Yes. This.

"A problem is just a problem because we think of it that way. Stuff happens. If we don’t like the stuff, we label it a problem and try to jam the world back into the way it was going before. If we do like the stuff, we label it an opportunity and try to take advantage of it. The difference between a problem and an opportunity is what we do with it, not what it is to begin with." ~ Stever Robinson, The Get-It-Done Guy

Quote Junkie: On Communication

Do not speak unless you can improve on the silence.
~ Spanish Proverb

Noise proves nothing -
often a hen who has merely laid an egg,
cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.
~ Mark Twain

Two monologues do not make a dialogue.
~ Jeff Daly

The trouble with talking too fast
is you may say something you haven't thought of yet.
~ Ann Landers

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place
but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
~ Dorothy Nevill

It is better to keep one's mouth shut
and be thought a fool
than to open it and resolve all doubt.
~ Abraham Lincoln

Isn't it surprising how many things, if not said immediately,
seem not worth saying ten minutes from now?
~ Arnot L. Sheppard, Jr.

One of the lessons of history
is that nothing is often a good thing to do
and always a clever thing to say.
~ Will Durant

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say,
abstains from giving evidence of the fact.
~ George Eliot

Calvin: Sometimes when I'm talking,
my words can't keep up with my thoughts.
I wonder why we think faster than we speak.
Hobbes: Probably so we can think twice.
~ Bill Watterson

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge;
argument an exchange of ignorance.
~ Robert Quillen

If everybody thought before they spoke,
the silence would be deafening.
~ George Barzan

The only valid censorship of ideas
is the right of people not to listen.
~ Tommy Smothers

The right to be heard does not automatically include
the right to be taken seriously.
~ Hubert H. Humphrey

Whenever two good people argue over principles,
they are both right.
~ Marie Ebner von Eschenbach

Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought, and not,
as many of those who worry most about their shortcomings believe,
an eloquent exhibition of wit or oratory.
~ Emily Post

The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change. Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choices words lose their power when they are used to overpower. Attitudes are the real figures of speech. ~ Edwin H. Friedman

Quote Junkie: On Writing

Welcome to the latest edition of Quote Junkie, wherein I further reveal my geeky obsession with the power and beauty of the written word. Fellow bloggers may be able to relate to today's theme ...

"Writing a novel is like making love, but it's also like having a tooth pulled. Pleasure and pain. Sometimes it's like making love while having a tooth pulled." ~ Dean Koontz

"If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster." ~ Isaac Asimov

"A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing." ~ Eugene Ionesco

"Writing makes no noise, except groans, and it can be done everywhere, and it is done alone." ~ Ursula K. LeGuin

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." ~ Cyril Connolly

"We do not write because we want to; we write because we have to." ~ Somerset Maugham

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~ Red Smith

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader." ~ Robert Frost

"Writing is the flip side of sex – it's good only when it's over." ~ Hunter S. Thompson

"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards." ~ Robert A. Heinlein 

"If you are pointing out one of the things a story is about, then you are very probably right; if you are pointing out the only thing a story is about you are very probably wrong - even if you're the author." ~ Neil Gaiman

"Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors." ~ Rhys Alexander

"Resist the temptation to try to use dazzling style to conceal weakness of substance." ~ Stanley Schmidt

"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action." ~ William Shakespeare

"When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand." ~ Raymond Chandler

"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in shock-proof shit-detector." ~ Ernest Hemingway

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any." ~ Orson Scott Card

"The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story." ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

"There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you." ~ Zora Neale Hurston

Quote Junkie: Thus do we refute entropy

The Real World: Venus vs. Mars is running a post from my archives today about clutter and compatibility ... stop by and leave your two cents, won't you?





Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...

Quote junkie strikes again! I'm in a Spider Robinson kind of mood. If you’ve been to Callahan’s Place, you’ll probably recognize some of these. If you’ve never been to Callahan’s … I’m sorry.

Shared pain is lessened, shared joy increased, thus do we refute Entropy.

Never attribute to malice, that which can be reasonably explained by stupidity.

A beginning is the end of something, always.

Anger is just fear dressed in drag.

… in love, never settle … value yourself first and this will help you to value others … life is short, so enjoy it to the fullest … everyone in the world is different, and that’s ok ...

Sometimes I think I must have a Guardian Idiot. A little invisible spirit just behind my shoulder, looking out for me ... only he's an imbecile.

