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WISDOM SAYINGS Over the years I have jotted down Adages, Aphorisms, Apothegms, Axioms, Bon Mots, Dictums, Maxims, Mottos, Phylacteries, Protases, Proverbs, Sayings, Theorems and Truismsm as helpful guides to living. Here is my collection. Some are jokey. Some are frivolous. Many are wise. Should you know the author of any which I have noted as Anonymous, please let me know. If you have recommendation of your own favorites which I might include, please email them to me at dbm [at] nowstar.net. Donn Murphy ANAGRAM To be or not to be: that is the question, whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...
ABILITY Stop worrying about
whether or not you are effective or important. Know when you have
reached your proper level. ACCURACY A certain thoroughness
is the virtue of slow minds. ACTING ACTION I rise in the morning
torn between the desire to change the world and the desire to
enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. Never try to teach
pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. Some people dream of
great things, A journey of a thousand
miles begins with a single step. No pain, no palm; no
thorns, no throne; Each time a man stands
for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes
out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.
Crossing each other from a million different centers of energy
and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down
the mightiest walls of oppression, and resistance. Few are willing
to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their
colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer
commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet
it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to
change a world that yields most painfully to change, and I believe
that in this generation those with the courage to enter the
moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every
corner of the globe. One man can make a
difference and every man should try. Let no one be dismayed
by the thought that there is nothing that one man or woman can
do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Few will
have the greatness to bend history itself. But each can do some
small act, and the sum of these events will be written in the
history of our generation Never doubt that a
small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does. No one makes a bigger
mistake than those who do nothing because they can only do a
little. Take care of the small
circle around you. When you have succeeded with them, then move
outwards, one small step at a time. This is what charity is
all about. We judge ourselves
by our best intentions; People will forget
what you say, people will forget what you do, but people will
never forget how you made them feel.
For my purpose holds To strive, to seek,
to find, ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SLOGANS 24-Hour Bank: "The
Pleasure is All Hours” pun AGE &
AGING Old age is divine.
I absolutely adore it. The barriers are down, you don’t
have to wear the white kid gloves any more. You find yourself
being rather atrocious, and much freer, and you can do some
raggedy things. I just don’t want to act any more. I am
bored blue with acting. There is so much more to life than just
one little thing. You can’t be a shoemaker all your life. We are old too soon
and smart too late. Growing old isn't for
sissies. Old age is all in the
body. Old age came upon me
as a surprise, like a frost. It's a long, long while
from May to December We don’t stop
living because we are old; we grow old because we stop living. When you lose your
dreams, you lose your reason for living and you die. The elderly usually
don't have regrets for what they have done, but for what they
did not do. The people who fear death are those with regrets. ALCOHOL
AMERICANISM ANAGRAMS Dormitory > Dirty Room Evangelist > Evil's Agent Desperation > A Rope Ends It The Morse Code> Here Come Dots Slot Machines > Cash Lost in em Animosity > Is No Amity Mother-in-law > Woman Hitler Snooze Alarms > Alas! No More Z's A Decimal Point > I'm a Dot in Place The Earthquakes > That Queer Shake Eleven plus two > Twelve plus one President Clinton of the USA > To copulate he finds interns By Jeremy D. Mayer
- My! Jere, my dear.. To be or not to be:
that is the question, whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. ANGER I never hated a man
enough to give his diamonds back. Hatred is an acid:
It damages the vessel in which it is stored, APHORISMS,
QUOTES, SLOGANS APPEARANCE how you look influences
how your feel, how you feel influences how you act, and how
you act influences how many other people act. I have never sat down
in my tux pants, never in my career. When I went to places
[in her philanthropic works], I always dressed up. If I didn’t
wear jewelry, I wore something nice. Maybe just a pin. People
like to see you looking nice, no matter how poor they are.” ART I am going to make
everything around me beautiful. That will be my life. Art is long, and Time
is fleeting You forget there is
something higher than art--wisdom. And art, at its greatest,
is nothing but the expression of wisdom. Wisdom... teaches us
to see something outside ourselves that is higher than what
is within us, and gradually, through contemplation and admiration,
to come to resemble it. I think the artist
is a disturber of the peace.... You have to bear in mind that
everybody wants an artist on the wall or on the library shelf,
but nobody wants him [or her] in the house. All Art is obscene.
By that I do not mean pornographic, but shocking. This is because
the artist is like a prophet, standing on a hilltop, looking
down into the community, or off into the next valley, seeing
visions which the world has not yet viewed. Science is a temporary
state of knowledge; art is eternal. I look forward to an
America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward
achievement in business or statecraft. I look forward to an
America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic
accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities
for all of our citizens, and I look forward to an America which
commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength
but for its civilization as well. I am certain that after the
dust of centuries has passed over our cities we, too, will be
remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics,
but for our contributions to the human spirit. To further the appreciation
of culture among all the people, to increase respect for the
creative individual, to widen participation by all in the processes
and fulfillments of art -- this is one of the fascinating challenges
of these days. There is a connection,
hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement
in public life and progress in the arts. The Age of Pericles
was also the Age of Phidias. The Age of Lorenzo di Medici was
also the Age of Leonardo da Vinci. The age of Elizabeth also
the Age of Shakespeare. And the New Frontier for which I campaign
in public life, can also be a new frontier for American art. Thanks to art, instead
of seeing one world, our own, we see it multiplied, and as many
original artists as there are, so many worlds are at our disposal. "More is less"
but also, "God is in the details." Beauty is the enjoyment
or perception of a state of sublime composure, of blissful serenity
which is a reflection, an intimation, an image, a glimpse of
the enduring bliss of the spirit in its true realization through
knowledge. If of they mortal goods
thou art bereft ASSERTIVENESS If you ask, they may
say no. If you don't ask, they cannot say yes. ATTITUDE Life is 10 percent
what you make it and 90 percent how you take it. Nice to be important,
more important to be nice. B SECTION BOOKS Many readers judge
the power of a book by the shock it gives their feelings - as
some savages determine the power of muskets by their recoil;
that being considered best which fairly prostrates the purchaser. C SECTION CHALLENGE "When you get
knocked flat on your back, you may be looking up at something
better." CHANGE Laws and institutions
must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As
this becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries
are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change,
with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance
to keep pace with the times. A bend in the road
is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn. CHARITY People may not remember
exactly what you did, or what you said but they will always
remember how you made them feel.. You make a living by
what you get... Speak tenderly to [the
poor]. Let there be kindness in your face, your eyes, in your
smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful
smile. Don’t only give your care, but give your heart
as well. Being unwanted, unloved,
un-cared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is much greater
hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing
to eat. COMEDY COMMITTEES COMMON SENSE COMPLACENCY CONCENTRATION CONFIDENCE
OR LACK OF CONFLICT You can get sick of
a person fast in this business. CONFORMITY
AND CULTURE Every society honors
its live conformists CONTRACTS CONVERSATION When another speaks,
be attentive yourself. Interrupt him not, nor answer until his
speech be ended. Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor
in earnest. Scoff at none although they give occasion. Let your
conversation be without malice or envy.... And in all causes
of passion admit reason to govern. The wit of conversation
consists more of finding it in others, than showing a great
deal yourself. He who goes out of your company pleased with
his own facetiousness and ingenuity, will the sooner come into
it again. Most men had rather please than admire you, and seek
less to be instructed and diverted, than approved and applauded,
and it is certainly the most delicate sort of pleasure to please
another. COPING COURAGE Never be afraid to
try something new. The bigger the gamble,
the bigger the payoff. I can choose to be
a teacher or a victim. I choose to be a teacher. Never complain, never
explain. If you have a sense
of principle and purpose, and if you are able to make good judgments
and have confidence in them, and if you have the courage of
your convictions, you will succeed. All of us who show
an affirming flame are the holders of real moral power in this
culture, a power that is held by all who speak Truth, practice
Love, and demonstrate Courage. It is not the critic
who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena who,...
at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at
worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so
that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who know neither victory nor defeat. CREATIVITY DBM’S
GATHERING OF PHRASES DESCRIBING CONTEMPORARY CREATIVITY IN WAYS
SEEMINLY ANATHEMA TO TRADITIONAL RULE-HEAVY CATHOLIC EDUCATION
AT MID-20th CENTURY: Firmitas, utilitas,
venustas - Firmness: it endures, Utility: it works, Venustas:
It has beauty. CRITICS/CRITICISM Critics are like eunuchs
in a harem. They know how it's done; they've seen it done every
day; but they are unable to do it themselves. Eleanor Roosevelt, borrowing from Jane Austen, believed that hecklers did not deserve "the compliment of rational opposition." CYNICISM The optimist proclaims
that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist
fears this is true. D SECTION DARING: SEE
COURAGE DECISIONS DEMOCRACY DEPRESSION/DESPAIR There are only two
doctors who can cure you: time and diversions. Movement and action
are antidotes to despair. How you cope is the important thing,
not the events themselves. DISAGREEMENT On must learn how to
disagree agreeably. The man convinced against
his will You can't fight City
Hall. DIVERSITY DREAMS In dreams begin possibilities. DRINK - DRUNK E SECTION What I hear, I forget. The fellow holding
the cat by the tail is collecting two or three times as much
information as the fellow just watching. You can lead a boy
to college but you cannot make him think. I must study politics
and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and
philosophy. My sons ought to study... navigation, commerce and
agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study
painting, poetry, music, architecture. For government to refrain
from "promoting the improvement of agriculture, commerce,
manufacture, the cultivation and encouragement of the mechanical
and of the elegant arts, the advancement of literature ... would
be treachery to the most sacred of trusts." A university is what
a college becomes when it stops paying attention to students. You can take the boy
out of the Catholic school, but you cannot take the Catholic
school out of the boy. For every school that
is built, one less prison will be needed. Education's purpose
is to replace an empty mind with an open one. Schools reek with puerile
nonsense. Their programs of study sound like the fantastic inventions
of comedians gone insane. You teach best what
you need to learn. EFFORT AND ENERGY Destiny is not a matter
of change, it is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be
waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. You rest, you rust. Whoever you are, and
no matter how important your host thinks you are or how important
you think you are, there is still only one reason to be invited
to dinner: you are supposed to add to the evening. You may have
had a frightful fight with your spouse before you left, or your
best beau may have let you down – too busy to lunch with
you tomorrow – or your children may have been rude, or
your dog may have bitten you. Forget these disasters; they are
part of life. Nothing is meant to be too easy. You must take
these incidents in stride - tonight you are dining with friends.
It is in the worst possible taste to be a sullen guest at a
party. ENDURANCE, DETERMINATION, PERSEVERANCE, PERSISTENCE When you get to the
end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Tenaciousness is the
most important quality you can have in life.... fierce determination
for excellence. You are cheating and kidding yourself if you
do less. Your talents can disappear. My unofficial commandment
is "Thou shalt not give up." All rising to a great
place is by a rising stair. When [William Faulkner]
won the Pulitzer Prize for literature, he made the most beautiful
speech, and he sent me a copy of it. He wrote a dedication,
something like, “To Lauren Bacall, who was not satisfied
with being a pretty face, but rather who decided to prevail.”
Everybody’s a survivor. Everyone wants to stay alive.
