“The years teach much which the days never know.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
I like imagining that years, days, hours, are all conscious entities teaching us. I know it isn’t true, but I like the creative idea. What I do know is as we pass through years and other time eras, decades even, it’s as if we go through an assembly line. Not in the sense that we all turn out the same, but in the sense that we all go through similar moments, similar events as we travel through time. what is finally assembled is unique to each of us, it is not decided by the process or event as much as it is decided by our reaction to them.
“You have the God given right to kick the government around, don’t hesitate to do so.” – Edmund Muskie
I like that this came from Muskie, a former Senator, VP and presidential candidate. I don’t think we have the problem of holding back like the country used to before the Vietnam War.
“To know the world one must construct it.” – Cesare Pavese, 1908-1950, Italian Poet
This is a good thing to remember. The world of humans doesn’t just exist. We build our world through experience, genetics, necessity, desire, fear, hope and need. It is good to take time to reflect on how our constructed world may or may not reflect reality. For example, the person who feels everyone is out to get them. Did that person really construct an accurate world, is it true? Or the person who constantly worries about dying or being poverty stricken. How real or the threats he or she faces and is the world they constructed based on a realistic appraisal of those risks, or just out-of-whack fear and apprehension.
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless we preach as we walk.” – St. Francis
While I am no longer a believer in Christian evangelism, I am a believer in practicing what you preach. This quote clarifies the futility of preaching if you only do it on the alter, instead of wherever you are. Figuring out how to live according to your principles daily instead of just talking about them is a very noble goal!
“Any class is all right if it will only let others be so.” – Samuel Butler
Of course, the issue is, will each class let others from the lesser classes come into theirs! But the general idea, to let other people be who they want to be and not bother them is, of course, valid. It is amazing how many individuals, fathers, mothers, governments, churches, etc. have so much invested in making sure as many people as possible are like them.
“Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is needed. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” – D. L. George
I think this is a perfect quote to give to someone who is in danger of hesitating. It gives an illustration that can’t be argued or lessened. Take the leap or not, but you can’t do a hop, skip and a jump over that chasm.
“The superstition of science scoffs at the superstition of faith.” James Anthony Froude
I have read and studied a lot about science since I chose this quote for a napkin. While I understand that science does have some prejudices and blind spots I certainly don’t see science and religion as equal in the superstition department. Religion is rooted in superstition and beyond that has no mechanism to overcome it while science has built into it a method of examining itself and correcting, growing, moving forward.
“The finger of God never leaves identical fingerprints.” – Stanislaus Lec
It’s another way of saying that God isn’t one thing, isn’t one being. God isn’t a being at all, in the sense we know ‘being’. God is what happens. What do you think?
