How will you go?

I know not all that may be coming,
    but be it what it will,
        I'll go to it laughing.

                Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, the Whale

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeem the time

In the spirit of faith let us begin each day,
and we shall be sure to " redeem the time " which it brings to us,
by changing it into something definite and eternal.
There is a deep meaning in this phrase of the apostle, to redeem time.
We redeem time, and do not merely use it.
We transform it into eternity by living it aright.

James Freeman Clarke, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Begin by saying yes

Don’t be afraid to be a fool.
Remember, you cannot be both young and wise.
Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics.
Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it.
Because cynics don’t learn anything.
Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world
because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.
Cynics always say no.
But saying yes begins things.
Saying yes is how things grow.
Saying yes leads to knowledge.
"Yes" is for young people.
So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes.

        Stephen Colbert, 2006 Knox College commencement address

Poem: Year's End

Neither the symbolic detail
of a three instead of a two,
nor that rough metaphor
that hails one term dying and another emerging,
nor the fulfillment of an astronomical process
muddle and undermine
the high plateau of this night
making us wait
for the twelve irreparable strokes of the bell.
The real cause
is our murky pervasive suspicion
of the enigma of Time,
it is our awe at the miracle
that, though the chances are infinite
and through we are
drops in Heraclitus’ river,
allows something in us to endure,
never moving.

        Jorge Luis Borge, translated from the Spanish by W. S. Merwin

 

 

 

 

 

Next!

 Producer Matthew Weiner asked legendary TV producer Norman Lear to tell him the greatest lesson he ever learned. “Lear said, ‘The two words that came way too late in my life were ‘Over. Next,’ as in, ‘That’s over … Next!’ And then he said, ‘Don’t wait till you’re my age to learn that.’ ”   

New York Magazine 9/27/21 

 

 

 

 

Bits of light

You know, we have little bits of understanding, glimpses, a little bit of light here and there, but there's a tremendous amount of darkness, which is a challenge. I think life would be pretty boring if we understood everything. It's better if we don't understand anything... and know that we don't, that's the important part.

                Noam Chomsky, 2011 interview

 

 

 

 

 

Practice makes perfect

This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day,
        we have failed to practise ourselves
                the kind of behaviour we expect from other people.

                                C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity