If a Man Prefers Nothing

“If a man prefers nothing I can give him nothing. 

But nearly all people I have ever met in this western society 

in which I live would agree to the general proposition 

that we need this life of practical romance; 

the combination of something that is strange with something that is secure. 

We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of

wonder and an idea of welcome. 

We need to be happy in this wonderland without once

being merely comfortable. It is this achievement 

of my creed that I shall chiefly pursue in these pages.” 

~ G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

See You In Another Life

“See you in another life, brotha.” 

~ Desmond Hume

We Are But The Veriest

“We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. 

Reach not after morality and righteousness, my friends; 

watch vigilantly your stomach, and diet it with care and judgment. 

Then virtue and contentment will come and reign within your heart, 

unsought by any effort of your own; and you will be a good citizen, 

a loving husband, and a tender father—a noble, pious man.” 

~ Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat

And Her Deepest Enjoyment

“And her deepest enjoyment was to feel the continuity 

between the movements of her own soul and the agitations of the world.” 

~ Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Surely The Gods' Judgment

“Surely, the gods' judgment is certain. 

But as for us, we must be satisfied to 'come close' to those things, 

for we are men, who speak according to what is likely, 

and whose lectures resemble fables.” 

~ Proclus

The More I Know of the World

“The more I know of the world, 

the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom

I can really love. I require so much!” 

~ Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility

The Christian

“The Christian admits that the universe is

manifold and even miscellaneous, 

just as a sane man knows that he is complex. 

The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast,

 a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. 

Nay, the really sane man knows that he has a touch of the madman. 

But the materialist's world is quite simple and solid, 

just as the madman is quite sure he is sane. 

The materialist is sure that history has been simply

and solely a chain of causation, 

just as the interesting person before mentioned is

quite sure that he is simply and solely a chicken. 

Materialists and madmen never have doubts.” 

― G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Ladies Sheltering Behind Men

“Ladies sheltering behind men, 

men sheltering behind servants - the whole system's wrong, 

and she must challenge it.” 

― E.M. Forster, Howards End

Being Stubborn

“Being stubborn won't make you fluent. 

Practicing will! 

The more mistakes you make, 

the more you'll learn not to.” 

~ Thanhha Lai

Move Thy Tongue

“Move thy tongue,

For silence is a sign of discontent.” 

~ Elizabeth Cary, The Tragedy of Mariam

But Where Are You Going To, Helen?

“-But where are you going to, Helen? Can you see? Do you know?

-I believe; I have faith: I am going to God.

-Where is God? What is God?

-My maker and yours, who will never destroy 

what He created. I rely implicitly on His power, 

and confide wholly in His goodness: I count the 

hours till that eventful one arrives which 

shall restore me to Him, reveal Him to me.”

~ Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Love Is

“Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell.”

~ Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle

Styles May Change

“Styles may change, details may come and go, 

but the broad demands of aesthetic judgement are permanent.” 

~ Roger Scruton

The Definition of a Professional

“The definition of a professional is one who does 

a job well even when they don't like it.” 

~ Alan Sheinwald, Alan Sheinwald is Building a Perfect Home

Darkness Was Cheap

“Darkness was cheap, and Scrooge liked it.” 

~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Welcome to My House

“Welcome to my house! 

Enter freely. 

Go safely, and leave something 

of the happiness you bring.” 

~ Bram Stoker

And Love Is A Word Used

“and love is a word used

too much and

much

too soon.” 

~ Charles Bukowski, The Night Torn Mad With Footsteps

I'm 30

“I’m 30, it’s Christmas, and I’m a writer without a job. 

I sit here engulfed in a furious fit of frustration. 

My future unknown. 

My nuts so small you could fit them in a gnat’s navel 

and have room left over for my brain.” 

~ Josh Mitchell

The People Who Work

“The people who work with solar photovoltaics (PV) tend to be sick, 

I've worked with many of them. 

They were showing classic symptoms of Radio Wave Sickness (RWS).” 

~ Steven Magee

It Is A Strange Thing

“It is a strange thing, looking at the sea. 

When it is calm, or with only gentle ripples, 

it gives an impression of being soft and kind. 

But often, on such a calm, the wind suddenly blows, 

thrusting the water back into angry waves. 

At such times, in a certain sense, 

one feels sorry for the sea. 

