O world, thou choosest not the better part!
It is not wisdom to be only wise,
And on the inward vision closes the eyes;
But it is wisdom to believe the heart.
Columbus found a world, and had no chart
Save one that faith deciphered in the skies;
To trust the soul's invincible surmise
Was all his science and his only art.
Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine
That lights the pathway but one step
That lights the pathway but one step ahead
Across a void of mystery and dread.
Bid, then, the tender light of faith to shine
By which alone the mortal heart is led
Unto the thinking of the thought divine.

~ George Santayana (1863 - 1952) b. in Spain, educated in U.S. Essayist, novelist, poet.

TREES

The Oak is called the King of Trees,
The Aspen quivers in the breeze,
The Poplar grows up straight and tall,
The Pear tree spreads along the wall,
The Sycamore gives pleasant shade,
The Willow droops in watery glade,
The Fir tree useful timber gives,
The Beech amid the forest lives.

~ Sara Coleridge (1802 - 1952) English poet, translator, DICK KING-SMITH'S COUNTRYSIDE TREASURY, Illustrated by Christian Birmingham. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 1998.

Reminder:  Today the literary group meets in the bookshop 1:00 p.m.  For the August meet, we bring an item or topic of our own.  This is an entertaining, informal round-table discussion.  Come for a while or come for the afternoon!  "Coffee pot's always on..."
[We recommend that you park in front of the bookshop only if travelling east.  Otherwise, there is parking along Cayuga Street in the downtown business section.]

 

Grand ~ York, ON

"To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of the sun on blue water.  It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week.  And it is discipline in the equality of men ~ for all men are equal before fish."

~ Herbert Hoover (Aug. 10, 1874 - Oct. 20, 1964)  President of U.S. (1929-1933)

On Writing ~

"Recording happiness made it last longer, we felt, and recording sorrow dramatized it and took away its bitterness;  and often we settled some problem which beset us even while we wrote about it."
Dorothy Day (1897-1980) American activist

"People who keep journals live life twice.  Having written something down gives you the opportunity to go back to it over and over, to remember and relive the experience."
~ Jessamyn West (1907-1984) American writer

"We are drawn toward journals out of a craving for the authentic, for the uncensored word and thought."
~ Mark Rudman, b. 1948, American writer

"Writing is a form of therapy, sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in a human situation."
~Graham Greene,  (1904-1991) British writer

"One truth discovered, one pang of regret at not being able to express it, is better than all the fluency and flippancy in the world."

~ Wm. Hazlitt (177-1830) English writer

 

 



"Writing is an escape from a world that crowds me.  I like being alone in a room.  It's almost always a form of meditation ~ an investigation of my own life."
~ Neil Simon (b. 1927)  American dramatist

"The chief utility of the journal intime is to restore the integrity of the mind and the equilibrium of the conscience, that is, inner health."
~ H. F. Amiel (1821 - 1881) Swiss writer, philosopher, poet

"I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart."
~ Anne Frank (1929-1945) Dutch diarist

Third Thursday of every month in the bookshop we are entertained by a lively literary group.  The month of August is when we bring something of our own that would be of interest to the group.  It might be that family heirloom.  It might be that signed first edition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez ~

Whatever the topic or item, we guarantee a round-table discussion!

See you on Thursday. August 21, 1:00 p.m.

"Everyone welcome ~ coffee pot's always on..."

[If you are publishing a book ~ great time to put it on display.  We will designate a table for local authors.]