Wednesday, July 5, 2023

 July 5, 2023





Quote for Today


"La distance n'y fait rien; it n'y a que le premier pas qui cotite."     


"The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult."


Mme Du Deffand

Marie de Vichy-Chamrond (1697-1780)

French literary hostess

Commenting on the legend that St. Denis

carryied his head in his hands

and walked two leagues.

Letter to Jean Le Rond d'Alembert,  July 7, 1763.

in Gaston Maugras Trois mois ala cour de Frederic (1886)

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

 July 4, 2023



INDEPENDENCE

 

We depend on others and

on others’ beck and calls.

 

They need us and we need

them especially as babies.

 

This happens again if we

end up in a nursing home.

 

In the meanwhile, we have

these urges for freedom.

 

It’s life. They are the basic tugs

of becoming a human being.

 

It’s life – the give and take of

acting and reacting with others.

 

The Beatles were right, “Help

I need someone” everyday.

 

May I learn all the skills I can for

for Dependence and Independence

 

and learn what they mean by

the gift of Interdependence.

 

 

© Reflections, Andy Costello


 July 4,  2023


Quote for Today


"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the vilest alley in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."


Arthur Conan Doyke (1859-1930)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

(1892) The Copper Beeches"

Monday, July 3, 2023

July 3, 2023

  


 

OLEAGINOUS

  

George Will used the word “oleaginous”

in the opening of a column he wrote.

First reaction: what does that mean?

I had no clue. I had years and years

of courses in both Latin and Greek,

but I couldn’t figure out its meaning.

Then I heard him being interviewed.

He was asked about that word:

“oleaginous.” He said it was a SAT word.

He used it to describe a person who

is oily, slippery, sneaky, greasy,

tricky and too smooth for comfort.

I found his late night interview

on the Lawrence O’Donnell show

challenging and a good examination

of both conscience and consciousness.

 

 

 ©  Reflections, Andy Costello


 July 3, 2023




Quote for Today


"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope."


Charles Revson (1906-1975)

A. Tobias , Fire and Ice  (1976)

Sunday, July 2, 2023

July 2, 2023

 




NOTHING

 

 

Nothing exists.

It’s what’s missing.

It’s what I wish was here,

but it’s not.

 

I feel nothing.

That proves it exists.

I have a place for it,

if and when I get it.

 

In the meantime,

I’ll try anything –

sometimes something –

but I know nothing,

 

Hold on, I know something:

I now know why mystics

say God is nothing because

you can never quite get God.

 

 

© Reflections, Andy Costello


 July 2, 2023




Quote for Today


"Time is

Too slow for those who wait,

Too swift for those who fear,

Too long for those who grieve,

Too short for those who rejoice;

But for those who love, 

Time is eternity."



Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)


Time is too slow for those who wait - (1905)

read at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales,

Nigel Rees in "Quote ... Unquote" 1997

notes that the original form of the last line

is "Time is not".