This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
If, in all this civilization, and if, in all the wealth produced, if in all this great fertile country of ours . . . we assert first, that wherever and whenever there be one human soul in our country walking the streets unable to find the opportunity to perform work and service to society, to demand in return for it the decent livelihood with opportunities for the cultivation of the best that is in us, if there is that opportunity denied to any one single man or woman in all this country, to him or to her all our boasted civilization is a sham.
Better | Dawn | Day | Labor | Man | Need | Strength | Time | Wants | Will | Work | Afraid | Friends | Old |
Wonder, connected with a principle of rational curiosity, is the source of all knowledge and discover, and it is a principle even of piety; but wonder which ends in wonder, and is satisfied with wonder, is the quality of an idiot.
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
Present opportunities are neglected, and attainable good is slighted, by minds busied in extensive ranges and intent upon future advantages.
Will |
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem.
Conversation | Quiet |
It struck me very deep this afternoon going with a hackney coach from my Lord Treasurer's down Holborne, the coachman I found to drive easily and easily, at last stood still, and came down hardly able to stand, and told me that he was suddenly stuck very sick, and almost blind, he could not see. So I 'light and went into another coach with a sad heart for the poor man and trouble for myself lest he should have been struck with the plague, being at the end of town that I took him up; But god have mercy upon us all!
Pain |
Alas, we but chase feathers flying in the air, and tire our own spirits, for the froth and over-gilded clay of a dying life. One sight of what my Lord hath let me see within this short time, is worth a world of worlds.
The truth is, I do indulge myself a little the more in pleasure, knowing that this is the proper age of my life to do it; and, out of my observation that most men that do thrive in the world do forget to take pleasure during the time that they are getting their estate, but reserve that till they have got one, and then it is too late for them to enjoy it.
Come all crosses, welcome, welcome! so I may get my heart full of my Lord Jesus.
Shunryu Suzuki, also Daisetsu Teitaro or D.T. Suzuki or Suzuki-Roshi
Be humble: In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.
Shunryu Suzuki, also Daisetsu Teitaro or D.T. Suzuki or Suzuki-Roshi
Our practice is a practice of settling oneself on oneself, which means to always have a new, fresh experience of your true self.
Confidence | Day | Universe |
Simone de Beauvoir, fully Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir
I think I understand how it can make you. We tried to build our love beyond the moment, but only moments are sure. For the rest we need faith, and faith, is it courage or laziness?
Contemplation | Effort | Experience | Quiet | Contemplation | Think |
Arthur Helps, fully Sir Arthur Helps
We often err by contemplating an individual solely in his relation and behaviour to us, and generalizing from that with more rapidity than wisdom. We might as well argue that the moon has no rotation about her axis, because the same hemisphere is always presented to our view.
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
A great brain and a huge organization have been turned to the extinction of one man. It is crushing the nut with the trip-hammer--an absurd extravagance of energy--but the nut is very effectually crushed all the same.
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
I did not know the woman soul, that crowning gift of Providence to man, which, if we do not ourselves degrade it, will set an edge to all that is good in us. I did not know how the love of a woman will tinge a man's whole life and every action with unselfishness. I did not know how easy it is to be noble when someone else takes it for granted that one will be so; or how wide and interesting life becomes when viewed by four eyes instead of two.
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
It's a bonny thing, said he. Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet baits.
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
He is not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone.
Light |