Remember this

A memory is a complicated thing,
    a relative to truth, but not its twin.

            Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

 

 

 

 

 

Words

I don't think writers are sacred, but words are.
They deserve respect.
If you get the right ones in the right order,
you might nudge the world a little or make a poem
that children will speak for you when you are dead.

        Tom Stoppard, The Real Thing

 

 

 

 

What's happening?

You live your life at the time you live it —
you don't have much of an overview
when what's happening to you is still happening.

        John Irving, In One Person: A Novel

 

 

 

 

How to have a perfect year

True perfection consists in the love of God and our neighbour,
and the better we keep both these commandments, the more perfect we shall be.

        Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poem: Preparedness

For all your days prepare,
And meet them ever alike:
When you are the anvil, bear--
When you are the hammer, Strike.

        Edwin Markham

 

 

 

Permission to make mistakes

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes,
then you are making new things, trying new things,
learning, living, pushing yourself,
changing yourself, changing your world.
You’re doing things you’ve never done before,
and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

        Neil Gaiman, 2009 blog post 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year

Be at war with your vices,
    at peace with your neighbors,
        and let every new year find you a better man.

                Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack