randomthoughts4

Oct 26, 2001

At the back of the noisy cafe
bent over a table sits an old man;
a newspaper in front of him, without company.

And in the scorn of his miserable old age
he ponders how little he enjoyed the years
when he had strength, and the power of the word, and good looks.

He knows he has aged much; he feels it, he sees it.
And yet the time he was young seems
like yesterday. How short a time, how short a time.

And he ponders how Prudence deceived him;
and how he always trusted her -- what a folly! --
that liar who said: "Tomorrow. There is ample time."

He remembers the impulses he curbed; and how much
joy he sacrificed. Evry lost chance
now mocks his senseless wisdom.

...But from so much thinking and remembering
the old man gets dizzy. And falls asleep
bent over the cafe table.

- Constantine P. Cavafy (1897)

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Oct 30, 2001

what we call the beginning
is often the end,

and to make an end is to
make a beginning.

the end is where we
start from.

the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive
where we start

...and know the place
for the first time.

- T. S. Elliot

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Oct 31, 2001

Learning is finding out what you already know
Doing is demonstrating that you know it
Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you

You are all learners, doers, teachers.

You teach best what you most need to learn.

Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.
You may have to work for it however.

Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there.
What you choose to do with them is up to you.

- Richard Bach (from Illusions - The adventures of a reluctant messiah)