Echoing Words

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

William Butler Yeats
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

To ski, however well or poorly, is a reminder - whatever one may for a long time have suspected - that one is alive, and that living is tremendous fun. There isn’t any other game to compare with it in the world.

James Riddell

For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.

Aristotle

The sacred and profane,
pleasure and the pain

Dire Straits
On Every Street

One man looks at a dying bird and thinks there’s nothing but unanswered pain. That death’s got the final word, it’s laughing at him. Another man sees that same bird, feels the glory, feels something smiling through it.

Pvt. Witt
“The Thin Red Line”

At any moment, a great moment.

New York Yankees slogan

Life is a moment between two eternities.

Blaise Pascal

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.

Amelia Burr
A Song of Living

DO NOT BECOME A CYNIC. That is a sure sign of physical and spiritual atrophy. A disorder that can be readily avoided with regular doses of fresh air, adrenaline, and vast wilderness. This is a reminder to those planners and knowers of things that there is still wonder . Still challenge. Still spaces to climb, bike, and swim beyond the reach of radio waves. For those of you who would seek adventure, take heart; There are yet places that speak to our souls. And to the dim-eyed know-it-alls, they will say this: I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU. Just Do It.

Nike ad

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, ‘O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?’ Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

John Keating
“Dead Poets Society”

Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be.

Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends

We are such stuff
As dreams are made on

William Shakespeare
The Tempest