Tag Archives: books
Me and Art
Excerpted from Art Buchwald’s autobiography Leaving Home: A Memoir, ©1993: But a funny thing can happen to you in a depression. If you don’t hurt yourself, you can gain tremendous insights and empathy, find inner strengths and hidden talents. It’s mysterious process, but if you can hold on, you become a wiser and better person. …
Slackers
Excerpted from Lost Horizon by James Hilton, ©1933: “A rather grim story, Chang,” he commented at length. “It gives one the feeling that Time is like some balked monster, waiting outside the valley to pounce on the slackers who have managed to evade him longer than they should.” “Slackers?” queried Chang. His knowledge of English …
The Devil’s Dictionary
Excerpted from The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, ©1906: PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope. PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom– and of whom only– it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want …
Precious Mistakes
Excerpted from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom ©1998, by John O’Donohue: One of the qualities that you can develop, particularly in your older years, is a sense of great compassion for yourself. When you visit the wounds within the temple of memory, you should not blame yourself for making bad mistakes that you …
Stumbles
From Galatians 6:1-2: Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran: …
“I do not accept it.”
I found this posted to the blog Living for the Hope of it All: There’s a part in The Princess Bride (the book, it’s not in the movie) where Inigo and Fezzik are looking for Westley after he’s been taken by the Prince, and they’ve been running into obstacle after obstacle, having to overcome them …
Love
Language has changed a lot since 1611. The King James version of the bible is my favorite because of its poetry and grandeur, but it’s important to know that what was translated as “charity” 410 years ago would be translated as “love” today. 1 Corinthians 13: Though I speak with the tongues of men and …
The Difference
“Talent is not enough– determination, perseverance, resolution, that’s what makes the difference.” ~Lauren Bacall, in her autobiography Lauren Bacall: By Myself ©1978
RIP Tony Hendra
Tony Hendra died last Thursday of Lou Gherig’s disease. He was 79. You can read a little bit about him HERE. His autobiography, Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul, is a wonderful book about spiritual transformation. I don’t have a lot of space to store books, but I’ve always kept a spot on …
Om
Excerpted from Om Chanting and Meditation by Amit Ray, ©2010: Om is not just a sound or vibration. It is not just a symbol. It is the entire cosmos, whatever we can see, touch, hear and feel. Moreover, it is all that is within our perception and all that is beyond our perception. It is …
Old/New
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” ~Ephesians 4: 22-24 Which is a fancy of way …
Plucked and Plunked
“We all, like Frodo, carry a Quest, a Task: our daily duties. They come to us, not from us. We are free only to accept or refuse our task– and, implicitly, our Taskmaster. None of us is a free creator or designer of his own life. ‘None of us lives to himself, and none of …
