James Baldwin - Poverty and Change

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."  Very true.

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor."  This is thought-provoking and contains many layers not first apparent. 

(James Baldwin, American novelist/author)

Muppet Wisdom

'Muppet' wisdom:  "Every day is the first day of what's left of your life."  (Wired magazine, "Better Living Through Science", November 2011, p. 169.) 

A twist on the usual adage.

Do I Look Okay?

“This is my face; get used to it.”  (Spoken by Annette Bening’s character in the movie, The Women as she walked through Saks Fifth Avenue and after a saleswoman said to her “face lift in a jar?”). 

I especially love this, considering that we (women and girls) are constantly bombarded with messages (apart from the Dove ads) that it's not okay to look real - to be natural - to look like ourselves.  If we are actually satisfied with how we look, well, we are simply delusional and would look so much better if we just had - pick one, or more - butt implants, cheek sculpting, collagen added to parts of our face and our lips, botox injections to remove frown lines and other wrinkles, a 'perfecting' face cream, vaginal surgery, our private parts fully waxed to remove all 'unsightly' hair, hair extensions, no grey hair, fake nails, bleached teeth, capped teeth, bleached skin, our tummy tucked, our thighs liposuctioned, and our breasts enlarged!  (Enough said?)

Omission Equals Oppression

  

Heard this on O’Reilly on Advertising (CBC Radio 1):  "Omission is a form of oppression".  This is very true.  During the show, O'Reilly was speaking about the experience of African-Americans - how they were ignored by advertisers - left out of advertising - and, that this omission was, in fact, a form of oppression.  There was also a case in Uganda concerning persons with albinism which also found this theory to be true.  And, I have personal experience with this form of oppression, so for me, it rings true.

Misplaced Surmising

I get very annoyed when people say that God doesn't give people more than they can handle.  Oh, really?  What's up with suicide, then, or with mental breakdown?

Pure rubbish, in my opinion.

Anonymous: Hiding

I have no intention of hiding from the world because others can't accept who I am.  (Anonymous)

A good strategy.

Knowing

"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment."  (Lao Tzu) 

From "Women's Infidelity II"

According to Michelle Langley, author of the above-noted book: "...in order for people to live on autopilot, they must be transfixed, or focused upon that which can never be attained. In our culture we are focused on the perpetuated belief that happiness can be achieved in the future by acquiring money and things as well as by finding the right mate and having children."

From the Movie, "Little Children"

I like this:  "It's a hunger for the alternative and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness."  (Spoken by Kate Winslet's character in the movie, Little Children.)

Who You Are

I saw this on someone's blog the other day:  "You are who you make up your mind to be."

I think that someone who suffers from psychosis or schizophrenia or bipolar disease would find this as patently false and objectionable as I do.

Grounds for Divorce

Okay, this one, I admit, is from a Chinese fortune cookie. 

"Man who serves wife bad coffee gives her grounds for divorce." 

Shakespeare on Love

From Much Ado About Nothing:  "Speak low if you speak love."

Emily Dickinson on Nature

Emily Dickinson once wrote, "How strange that nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude."

I think that people who have been through hurricanes or tornadoes would beg to differ.