What’s the alternative? See, I prefer to prevail. Nothing in the world
can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing
is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will
not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not:
the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent. Sometimes success is
just a matter of hanging on. The race is not always
to the swift... but to those who keep on running. The difference between
a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not
a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will. True greatness is not
achieved in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of one’s
daily work. EGO Man wanders the labyrinth,
searching for the beast. The hardest place to look is within
yourself. There the beast lurks, blocking your path to other
men. Conquer it, and you can join the world. EQUALITY EXAMPLE EXCELLENCE
AND QUALITY The best is the enemy
of the good. Recognizing that we
cannot do everything allows us to do something. There is nothing quite
so bad as not so bad. F SECTION FAITH Some things have to
be believed to be seen. FATIGUE FAVORS FEAR The only thing we have
to fear is fear itself. Tyger! Tyger! burning
bright FEMINISM FLATTERY A flatterer never seems
absurd If some men and women
want to think themselves a little brighter, a little more attractive
that they are, what is the harm? And if telling them so makes
them so, so much the better. More people are flattered
into virtue than bullied out of vice. Praise the beautiful
for their intelligence and the intelligent for their beauty. Rules for Flattery, adapted from - You’re Too Kind by Richard Stengel, 2000 · Be specific,
not general. Deserved praise is not bad. FLEXIBILITY FORGIVENESS An eye for an eye will
leave us all blind. "As we engage
in revenge, we prepare two graves; The weak can never
forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. FREEDOM FRIENDS &
FRIENDSHIP Our contacts are many,
our relationships few; our lives, externally crowded, often
are internally isolated; we remain but tenuously linked to each
other and our ties come easily undone. And this: "Love has long delighted and distressed mankind, and marriage has comforted us steadily and well. Both, however, are denatured--paradoxically enough, by their staunchest supporters - when they are expected to 'go together’; for love is a very unruly horse, far more apt to run away and overturn the carriage than to draw it. That is why in the past, people seldom thought of harnessing marriage to love." And then there's this gem: "In medieval times, as now, manuals were written, codifying the behavior recommended to lovers. With a difference though. Today's manuals are produced not by men of letters, but by doctors and therapists, as though love, sex, and marriage were diseases or therapeutic problems--which they promptly become if one reads too many of these guidebooks (one is too many). Today's manuals bear titles like 'Married Love' (unmarried lovers can manage without help, I guess)."....Yet, one doesn't make love better by reading a book any more than one learns to dance, or ride a bicycle, by reading about it." In 1992, Arena
Stage held a symposium in conjunction with some plays they
were staging (Moliere’s "The School for Wives"
and Strindberg’s "The Father." It was sponsored
by the National Endowment of the Humanities. I attended it.
Before going, I had passed on this gem to the moderator, Laurence
Maslon, who was on the staff. The program had some quotes from
the plays and also from a Chekhov play and "Our Town."
I had written in about van den Haag, and they published this
quote (along with the others) I sent in: (from the article I've
been quoting above) "The idea that marriage must be synchronous
with love or even affection nullifies it altogether... We would
have to reword the marriage vow. Instead of saying 'Till death
do us part,' we might say 'Till we get bored with each other';
and instead of 'forsaking all others,' 'till someone better
comes along' ... To marry is to vow fidelity regardless of any
future feeling, to vow the most earnest attempt to avoid contrary
feelings altogether, but, at any rate, not to give in to them.
Perhaps this sounds grim. But it needn't be if one marries for
affection more than for love ... Affection differs from love
as fulfillment differs from desire ... Affection, which is love
of a different, of a perhaps more moral and less aesthetic,
kind – cares deeply ... for what is unlovable without
transforming it into beauty. Whereas love stresses the unique
form of perfection in the lover's mind, affection stresses the
uniqueness of the actual person." One for All and all
for one. Make new friends but
keep the old, One is silver, one is gold. A friend is someone
who walks in when everyone else walks out. The friend who can
be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can
stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate
not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality
of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares. A friend will bear
a friend’s infirmities. I keep my friends as
misers do their treasure, because, of all the FUTURE: Miscalculationa
and False Predictions I think there is a
world market for about five computers. Computers in the future
may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. But what... is it good
for? Everything that can
be invented has been invented.” The radio craze will
die out in time. The [atom] bomb will
never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives. Martians Build Immense
Canals in Two Years Space travel is utter
bilge. There is no reason
any individual to have a computer in their home. 640K ought to be enough