"Rupture" occurs when you think you are in the middle of a conversation with someone...and suddenly discover that you've merely been making noises at each other, that there is a previously unsuspected chasm between you.

...one of the secret masters of the world: A librarian. They control information. Don't ever piss one off.

And I repeat: if there is anything that can divert the land of my birth from its current stampede into the Stone Age, it is the widespread dissemination of the thoughts and perceptions that Robert Heinlein has been selling as entertainment since 1939.

Science fiction is the only genre I've discovered that assumes there's going to be a future.

If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron.

The delusion that one's sexual pattern is The Only Right Way To Be is probably the single most common sexual-psychosis syndrome of this era, and it is virtually almost always the victim's fault. You cannot acquire this delusion by observing reality.

This is what it is to be human: to see the essential existential futility of all action, all striving -- and to act, to strive. This is what it is to be human: to reach forever beyond your grasp. This is what it is to be human: to live forever or die trying. This is what it is to be human: to perpetually ask the unanswerable questions, in the hope that the asking of them will somehow hasten the day when they will be answered. This is what it is to be human: to strive in the face of the certainty of failure. This is what it is to be human: to persist.

Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increase - thus do we refute entropy.

Just as there are Laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed.
But one can be converted into the other.

Quote Junkie: Don't Panic!

Yes, I am at Disneyland today celebrating my birthday.

BUT, I couldn't let the day pass without acknowledging another special birthday. So, via the magic of modern technology, while I frolic with Mickey and pals, you get to enjoy some wit and wisdom from the late, great Douglas Adams, with whom I am proud to share a birthday ...
"DON'T PANIC."

"The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate."
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
"In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were REAL men, women were REAL women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were REAL small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri."

"He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife."

"What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer."

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair."

"We have normality. I repeat, we have normality. anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem."

"Man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much... the wheel, New York, wars, and so on, whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely the dolphins believed themselves to be more intelligent than man for precisely the same reasons."
I'd far rather be happy than right any day." (Slartibartfast)

“There is a theory which states that if ever for any reason anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”

"Shee, you guys are so unhip it's a wonder your bums don't fall off." (Zaphod)

"If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now." (Zaphod Beeblebrox)

The Guide, on towels:

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have ... any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

Calvin's Snowmen!

I am a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan. For me, it just wouldn't be the holidays without a nod to Calvin and his brilliant snow creations.

I usually pull out the ol' analog copies for a reminisce to really get my holiday geek on. But this year - thanks to my bestest blogging buddy over at Smokey Acres - I have e-versions I can share! :)

Happy Holidays!

Quote Junkie: On Bunny Slippers and the Human Condition

A collection of quotes from one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz:

“Some people think only intellect counts: Knowing how to solve problems, knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy.”

“One of the greatest sorrows of human existence is that some people aren't happy to merely be alive but find their happiness only in the misery of others.”

“We are an arrogant species, full of terrible potential, but we also have a great capacity for love, friendship, generosity, kindness, faith, hope, and joy.”

“Do as little harm to others as you can; make any sacrifice for your true friends; be responsible for yourself and ask nothing of others; and grab all the fun you can. Don't give much thought to yesterday, don't worry about tomorrow, live in the moment, and trust that your existence has meaning even when the world seems to be all blind chance and chaos. When life lands a hammer blow in your face, do your best to respond to the hammer as if it had been a cream pie. Sometimes black humor is the only kind we can summon, but even dark laughter can sustain.”

“When tempest tossed, embrace chaos.”

“Like all of us in this storm between birth and death, I can wreak no great changes on the world, only small changes for the better, I hope, in the lives of those I love.”

“Human beings can always be relied upon to exert, with vigor, their God-given right to be stupid.”

“A fanatic is a nut who has something to believe in.”

“I think it's perfectly just to refuse service to anyone based on behavior, but not based on race or religion.”

“I try not to spend too much time on partisan politics. Life's too short for that. I don't really believe that there have been many human problems solved by politics.”

"I'd give Charles Darwin videotapes of 'Geraldo,' 'Beavis and Butt-head' and 'The McLaughlin Group.' I would be interested in seeing if he still believes in evolution."

“In my books, I never portray violence as a reasonable solution to a problem. If the lead characters in the story are driven to it, it's at the extreme end of their experience.”

