“For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe.”
Anonymous
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Knowledge vs. Wisdom
“Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom.”
Hermann Hesse, 1877-1962
German-Swiss poet, novelist, painter
1946 Nobel Prize in Literature
Mischief
“No man is exempt from saying silly things;
the mischief is to say them deliberately.”
Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592
Influential writer of French Renaissance
Nurturing Creativity
“Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist
once he grows up.”
Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973
Spanish painter and sculptor
Co-founded Cubism
Moderation
“Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything.
These are the secrets of happiness and good health.”
Julia Child, 1912-2004
Chef and WWII spy
Win, Win
Judged By Our Actions
Roan Mountain
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing,
while others judge us by what we have already done.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882
Thinking
“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”
Winnie the Pooh
Difference
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
William James, 1842-1910
Pioneering Psychologist and Philosopher
Be Original
“You were born an original.
Don’t die a copy.”
John Mason
Sympathy
“Next to love,
sympathy is the divinest passion
of the human heart.”
Edmund Burke, 1729-1797
British Statesman and Philosopher
Be Bold
“Freedom lies in being bold.”
Robert Frost, 1874-1963
The Best You Can
Gray’s Lily, Roan Mountain
“I come to the office each morning and stay for long hours
doing what has to be done to the best of my ability.
And when you’ve done the best you can, you can’t do any better.
So when I go to sleep I turn everything over to the Lord and forget it.”
Harry S. Truman, 1884-1972
33rd U.S. President
Walls
Jonesborough, TN
“The worst walls are never the ones you find in your way.
The worse walls are the ones you put there — you build yourself.
Those are the high ones, the thick ones, the ones with no doors in.”
Ursula K. LeGuin, b. 1929
Author
C’est la vie
“Forget love — I’d rather fall in chocolate!”
Sandra J. Dykes
Realistic Expectations
“There is a proper balance between
not asking enough of oneself
and asking or expecting too much.”
May Sarton, 1912-1995
Poet and novelist
Friends
“We take care of our health, we lay up our money,
we make our roof tight and our clothing sufficient,
but who provides wisely that he shall not be wanting
in the best property of all — friends.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
Don’t Compare
“In order to be utterly happy the only thing necessary
is to refrain from comparing this moment
with other moments in the past,
which I often did not fully enjoy because I was
comparing them with other moments of the future.”
Andre Gide, 1869-1951
Nobel Prize in Literature, 1947
Live
“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark
would burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor,
every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
Jack London, 1876-1916
Author
Confusing
“I can’t make head or tail of Life.
Love is a fine thing, Art is a fine thing,
Nature is a fine thing;
but the average human mind and spirit
are confusing beyond measure.”
Wallace Stevens, 1879-1955
Modernist poet
A Long Sleep
Moses Cone Estate seen from Bass Lake, Blowing Rock, NC
“A good laugh and a long sleep
are the best cures in the doctor’s book.”
Irish Proverb
Love
“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts,
then there is no hurt, but only more love.”
Mother Teresa, 1910-1997
Perfection
“A man would do nothing if he waited
until he could do it so well
that no one could find fault.”
John Henry Newman
Today
Forrest Gump Curve at Grandfather Mountain
“We live on a moving line between past and future.
That line is our lifeline.”
George A. Buttrick, 1892-1980
Presbyterian minister
More Needs Than Dollars
“Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions.”
A.A. Latimer
