Reflections and Aphorisms

"Perhaps all of us are eligible for acts of heroism if the spark comes at the right time to set aglow the impulse. Heroism is not made, some tragedy finds it out. Like gold, it is uncovered." - Carnegie Hero Fund Commission

" then mind needs stories as much as the body needs food." David l roy, the world of stories

We do not suffer because we are in pain. We suffer because something has gone wrong with out story- wrong rnough that it threatens the structure of our narration

-Peter Hershock

Brian Andreas:

She kept asking if the stories were true

I kept asking her if it mattered

We finally gave up

She was looking for a 0place to stand

and I wanted a place to fly

Among animals its eat or be eaten

Among humans, its define or be defined.

Serious fiction writers think about moral problems practically.../ they evoke our common humanity, tThey stimulate our imagination. Th stories they tell enarge and complicate and therefore improve our sympathies. They educate our capacity for moral judgment Susan Sontag

"Teaching holds a mirror to the soul" - The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer

"That's what learning is, you understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way." - Doris Lessing

"identity politics should expand our idea of what it is to be human.

Identity itself should be not a smug label or a gold medal,

but a revolution."

"We weren't training to be artists but angels"

"it took identity to rescue me from sadness"

“You need to take the trauma as and make them part of who you’ve come to be and you need to fold the worst events of your life to a narrative of triumph evincing a better self in response to things that hurt.”

“We don’t seek the painful experiences that hew our identities but we seek our identities in wake of painful experiences. We cannot bear a pointless torment but we can endure a great pain if we believe it’s purposeful.”

"if you create a more fulfilling future, you will find it easier to forget about your past" - Goulston, Goldberg

"The greatest reward for our hard work is not what we will get, but what we will become." Rockefeller

"A truly happy person is one who is able to enjoy his creation. Those who relive sponges who only takes without giving will lose happiness.in my opinion it does not come from wealthy blood not from a luxurious lifestyle, but from a luxurious character- the spirit of self reliance. Only by looking at noble people who have won the respect of the world exhibit charisma wherever they g,we will the n know the worth of independence." Rockefeller

“The kindness that allowed me to trust in people and the basic goodness off the world could not be measured in dollars; they were paid for rather in hugs and ice cream cones and help with homework.” - Peter buffet

"Education should make us humble in the face of all things we don't yet know. It should make us patient to learn more." - Peter Buffet

"Education is a privilege.. and Im not thinking of only book learning, but education in the broadest sense.Im talking about exposure to and involvement in a wide world filled with diverse people from many cultures -the kind of education that deepens our understanding and engages our empathy." Peter Buffet.

"Good teachers, in any field do far more than convey information, they pass along something of themselves."

"Diversity is the spice of life. our ability to embrace diversity makes our own lives richer. conversely, whenever we fall victim to prejudice or unadmitted bias, we make our own lives smaller and poorer. you don't believe that women are the equal of men in the work place? well, your world just shrunk in half. you have a problem with gay people? You just deprived yourself 10% of the population, you're not comfortable with black people? latinos? you get my drift. keep giving into intolerance a nd eventually your world contatains no one but you and a few people who look like you and think like you. it gets to resemble a small snooty and earthy duo country clu?P is that a world worth living in?" Peter Buffet

"Education should make us humble in the face of all things we don't yet know. It should make us patient to learn more." - Peter Buffet.

"Education is the fulfillment of curiosity."

Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it, shows there are still more pages possible” Robert Henri, Art Spirit

"The mi d is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven" - John Milton, Paradise Lost 1

“ I would put all the world into light and shade, bring life to all the wide and entire world. It did not seem an impossible thing to do ” Asher as a young boy

My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok page 39

“The guilt should not interfere with your art. Use the guilt to make a better art.” Khan,Asher Lev’s first tutor at age 12

My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok page 208.

“When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature. He becomes interesting to other people. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and he opens ways for a better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying to close the book, he opens it, shows there are still more pages possible.”

"You can do anything you want to what is rare?

Is this actual wanting to do a specific thing wanting to get so much that you’re practically blind to all other things

that nothing else will satisfy you.” Art spirit

“We are not here to do what has already been done.” Robert Henri, Art Spirit pg 16

"A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell when his influence stops." -Henry Adams

“You have to make up your mind to be alone in many ways. We like sympathy and we like to be in company. It is easier than going it alone. But alone one gets acquainted with himself, grows up and on, not stopping with the crowd. It costs to do this. If you succeed somewhat you may have to pay for it as well as enjoy it all your life.”

