"What's worse than being blind ?
Being able to see and have no vision"
Helen Keller

Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)

 

Carlyle refers to this theme elsewhere, one example being: “As the Swiss Inscription says: Sprechen ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden (Speech is silvern, Silence is golden);

"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers
knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
- Isaac Asimov

"Our prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be."

-- Morris Adler

"The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books."
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Note: Here it is yet again...Read Read Read....

"I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future"
Ralph Abernathy

There are basically two categories of people, EAGLES AND DUCKS. The Eagles soar  on their own, seizing the possibilities of each moment and making things happen. They  are powerful, proactive beings that find a way to get things done. The ducks, on the other hand sort of  waddle around quacking in a group. Most often they stay by the pond occasionally waddling in a line or group. They are not able to soar, because they choose to stay grounded for the most part doing things the way they have always been done, hanging their hats and finding excuses as to why they are not able to create more opportunities or to share the sky with the eagles.
fsm

First Night of Passover
One of Passover's main themes is the redemption from from being enslaved  to freedom.
Even to this day each of us are enslaved. in one manner or another.
Whether it be to a habit we abhor, smoking, too much television, other forms of time spent with no return, sex, food, work, money, alchohol/drugs,pain and suffering, control issues etc etc...

Perhaps this Passover we can reflect on what it is  on our own private list that enslaves and  limits us , and be freed from it by our thoughts, words and actions going forward.
fsm

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."
Favorite line of Bonnie Gorbaty
Founder/CEO Inner Resources
Yoga Instructor

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."
George Washington

ALL HAIL THE BARD

If you declare “It’s Greek to me,” you are quoting Shakespeare.

If you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare.

If you recall your salad days, Act more in sorrow than in anger, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, if you refuse to budge an inch, suffer from green-eyed jealousy, have played fast and loose, have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or In a pickle you are quoting Shakespeare.

If you have knitted your brows, Made a virtue of necessity, Insisted on fair play, Slept not on wink, Had cold comfort or Had too much of a good thing you are quoting  Shakespeare.

If you have seen better days, or lived in a fool’s paradise, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare.

Even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a doornail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody minded or a blinking idiot, then, by Jove, for goodness’ sake, you are quoting Shakespeare!

Note: Forwaded by NJC

"With all the stuff I have gone through, one thing became very clear
The key to feeling better or overcoming an illness is very simple – a POSITIVE ATTITUDEWithout it, a recovery may occur, but not as quickly
"Just don’t let the bastards get you down." ( a favorite saying of his
I found out how tough I really am, and you will too.."
"Abe Altschule "

"I need to love my enemies; Because, I made them."
Red Skelton

"the basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. if you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."

Yavin4 from their CD cover

Note: Introduced to me by Marjorie Yambor

"Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air."
— John Quincy Adams

Thought for Today - a bit different than usual
Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you either hear or are about to repeat a rumor.

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."

"Three?"

"That's right, "Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my
student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say.

The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not.

Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third
test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my
student going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really..."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True
nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"

The man was defeated and ashamed. This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

It also explains why he never found out that Plato was
banging his wife.

"Silence is the true friend that never betrays."
-Confucius

There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.
Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)

"One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true of false. It comes to be dominating thought in one's mind."

 Robert Collier American Writer, Publisher

"Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?"

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

“ 1916,” lines 57–59

"Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. "

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

 

Note: An amazing concept. First introduced to me by NJC many years ago without knowing the true source.

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."
After reading Heraclitus, Socrates is reported to have said: "The concepts I understand are great, but I believe that the concepts I can't understand are great too. However, the reader needs to be an excellent swimmer ... so as not to drown from his book." (Diogenis Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Socrates 22

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to always remain a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history? -

Cicero

"There comes a time in every man's life...and I've had plenty of them."
Casey Stengel
Note: Sent in by Bob and Carol Clay, with the thoughts that it would be perfect to mark the beginning of this year's baseball season.

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. "

-- Ernest Hemingway