"She cocks her head to one side, fixes one with her luminous almond eyes, furrows her brow into puzzlement and seems to say, 'I would understand you thoroughly if you could speak more clearly. And incidentally, have you got a biscuit on you?' "
~ Alec Guinness (1914 - 2000) British actor, Shakespearean roles.

The Quotable Dog Lover, Edited by Patricia Sherwood, Sterling Publishing, 2004.

Zeus visits the Bookstore
"Think I'll just kick-back here. . .Interesting gibberish."

Tranquillity ~ calmness, serenity

"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity."
~ Wm. Wordsworth (1770 - 1850) English poet.

"Sorrow is tranquillity remembered in emotion."
~ Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967) American critic, humorist.

"There ought to be moments of tranquillity in great works, as in life after the experience of passions, but not moments of disgust."
~ Voltaire (1694 - 1778) French writer, philosopher.

Source: Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press, 2001.

On Writing ~

Hemmingway won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. Five years earlier it had been awarded to another American novelist, William Faulkner. The two writers did not have a very high opinion of each other. Faulkner said of Hemingway that he had no courage, that "he had never been known to use a word that might send the reader to the dictionary. When Hemmingway heard this, he said, "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use."

~THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadman General Editor, 1985.

Living Consciously In The Moment ~
"Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars."
~ Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862) American author, poet, philosopher. Best known for his book Walden, Life in the Woods, a reflection on simple living ~ close to nature.

"...our lives unfold only in moments. If we are not fully present for many of those moments, we may not only miss what is most valuable in our lives but also fail to realize the richness and the depth of our possibilities for growth and transformation."
~ Jon Kabat~Zinn, (b. 1944.) Ph. D Molecular Biology. American Author, Wherever You Go There You Are, Hyperion, 1994.
Photo: Normandale, Norfolk County, Ontario. LWalker

To You And Yours ~ Happy New Year

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
and surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS:
We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary fit,
sin auld lang syne.
CHORUS:
We twa hae paidl d i' the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae
roar'd sin auld lang syne.
CHORUS:
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

~ Robert Burns, Scottish Poet (January 25, 1759 - July 21, 1796)

"Don't just do something, sit there!" "Don't just do something, sit there!""Mindfulness can also help us to appreciate feelings such as joy, peacefulness, and happiness which often go by fleetingly and unacknowledged. It is liberating... can free us from the ruts we often fall into."

Wishing you time to reflect, time to share ~ wishing you health and happiness in the new year.

"We tend to be particularly unaware that we are thinking virtually all the time. The incessant stream of thoughts flowing through our minds leaves us very little respite for inner quiet."

Mindfulness, living consciously, being aware not of the past or of the future~ solely of the moment, is empowering...because "paying attention in this way opens channels to deep reservoirs of creativity, intelligence, imagination, clarity, determination, choice, and wisdom within us."
~Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are, Hyperion, 1994. Also author of Full Catastrophe Living And Coming To Our Senses.

Photos: Home of Canadian author, Stephen Leacock. Lake Couchiching. lbwalker