22 Feb Circa Survive
"The difference between medicine and poison is in the dose." Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing....
16 Feb Ross Levin
"Everyone is interesting if you listen to them." ...
21 Jan Edward Abbey
"Of course I litter the public highway. After all, it's not the beer cans that are ugly; it's the highway that is ugly."...
20 Jan Courtesy of Alan Glickman
A woman, without her man, is nothing. A woman, without her, man is nothing. Together, they are one and can turn into many. Apart, they both with be nothing. ...
11 Jan Antiquities dealer in Jerusalem
Some 25 years back, in the “old city” section of Jerusalem, I stepped into a shop selling antiquities. As I looked at various objects in glass cases, the owner of the shop introduced himself and said he’d been an antiquities dealer for more than fifty years, had dealt in very fine and desirable objects and was sure he had something I'd like. I told him I’d been collecting antiquities for some time and wanted to look around. He then asked: “What are you looking for.” I replied: “I don’t know what I’m looking for until I find it.” To which he said: “In that case, you’re looking for nothing.” While not apparent to me at the time, ultimately he was right. Now, after many years of collecting antiquities and tribal art and generally living to pursue personal desires, eureka: nothing. Looking for nothing, desiring nothing; not because I have everything, but as I am the everything....
08 Jan Penn Tanenbaum
I told my six year old grandson, Penn, that a friend of mine is expecting to die of terminal illness in the spring. Penn said: “Your friend is lucky.” I asked: “Why lucky?” Penn said: “They are not dying now.” No one is getting out of here alive. We are all dying; some slowly, some suddenly. No point in worrying about it, but best not to forget about it....
31 Dec Yogi Berra
"The future ain’t what it used to be." Our attitudes form the future....
30 Dec The Icelander
"The best place is wherever you are; from wherever you are you can experience everything." Iceland is well-known as the place to be on New Year's Eve, having the greatest display of individual and collective fireworks. I once asked an Icelander where is the best place in Iceland to be on New Year's Eve. His reply was the quote above....
28 Dec Easy Work
Work is something we do that benefits others and for which others pay us to do. Some aspects of work tax our time and energy and other aspects are engaging and enjoyable which makes the work energizing. Best to do the enjoyable work and get others to do the work that's taxing to us but hopefully not to them. My career was running a hedge fund. I worked 80+ hours a week, though it didn't feel like work. It was fun in good times and bad; maybe because I had a salesman, traders, analysts and an accountant on staff doing the work I had little interest in doing; or maybe because the fund was successful which allowed me and the workers to enjoy ourselves when not working....
27 Dec Heaven and Hell
Once upon a time there were twin sisters. They came from a good family, married well, had good children and lived happily ever after. Their lives were nearly identical but for one thing. One sister, Mary, was promiscuous and the other sister, Judith, was religious, adhering to a strict moral code. Everyone in their town knew Mary as "Mattress Mary" as it seemed she slept with everyone. Often, on hot evenings when people kept their windows open to let in the cool air, you knew in whose flat Mary was as she wailed "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." While Mary was howling, Judith was quietly praying to God to forgive her sister. When they were done living happily ever after, it was their time to go to the hereafter where God determined which sister would go to heaven and which to hell. I don't know the mind of God and whom he sent where, but I know that Mary came from heaven and Judith came from hell. The moral of this story is that "where is God to be found? In the place where He is given entry." -- Kotzker Rebbe....