Wednesday, January 28, 2004
“He kissed her. There was such an incredible logic to kissing, such a metal-to-magnet pull between two people that it was a wonder that they found the strength to prevent themselves from succumbing every second. Rightfully, the world should be a whirlpool of kissing into which we sank and never found the strength to rise up again.” Ann Patchett, Bel Canto, p 250 (Thanks Missa for such a WONDERFUL quote and book!)
“‘Oh, I don’t know! What’s love if it doesn’t do that? I mean to say, it is something godly to love another human being, isn’t it? I mean, what does “godly” mean if it doesn’t mean giving up everything for another? It isn’t human to love, you know. It’s foolish, it’s a folly, a divine folly. It’s beyond all reason, all limits. I didn’t rise to it,’ he concluded sadly.” Sean O’Faolain, “Lovers of the Lake”
I saw it, Jess said softly. It was a star.
Garth looked down at her. He removed a tiny flake of tobacco or wood ash that had landed on her cheek. He looked into the flames. He looked up at the firmament. Gentlemen, he said. That must have been a star. Daniel Villasenor, The Lake, p 148
“The relationship between your grandfather and mother was, as the saying is, perfect, nor would I for a moment dispute that, believing as I do that each of these much tried and by no means easy-going people found in the other the highest and most perfect harmony which their natures could respond to. Beautiful often, even to our eyes, were their gestures, their glances of pure and unutterable delight in each other.” Virginia Woolf
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.”
I Corinthians 13:4-8
A few quotes from excellent books on love. There are lots more, of course, but these felt pertinent at the moment.
Today was a snow day. It had all the elements that make a snow day so necessary to health: getting up early to celebrate, going back to bed, reading, playing games, shoveling, snuggling with the cat, lazy late breakfast, and a long bath. Lovely, really! Made me pine a little, though... :-)
|
“‘Oh, I don’t know! What’s love if it doesn’t do that? I mean to say, it is something godly to love another human being, isn’t it? I mean, what does “godly” mean if it doesn’t mean giving up everything for another? It isn’t human to love, you know. It’s foolish, it’s a folly, a divine folly. It’s beyond all reason, all limits. I didn’t rise to it,’ he concluded sadly.” Sean O’Faolain, “Lovers of the Lake”
I saw it, Jess said softly. It was a star.
Garth looked down at her. He removed a tiny flake of tobacco or wood ash that had landed on her cheek. He looked into the flames. He looked up at the firmament. Gentlemen, he said. That must have been a star. Daniel Villasenor, The Lake, p 148
“The relationship between your grandfather and mother was, as the saying is, perfect, nor would I for a moment dispute that, believing as I do that each of these much tried and by no means easy-going people found in the other the highest and most perfect harmony which their natures could respond to. Beautiful often, even to our eyes, were their gestures, their glances of pure and unutterable delight in each other.” Virginia Woolf
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.”
I Corinthians 13:4-8
A few quotes from excellent books on love. There are lots more, of course, but these felt pertinent at the moment.
Today was a snow day. It had all the elements that make a snow day so necessary to health: getting up early to celebrate, going back to bed, reading, playing games, shoveling, snuggling with the cat, lazy late breakfast, and a long bath. Lovely, really! Made me pine a little, though... :-)
Thursday, January 15, 2004
“Loyalty to a person and whatever they say or do, that’s the opposite of real loyalty, which is loyalty based on inquiry, and telling someone what you really think and feel—your best estimation of the truth instead of what they want to hear.” Paul O’Neill, former Treasury chief, as quoted in TIME
A few nights ago the friends still at home got together for the evening. Mere cooked baked ziti and garlic bread, I made chicken marsala, the boys brought wine, and we had a lovely night of eating, talking, and a failed attempt at Trivial Pursuit. Because we always end up debating something or other, I asked a few of my normal questions. The one that I enjoyed the most this night sprung out of a, “What is your personal philosophy?” question, as everyone had interesting answers for that. (We had a Premed with Theology minor, Econ majors who are interested in Philosophy, History and Political Science major, English major with Gender Studies minor, and it was a party. I love smart people.) So the branch question is:
“Is blind faith ever a good thing?”
