What a treasure is a person of true self-esteem, who need not be humored or appeased, who does not see disagreement as a personal affront or agreement as a show of weakness, who does not feel threatened by the honest aspirations of others, who does not mistake pride for honor, or prejudice for principle, or privilege for merit.
With such a person, common civility is possible; conversation is possible, and, dare we hope, even compromise is possible.
If "Life is a party" as has been said, then the questions I find myself asking at age 86 are these: "Who is the host?" and "Am I a guest or somehow the entertainment?" and "Why did so many fascinating people have to leave so early?" and "Why do I myself have to leave when so many interesting new people are just arriving?"
Usually I know what I'm trying to say, but sometimes I just like to throw something out there for whatever someone might decide it means.
"If there be no God, then what is truth but the average of all lies."
"We are all the average person. The challenge is to be the most exceptional average person we can be."
"I am told to just be myself, but as much as I have practiced the impression, I am still no good at it."
"I have always thought that the night sky is a marvelous example of what can be done with mirrors, assuming that's the way it was done."
"In my loneliest dream, I am alone at a railway depot, having missed the last train to eternity."
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"I wish, at age 86, that I hadn't been so quick to complete my memoirs."
As someone who got a 'D' in third grade arithmetic, perhaps I should stop saying, "By my calculus... ."
"I wish I had done more explaining to people who deserved an explanation and less to people sitting next to me in tourist class."
"No, I don't think my life would make a great biopic. For one thing, insufficient drug problem."
I often wonder what my shadow would say if it could talk. I mean, besides, "You're in my light."
To challenge someone's faulty logic and be accused of "semantics" is equivalent to challenging someone's faulty arithmetic and being accused of "mathematics."
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.
""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."