MY FAVORITE QUOTES

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

- Mother Teresa

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."

- Oscar Wilde

"Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions."

- Albert Einstein

"If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive."

- Dale Carnegie

"The art of conversation lies in listening."

- Malcom S. Forbes

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

- Thomas Jefferson

"Where there is love there is life."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"What is death, but one second between life on this earth and a leap into the arms of God."

- Kahlil Gibrand

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

- Bertrand Russell

"Never wrestle with a pig, because you just get dirty, and the pig likes it."

- Unknown

“Everything that is not forbidden by laws of nature is achievable, given the right knowledge.”

- David Deutsch

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done."

- Arnold Palmer

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

- Albert Einstein

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

- Benjamin Franklin

"The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others."

-Robert Baden-Powell

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

- Benjamin Franklin

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter."

- Denis Diderot

"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

- Bertrand Russell

"Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you."

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"The greatest enemies of success and happiness are negative emotions of all kinds."

- Brian Tracy

"Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up all the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge.”

- Horace Mann

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."

- Albert Einstein

"And what is the purpose of existence… but to discover truth and beauty and…share it with others"

- Brenda Ueland

"Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially."

- Socrates

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

- Alan Kay

"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

- Stephen Covey

"Either you run the day, or the day runs you."

- Jim Rohn

"Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right."

- Henry Ford

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."

- Mark Twain

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

- Vincent Van Gogh

"Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake."

- Viktor Frankl

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart."

- Ancient Indian Proverb

"Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear."

- George Addair

"Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart."

- Washington Irving

"You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground."

- Unknown

My Current WoW

Sally

As most of you know, we own and electric car that we call “Sally”…

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The Solitude of Starting Over

At eighteen, I was fresh out of high school, newly enlisted in the US Air Force, and married…

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A Trip of Wonder

In June of 2023, my wife and I set off for Niagara Falls…

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Guest Missives

Snake in the Grass… by Jane Strebel

From a child’s perspective, one of the greatest benefits of growing up on a farm...
More... about Snake in the Grass… by Jane Strebel

Guilty as Charged… by Jane Strebel

Grief and guilt are two little words that hold the misery of the world in...
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Sick Duck… by JoAnn

A couple of weeks ago, I awoke just before dawn to an unsettling noise. It...
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Setting The Alarm… by JoAnn

For years, from my teens to my 50s, I set an alarm clock every night...
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Something Odd… by JoAnn

Something odd happened to me today. I use a small, stainless steel electric percolator to...
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Car Shopping… by JoAnn

This week, I found myself in need of a new form of transportation. My sweet...
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The Bike… by JoAnn

When I was around 6 or 7 years old, my sister got a new bicycle...
More... about The Bike… by JoAnn

Mama Boo… by Jane Strebel

She was a diminutive snippet of a woman, falling just short of five feet tall,...
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High-Times on the 4th Floor… by Larry Fields

Two weeks ago, I was released from BRMC (Bristol Regional Medical Center) after an extended...
More... about High-Times on the 4th Floor… by Larry Fields

Anatomy of a Fall… by Larry Fields

Three weeks ago, I left the house telling my wife I was going to Lowe’s...
More... about Anatomy of a Fall… by Larry Fields
A smiley face wearing a cowboy hat and bandana.

AS MY WORLD TURNS

God's Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

~ Gerard Manley Hopkins ~

Recent Comments

  • Anonymous on The Sweetness of Doing Nothing: A Pensive Reflection: “Hi Tommy, Could our busyness stem from our 1940,s era. Often heard while growing up. “Idle hands are the devil’s…Mar 24, 14:30
  • Betty on Guilty as Charged… by Jane Strebel: “This expresses the feelings so complicated and deep involved with the loss of our loved ones. We must pray that…Jan 7, 09:37
  • pat wring on The Whisper of Now: “TOMMY I think mindfulness is linked with patience. Pat WringNov 18, 15:14
  • frank shortt on The Whisper of Now: “If we all used mindfulness there would surely be less turmoil. It is when we don’t think that the trouble…Nov 10, 15:01
  • Christine on Knowing Your X-Factor: “I love Emily Dickinson. That is my favorite quote. Good post.Sep 30, 06:24
  •  Dale Divine on Burnt Toast: “Great story TJ.. Keep up the good work and keep that Tesla under control!!Aug 26, 22:06
  • Frank Shortt on Awakening to Life’s Pivotable Moments: “Your writing is thought provoking and entertaining. Your article about high-school football was an eyeopener into your achievements as I…Jul 15, 18:37