Enlightening Quotes: 

“SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!” 

Coughing these days is like a terrorist act! 

“God will use your mess to give you your message.” 

The tyranny of the urgent. 

And in despair I bowed my head; "There is no peace on earth," I said, "For hate is strong and mocks the song, of Peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep. "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with Peace on Earth, good will to men." 

“I know that is an absurd thought, but I believe in the goodness of imagination.” 
The secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM! 2 Corinthians:3 

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”.     Matt Anderson 

“We are the music makers and the dreamers of dreams.”(Arthur O’Shaunessey and used by Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka) 

“Once upon a time, when women were birds, 

there was the simple understanding that 

to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk 

was to heal the world through joy. 

The birds still remember 

what we have forgotten, 

that the world is meant to be 

celebrated.” 

~Terry Tempest Williams 

Grand Boree High Cockalorum, Bodasious Mogul, High Lord Royal keeper of the Soggy Sutures snd Keeper of the Bleeding Cousins! 

Cavettism 

"These  insults are from an era “before” the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words. 

1. "He had delusions of adequacy ” Walter Kerr 

2. "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill 

3. "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow 

4. "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”-William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway) 

5. "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner) 

6. "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.” - Moses Hadas 

7. "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain 

8. "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde 

9. "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.”   -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill 

10. "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.” - Winston Churchill, in response 

11. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here” - Stephen Bishop 

12. "He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” - John Bright 

13. "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb 

14. "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson 

15. "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. -  Paul Keating 

16. "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” - Forrest Tucker 

17.  "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” - Mark Twain 

18. "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” - Mae West 

19. "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde 

20. "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination.” - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) 

21. "He has Van Gogh's ear for music.” - Billy Wilder 

22. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But I'm afraid this wasn't it.” - Groucho Marx 

23. The exchange between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it." 

24. "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln 

25. "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E.  Leonard 

26. "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." --  Thomas Brackett Reed 

27. "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)" 

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” ―Ambrose Bierce.” 

We talk millions, billions and trillions. But I don’t think people know how much a trillion dollars really is. So let’s change the dollars to seconds..... a million seconds is 12 days..... a billion seconds is 32 years, a trillion seconds is 32 thousand years. 

Sarcasm is the Boy “Language of Love.” 

Art is disguising the work that goes into it. 

“A Rapid, unscheduled disassembly” 

SpaceX a “smokin hole in the ground” 

“Close” works for Horseshoes  and Hand Grenades. 

Comedy is the last frontier 

   Steve Martin 

Abu el banat: father of daughters 

Abu el Banat. Apparently there is an Arab saying about Abu el Banat, one who is a father of daughters. It implies a certain sympathy for any man who has had one or (especially) more than one daughter. 

I am inspired by these words... "Yes, this has been a hard year, but I still believe we have much to be thankful for. Much to hope for. Much to build upon. Much to dream of. 

Here’s the America I see, and I believe it is the America you see, too: 

An America that faces facts. An America that overcomes challenges. An America where we seek justice and equality for all people. 

An America that holds fast to the conviction that out of pain comes possibility; out of frustration, progress; out of division, unity. 

In our finest hours, that’s who we’ve always been, and it’s who we shall be again, for I believe that this grim season of division and demonization will give way to a year of light and unity. 

Why do I think so? 

Because America is a nation not of adversaries, but of neighbors. 

Not of limitations, but of possibility. 

Not of dreams deferred, but of dreams realized. 

I’ve said it many times: This is a great country, and we are a good people. This is the United States of America. 

And there has never been anything we haven’t been able to do when we’ve done it together."- President Joe Biden 

Cathy Eden call to action 

   Get involved with something 

 Journalism - facts 

I have most definitely needed forgiveness. And I am glad to forgive absolutely 100% of anyone and everyone in my life. I guess that’s the reason Jesus came in the first place, right? Mike Rayburn 

Both sides agree: Voter fraud 'infinitesimal' 

Although Trump has repeated before and since Nov. 3 that the election is "rigged" and that there is "fraud," neither he nor the administration has provided evidence of such. Bipartisan sources agree that voter fraud – for instance, stuffing ballot boxes or voting multiple times – is an an exceedingly rare crime with almost no chance of affecting the presidential election. 

Heather Cox Richardson 

Come to me my big bad cup of coffee and lie to me about how much I’ll get done today! 

 FROM TOLKIEN 

FRODO: I can’t do this, Sam. 

SAM: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened. 

But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something. 

FRODO: What are we holding on to, Sam? 

SAM: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.” 

 "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," 

Eleanor Roosevelt. 

One of the ways to defeat your enemy is to make him your friend. 

Abe Lincoln 

“Some believe it is only great power that can keep evil in check.  But that is not what I have found.   I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.  Small acts of kindness and love”.   The Great Wizard Gandalf. 

In this, too, I see a poignant lesson in love, evocative of Rilke and what may be the greatest relationship advice ever committed to words: “I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other.” 

History does not repeat itself but it rhymes 

I’m frightened at the proportions of my prosperity 

Mark Twain 

There is no Glory except God in your story 

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell 

"What is worth doing even if I fail?" - Brene Brown 

"Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it." 