Of course, first we argued it in terms of Crusades and 9/11 and religion in general and agreed that the answer was no, but Dan made an interesting point: What about blind faith in yourself?
Well, it’s possible to believe in yourself and still check your premises, was the argument made, and in the end everyone agreed. I don’t think that blind faith can be good. Any intelligent, thoughtful person I know has had to question almost everything he or she believes in order to come to the rational conclusions that he/she can then really be sure of. And when the order is questioned from a different perspective, being able to step back, consider, and decide again, whether modifying, changing, or staying the same, is the way to arrive at a conclusion you can be sure is right for you at the time. Believing in anything because it’s what you’ve been told seems irresponsible to me. Maybe it is right for some people…for those without the courage or intelligence to decide for themselves may need a guiding structure to get through life, and that could be all they need. But for me, personally, I think the answer will have to be a resounding no.
“Self-esteem is the consequence, expression, and reward of a mind fully committed to reason.” Nathaniel Branden, in Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
|
A few nights ago the friends still at home got together for the evening. Mere cooked baked ziti and garlic bread, I made chicken marsala, the boys brought wine, and we had a lovely night of eating, talking, and a failed attempt at Trivial Pursuit. Because we always end up debating something or other, I asked a few of my normal questions. The one that I enjoyed the most this night sprung out of a, “What is your personal philosophy?” question, as everyone had interesting answers for that. (We had a Premed with Theology minor, Econ majors who are interested in Philosophy, History and Political Science major, English major with Gender Studies minor, and it was a party. I love smart people.) So the branch question is:
“Is blind faith ever a good thing?”
Of course, first we argued it in terms of Crusades and 9/11 and religion in general and agreed that the answer was no, but Dan made an interesting point: What about blind faith in yourself?
Well, it’s possible to believe in yourself and still check your premises, was the argument made, and in the end everyone agreed. I don’t think that blind faith can be good. Any intelligent, thoughtful person I know has had to question almost everything he or she believes in order to come to the rational conclusions that he/she can then really be sure of. And when the order is questioned from a different perspective, being able to step back, consider, and decide again, whether modifying, changing, or staying the same, is the way to arrive at a conclusion you can be sure is right for you at the time. Believing in anything because it’s what you’ve been told seems irresponsible to me. Maybe it is right for some people…for those without the courage or intelligence to decide for themselves may need a guiding structure to get through life, and that could be all they need. But for me, personally, I think the answer will have to be a resounding no.
“Self-esteem is the consequence, expression, and reward of a mind fully committed to reason.” Nathaniel Branden, in Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
“Intellellectual pride is not…a pretense at omniscience or infallibility. On the contrary, precisely because man must struggle for knowledge, precisely because the pursuit of knowledge requires an effort, the men who assume this responsibility properly feel pride.” Rand, "The Virtue of Selfishness"
What to believe in? I am having a hard time reconciling my beliefs with a specific religion, or even calling what I feel religious beliefs. I think that my beliefs will change over time, and I think that is the only healthy way for me to be. These are some of my favorite religion quotes:
“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.” Frank Lloyd Wright
“I like to live in the sound of water, in the feel of the mountain air. A sharp reminder hits me: this world still is alive; it stretches out there shivering toward its own creation, and I’m part of it. Even my breathing enters into this elaborate give-and-take, this bowing to sun and moon, day or night, winter, summer, storm, still-this tranquil chaos that seems to be going somewhere. This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it. This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.” William Stafford
“My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.” Anne Lamott
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” Albert Schweitzer
“I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they’ve come up with so far.” Neil Simon
“The universe is one great kindergarten for man. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the ocean immensity and change. Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes—every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man. Even the bee and ant have brought their little lessons of industry and economy.” Orison Swett Marden
“Never hesitate to hold out your hand; never hesitate to accept the outstretched hand of another.” Pope John XXIII
