The flimsies

Is there something you're dying to attempt, but you manage to talk yourself out of it because it seems like too much work, or will take too much time and discipline? this is your inner flimsy talking. Pat her on the head, but don't cater to her. You'll be happier for it.--Karen Karbo, Julia Child Rules: Lessons on Savoring Life

Summing up

Life is mostly froth and bubble.
Two things stand like stone.
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.
--Adam Lindsay Gordon

Quoted in an obituary of Sandra Lee Sinnard, Chicago Tribune, 11/4/2013

Donna Tartt

"Ms. Tartt is a lifelong keeper of notebooks, and some of the earliest scenes in 'The Goldfinch' were taken from notes dated 1993. 'I was writing for a while not knowing what I was writing,' she said. 'That's the way it's been with all my books. Things come to you and you're not going to know exactly how they fit in. You have to trust in the way they all fit together, that your subconscious knows what you're doing.'"

--New York Times, October 21, 2013, in an article about The Goldfinch

Obituary of an art critic, Arthur C. Danto

"There is a lot of uninspired work in the galleries. But there is so much ingenious work, so much intelligence, so much dedication, and really so much high-mindedness in the art world that, were it shared by the rest of the world, we would have entered a golden age."

Quoted in his obituary, October 28, 2013, New York Times

He avoided negative criticism, which he considered cruel.

From a meditation manual, title forgotten

Restrain your senses from objects that arouse craving or hostility.

It is important to find and follow a path that makes the heart sing.

Bo scandal breaker at U.S. embassy

“Two things were clear the moment he walked in: this was a very big deal, and this was a very unsavory character. This is not the Dalai Lama who walked in the door.” NYTimes 4/18/2012

Why Trees Matter

"In Japan, researchers have long studied what they call 'forest bathing.' A walk in the woods, they say, reduces the level of stress chemicals in the body and increases natural killer cells in the immune system, which fight tumors and viruses. Studies in inner cities show that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in a landscaped environment."--Jim Robbins, NYTimes, 4/12/12