QUOTATIONS

William Butler Yeats was a famous Irish poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  He wrote a lot about loss and death in war, but today's poem is a bit different.  It's about loss in a different form, a loss of love.  Sad, but accepting.  Sorrowful, but kind.  It is the type of poem with which we can all relate.  Join me as we explore When You are Old.

Meekness is not a word we use regularly in society.  For many it connotes weakness or passivity.  This is not necessarily what it truly means in practice.  Humility and meekness go hand in hand and employing humility in equal measure to our certainties is a surefire way to make the world a better place.  Today's quote is about exactly that.  

Pearl Cleage is an author, poet, and playwright with a resume full of challenging works on difficult topics.  Her accomplishments and publications are many and she is no stranger to late nights and long hours of hard work.  That said, she also understands the importance of downtime and caring for ourselves amidst the hustle and bustle.  Today's quote highlights that need and shows us the difference between solitude and loneliness.

Alfred North Whitehead was an accomplished mathematician and philosophy of the early 20th century.  He taught the great Bertrand Russell and published long-lived titles in both academic disciplines.  His writings, while challenging, are deep and insightful.  His description of progress and how both change AND order collaborate within it is the subject of today's memorable quote.  

Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who believed that philosophy should enhance the lives of its constituents, reducing their pain and suffering and fear to near zero.  He provides us with a solid litmus test for those claiming to be philosophers or espousing philosophical certainty.  His words we should apply broadly and relentlessly in our lives.  

Helen Keller was a remarkable woman.  Struck deaf and blind by childhood illness, she spent her entire life striving and achieving.  She did more in her life than many people without the same disabilities could ever hope to achieve.  She was the first deaf-blind woman to graduate with a bachelor's degree from Harvard, cofounded the ACLU, and met with and influenced Presidents for decades.  Her message was simple...be educated, be tolerant.  

It's easy to think that everyone else has it better than we do.  It's tempting to hold others in higher esteem than we hold ourselves.  We always find that, despite these thoughts, that the grass is not always greener on the other side.  But where is it greenest?  Where we water it.  

Marc Chagall was an artist who understood the magic of his work.  He understood that artists fulfill an important role for us.  They maintain our sense of wonder.  They push back against our (and their) tendency to want to sleep (or simply drift through life).  His words are a challenge to us to maintain that wonder.  

Stephanie Hunt is an author and writer whose works have touched numerous publications.  In addition to her writings, she teaches others to write, contributes to a non-profit radio station in South Carolina, and finds time in between all of that to read.  Reading is so important and so powerful and Stephanie's words in today's quote highlight just how vital it is.  

You can find Stephanie and her works at https://stephaniehuntwrites.com/ or on Instagram  at https://www.instagram.com/stephhuntwrites/?hl=en

William Faulkner was a Pulitzer Prize winning author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949.  At that time, the fear of nuclear annihilation was significant and everpresent and would be for decades to come.  Faulkner used his few short moments at the podium to graciously (perhaps begrudgingly) accept his award and then turned his attention to the young authors and writers in the crowd and abroad.  He chose to encourage them and forego applause, self-aggrandizement, and monetary gain, all to make them better.  He challenged them then as his words challenge us now.