Quote of the Day -- George Washington

There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.

-- George Washington

Quote of the Day -- Albert Schweitzer

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those who rekindle the inner spirit.

-- Albert Schweitzer

Quote of the Day -- William Lyon Phelps

Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation — what are they? They are the happiest people in the world. 

 -- William Lyon Phelps

Quote of the Day -- Abraham Lincoln

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.  

-- Abraham Lincoln

Quote of the Day -- Michael Frayn

I should say that happiness is being where one is and not wanting to be anywhere else.

--Michael Frayn

Quote of the Day -- Susan Ichi Su Moon

It annoys me when people say “Even if you’re old, you can be young at heart!” Hiding inside this well-meaning phrase is a deep cultural assumption that old is bad and young is good. What’s wrong with being old at heart, I’d like to know? Wouldn’t you like to be loved by people whose hearts have practised loving for a long time?’ 

-- Susan Ichi Su Moon

Quote of the Day -- Bertrand Russell

An individual human existence should be like a river: small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. 

-- Bertrand Russell

Quote of the Day -- Robert Heinlein

When one teaches, two learn. 

-- Robert Heinlein

Quote of the Day --- Simon Sinek

What good is having a belly if there’s no fire in it? Wake up, drink your passion, light a match, and get to work. 

 -- Simon Sinek

Quote of the Day -- F.M. Alexander

People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.

-- F.M. Alexander

Quote of the Day -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things? 

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Day -- Carl Jung

The creative mind plays with the objects it loves. 

-- Carl Jung

Quote of the Day -- Laozi

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.  

-- Laozi

Quote of the Day -- Gertrude Stein

Anything one does every day is important and imposing and anywhere one lives is interesting and beautiful. 

-- Gertrude Stein

Quote of the Day -- Gandhi

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.

 – Mahatma Gandhi

Quote of the Day -- Adam Smith

The things which have the greatest value in use have frequently little or no value in exchange; on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarcely anything; scarcely anything can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarcely any use-value; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.

– Adam Smith

 

Quote of the Day -- M.F.K. Fisher

I like old people when they have aged well. And old houses with an accumulation of sweet honest living in them are good. And the timelessness that only the passing of Time itself can give to objects both inside and outside the spirit is a continuing reassurance.

-- M.F.K. Fisher

Fond Memories of the "B's"

In the fall of 2010, we took a trip the we have dubbed Berlin / Italy.  Our itinerary included about 5 days in Berlin, followed by a few days in the lakes region of Italy, and wrapping up with a few days in Cinque Terre.  How we chose this particular mix of places is buried in the recesses of my memory banks.

We were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed Berlin.  It's a very accessible city, with wonderful museums and walk-able neighborhoods. It's quite modern, having been mostly destroyed during WW II and then stunted during the communist regime.  But it is flourishing today and embracing the lessons of its past. Jim was particularly enamored with the architecture of the modern museums on Museum Island.  It reminded us a bit of the wonderful museums in Valencia. 

After "just enough" time in Berlin, we jetted to Milan, where we rented a car and drove along the shores of Lake Como to Bellagio. Thank goodness we splurged and got both automatic transmission and a GPS. The road to Bellagio was narrow and windy, and the other drivers were, well, Italian. We arrived at our lovely hotel thoroughly fried and thankful for a high quality restaurant on the premises.  Much to our waiter's surprise, we scarfed down an entire appetizer of prosciutto and melon followed by a delicious (but apparently not memorable) main course.  We spent the next couple days exploring Lake Como, including lunch at the "roof of the world" and a huge mound of mussels in George Clooney's adopted town.  

Sadly, our trip was cut short by the death of Jim's dad on his 88th birthday.  He had a full life, but suffered from ill health for his last several years.  As is often the case, we greeted his loss with both sadness and relief that his difficult journey had ended.  We packed our bags and headed homeward for his funeral. So far, we haven't made it to Cinque Terre.  It's on the list... 

Fast forward to the spring of 2013, when we made one of our "power trips" to Europe, this time for 5 days in Benelux.  We savored the wonderful cuisine of Brussels and explored the fortress walls in Luxembourg. But charming medieval Bruges was definitely the highlight of the trip.  We loved walking through the narrow, cobblestone streets, and meandering across the canals.  And then we happened upon a tapestry shop that provided us with the icing on the cake.  We agonized a little about the price tag and discovered when we arrived home that it was a bit bigger than we envisioned, but ultimately, we just had to have this tapestry of Bellagio crafted in Bruges.  

So there you have it.  Fond memories of three B's -- Berlin, Bellagio, and Brugges.

Quote of the Day -- George Carlin

Don’t just teach your children to read… Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything. 

-- George Carlin

Quote of the Day -- Voltaire

Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

― Voltaire.

Quote of the Day -- Isaac Asimov

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science [and technology] gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.  

-- Isaac Asimov

Quote of the Day -- Walt Whitman

There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their roughness and spirit of defiance. 

-- Walt Whitman

Quote of the Day -- L.R. Knost

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you. 

-- L.R. Knost

Quote of the Day -- George Eliot

Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure. 

-- George Eliot

Quote of the Day -- Sami Proverb

Knowledge doesn't weigh down anything.

-- Sami Proverb

Quote of the Day -- Robert Heinlein

Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.

– Robert A. Heinlein

Quote of the Day -- Twyla Tharp

Optimism with some experience behind it is much more energizing than plain old experience with a certain degree of cynicism.

-- Twyla Tharp

Quote of the Day -- Elizabeth Taylor

If we do not alter with the times, the times yet alter us. We may stand perfectly still, but our surroundings shift round and we are not in the same relationship to them for long; just as a chameleon, matching perfectly the greenness of a leaf, should know that the leaf will one day fade. 

-- Elizabeth Taylor

Quote of the Day -- William Hazlitt

We are never so disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves. 

-- William Hazlitt

Quote of the Day -- Anthony Trollope

A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.

-- Anthony Trollope

Quote of the Day -- Chinese Proverb

If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain.

If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees.

If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.

-- Chinese proverb

Quote of the Day -- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

-- Edith Lovejoy Pierce