“By dint of railing against idiots you run the risk of becoming idiotic yourself.” – Gustave Flaubert
Notice it says ‘runs the risk’. Railing against something doesn’t always make you idiotic, but for it not to, you must keep your cool. Not for every single moment, but for the overall picture.
I remember my unwife use to get perturbed at me for ‘railing’ at times. She would say ‘but what does your anger accomplish?’. I would say in response ‘I am not trying to accomplish anything, I am simply expressing my feelings about something’. But I think she had a valid point in some ways. It is ok to simply express your feelings of anger or frustration at stupidity and idiocy. But it is also good to train yourself to have a larger reason for your expression.
Maybe you plan it, like when your child has continually not obeyed you and you know that it is now time for ‘the fear of god’ to be put into them. So, you let that ‘fear of god’ out. Not in violence and not in mean, hurtful ways. But you express your anger with the knowledge that you have a particular outcome you are hoping for. It is sometimes called ‘righteous indignation’ and it can stop people in their tracks.
The key is to stop and think, evaluate, be willing to think it through with this thought, ‘If I COULD affect something postively with my anger, what would it look like?’
“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” – John Andrew Holmes
As long as you don’t have an attitude while you do it. If you do it to prove how great or noble you are, then your motives are like a bitter addition to a great tasting dish.
I don’t mean you can’t be satisfied and proud of yourself for taking care of others. I mean it is best to think those things after the fact, glow in it a while if you want, then forget it and go be the good person with a guileless heart.
“If you steal from one author, it’s plagiarism. If you steal from two, it’s research.” – Wilson Mizner
I sometimes feel like I am guilty of the big P because I use so many quotes from all of history. I have never been good about writing down who said what, especially on the napkin itself. But now that I have made a book of some of them I definitely had to go look up all the quote and figure all that stuff out!
“God will look you over for scars, not diplomas.” – Elbert Hubbard
I believe the Universe (read God if you want) does look AT diplomas, but he/she doesn’t look over YOU to find them. You are not your paperwork. You are, however, your effort. And the effort to fight cancer or the effort to gain a degree is seen and taken into consideration. Not by a God who is trying to figure out if you deserve something or not, but by a Universe that lays opportunities at the feet of those who perspire in the effort, whatever it is.
Regarding Breasts: Breasts aren’t more valuable than lungs, marrow, testicles, blood, colons, skin or any other part of the body that can get cancer (what part can’t?). But breasts are a wonder-filled part of the body and they shouldn’t have to be taken off of the body because something inside it is growing out of control. Cancer sucks.
“The only sure thing about luck is that it will change.” – Bret Harte
A truth to remember for all those in the middle of the Big L, whether Good L or Bad L.
This is why holding on to transient highs and lows as if they are built to last is harmful and self-defeating. I don’t mean you can’t enjoy the Good L that comes along. But you need to live with the understanding it isn’t meant to be permanent, any more than a soufflé is. Eat it up when it is ready, take full advantage of the Good L when it is before you. But don’t try to put it in the fridge and eat it tomorrow. Make a new soufflé, a new Good L, tomorrow instead.
“Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.” – Annette Funicello
My wife and I have ‘our’ song and it is ‘Wonderful World’ as sung by Louis Armstrong. I love driving in the car on a puffy cloud day and having that on. It is filled with simple gratitude for love, beauty, friendship and growth.
What day passes where we can not find at least one of those things to admire and cherish? Every day, in other words, has ‘wonderful’ in it, if we are paying attention.
“There is no such thing as creative hate.” – anonymous
I am actually not sure I believe this. I think many people can be very ingenious when it comes to not liking people or groups. Think of all the convoluted legal and moral arguments that have been used over they decades and centuries to deny the right to vote, religious freedom, and freedom of self to mention just a few. There was great creativity (masking a terrible fear) that led to all that effort.
“If a window of opportunity appears don’t pull down the blinds.” – Tom Peters
When I was younger, I was a practicing artist, as I am still. I was having shows, getting awards, being published, etc. I was known for taking advantage of opportunities. But the truth was I wasn’t. I took advantage of some, but I did not take advantage with the diligence and tenacity I really need to have. As a result some crucial opportunities passed me by and it affected my career as a result.
Each and every opportunity must be pursued if you want to say you did everything you could to make something happen, in your life, love, or something else.
“Those who know the least obey the best.” – George Farquhar
What’s the most important reason to get a thorough education? It is NOT so you can get a job. It is so you can protect yourself and those you love from hatred, sickness and manipulation. It is so you can fight with confidence when you and those you love are threatened by something or someone.
It might be a religion talking to you, it might be your government, it might be your neighbor. But if you are not educated you have no defense against error, against lies, against misinformation. I am not just talking about a formal education but you do put yourself behind the 8 ball if you don’t have that, I am talking about educating yourself constantly through out your life.
