Head-dibs

 “VIII. Of the Good Success Don Quixote Had, in the Dreadful and Never-Imagined Adventure of the Windmills, with Other Accidents Worthy to Be Recorded” — Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616).  “Don Quixote, Part 1.” Spend 15 minutes in The Classics!

  “At every moment keep a sturdy mind on the task at hand, as a Roman and human being, doing it with strict and simple dignity, affection, freedom, and justice—giving yourself a break from all other considerations. You can do this if you approach each task as if it is your last, giving up every distraction, emotional subversion of reason, and all drama, vanity, and complaint over your fair share. You can see how mastery over a few things makes it possible to live an abundant and devout life—for, if you keep watch over these things, the gods won’t ask for more.”   — MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS , 2.5 

  “They are excellent mimics: as often as we coughed or yawned, or made any odd motion, they immediately imitated us. Some of our party began to squint and look awry; but one of the young Fuegians (whose whole face was painted black, excepting a white band across his eyes) succeeded in making far more hideous grimaces. They could repeat with perfect correctness each word in any sentence we addressed them, and they remembered such words for some time. Yet we Europeans all know how difficult it is to distinguish apart the sounds in a foreign language. Which of us, for instance, could follow an American Indian through a sentence of more than three words? All savages appear to possess, to an uncommon degree, this power of mimicry. I was told, almost in the same words, of the same ludicrous habit among the Caffres; the Australians, likewise, have long been notorious for being able to imitate and describe the gait of any man, so that he may be recognized. How can this faculty be explained? i

  “Little light is there within us, and what we have we quickly lose by negligence. Oftentimes we perceive not how great is our inward blindness. We often do ill and excuse it worse. Sometimes we are moved by passion and count it zeal; we blame little faults in others and pass over great faults in ourselves. Quickly enough we feel and reckon up what we bear at the hands of others, but we reflect not how much others are bearing from us. He who would weigh well and rightly his own doings would not be the man to judge severely of another.” — Thomas à Kempis. (b. 1379 or 1380, d. 1471).  “The Imitation of Christ” in The Harvard Classics.

Why say, “I cried” when you can say, “but when the strain of dulcet symphony express’d for me their soft compassion, more than could the words, “Virgin! why so consumest him?” then, the ice Congeal’d about my bosom, turn’d itself To spirit and water; and with anguish forth Gush’d, through the lips and eyelids, from the heart.” — Dante (1265 - 1321), Canto 30 of “Purgatory, The Divine Comedy”. Spend 15 minutes in the Classics!

“There are three areas in which the person who would be wise and good must be trained. The first has to do with desires and aversions—that a person may never miss the mark in desires nor fall into what repels them.  The second has to do with impulses to act and not to act—and more broadly, with duty—that a person may act deliberately for good reasons and not carelessly.  The third has to do with freedom from deception and composure and the whole area of judgment, the assent our mind gives to its perceptions.  Of these areas, the chief and most urgent is the first which has to do with the passions, for strong emotions arise only when we fail in our desires and aversions.”  — Epictetus, (50 - 135 AD) “DISCOURSES”, 3.2.1–3 a 

  “An oracle came to him from the city of Buto, saying that he was destined to live but six years more, in the seventh year to end his life: and he being indignant at it sent to the Oracle a reproach against the god, making complaint in reply that whereas his father and uncle, who had shut up the temples, and had not only not remembered the gods, but also had been destroyers of men, had lived for a long time, he himself, who practised piety, was destined to end his life so soon: and from the Oracle there came a second message, which said that it was for this very cause that he was bringing his life to a swift close; for he had not done that which it was appointed for him to do, since it was destined that Egypt should suffer evils for a hundred and fifty years, and the two kings who had arisen before him had perceived this, but he had not.   Mykerinos having heard this, and considering that this sentence had passed upon him beyond recall, procured many lamps, and whenever night came on

  “Most kings and leaders, however, lack sense, and so they imitate the unskilled sculptors who believe that their colossal statues appear great and strong when they fashion their figures with a mighty stride, a straining body, and a gaping mouth. These kings and leaders, because they speak with a low-pitched voice, cast a harsh gaze, affect a cantankerous manner, and hold themselves aloof in their daily lives, suppose that they are imitating the dignity and solemnity of leadership. In fact, they are not at all different from those colossal statues, which on the exterior possess a heroic and divine facade but inside are filled with earth and stone and lead. In the case of the statues, however, this weight keeps their upright posture stable and steady, while uneducated generals and leaders are oftentimes tripped up and toppled over by their innate foolishness. For they establish their lofty power upon a pedestal that has not been leveled, and so it cannot stand upright. Moreover, just a

  “No one is ignorant that there are two avenues by which opinions are received into the soul, which are its two principal powers: the understanding and the will. The more natural is that of the understanding, for we should never consent to any but demonstrated truths; but the more common, though the one contrary to nature, is that of the will; for all men are almost led to believe not of proof, but by attraction. This way is base, ignoble, and irrelevant: every one therefore disavows it. Each one professes to believe and even to love nothing but what he knows to be worthy of belief and love.”    (The Art of Persuasion)

 

  “And the Nightingale sang so gloriously that the tears came into the Emperor’s eyes, and the tears ran down over his cheeks; and then the Nightingale sang still more sweetly, that went straight to the heart.” “The Nightingale” by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875) in The Harvard Classics.    Painting by Edmund Dulac.

    “ . . . And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep,         In blanched linen, smooth, and lavender'd,         While he forth from the closet brought a heap         Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd;         With jellies soother than the creamy curd,         And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon;         Manna and dates, in argosy transferr'd         From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one,  From silken Samarcand to cedar'd Lebanon.         These delicates he heap'd with glowing hand         On golden dishes and in baskets bright         Of wreathed silver: sumptuous they stand         In the retired quiet of the night,         Filling the chilly room with perfume light.—         "And now, my love, my seraph fair, awake!         Thou art my heaven, and I thine eremite:         Open thine eyes, for meek St. Agnes' sake,  Or I shall drowse beside thee, so my soul doth ache. . . “ From “The Eve of St. Agnes” (on January 20) by John Keats, publishe

Happy Birthday to The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). What’s your favorite poem or story? My Fav poems are “El Dorado” and “Annabel Lee” and my fav story is “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket”

  CHARON. Now stretch your arms full length before you.   DIONYSUS. So?  CHAR.  Come, don’t keep fooling; plant your feet, and now  Pull with a will.   DIO. Why, how am I to pull? I’m not an oarsman, seaman,  Salaminian. I can’t!   CHAR. You can. Just dip your oar in once, You’ll hear the loveliest timing songs.   DIO. What from?  CHAR.  Frog-swans, most wonderful.   DIO. Then give the word.  CHAR.  Heave ahoy! heave ahoy!  FROGS.  Brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax! Brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax!  We children of the fountain and the lake,  Let us wake  Our full choir-shout, as the flutes are ringing out,  Our symphony of clear-voiced song.  The song we used to love, in the  Marshland up above, In praise of  Dionysus to produce,  Of Nysaean Dionysus, son of Zeus,  When the revel-tipsy throng, all crapulous and gay,  To our precinct reeled along on the holy Pitcher day.  Brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax.  DIO.  O, dear! O, dear! now I declare I’ve got a bump upon my rump.  FR.  Brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax. — Ari

  “ . . . were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults of the first. So I might, besides correcting the faults, change some sinister accidents and events of it for others more favorable. But though this were denied, I should still accept the offer. Since such a repetition is not to be expected, the next thing most like living one’s life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make that recollection as durable as possible by putting it down in writing.” — Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) “Autobiography” in The Harvard Classics 

A LION used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all four.  “UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.”   —Æsop (Sixth century B.C.) in The Harvard Classics 

  Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883), "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" in The Harvard Classics

  “It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for their political constitutions, on accident and force. If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis, at which we are arrived, may with propriety be regarded as the area in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act, may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.” Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757 - 1804). “The Federalist No. 1 and No. 2” in The Harvard Classics. 

“Suppose that a great commotion arises in the street about something, let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached upon the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the Schoolmen, "Let us first of all consider, my brethren, the value of Light. If Light be in itself good—" At this point he is somewhat excusably knocked down. All the people make a rush for the lamp-post, the lamp-post is down in ten minutes, and they go about congratulating each other on their unmediaeval practicality. But as things go on they do not work out so easily.  Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because they wanted the electric light; some because they wanted old iron; some because they wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil. Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post, some too much; some acted because they wanted to smash municipal machinery; some because they wanted to smash so

 MeWe and Parler are still accessible on the web if Apple and Google already removed them from their app stores. I support free speech. Update: Amazon will no longer provide service to Parler, who will go silent until further notice (hopefully until Tuesday). Standard publishers are refusing to publish many authors, including government officials. Hang on to your books, people! 

  Well, I stand up next to a mountain And I chop it down with the edge of my hand Yeah Well, I stand up next to a mountain And I chop it down with the edge of my hand Well I pick up all pieces and make an island Might even raise a little sand Yeah Cause I'm a Voodoo Child Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child baby I want to say one more last thing I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time I'll give it right back to ya one of this days Hahaha I said I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time I'll give it right back one of these days Oh yeah If I don't meet you no more in this world then uh I'll meet ya on the next one And don't be late Don't be late Cause I'm a Voodoo Child Voodoo Child Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child Hey hey hey I'm a Voodoo Child baby I don't take no for an answer Question no Yeah Source:  Musixmatch Songwriters: Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile lyrics © Experience Hendrix Llc.

  —and it saved her life! “Now the Wezir had two daughters; the elder of whom was named Shahrazad; and the younger, Dunyzad. The former had read various books of histories, and the lives of preceding kings, and stories of past generations: it is asserted that she had collected together a thousand books of histories, relating to preceding generations and kings, and works of the poets . . . “   Read The Thousand and One Nights in The Harvard Classics!

  “In the dead of night Hector's ghost appeared to warn Æneas of the impending doom to come upon the walled city of Troy. Æneas lifted his aged father on his back and, taking his son by the hand, sought safety in flight. Off to Latium!” (Heinrich Schliemann, discoverer of ancient Troy in 1870-1873.) Spend 15 minutes reading the account in Virgil’s Aeneid, in Vol. 13 of The Harvard Classics.

On Human Life by Italian politician, journalist and activist, Guiseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), “Byron and Goethe” in The Harvard Classics.   “There is no absolute type on earth: the absolute exists in the Divine Idea alone; the gradual comprehension of which man is destined to attain; although its complete realization is impossible on earth; earthly life being but one stage of the eternal evolution of life, manifested in thought and action; strengthened by all the achievements of the past, and advancing from age to ages towards a less imperfect expression of that idea. Our earthly life is one phase of the eternal aspiration of the soul towards progress, which is our law; ascending in increasing power and purity from the finite towards the infinite; from the real towards the ideal; from that which is, towards that which is to come. In the immense storehouse of the past evolutions of life constituted by universal tradition, and in the prophetic instinct brooding in the depths of the human s

 

 Spend 15 minutes in the Classics.  “A fisherman, so the story goes, once caught a flounder that spoke, begging to be released. This was granted, whereupon the fisherman's wife demanded that it grant her one miracle after another, until even the flounder was disgusted.“ (Harvard Classics)

  “Now friendship  may be thus defined: a complete accord on all subjects human and divine, joined with mutual good will and affection. And with the exception of wisdom, I am inclined to think nothing better than this has been given to man by the immortal gods. . . . “ “The Latin word for friendship—amicitia—is derived from that for love—amor; and love is certainly the prime mover in contracting mutual affection. For as to material advantages, it often happens that those are obtained even by men who are courted by a mere show of friendship and treated with respect from interested motives. But friendship by its nature admits of no feigning, no pretence: as far as it goes it is both genuine and spontaneous. Therefore I gather that friendship springs from a natural impulse rather than a wish for help: from an inclination of the heart, combined with a certain instinctive feeling of love, rather than from a deliberate calculation of the material advantage it was likely to confer.” Cicero (1

 See what we gotta live with? 

America's first "self-made" man, Benjamin Franklin, resolved to improve himself by practicing virtues until they became habit. The beauty of his system is the ability to track failures as much as successes. These names of virtues, with their precepts, are: 1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.  2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.  3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.  4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.  5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i. e., waste nothing.  6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.  7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.  8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.  9. M