“A strange strand of eternal pathos runs through dreams which comes from the very loom of life itself. Dreams are, if I may so express it, like life only more so. Dreams, like life, are full of nobility and joy utterly arbitrary and incalculable. We have gratitude, but never certainty.”
G.K. Chesterton, “The Meaning of Dreams,” reprinted in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 8 #4 (Jan.-Feb. 2005)
“We must realize that human nature is about the most constant thing in the universe and that the essentials of human relationship do not change.”
Calvin Coolidge, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1925
“An egotist is a man who thinks that if he hadn’t been born, people would have wondered why.”
Dan Post, quoted on https://www.hound-dog-media.com
“It’s funny, he thought. I’m always sure things are going to turn out badly, and, damn it, they usually do.”
Tom Rath's internal monologue in Sloan Wilson The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit
“Maturity is knowing when to be immature"
Greg Hall, not otherwise identified, quoted in a reader-submitted "Thought du Jour" in their contest seeking same, in Globe & Mail Oct. 31, 2002
“when people do not have a satisfactory narrative to generate a sense of purpose and continuity, a kind of psychic disorientation takes hood, followed by a frantic search for something to believe in or, probably worse, a resigned conclusion that there is nothing to find…. There is even one group… who, looking ahead, see a field of wonders encapsulated in the phrase ‘the information superhighway.’ They are information junkies, have no interest in narratives of the past, give little thought to the question of purpose…. Such people have no hesitation in speaking of building a bridge to the new century. But to the question ‘What will we carry across the bridge?’ they answer, ‘What else but high-definition TV, virtual reality, e-mail, the Internet, cellular phones, and all the rest that digital technology has produced?’ These, then, are the hollow men Eliot spoke of.”
Neil Postman Building a Bridge to the 18th Century
“The things I like arguing about are absolute things; whether a proof is logical or whether a practice is just.”
G.K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News Dec. 17, 1927, quoted in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 11 #4 (Jan.-Feb. 2008)
"Extreme pessimism is a luxury that only the very young can afford. As you become older, pessimism becomes much more spiritually expensive, and you don’t indulge in it unless you are really convinced of what you’re saying. When you’re a 25-year-old, it looks good to say that life is just a can of worms. When you’re 55, it’s not as funny. You’ve seen a few worms by that time."
Robertson Davies, quoted as "Thought du jour" in "Social Studies" in Globe & Mail Oct. 12, 2005