I’d like to speak a foreign language well enough to get the jokes. I’d like to talk with Socrates, and watch Michelangelo sculpt David. I’d like to see the world as it was a million years ago and a million years hence.
The name is not important anymore – it’s the tone that counts. I feel like an old dog I know. He will come to any name you call him, just so long as your demeanor carries with it the promise of affection and food.
One of life’s best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup-they all die. So do we.
Always trust your fellow man. And always cut the cards. Always trust God. And always build your house on high ground. Always love thy neighbor. And always pick a good neighborhood to live in.
There is nothing in your budget for joy. No books, no flowers, no music, not even a cold beer. And there is nothing in your budget to give away to someone else. We don’t help people who don’t have better values than you do.
And I’m not confused about the lack of, or the need for, imagination in low or high places. We could do better we must do better. There are far worse things to drop on people than crayolas.
And good neighbors make a huge difference in the quality of life. I agree.
And sure, I know if you eat this way you’ll die. So? If you don’t eat this way you’re still going to die. Why not die happy?
You can’t always explain everything you do to everybody, you know.
It’s harder to talk about, but what I really, really, really want for Christmas is just this: I want to be 5 years old again for an hour. I want to laugh a lot and cry a lot. I want to be picked or rocked to sleep in someone’s arms, and carried up to be just one more time. I know what I really want for Christmas: I want my childhood back. People who think good thoughts give good gifts.
What I notice is that every adult or child I give a new set of Crayolas to goes a little funny. The kids smile, get a glazed look on their faces, pour the crayons out, and just look at them for a while... The adults always get the most wonderful kind of sheepish smile on their faces – a mixture of delight and nostalgia and silliness. And they immediately start telling you about all their experiences with Crayolas.
Life will examine us continually to see if we have understood and have practiced what we were taught that first year of school.
Knowledge is meaningful only if it is reflected in action. The human race has found out the hard way that we are what we do, not just what we think.
I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light –truth, understanding, knowledge–is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.
And snow – snow is not my enemy, I tell him. Snow is God’s way of telling people to slow down and rest and stay in bed for a day. And besides, snow always solves itself. Mixes with the leaves to form more earth, I tell him. Think compost, says I.
Imagination is more important than information.” Einstein said that, and he should know.
Everything looks better at a distance. If you made it up, you have to live it down. Everything is compost. There is no they – only us. It’s a mistake to believe everything you think. You can get used to anything. Sometimes things are just as bad as they seem. It helps if you always have somebody to kiss goodnight.
You know, without realizing it we fill important places in each other’s lives.
When I’m finished, I have a sense of accomplishment. A sense of competence. I am good at doing the laundry. At least that. And it’s a religious experience, you know. Water, earth, fire – polarities of wet and dry, hot and cold, dirty and clean. The great cycles – round and round – beginning and end – Alpha and Omega, amen. I am in touch with the GREAT SOMETHING-OR-OTHER. For a moment, at least, life is tidy and has meaning.