March 27
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou
December 27
Life without playing music is inconceivable to me. I live my daydreams in music. ~ Albert Einstein
[A day at sea cruising to the Chilean Fjords . . . ]
There is no such thing in this country as equality before the law, and everyone knows it. ~ Michael Tomasky
[The view from our balcony . . . ]
The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance. ~ Thomas Paine
[Another view from our balcony . . . ]
It is permissible in English for a preposition to be what you end a sentence with. ~ Merriam-Webster publisher
[A view of the viewer from our balcony . . . ]
I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them. ~ Mitch McConnell
[Ahhh, the fresh morning air from our balcony . . . ]
The U.N. was not created to take mankind to heaven but to save humanity from hell. ~ Dag Hammarskjold
[Ultimately to become my desktop background . . . ]
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. ~ Judge Learned Hand
[Days at sea involve going to lectures and fine dining, both of which are good for the soul . . . ]
For what we do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn? ~ Jane Austen
[It’s always good to know where you are and where you’re going . . . ]
You’re on Earth. There’s no cure for that. ~ Samuel Beckett
[We’re not at where the yellow arrow is pointing . . . ]
A clown with a flamethrower still has . . . a flamethrower. ~ Charlie Sykes
[We’ll be here soon . . . ]
Men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus, (but politically) they increasingly inhabit what might as well be different planets. ~ Elizabeth Grace Matthew
Trump, who can’t help putting his name on things like a boy pissing his initials in the snow, is happy to claim responsibility for the tragedies and human rights violations we’ve seen since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in ‘Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization’. ~ Elie Mystal
What men in government – and it is mostly men – never seem to understand is that having a child changes a woman’s entire life, physically, emotionally, economically, professionally, and even sexually. ~ Katha Pollitt
[Enjoying lectures creates appetite . . . ]
Never underestimate the ability of the American right to promote outlandish lies: The litany of deception runs from weapons of mass destruction in the Iraq war to climate change denial, QAnon conspiracy theories, and anti-vaxxing pseudoscience. ~ Jeet Heer
[Only possible under the influence of dramamine (OK, normal seas have little influence on vessels this size, though the seas are more “normaler” on the Pacific side than the Atlantic) . . . ]
The unemployment rate is 3.7 percent. It has been under 4 percent for 24 consecutive months, a streak that has not been matched in more than half a century. ~ Dean Baker
[Meanwhile, back in the classroom . . . ]
[W]ages have risen more rapidly and are now higher when adjusted for inflation than before the pandemic. [T]he most rapid pay increases have been for those at the bottom end of the wage distribution spectrum. Much of the rise in inequality of the past four decades has been reversed in the past three years. ~ Dean Baker
[Differentiating Patagonia from Pampas . . . ]
One might reasonably expect Christians, including white evangelicals, would be a unifying, healing force in American society. Yet in the main, the white evangelical movement has for decades exacerbated our divisions, fueled hatreds and grievances, and turned fellow citizens into enemies rather than friends. ~ Peter Wehner
[In the broader sense of where we were . . . ]
Generations of have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell; the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. ~ Gerard Manley Hopkins
[We’ll get here by and by . . . ]
The conservation movement, born in the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, came late, but mercifully not too late to save what is left of our fauna and flora. ~ Edward O. Wilson
[Fine dining at the Viking Chef’s Table . . . ]
A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country. ~ Texas Guinan
[Pack in the dark, you match navy pants with a black sweater . . . ]
The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world. ~ Alexander von Humboldt
[Here’s our worldview . . . ]
Persons of genius, it is true, are, and are always likely to be, a small minority; but in order to have them, it is necessary to preserve the soil in which they grow. ~ John Stuart Mill
[May the first course be with you . . . ]
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. ~ Aesop
[Cheers for the entree . . . ]
Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~ Plato
[And a palate cleanser . . . ]
Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized. ~ Dalai Lama
[Must be the main course . . . ]
America’s national parks are “the best idea we ever had . . . ” ~ Wallace Stegner
. . . even though extinction rates are soaring, a great deal of Earth’s biodiversity can still be saved. ~ Edward O. Wilson
I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it. Suppose any party, in addition to whatever share it may possess of the ability of the community, has nearly the whole of its stupidity, that party must, by the law of its constitution, be the stupidest party; and I do not see why honorable gentlemen should see that position as at all offensive to them, for it ensures their being always an extremely powerful party . . . There is so much dense, solid force in sheer stupidity, that any body of able men with that force pressing behind them may ensure victory in many a struggle, and many a victory the Conservative party has gained through that power. ~ John Stuart Mill ( British philosopher, economist, and liberal member of Parliament for Westminster from 1865 to 68 )
[And the set menu for the evening . . . ]
Both teachers and learners go to sleep at their post as soon as there is no enemy in the field. ~ John Stuart Mill
Nature is wild, nature is ancient, nature is pure, this essentially American credo [conservation] declared, and nature should not be managed except to blunt the corroding effects of human interference. ~ Edward O. Wilson
[Here’s dessert to you . . . ]
Everything is everywhere, but the environment selects. ~ Lourens Bass Becking
[A little apres wine . . . ]
There is a new epoch for individuals over the age of 75. It’s called the Age of Major Surgeries. ~ Me
[Well, you’ll notice there were a few wine pairings on the menu . . . ]
Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music, and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays. ~ Henny Youngman
Memories are like mulligatawny soup in a cheap restaurant. It is best not to stir them. ~ P.G. Wodehouse
I never eat in a restaurant that’s over a hundred feet off the ground and won’t stand still. ~ Calvin Trillin
Up Next: Day 9 . . .
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