- Eckhart Tolle 

"Instead of asking 'what do I want from life?' a more powerful question is 'what does life want from me?" - Eckhart Tolle 

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." - Nelson Mandela 

Sending love in this hard time 

From a pastor and friend of John Haller: Randall D. Smith 

"Dear ones, I have just returned from the Near East via Europe. It is stunning to watch the third largest modern industrial economy in Europe reduced to literally nothing overnight. There is no production. The banks are closed. The planes stopped flying. This isn’t hype, and it isn’t an over-reaction. It is truly staggering to see first-hand. 

Responsible governments of drastically affected nations are not devastating their local economies based solely on flimsy fake news. Heads of state confidently assert the best way to save thousands of lives is to take a serious health crisis head on with painful closures… and they are painful to literally millions of people right now. 

At the same time, serious people are not panicking, they are responding to a genuine threat. To lock one’s doors at night is not to live in fear, but to take prudent preventative action. To treat this situation like it is “mere hype”or “media frenzy” is grossly insensitive to the many who are facing serious disruption and loss of their loved ones. 

Please don’t post “More people die of other things…” Why does that minimize the pain people are experiencing over this right now? How does that communicate anything but a hardness of heart? 

The heart of my Savior is to extend every care and protection to those most vulnerable where I can, not to look for a way to minimize their hurt with “catchy memes.” May I call for believers to “hold the wit” to a minimum? I honestly suspect some are going to be very embarrassed in a few weeks at how they handled this on social media platforms. The storm is not over by any means. 

Let me soberly encourage you to consider this: If you are not comfortable making fun of the loss of life on 9/11/2001 then don’t get comfortable making fun of this. Also, resist the temptation to point fingers at suspected conspirators in the wake of a rising crisis. 

Things are about to change for many of us, and our hearts will need to become more tender toward others while we keep our ears confidently poised to hear our Savior’s direction. The opposite of love is very often not hate, but careless insensitivity to those who need it most" 

"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten." 

-Arne Garborg 

Success vs. Significance 

   If you can help others help themselves help others. 

If you boil a funny bone, it becomes a laughing stock. That is humerus. 

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course." 

 Martin Luther King Jr. 

“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so.” Mark Twain quotes (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835 - 1910) 

“Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I have tested it.” 

“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” 

“I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi Gras in New Orleans.” 

“Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.” 

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” 

“It used to be a good hotel, but that proves nothing. I used to be a good boy, for that matter.” 

“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” 

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” 

“Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.” 

“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” 

MARK TWAIN 

Echoing Whitman — who owes his cultural reverence to Burroughs and who, in the wake of his paralytic stroke, considered what makes life worth living and counseled to “tone your wants and tastes low down enough, and make much of negatives, and of mere daylight and the skies” — John Burroughs adds: 

“Unlucky is the man who is born with great expectations, and who finds nothing in life quite up to the mark. 

One of the best things a man can bring into the world with him is a natural humility of spirit. About the next best thing he can bring, and they usually go together, is an appreciative spirit — a loving and susceptible heart. 

I was born under happy stars, with a keen sense of wonder, which has never left me… and with no exaggerated notion of my own deserts. I have shared the common lot, and have found it good enough for me.” 

The Quotes of Steven Wright: 

1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. 

2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back. 

3 - Half the people you know are below average. 

4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 

5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 

6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good. 

7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 

8 - If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain. 

9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand. 

10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 

11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend, ..... But she left me before we met. 

12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark? 

13 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? 

14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. 

15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 

16 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 

17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy. 

18 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now. 

19 - I intend to live forever ... So far, so good. 

20 - If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? 

21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. 

22 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice? 

23 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder." 

24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name 

25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. 

26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. 

27 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. 

28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread. 

29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research. 

30 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard. 

31 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. 

32 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it. 

33 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film. 

34 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you. 

35 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work? 

Proverbs 31:10-31 

 10 A  wife of noble character who can find? 

   She is worth far more than rubies. 

 Her husband has full confidence in  her and lacks nothing of value. 

 12 She brings him good, not harm, 

  all the days of her life. 

 13 She selects wool and flax 

  and works with eager hands. 

 14 She is like the merchant ships, 

  bringing her food from afar. 

 15 She gets up while it is still night; 

  she provides food for her family 

  and portions for her female servants. 

 16 She considers a field and buys it; 

  out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 

 17 She sets about her work vigorously; 

  her arms are strong for her tasks. 

 18 She sees that her trading is profitable, 

  and her lamp does not go out at night. 

 19 In her hand she holds the distaff 

  and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 

 20 She opens her arms to the poor 

  and extends her hands to the needy. 

 21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; 

  for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 

 22 She makes coverings for her bed; 

  she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 

 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, 

  where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 

 23 She makes linen garments and sells them, 

  and supplies the merchants with sashes. 

 24 She is clothed with strength and dignity; 

  she can laugh at the days to come. 

 25 She speaks with wisdom, 

  and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 

 26 She watches over the affairs of her household 

  and does not eat the bread of idleness. 

 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; 

  her husband also, and he praises her: 

 29 “Many women do noble things, 

  but you surpass them all.” 

 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; 

  but a woman who fears the Lord is  to be praised. 

 31 Honor her for all that her hands have done, 

  and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.