Never of itself offensive to others, 

it is all too often attacked by wind and rain, 

the rain falling densely upon it, 

shaming the beauty of its calm face 

with a million bouncing bubbles. 

Were the wind to stop blowing, the ocean, 

surely, would never afflict the land with any calamity, 

nor would any human beings suffer.” 

~ Tan Kok Seng, Son Of Singapore

This Is My Classic Story

“This is my classic story:

I am unpredictable,

like the rest 

of us.” 

~ Tara Estacaan

The Told Shone Brightly

“The Told shone brightly. 

They truly stood out among the Inhabitants for their life and love, 

and the power to rebrand words went with them. 

They employed every type of literary term to form 

new passages of powerful change, 

and they rose above the tendency to write about 

the mundane or the antics of the Untold.” 

― K.A. Gunn, The Book of Told: Mere Words

A Classic is Read

“A classic is read not to enjoy but only to be boast about it.” 

~ Aman Jassal, Rainbow - the shades of love

The Summit of Mauna Kea

“The summit of Mauna Kea should never have been

developed as it is not safe for humans up there. 

I am now locked into an endless loop of doctors visits 

for what appears to be classic very high altitude 

heart, lung & brain damage because I was 

unfortunate enough to have worked there.” 

~ Steven Magee, Health Forensics

Scarlett O'Hara

“Scarlett O'Hara wasn't pretty.” 

~ Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind

It Was WIlliam

“It was William who would climb out of his carriage 

unafraid and help a farmer drive a herd of cattle 

or sheep across a road when necessary.” 

~ Lisa Prysock, To Find a Duchess

If It Ran

“If it ran, a Bean would shoot it.

 If it fell, a Bean would eat it.” 

~ Carolyn Chute

Our Highest Assurance

“Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence 

seems to me to rest in the flowers.

 All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, 

are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. 

But this rose is an extra. 

Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, 

not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, 

and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.” 

~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Naval Treaty

Whether People See You as A Shadow

“Whether people see you as a shadow or as an invisible or stupid sort of thing,

 a time will come when that image of yours will never be seen by commoners.” 

― Michael Bassey Johnson, The Infinity Sign

Her Gaze Wavered

“Her gaze wavered towards one of the books on the sales counter beside the register, a hardcover copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with many of the pages dog-eared and stained with coffee and tea. The store owner caught her looking at it and slid it across the counter towards her. “You ever read Hamlet?” he questioned.

“I tried to when I was in high school,” said Mandy, picking up the book and flipping it over to read the back. “I mean, it’s expected that everyone should like Shakespeare’s books and plays, but I just….” her words faltered when she noticed him laughing to himself. “What’s so funny, Sir?” she added, slightly offended.

“…Oh, I’m not laughing at you, just with you,” said the store owner. “Most people who say they love Shakespeare only pretend to love his work. You’re honest Ma’am, that’s all. You see, the reason you and so many others are put-off by reading Shakespeare is because reading his words on paper, and seeing his words in action, in a play as they were meant to be seen, are two separate things… and if you can find a way to relate his plays to yourself, you’ll enjoy them so much more because you’ll feel connected to them. Take Hamlet for example – Hamlet himself is grieving over a loss in his life, and everyone is telling him to move on but no matter how hard he tries to, in the end, all he can do is to get even with the ones who betrayed him.”

“…Wow, when you put it that way… sure, I think I’ll buy a copy just to try reading, why not?” Mandy replied with a smile.” 

~ Rebecca McNutt, Shadowed Skies: The Third Smog City Novel

I Know my Maker

“I know my maker sanctions what I do. 

For the world's judgment - I wash my hands thereof. 

For man's opinion- I defy it” 

― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

In Each Generation

“In each generation, there is this certain wisdom 

of the ages that gets reburied in the fleeting drivelings 

of modernity; then, like a diamond in the rough, 

it is yet again unearthed by a very small minority 

who not only restores it but also polishes it and 

presents it as something new, something highly 

valuable and refreshing as understood by the current.” 

~ Criss Jami, Healology

If Your Dear Heart is Wounded

“If your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours.” 

~ Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla: Coleccin de Clsicos de La Literatura Europea "Carrascalejo de La Jara"

Just Like the Notion

“Just like the notion of "Internet natives", 

who have never known a world without Internet access, 

we, who have lived our entire lives with video games, 

can be known as "video game natives.” 

