Far better is it to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs,
even though checkered by failure
...than to rank with those poor spirits
who neither enjoy nor suffer much,
because they live in a gray twilight
that knows not victory nor defeat.

~Theodore Roosevelt

I requested The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton, from the library, in hopes of reading it for a book club. The library was swamped with requests for it, so I had to wait many weeks and the book club has long since read and discussed it, but my turn finally came up and I now have the ebook version ( Read more... )

When Death ComesWhen death comes ( Read more... )

I am trying to convince myself to either a) go downstairs and wash another batch of dishes, or b) get dressed warmly enough to go for a walk. The walk would be especially good as it is supposed to rain tomorrow and it's not raining right now. But I am sitting on the sofa in front of a space heater, with a blanket over me, both with a stack of books ( Read more... )

Perishable, It SaidPerishable, it said on the plastic container ( Read more... )

An old woman told her grandson, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all ( Read more... )

"We usually think of over-indulgence in terms of a lack of willpower. I scoff the doughnut because I can't marshal the necessary self-control to resist it. A great deal of psychology research has pursued this particular line, demonstrating, for example, that willpower seems to be a finite resource. Expend it in one situation and you'll have less ( Read more... )

"What is your will, anyway?
Nobody can see it.
You don't hear it thinking.
You only know what your will is afterward,
when you look back in your life
and see what you've done."

~Orson Scott Card
from Children of the Mind

I speak up for the disadvantaged because it is my duty,
it is the duty of all mankind to help those in need,
those who have no voice, no way of helping themselves.
Having compassion for others in adverse situations
is the very thread that creates
a civilized and just nation, a just society.

~Hilton Kelly

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is ( Read more... )