"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." 
-C.S. Lewis

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“Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else.”

― Madeleine L'Engle

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“See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.”

― John XXIII

Easter Communion

Pure fasted faces draw unto this feast:

God comes all sweetness to your Lenten lips.

You striped in secret with breath-taking whips,

Those crooked rough-scored chequers may be pieced

To crosses meant for Jesu's; you whom the East

With draught of thin and pursuant cold so nips

Breathe Easter now; you serged fellowships,

You vigil-keepers with low flames decreased,

God shall o'er-brim the measures you have spent

With oil of gladness, for sackcloth and frieze

And the ever-fretting shirt of punishment

Give myrrhy-threaded golden folds of ease.

Your scarce-sheathed bones are weary of being bent:

Lo, God shall strengthen all the feeble knees.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

You can’t say it that way any more.  

Bothered about beauty you have to  

Come out into the open, into a clearing,

And rest. Certainly whatever funny happens to you

Is OK. To demand more than this would be strange

Of you, you who have so many lovers,  

People who look up to you and are willing  

To do things for you, but you think

It’s not right, that if they really knew you . . .

So much for self-analysis. Now,

About what to put in your poem-painting:  

Flowers are always nice, particularly delphinium.  

Names of boys you once knew and their sleds,  

Skyrockets are good—do they still exist?

There are a lot of other things of the same quality  

As those I’ve mentioned. Now one must

Find a few important words, and a lot of low-keyed,

Dull-sounding ones. She approached me

About buying her desk. Suddenly the street was  

Bananas and the clangor of Japanese instruments.  

Humdrum testaments were scattered around. His head

Locked into mine. We were a seesaw. Something  

Ought to be written about how this affects  

You when you write poetry:

The extreme austerity of an almost empty mind

Colliding with the lush, Rousseau-like foliage of its desire to communicate  

Something between breaths, if only for the sake  

Of others and their desire to understand you and desert you

For other centers of communication, so that understanding

May begin, and in doing so be undone.

John Ashbery, “And Ut Pictura Poesis Is Her Name” from Houseboat Days

"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around." 

-Henry David Thoreau

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"Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow." 

-Helen Keller

"Don’t say you don’t have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day as Helen Keller, Michelangelo,  Mother Theresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” 

–H. Jackson Brown Jr.

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"A man of courage is also full of faith." -Cicero

"Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow but a vision.  But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.  Look well, therefore, to this day."
-Indian Proverb

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"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."
-Henry David Thoreau

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
―   J.R.R. Tolkien

 

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

What is the Love that we really need today?

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"As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our neighbor's soul must break all precept.  All that we do is a means to an end, but love is an end in itself, because God is Love."

-St. Edith Stein

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."

-Lewis Carroll

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"A man is not old until regrets take the place of his dreams."

-John Barrymore

"If God does not exist, then everything is permitted."

-Dostoevsky

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"Realists do not fear the results of their study."

-Dostoevsky

"It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being suject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen."

-Herodotus

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"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

-Goethe

I hate when people write their books before I write about the same thing.  Oh well, I suppose it shows that Suzanne Venker's thoughts and my thoughts must be those of many others as well.

In an interview with Venker, she points to the popularity of period piece romances such as Pride and Prejudice and Downton Abbey.  They offer the world a look at romance - relationships between men and women - that do not revolve around sexual relations, but the closeness of their hearts.  Here is an article entitled "To be happy, we must admit women and men aren't 'equal'."

"Norman Vincent Peale, author of 'The Power of Positive Thinking,' once wrote these words: 'Change your thoughts, and you change your world.'
His statement is highlighted at the beginning of my new book, How to Choose a Husband and Make Peace with Marriage.  Its premise is that if women want to be successful in love, they should reject the cultural script they’ve been sold and adopt a whole new view of men and marriage.
As products of divorce, the modern generation has few role models for lasting love. That alone is a problem. But young women have an added burden: they’ve been raised in a society that eschews marriage. They’ve been taught instead to honor sex, singlehood and female empowerment.
Consider this statement by Rebecca Traister in Marie Claire: “The world as we’ve known it for a very long time—one in which a woman’s value was tied to her role as a wife—is ending, right in front of us. It is now standard for a woman to spend years on her own, learning, working, earning, socializing, having sex, and yes, having babies in the manner she—and she alone—sees fit. We are living through the invention of independent female adulthood.”
This message is not an anomaly; the idea that women don’t need men or marriage is palpable. It began in earnest more than forty years ago, with the modern feminist movement. Feminists assured women their efforts would result in more satisfying marriages, but the result is something else altogether. It looks something like this:
1. Women postpone marriage indefinitely and move in and out of intense romantic relationships, or even live with their boyfriends for years at a time. Eventually, their biological clocks start ticking and many decide they better hurry up and get married to provide a stable home for their yet-to-be-born children. Trouble is, their boyfriend’s not willing to commit.
2. Marriage becomes a competitive sport. The complementary nature of marriage—in which two people work together, as equals, toward the same goal but with an appreciation for the qualities each gender brings to the table—has been obliterated. Today, husbands and wives are locked in a battle about whom does more on the home front and how they’re going to get everything done. That’s not a marriage. That’s war.
It’s time to say what no one else will: Feminism didn’t result in equality between the sexes – it resulted in mass confusion. Today, men and women have no idea who’s supposed to do what.
Prior to the 1970s, people viewed gender roles as as equally valuable. Many would argue women had the better end of the deal! It’s hard to claim women were oppressed in a nation in which men were expected to stand up when a lady enters the room or to lay down their lives to spare women life. When the Titanic went down in 1912, its sinking took 1,450 lives. Only 103 were women. One-hundred three.
Compare that with last year’s wrecked cruise line, the Costa Concordia. It resulted in fewer deaths, but there was another significant difference. “There was no ‘women and children first’ policy. There were big men, crew members, pushing their way past us to get into the lifeboats. It was disgusting,” said passenger Sandra Rogers, 62.
The captain of the ship agrees. In USA Today, Francesco Schettino was asked about his New Year’s resolution. He responded, “Bone up on the parts about ‘women and children first’ and ‘the captain goes down with his ship.’”
You see, the problem with equality is that it implies two things are interchangeable – meaning one thing can be substituted for the other with no ramifications. That is what feminists would have us believe, and anyone who contradicts this dogma is branded sexist.
But the truth must be heard. Being equal in worth, or value, is not the same as being identical, interchangeable beings. Men and women may be capable of doing many of the same things, but that doesn’t mean they want to. That we don’t have more female CEOs or stay-at-home dads proves this in spades.
Unless, of course, you’re beholden to feminism. In that case, you’ll believe the above is evidence of discrimination. You’ll believe what feminists taught you to believe: that gender is a social construct.
Those of us with children know better. We know little girls love their dolls and boys just want to kick that ball. This doesn’t mean men can’t take care of babies or women can’t play sports. It just means each gender has its own energy that flows in a specific direction. For God’s sake, let it flow.
The battle of the sexes is over. And guess what? No one won. Why not try something else on for size? Like this: men and women are equal, but different. They’ve each been blessed with amazing and unique qualities that they bring to the table. Isn’t it time we stopped fussing about who brought what and simply enjoy the feast?" by Suzanne Venker on foxnews.com


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/05/to-be-happy-must-admit-women-and-men-arent-equal/#ixzz2K9lgny3A