"Don't force your children into your ways, for they were created for a time different from your own." Plato Words as true now as they were over two millennia ago. Such a simple precept, yet so difficult to remember that our children did not get the same experience as we had in our youth, nor... Continue Reading →
What we call pleasure…
"What we call pleasure, and rightly so, is the absence of all pain." Cicero Correction: Numbness is the absence of all pain, which some may find pleasurable in brief intervals. Though it isn't sustainable, nor productive. It might be challenging for many to achieve a complete lack of physical or mental suffering, but we needn't... Continue Reading →
How wonderful it is…
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank We may all have different designs on what it is that would improve the world. Though that should not stop us from making the smallest effort in this very moment to make that change. The most... Continue Reading →
My life has been full…
"My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened." Michel de Montaigne There are a few famous versions of this expression throughout the history of humankind. About 2000 years ago, Seneca's version from his thirteenth letter "On Groundless Fears" stated that "we suffer more often in imagination than in reality". More... Continue Reading →
A scientist in his laboratory…
"A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician; he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales." Marie Curie Wonderment and exploration are the gifts of childhood that we should be so fortunate to retain throughout adulthood. Don't be so eager to shed them as... Continue Reading →
Faith is the strength…
"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light." Helen Keller There's a wonderful sense of optimism in that statement worth recalling now and again. Our worlds are shattered many times over throughout our lifetimes, even if in relative terms, but devastating nevertheless. Be it our first heartbreak, our first... Continue Reading →
Courage is like love…
"Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment." Francois de La Rochefoucauld Hope is the key to many things. But it could be argued that love first begets hope and that hope then begets courage. While it is true that we do courageous things for the hope of a good outcome, if it... Continue Reading →
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