When 93-year-old Pablo Casals was asked in an interview why he continued to practice the cello three hours a day, he replied, “I’m beginning to notice some improvement…” If you want to understand a woman, look in her bag~~Valerie Steele A true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence~~Amos Bronson Alcott Creation is a better means of self-expression than possession; it is through creating, not possessing, that life is revealed~~Vida Dutton Scudder I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this [...] Read more »
Reputation vs. Character
It has always been true that reputations can be made and destroyed more quickly than one might think possible. During election years it becomes even more obvious: you cannot control your reputation. You can do the very best you can to do the right thing at the right place and time, but all it takes is one person or event to shatter a lifetime’s worth of work in one fell swoop. And the onset of 24-hour news cycles hasn’t helped the truth to come out any sooner than it used to: if anything, the 1500 TV talking heads help cement [...] Read more »
Quotes I feel like sharing today
As always, I may agree, disagree, or be of divided mind about any one of these quotations, but I found all of them thought-provoking or inspiring. I hope you do as well~ “My high school counselor told me that I shouldn’t go into computer science in college because they were a fad and there wouldn’t be many jobs for computer programming in the future….”~~Paul Sterzinger “For better or for worse, music is the language of memory…”~~Jodi Picoult “Voice-teaching ranks among the dodgiest of all professions—worse even than management consultancy if you ask me—because it relies on processes that can’t be [...] Read more »
A few quotes for early March
An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way~~Charles Bukowski Because the thing about love is that we can’t control whether we get it, but we can control whether we give it~~Lisa Scottoline Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie~~David Mamet When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, said Piglet at last, what’s the first thing you say to yourself? What’s for breakfast? said Pooh. What do you say, Piglet? I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today? said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. It’s the [...] Read more »
A few quotes about character
Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities~~William Bridges Often {nowadays} the role of a pastor seems closer to that of church cruise director than to the traditional roles of spiritual friend and counselor~~Adam McHugh Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter~~Martin Luther King Jr. Practicing good character has a way of stabilizing us and keeps us from pining for the things we don’t have. Having good character means cleaning up our inside world, rather than filling it with more stuff like an emotional pack [...] Read more »
Quotes for early January
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending~~Maria Robinson People will accept your idea much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first~~David H. Comins If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves~~Thomas Edison Don’t postpone joy until you have learned all of your lessons. Joy is your lesson~~Alan Cohen Read more »