Benevolent Quotations

I really enjoy the purposelessness of art and the playful aspect of it.  I would like to always make room in my life for that type of experimentation and purposelessness in creative expression. Quote from Kevin Greenberg, architect and podcast interviewee . I am not sure why is happening but I am in a more upbeat mood lately.  A lot of my writing has had an edge to it and the quotes I was picking were not from a Disney happy ending.  I was writing to vent to a certain extent. But lately, I am in a happier place.  Could it be the benefit of journaling every morning which I started doing after reading Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way ? Is it listing the three gratitudes I have everyday (almost)?  Is it from a high-fiber oatmeal breakfast most mornings? Before, my morning routines consisted of reading the news for at least an hour over multiple cups of coffee.  That's always a ray of sunshine to start the day.  Next I'd journal ...

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. Quote from  Thomas Szasz ,  Psychiatrist, Advocate for patients' rights, Manifesto creator   (Materials in this post reproduced with the permission of Jeffrey A. Schaler.  All rights reserved.). The other day I was talking to a student about how some people don't like that others remember things.  We both ended up laughing because I was trying to remember Szasz's quote and I couldn't.  Double funny in that the quote was about remembering and what wise people remember. Anyway, I do remember a coworker telling me that one of the bosses didn't like that I don't forget.   I do not think that this is the issue.  The boss was extremely intelligent and he also didn't forget.  I do think there are multiple other issues going on. The boss didn't like to be reminded of things he didn't like to remember.  Oiy, isn't that ...

You must not be bitter.  That's all. ... Bitterness is like cancer.  It eats upon the host.  It doesn't do anything to the object of its displeasure.  So use anger. Quote from Maya Angelou , Grammy winner, author, teacher I wanted a quote about anger.  But most of the stuff was platitudes about how anger is bad.  Goodreads has, at this writing, a list of 2067 quotes on anger , mostly blah.  But snuggled between the trite and the wallpapers and the printed napkins was Maya Angelou.  And release the hounds for the hunt for sourcing begins! The quote that caught my eye: "But anger is like fire.  It burns all clean."  The full quote is from the Jeffrey M Elliot book Conversations with Maya Angelou  (1989): Bitterness is a different word.  Anger.  Bitterness is like cancer.  It eats upon the host.  But anger is like fire.  It burns all clean.    If you want to read it the book, you can get...

Bad ideas survive when insulated from reality. Paraphrasing Dick Armey:   Conservative Politician This is the first time that I am not using a direct quote.  It is because the direct quote I could only find on AZQUOTES.COM : Virtually all bad ideas come from universities, bad ideas that only survive when insulated from reality. But today I wanted a quote about "bad ideas" or "bosses with bad ideas" or something like that and not one dragging in collegiate education.  I woke up this morning to read a not-so-good idea from one of my bosses.  I first tried to find stupid quotes for today.  My favorite is from Einstein:   Then I tried to get a magazine article quote about stupid bosses.  There are many articles on this topic: https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-strategies-to-try-when-your-boss-suggests-something-truly-terrible   https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tame-your-terrible-office-tyrant/201605/when-your-bos...

You've got to work. It's about structure. It's about discipline, It's about these deadly things that your teacher told you you needed. JK Rowlings:  Author  , Teacher , and Scribe Fighting Evil . So today I have a choice.  It is my one day off during the week from my day job.  Do I work on my book ideas or do I relax.  I've printed out my schedule for the week and I do see at the day job I have massive amounts of time during the day as I don't work until 3pm.   Or do I read . Argh.  Some people say that being being is hard - long hours, stress, crazy parents and students.  But then, anyone who deals with the public has learned most people are reasonable and nice.  Sales clerks, apartment supers, restaurant workers, hotel staff, and health-care providers can tell you tales.  There are always a few who are bonkers or have agendas that include diminishing, demeaning, or degrading someone else or the establishment to get som...

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Widely attributed to Leo Tolstoi (or Tolstoy):   Author , Activist .  Another misquote.  Sigh.  The above quote is actually from  The Artist's Way at Work : Riding the Dragon  (1999) The actual Tolstoi quote is:   There can be only one permanent revolution — a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself. Now, don't get me wrong.  I love the The Artist's Way.  I journal three pages every morning (fingers crossed).  And since Tolstoi wrote in Russian, maybe The Artist's Way translation is accurate.   Anyway.  Today's blog entry is about change.  I was writing in my journal all of the bitchi...

There are no ugly women, only lazy ones. from:  Helena Rubinstein ,  Immigrant, Entrepreneur I can hear it.  "OH MY GAWD!" "SEXIST" "UNBELIEVABLE" Well, it is all about the context.  And if someone knows the context of this quote, please put it in the comments. I picked this one today because I wanted something that was about BEING IN ACTION and breaking the lazy habit.  And this quote, in the context of our times, is provocative. But, it gets one thinking (that is if a person's cognitive biases prevents them from pursuing critical thinking). I read this and thought:  This is about how you can always improve yourself.  But why don't people improve themselves?   Originally, my idea for today's quote was about how lying is intellectually lazy.  I have said this and thought that it must be a quote.  But searching the Google machine yielded nada.  I was very surprised.  Maybe, if some day I get published I will ...

We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us. from:  Winston Churchill, Painter , Political Survivor, Orator , and Nobel Prize for Literature Winner So much negativity in the world and in my thoughts.  Originally, I was looking for a quote about the benefits of having positive thoughts.  Sigh.  There are many quotes like that out there, but the ones I found where either by celebrities or self-help gurus.  Not that what they are saying is not useful, it is just I wanted elegant, powerful bon mots from a profound source. So, Churchill. I'd written down in my notes about this quote.  It was made in a speech to rebuild the House of Commons after a bombing raid.  I noted the quote because it agrees with my belief that architecture influences those who encounter it, whether for good or bad.  But in this case, I am presenting it to my gentle readers as a metaphor.  Like:  "You reap what you sow," or "You've made your ...

We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put into work, instead of the quality of time we put in. from: Arianna Huffington - Author , Co-Founder of Huffington Post , Founder and CEO of ThriveGlobal  which promotes well-being and performance through technology. Not just managing time, but when to do what most effectively has been getting a lot of notice lately.  Arianna Huffington promotes sleep and other wellness actions to be more productive and interesting: I [Arianna] once had dinner with a man who bragged to me that he'd gotten only four hours of sleep the night before. (I resisted the temptation to tell him that the dinner would have been a lot more interesting if he had gotten five.) Daniel Pink's newest promotion is about doing the right thing at the right time as described in his book WHEN:  The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing .  Recently, Maura Nevel Thomas  is frames this in terms of increasing one's atte...

Keep in the Sunlight. from: Benjamin Franklin - Revolutionary, Entrepreneur, Ambassador, Promoter of Bathing in Moonlight Another quote I like from the father of the post office is "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."  But this one is fake. But this one is fake. The main Franklin quote does not have the full context as reported by Wikiquote :  " Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.   As quoted in   Dictionary of Thoughts   (1908) by   Tryon Edwards , p. 22. I liked this whole quote because I am in a bitter, dark place that requires reflection of what I did and what I am doing to be there.   As a 50+ person, I have reached the age where it is typical that employers do not want to pay more.  It could be due to reaching a compensation ceiling - which might be my case.   However, numerous younger people with less experience are being hired with high...