"Their myth declares that he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge--he acquired a mind and became a rational being. It was the knowledge of good and evil--he became a moral being. He was sentenced to earn his bread by his labor--he became a productive being. He was sentenced to experience desire--he acquired the capacity of sexual enjoyment. The evils for which they damn him are reason, morality, creativeness, joy--all the cardinal values of his existence. Whatever he was--that robot in the Garden of Eden, who existed without mind, without values, without labor, without love--he was not man." Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged,“ Galt's speech
“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” Kurt Vonnegut
Those are a very few of the quotes I believe in about life. These are not necessarily religious ideas, but they are for me. They express very personally a very small part of the complicated whole. I don’t need to sit in a church; in fact being outside is almost always a more “religious” experience for me than church is anyway. It’s not necessary for us to be sure now, is it? And the worst thing would be to be close-minded, right? Well, anyone who’s reading this knows why this is on my mind…I’m having a really hard time with being dismissed over my views, especially without a fair hearing. It’s never happened to me before—I guess I’ve just been blessed with open-minded friends, and I don’t think what I believe is offensive or wrong to anyone I’ve ever had a rational, intelligent conversation with. No, I’m not sure about anything except trying to be a good person, working as hard as I can to make myself strong and smart and interesting, and loving the people close to me. I will never believe that that is wrong.
|
What to believe in? I am having a hard time reconciling my beliefs with a specific religion, or even calling what I feel religious beliefs. I think that my beliefs will change over time, and I think that is the only healthy way for me to be. These are some of my favorite religion quotes:
“I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.” Frank Lloyd Wright
“I like to live in the sound of water, in the feel of the mountain air. A sharp reminder hits me: this world still is alive; it stretches out there shivering toward its own creation, and I’m part of it. Even my breathing enters into this elaborate give-and-take, this bowing to sun and moon, day or night, winter, summer, storm, still-this tranquil chaos that seems to be going somewhere. This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it. This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.” William Stafford
“My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.” Anne Lamott
“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” Albert Schweitzer
“I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they’ve come up with so far.” Neil Simon
“The universe is one great kindergarten for man. Everything that exists has brought with it its own peculiar lesson. The mountain teaches stability and grandeur; the ocean immensity and change. Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes—every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man. Even the bee and ant have brought their little lessons of industry and economy.” Orison Swett Marden
“Never hesitate to hold out your hand; never hesitate to accept the outstretched hand of another.” Pope John XXIII
"Their myth declares that he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge--he acquired a mind and became a rational being. It was the knowledge of good and evil--he became a moral being. He was sentenced to earn his bread by his labor--he became a productive being. He was sentenced to experience desire--he acquired the capacity of sexual enjoyment. The evils for which they damn him are reason, morality, creativeness, joy--all the cardinal values of his existence. Whatever he was--that robot in the Garden of Eden, who existed without mind, without values, without labor, without love--he was not man." Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged,“ Galt's speech
“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” Kurt Vonnegut
Those are a very few of the quotes I believe in about life. These are not necessarily religious ideas, but they are for me. They express very personally a very small part of the complicated whole. I don’t need to sit in a church; in fact being outside is almost always a more “religious” experience for me than church is anyway. It’s not necessary for us to be sure now, is it? And the worst thing would be to be close-minded, right? Well, anyone who’s reading this knows why this is on my mind…I’m having a really hard time with being dismissed over my views, especially without a fair hearing. It’s never happened to me before—I guess I’ve just been blessed with open-minded friends, and I don’t think what I believe is offensive or wrong to anyone I’ve ever had a rational, intelligent conversation with. No, I’m not sure about anything except trying to be a good person, working as hard as I can to make myself strong and smart and interesting, and loving the people close to me. I will never believe that that is wrong.