for anybody. We don't like their
sound, and guitar music is on the way out. (See also Theatre, Mike Todd on Oklahoma!) This "telephone"
has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means
of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Heavier than air flying
machines are impossible. Airplanes are interesting
toys but of no military value. The wireless music
box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a
message sent to nobody in particular? Who the hell wants
to hear actors talk? There is no reason
for any individuals to have a computer in their home. X-rays are a hoax. G SECTION GAY FREEDOM GENEROSITY
- GIVING Never go to anyone's
home empty-handed. Great opportunities
to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every
day. The fragrance remains
in the hand that gives the rose. GOALS The lack of alternatives
clears the mind. You don't get a second
chance to make a first impression. Great minds have purposes,
others have wishes. Beware what you set
your heart upon. For it surely shall be yours. God never takes you where His grace will not protect you. GOLDWYNISMS (Sam Goldwyn, nee Schmuel Gelbfisz) Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. Too much is enough. You can't name a character "Steve"! Every Tom, Dick and Harry is named "Steve." Since we worked together so long ago, we've passed a lot of water under the bridge. Send in the empty horses! Television has raised writing to a new low. That is the most unheard of thing I ever heard of. The next time I send a damn fool.... I'll go myself! When you're a star you have to take the bitter with the sour. I don't care if this film makes a dime as long as every man, woman and child in America sees it! The most important thing is honesty. Once you've learned to fake that, you've got it made. (Also attributed to Groucho Marx) Spare no expense to make everything as economical as possible. If you don't go to other people's funerals, they won't go to yours. If I die today, I'll be the happiest man alive. Include me out. My wife is my best man. [To an actor in a historic film:] You look very periodical. That man will never work for me again unless I need him. [To a writer and a director:] I hope you will cohabit well together. GOODNESS Always do right. This
will gratify some people and astonish the rest. GOVERNMENT GUILT H SECTION HAPPINESS Most folks are about
as happy as they make up their minds to be. Happiness always looks
small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you
learn at once how big and precious it is. Happiness is giving
and receiving unconditionally. Happiness results when
human beings actualize their potential fully. Happiness is a butterfly,
which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which,
if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Happiness is like a
butterfly. Happiness is not a
possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state
of mind. Happiness is listening
to your inner wisdom. Happiness is not a
station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. The grand essentials
to happiness in this life are something to do, something to
love, and something to hope for. When you are joyous,
look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that
which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. Happiness is not everything
it's cracked up to be. No one comes so close
to being perfectly happy as those who never stop to wonder whether
they are or not. Happiness comes from
continued discovery and fulfillment of your own potential, from
doing what you do with excellence, from moderation in sensual
experience, and from aiding others to find their own happiness. HASTE HELPING OTHERS HEDONISM HISTORY Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it. The only thing new
in the world is the history you haven't yet learned. HOMELESS HONESTY I want them to love
me for who I am, and not for who I pretend to be. You know that the saddest
lies are the ones we tell ourselves. When it looked like
the sun wasn't going to shine any more, [We were brought to
this country in a] nightmare, with a dream in our hearts. I believe in never
being a cynic. Life is action. Only through hope does tomorrow
happen. HOUSEKEEPING HUMILITY One is never more on
trial than in the moment of excessive good fortune. Man does not live by
words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them. HUMOR Too much of a good
thing is wonderful. I SECTION IMAGINATION All Power to the imagination. He who imagines best
wins. You see things; and
you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never INDEPENDENCE The surest way to corrupt
a young man is to teach him to esteem more highly those who
think alike than those who think differently. Let him step to the
music which he hears. INNOCENCE My father, a good men,
told me "Never lose your ignorance; you cannot replace
it." INTELLIGENCE
JENNY HOLZER Any surplus is immoral.
Home is a place you
grow up wanting to leave, JUDGEMENT JUSTICE K SECTION Know thyself L SECTION LEADERSHIP I think the leader
is the lead dog on the dogsled, not the guy on the back with
the whip. LEARNING Failure, when it is
humanely investigated, may be more instructive than success. "As long as you
are green, you will continue to grow, but when you ripen, you
will begin to rot." LIVING He begins to die that
quits his desires. No life is without
its regrets, but no life is without its consolations. Live up to your potential.
Work never hurt anybody; it's being without work that ruins
people. We always had a saying in my family: “Listen to
the song of life.” The mystery of creativity,
...the enigma of personality,... the alchemy of survival...
Each of us [responds to] these riddles according to our own
obsessions, sorrows, triumphs, failures. All we can do is the
best we can do. HALT = Hungry - Angry
- Lonely - Tired Together we organize
the world for ourselves, or at least we organize our understanding
of it; we reflect it, refract it, criticize it, grieve over
its savagery, and help one another to discern, amidst the gathering
dark, paths of resistance, pockets of peace and places from
whence hope may be plausibly expected. Marx was right: the smallest
divisible human unit is two, not one; one is a fiction. From
such nets of souls societies, the social work, human life spring. Your life is a movie;
make yourself a star. You must lose your
life to find it.... A person must die unto himself or herself
to be reborn.... Be in the world, but not of the world. Live your live every
day as you would climb a mountain: An occasional glance toward
the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes
are to be observed from each new vantage point. Climb slowly,
steadily, enjoying each passing moment, and the view from the
summit will prove to be astonishing. INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE - Attributed to the Dali Lama, 2000 1. Take into account
that great love and great achievements involve 2. When you lose, don't also lose the lesson. 3. Follow the three
Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others; 4. Remember that not
getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful 5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. 6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. 7. When you realize
you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to 8. Spend some time alone every day. 9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values. 10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. 11. Live a good, honorable
life. Then when you get older and think 12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. 13. In disagreements
with loved ones, deal only with the current 14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality. 15. Be gentle with the earth. 16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. 17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. 18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. 19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon. LOVE [Love is] an unbounded
and continuous possibility of contact between minds rather than
bodies; the play of countless subtle antennae seeking one another
in the light and darkness of the soul; the pull toward mutual
sensibility and completion, in which the preoccupation with
preserving the species gradually dissolves into the greater
intoxication of two people creating a world. If you don't love anything,
find something to love. Love means in general
the consciousness of my unity with another, so that I am not
isolated on my own. Love itself is a bondage.
But the inability to love would stifle and imprison far more
cruelly. There are many problems
(encountered by poets from Petrarch to Shakespeare) in electing
"love" as a subject, and almost all appear in Merrill:
the felt contrast between an altruistic concept of morals and
the narcissism and opportunism of erotic experience; the self-incrimination
that follows on mistaken choice; the repetition-compulsion that
convicts one, eventually, of apparently irremediable stupidity
in love matters; the tendency of sexual intensity to fade; the
incongruity of erotic feeling in an aging body; infidelity to
a life partner. People need love the
most when they deserve it the least." LOS ANGELES M SECTION MAY MANNERS Manners are instinctive.
They come from a good heart and a desire to reach out to one’s
fellow man. Rudeness is the weak
person's imitation of strength. One manner for all,
from duchess to maid. MARRIAGE Getting married is
easy. Staying married is more difficult. Staying MODERATION MONEY There is nothing which
someone cannot make more cheaply and sell for less, and he who
buys by price alone is this man’s lawful prey. N SECTION NEWSPAPERS Behold the superfluous!
They spew their bile and call it a newspaper. NOAH'S ARK: 11 LESSONS 1. Don't miss the boat.
ORDER ORGANIZATION P SECTION PARENTS PARKER, DOROTHY In a word game, asked to use the word "horticulture," she replied: "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think." When someone told her Calvin Coolidge was dead, she inquired, "How could they tell?" Of The Algonquin Round Table: "The only group I have every been affiliated with is that not particularly brave little band that hid its nakedness of heart and mind under the out-of-date garment of a sense of humor." Her most celebrated poem: "Men seldom make passes, at girls who wear glasses." Of Marian Davies, the
lover of William Randolph Hearst, with both of whom she was
feuding: PASSION PEACE If I could have three
wishes, world peace would be all three. It is in each of us
that the peace of the world is cast... from there it must spread
out to the limits of the universe. If we cannot end our
differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.
For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that
we all inhabit this small planet. We all breath the same air.
We all cherish our children's future. Are we are all mortal. All works of love are
works of peace. PERSONAL GROWTH PESSIMISM POLONIUS -
ADVICE TO HIS SON, LAERTES POLITICS Suppose you were an
idiot; and suppose you were a member of POSSESSION POTENTIAL PRAISE PRIVACY The heart has it's
reasons that reason does not know." PROGRESS PROMISES PRUDENCE PUNISHMENT Q SECTION QUALITY Quality, that's important,
but quantity, that makes a show. Quality is never an
accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere
effort intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents
wise choices among many alternatives. Good enough is not
good enough. There's nothing quite
so bad as not so bad. That doesn't matter,
does it? Oh, yes it does. You cheapen yourself
when you tell your private joys and sorrows. A little bad taste
is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad
taste--it's healthy, it's physical. . . . No taste is what I'm
against. R SECTION REASON REALITY RELATIONSHIPS RELIGION RESPONSIBILITY REVENGE ROMANCE Never play cards with
any man named “Doc.” Never eat at any place called
“Mom’s. And never, never, no matter what else you
do in your whole life.. sleep with anyone whose problems are
worse than your own. RULES S SECTION SECRECY The vanity of being
known to be entrusted with a secret is generally SEX ROLES SOLITUDE SORROW We could never learn
to be patient and brave if there were only joy in the world. Let no man count himself
fortunate until he has one foot in the grave. SMILES SOCIETY Success is a journey,
not a destination. No one can predict
to what heights you can soar. Even you will not know until you
spread your wings. You’ll always
miss 100% of the opportunities which you fail to take. Success is not the
key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love
what you are doing, you will be successful. T SECTION TACT TEAMWORK Coming together is
a beginning.... keeping together is progress... working together
is a success. Teamwork is the ability
to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct
individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives.
It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon
results. Snowflakes are one
of nature’s most fragile things, THEATRE No gags, No gals, No
go. You don’t invest
in theatre, you gamble. You can make a killing
in the theatre, but you can’t make a living. TIME Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called
the present. Live and savor every moment...This is not a dress
rehearsal! Honor the Past, Live
Today, Create Tomorrow. TOLERANCE The amalgamation of
whites with blacks produces a degradation to which no lover
of his country, no lover of excellence in the human character,
can innocently consent. TRAVEL Wherever we may travel,
a part of us never returns. For everything which
we take with us, we leave something behind. TROUBLE When you get into troubles: TRUTH "It's useless
to hold a person to anything he says while he's in love, drunk
or running for office." Though all the winds
of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth
be in the field, we do ingloriously, by licensing and prohibiting, U SECTION UNITY Any man's death diminishes
me, because I am involved in mankind, Ask not for whom the
bell tolls; the bell tolls for you. We are many. We are
one. When an agreement has
been reached, everyone who is a party to it is bound by it,
and previous misgivings and differences of opinions are blotted
out and ought not to be referred to. In every walk of life,
in every sphere of human activity, this is the invariable rule,
and it is the only safe and honest rule. The age of nations
is past. The task before us now, if we would not perish, is
to build the earth. UNIVERSITY V SECTION W SECTION WAR The first casualty
in war is truth. The challenge to Pax
Christi and to the church of today is to realize that when we
teach the 'just war' tradition, we are teaching Cicero, not
Jesus. Only by boldly teaching the words of Jesus and renouncing
the teaching of 'just war' as an unworthy graft on the gospel
teaching of love can we hope to wake up Catholics to witness
to the world as a true peace church. WEST, MAE WILL "We have to believe
in free will. We have no choice." WISDOM Be sensible and do
it my way. WORDS Words can wound WORK One does one’s
possible. God helps those who
help themselves. Out of clutter, find
simplicity. It is fair to say that
Americans have always been a people of notable energy, with
an optimistic confidence that their industry and high technology
can make life better for everyone. Barbara Ward (1914-81), a
British economist who had a profound Christian vision, wrote
in The New York Times Magazine in 1954 “...What is not
measured is the steadiness and the intensiveness of [American]
work which sustains it all.... If work, disciplined, steady
work, is ‘materialism,’ then certainly the Americans
are materialistic, but it is the oldest wisdom of Europe that
‘to work is to pray.’” WORRY The coward dies a thousand
deaths, the brave never taste of death but once. We wouldn't worry so
much about what people thought of us - if we knew how seldom
they do. X SECTION Y SECTION Z SECTION
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