far and wide

The happiness that all the while

  is sitting by our side.

 

Reality, You Say

 ""Yes, there's a physical reality, but only a tiny part of it, it turns out, is non-negotiable." 

"Which is to say, you can accept reality without believing every yarn it spins."

"Reality is not some fantasy world we imagine; it is a world of demonstrable fact we imagine."

"Which is to say, to accept reality is not only to acknowledge it but, in large part, to create it."

Beware!

You would think that enough fish have "got away" by now that they would have warned the rest of the fish population not to bite at dangling worms.  And yet, after millennia, the word seems not to have gotten around.  You wonder what might be the equivalent uncirculated warning among human beings.

A Distinction of Sorts

"God does not play dice with the world." ~~ Einstein

Yet, so much seems to hang on the chance

Of the dice rolling even or odd.

If God does not play dice with the world,

Are the dice, perchance, playing God?

Introspection, Anyone?

 "What makes you a likable person?  Hard to say, but probably something you don't know about yourself that everyone else does."

"Whatever the reason you were born, it was probably not to find out what someone else would do if they were you."

"You not only have to be several different people to successfully live one life, but they all have to be pretty good at passing a baton."

Ah, Weddedness!

 Asked what she had learned from 45 years of marriage, a close acquaintance of mine said:

"Never assume someone is dead just because they're unresponsive."

Which inspired me to a bit of would-be wit:

"Say what you want about marriage, it's still the best known cure for unnecessary conversation."

And then to a bit of actual wisdom:

"So often the person for whom you would climb any mountain and swim any sea would settle for a little conversation at dinner."

Well, Here I Am Again,

 I promised to be back in September, so here I am, although please do regard this as a warm-up.

"To know all the facts about anyone is to know more about the subject than they do."

"The most basic progressive belief is that if we can get the rich to pay their fair share, we won't have to pay ours."

"The most basic conservative belief is that if you weren't born to opportunity, you had your chance,"

"The chance that you can limit everyone's freedom but yours is about the same as the chance that you can pollute everyone's environment but yours.