“Writing a novel is like making love, but it's also like having a tooth pulled. Pleasure and pain. Sometimes it's like making love while having a tooth pulled.”

“Six billion of us walking the planet, six billion smaller worlds on the bigger one. Shoe salesmen and short-order cooks who look boring from the outside - some have weirder lives than you. Six billion stories, every one an epic, full of tragedy and triumph, good and evil, despair and hope. You and me - we aren't so special, bro.”

"I believe that we carry within us a divinely inspired moral imperative to love ... We have within us the ability to change for the better and to find dignity as individuals rather than as drones in one mass movement or another. We have the ability to love, the need to be loved, and the willingness to put our own lives on the line to protect those we love, and it is in these aspects of ourselves that we can glimpse the face of God; and through the exercise of these qualities, we come closest to a Godlike state."

“Bunny slippers remind me of who I am. You can't get a swelled head if you wear bunny slippers. You can't lose your sense of perspective and start acting like a star or a rich lady if you keep on wearing bunny slippers. Besides, bunny slippers give me confidence because they're so jaunty. They make a statement; they say, 'Nothing the world does to me can ever get me so far down that I can't be silly and frivolous.' If I died and found myself in Hell, I could endure the place if I had bunny slippers.”

Quote Junkie: Grok it?

From the desk of Zen The Quote Junkie ... a few of my favorites from Robert Heinlein:

"Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other sins are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful - just stupid.)"

"There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know. So why fret about it?"

"If it can’t be expressed in figures, it is not science; it is opinion."

"Nursing does not diminish the beauty of a woman’s breasts; it enhances their charm by making them look lived in and happy."

"If you don’t like yourself, you can’t like other people."

"Of all the strange “crimes that human beings have legislated out of nothing, 'blasphemy' is the most amazing--with 'obscenity' and 'indecent exposure' fighting it out for second and third place."

"Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a God superior to themselves. Most Gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child."

"A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe."

"Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How’s that again? I missed something."

"Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let’s play that over again, too. Who decides?"

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!"

"The most preposterous notion that H. Sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all of history.

The second most preposterous notion is that copulation is inherently sinful."

"A competent and self confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity."

"One man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering. “Supernatural” is a null word."

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity!"

"The more you love, the more you can love--and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had Time Enough, he could Love all of the majority who are decent and just."

Quote Junkie: Wisdom from the Dalai Lama

If you know me, you know I am a quote a junkie. I like that they make me think.

Today, I feel like thinking on this selection of wisdom from one of my favorite Nobel Peace Prize winners, H.H. The Dalai Lama:

If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.

We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.

Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, “I am of no value”, is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought - so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.

We must recognize that the suffering of one person or one nation is the suffering of humanity. That the happiness of one person or nation is the happiness of humanity.

Through violence, you may ’solve’ one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

As people alive today, we must consider future generations: a clean environment is a human right like any other. It is therefore part of our responsibility toward others to ensure that the world we pass on is as healthy, if not healthier, than we found it.

There is a saying in Tibetan, “Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.”No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.

The creatures that inhabit this earth-be they human beings or animals-are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each one of us individually. Peace, for example, starts with each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighbouring communities, and so on. When we feel love and kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. And there are ways in which we can consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness. For some of us, the most effective way to do so is through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment we live in seriously.

The Emperor's Club

I saw a wonderful movie a while back: "The Emperor's Club" starring Kevin Kline, who I happen to think is a fabulous actor. I highly recommend that everyone watch this movie. It is based on the book "The Palace Thief" and it has a great message.

For those who have not seen it, it is the story of an ancient history teacher - Mr. Hundert - at a boy's school in the late 1960s. He believes that it is the teacher's job not just to inform his students, but to mold their character.

Here are a few of the ideas he tries to impart to his students:

"Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but STUPID lasts forever." ~ (attributed to Aristophanes)

"It is not living that is important, but living rightly" ~ (attributed to Socrates)

"Great ambition and conquest, without contribution, is without significance. What will be your contribution? How will history remember you?" ~ Mr. Hundert

"As I have grown older, I realized that I am certain of only two things: Any morning that begins rowing on the lake is better that one that doesn't, and, a man's character is his fate." ~ Mr. Hundert

"A worth of a life is not measured by a single success or a solitary failure." ~ Mr. Hundert