"He had always been a dancer.,. Music didn't matter, he loved them all..

He would close his eyes with a blissful smile and begin to move to his own sense of rhythm.

It wasn't always pretty. But then, he didn't worry about a partner. Morrie danced by himself"

page 5. Tuesdays with Morrie.

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound do to something else.

Something hurts you , yet you know it shouldn't . You take certain things for granted, even when you know you shouldn't take anything for granted.

A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle.'

'Sounds like a wrestling match' I say... 'So which side wins,' I ask? ....

He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth 'Love wins, love always wins." -

page 40 Tuesdays with Morrie.

"The way you get meaning into your life is to devote your self into loving others,

devote yourself into the community around you, and devote yourself into

creating something that gives you purpose and meaning"

page 43 Tuesdays with Morrie

"All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why," attributed to James Thurber

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." page 82 Tuesdays with Morrie

"It's also important that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it." page 118 Tuesdays with Morrie

"If you're trying to show off for people are the top forget it,

They will look down on you anyhow,

And if you're trying to show off for people the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you.

Status will get you nowhere.

Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone."

page 128 Tuesdays with Morrie

Not gold, but only man can make

A people great and strong

Men who, for truth and honor's sake

Stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep

Who dare while others fly

They uilf a nation's deep and life them to the sky

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some people, more than others, inspire us to believe in the human capacity for greatness of thought and action.

They are the seekers of truth.

They stand fast for truth and honor's sake.

They are the followers of the dream.

They sail straight into chaos untried.

They dare to face the hisses.

They take on great burdens and bear them well.

Original.

They go forth with gifts.

They live greatly.

They are our nation's strength.

"Say nothing and the roar of your silence will echo throughout all generations to come.." Karen Tallman
"I'm the same, only I hardly remember who I used to be. Especially my heart, which now has parts I didn't even know existed before." - Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood
"We have to start from the ground up and reconsider what education is. In my language, I'd like to see us educate the soul, and not just the mind. The result would be a person who could be in this world creatively, make good friendships, live in a place he loved, do work that is rewarding and make a contribution to the community." - Thomas Moore 2001
"When we truly start to love, language becomes an embellishment, not a barrier" - Kate Ye
"The storm took everything, but it left me a reason to rebuild."
"And s o I have a past that is rich in memories. I have a present that is challenging, adventurous and fun because I am allowed to spend my days with the future" - John Schlatter
“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
"We are all a little broken, but that’s how the light gets in" - Wild Robot
"Sometimes to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be."Wild Robot
"Time heals, language mends. And together, they both blossom into something beautiful- like a flower, creating new appreciation for life." _ Kate Ye
Life is good when you don't take it too seriously. The world is a beautiful place." - Keanu Reeves
"Language is the best show man puts on" - Whorf
"A change in language can transform our appreciation for the cosmos" - Whorf
"It's not about who we are, it's about the choices we make" Mitja Okorn
"No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful." Man without a Country Vonnegut
"She lived and died for her art because for her it wasn't just about fame; it was about imparting a legacy of change." - Katie Gee Salisbury, on Anna May Wong - "Not Your China Doll."
"Qui tacet, consentire vidtur." (He who is silent agrees)
The rhythm of life is made up of the love we breathe into it. And so, the music of life begins when we start to love again. - Kate Ye
Leave People Better Than You Found Them - H. Allen
"And for the first time in my life, I felt like an outsider in Middletown. And what turned me into an alien was my optimism." JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy pg 195
Virtue is a type of gem that will never lose its glitter no matter where it goes.
See God in everything - C. Settles
The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.– Federico Fellini
"It's not technology that makes history, but the people who invented it." Professor Ferdinand Porsche
"If one does not often make mistakes, then one has not challenged oneself enough.
"In the beginning I looked around and could not find quite the car I dreamed of, so I decided to build it myself." Prof. Porsche
"Being an American is all about choices. About choices, this I believe, that life is not determined by the person one is, but the things one does." Charlie S.
“I'm an American, nothing is impossible"
"The essence of America - that which really unites us - is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion - it is an idea - and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things."
"Education is transformational. It changes lives. That is why people work so hard to become educated and why education has always been the key to the American Dream, the force that erases arbitrary divisions of race and class and culture and unlocks every person's God-given potential.” ― Condoleezza Rice
we cant erase our past, but we can write our future.
children are like a blank canvas. why darken them with clouds of worry when you can be the light?

What is the American Dream?

https://writingourfuture.nwp.org/americancreed/responses/1142-what-is-the-american-dream #AmericanCreedPBS

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