~ Alexei Maxim Russell, The Classic Gamer's Bible

How Promising Today's Generation Is

“How promising today's generation is. 

They can whip out their cellular phones like sheep, 

instantly take a million digital photos of their cat and then just delete them. 

But I'd like to see these kids try to artfully use a

traditional film camera or make a super 8 home movie. 

Traditional film takes integrity, nostalgia, effort, 

patience, and imagination - things that the 21st century has very little of. 

Everything these days, even a superior medium 

like film photography with an extensively vivid history 

and an iconic meaning, is becoming disposable in this age.” 

~ Rebecca McNutt

EIther I'm Changing Very Quickly

“Either I'm changing very quickly, 

and everything is standing still, 

or I'm the one standing still 

and everything is changing around me. 

Either way, I'm out of joint with the world.” 

― Kate Rorick, The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet

He Had Been Held to Her

“He had been held to her by a beautiful thread 

which it pained him to spoil by breaking, 

rather than by a chain he could not break.” 

~ Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd

Give, Do not Lend

“Give, do not lend; after death who will thank you?” 

~ E M Forster

Eatimg Organic

“Eating organic for good health and spending your 

day sitting down using a wireless computer that 

is next to a WiFi router is a classic case of Yin & Yang.” 

~ Steven Magee

Why Should Their Liberty

“Why should their liberty than ours be more?” 

~ William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors

Beauty in A Woman

“Beauty in a woman is a treasure rare

Which we are never weary of admiring;

But a sweet temper is a gift more fair

And better worth the youthful maid's desiring.

That was the boon bestowed on Cinderella

By her wise godmother - her truest glory.

The rest was "nought but leather and prunella."

Such is the moral of this little story - 

Beauties that charm become you more than dress,

And win a heart with far greater facility.

In short, in all things to ensure success,

The real Fairy Gift is amiability!

Talent, courage, wit, and worth

Are rare gifts to own on Earth;

But if you want to thrive at court - 

So, at least, the wise report - 

You will find you need some others,

Such as godfathers or mothers.” 

~ Charles Perrault

During These Weeks

“During these weeks there was a quality about 

Miss Amelia that many people noticed. 

She laughed often, with a deep ringing laugh, 

and her whistling had a sassy, tuneful trickery. 

She was forever trying out her strength, 

lifting up heavy objects or poking 

her tough biceps with her finger.” 

― Carson McCullers, The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories

I Want to See What Life Makes of You

“I want to see what life makes of you. 

One thing is certain - it can't spoil you. 

It may pull you about horribly, 

but I defy it to break you up.” 

― Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

It Was Embarrassing Now

“…It was embarrassing now to recall with what little

regret he had let slip his pleasures and preoccupations, 

the imminence of loss revealing them for what they were, 

at best only a solace, at worst a trivial squandering of time and energy. 

Now he had to lay hold of them again and believe that

they were important, at least to himself. 

He doubted whether he would ever again 

believe them important to other people.” 

~ P.D. James

A Classic is Like a Cow

“A classic is like a cow: 

it gives fresh milk every morning. 

A classic is a book that rewards endlessly repeated reading. 

A classic is like the morning, like nature herself: 

ever young, ever renewing. 

No, not even like nature, 

for she, like us, is doomed to die. 

Only God is ever young, 

and only the Book he inspired never grows old.” 

~ Peter Kreeft

I Made the Mistake

“I made the mistake of working at the world's largest telescopes

 and now show classic health degradation that is 

associated with that biologically toxic environment.

~ Steven Magee

As A Mistress

“As a mistress, death seemed lacking in many essentials.

 Therefore, I decided not to die.” 

~ Edgar Rice Burroughs

For This Reason

“For this reason the gravest question before

the church is always God Himself, and the most 

portentous fact about any man is not what he 

at a given time may say or do, but what he in

 his deep heart conceives God to be like. 

We tend by a secret law of the soul to 

move toward our mental image of God.” 

~ A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy

Rationality is the Way

“Rationality is the way to lead life. So high time,

let’s stop feeding our dreams and shake hands with the reality.”

~ Parul Wadhwa, The Masquerade

I Thought You'd Be Interested

“I thought you'd be interested in these things as a government man. 

Ain't you mixed up in the prices of things we eat or something? 

Ain't that it? 

Making them more costly or something. 

Making the grits cost more and the grunts less?”

~ Ernest Hemingway, To Have and Have Not