Commitment

He sat at the bank of the marsh
given to musing much of late.
Octogenarian, he but sound of mind,
stiff of joint and slow of gait,
but worth the trip to see the birds.
Birds of the marsh - there only seen.
A roll of thunder, the winds increase.
Enthralled by swaying of the reeds
as if a symphony of motion
directed by an unseen hand.
He stayed, watched and closer looked.
All reeds did not behave the same.
Some freely bent, some stood up straight.
If not to bend they'd surely break
he thought and wondered why
they would not bend and thus survive
this storm and live another day.
There weren't many, they were few,
the reeds that chose to stand up straight.
They seemed defiant strong and proud,
some sense of honor and of pride,
fierce determination - resolute,
some fixed purpose, a kind of cause.
And then the old man laughed aloud
to think these sticks had mind and soul.
Drops trickled down his wrinkled face,
a tear pehaps but mostly rain.
And then he rose and wondered why
he'd stayed so long as he had seen
the storm was clearly on the way.
One last look as he turned to go
and took a few steps back.
Over his shoulder he could see
one standing tall and strong
as if to say
break me if you think you can!
(rht - 10/6/1995)

Billy Wilder

"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else's."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Facts are not truths; they are not conclusions; they are not even premisses, but in the nature and parts of premisses."

Robert Frost

He was America's favorite twentieth-century poet immortalizing the climate, character, and spirit of New England with his images of woods on a snowy evening and roads that diverge in a yellow wood. He won the pulitzer Prize four times and served as a goodwill ambassador for the United States. He wrote a poem to read at the inauguaration of President John Kennedy, but when the sun was too bright for his failing eyes, he recited "The Gift Outright" from memory.

Challenges

Challenges have always been a part of my life - some thrust upon me, others I have even sought. I have found them irresistible. When I view a great painting I want to paint; when I read a great poem I want to write. And so I have plunged into many endeavors whether I had the talent or not. Some of you have seen my painting efforts. Next week, if I can find it and don't lose my nerve, I will post a writing I did several years ago. At the least, my creative efforts have given me a greater appreciation of those gifted with artistic talent.

Franz Kafka

"Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old."

Billy Wilder

"You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning."

William James

"Every time a resolve or fine glow of feeling evaporates without bearing fruit, it is worse than a chance lost; it works to hinder future emotions from taking the normal path of discharge."

Joseph Conrad

Polish born, he served in the English merchant marine for twenty years and learned English so well he became a master stylist. He did not adopt English, he said "It was I who was adopted by the genius of the language." He wrote of ships and seamen, but calling him a spinner of sea stories is like saying Michelangelo was an interior decorator. His best book "Lord Jim" is about a seaman who makes a life-haunting mistake. His adventure tales are about big themes - love, death, redemption.

Vignettes (Age - Desire)

6 - to be a star athelete (starting school - first grade)
16 - to be popular with the girls (high school)
26 - to gain victory WWII (Captain US Army)
36 - to avoid Korean War (Production Supt. Du Pont)
46 - to defeat organized labor's attempt to unionize Du Pont
(Employee Relations Supt. Du Pont - successful)
56 - to retire soon to rural Indiana
66 - to write to pass on thoughts to my family (essays)
76 - to build funds to pass on to my family (stock market)
86 - (trying to survive without my Ruthie)
96 - (you have to be kidding!)

Alexarder Pope

This twisted little 18th century English poet, whose brilliant mind transcended his physical disability, left us this admonition:
"A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring.
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again."

Senior Moment

When the famously distracted Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdos met a colleague at a conference, he asked the other man where he was from. "Vancouver", he replied. "Oh then you must know my good friend Elliot Medelson" Erdos remarked. His colleague gave him a funny look. "I AM your good friend Elliot Medelson."

Thornton Wilder

"My advise to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just to enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate."

Thornton Wilder

"A sense of humor judges one's actions and the actions of others from a wider reference---it pardons shortcomings; it consoles failure. It recommends moderation."

Dennis Diderot (1713-1784)

This French philosopher was one of the most original thinkers of his time. He is best known for his "Encyclopedie", twenty-eight voluumes which were printed in forty-three editions, the most important publication of the century. It had a profound influence on thought during Europe.s Age of Enlightment. He had an insatiable appetite for ideas, saying "I let my mind rove wantonly, give it free rein to follow any idea, wise or mad, that may come uppermost."

Helen Keller

"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain."

Johaan von Goethe

"Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though it were his own."

Francis Drake

Mr. Mission Impossible for Queen Elizabeth I. Imagine this: "Good morning Mr. Drake. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to keep England independent by defeating the Spanish Armada and taking their treasure. If you or any member of your force is caught or killed, the Queen will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct in ten seconds."
Drake destroyed the Armada and, with the wealth he captured from the Spaniards, the Queen was able to repay her entire foreign debt, accomplishing the mission of keeping England independent.

Andy Rooney

"Age is nothing but experience and some of us are more experienced than others."

Winston Churchill

"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time."

Dorothy Parker

Once at a dinner party, "Dorothy, seated next to Somerset Maugham, found herself feeling uncharacteristically intimidated and thought that 'whenever I meet one of these Britishers I feel as if I have a papoose on my back.' When Maugham proposed she compose a poem for him, she cheerfully agreed to perform. A paper and pencil were requested and Dorothy wrote:
Higgledy Piggledy, my white hen;
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
That was very nice Maugham said. He had always liked those lines. Giving him a cool smile, she completed the verse:
You cannot persuade her with gun or lariat
To come across for the proletariat.
Maugham chuckled with delight.
(from the biography by Marion Meade)

Goethe

"We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves ; otherwise we harden."

Johaann WolfgangVon Goethe (1749-1832)

A lifetime of metamorphoses took this colosus of German literature from the turbulence of early romanticism to the serenity of classicism. He said "I am like a snake. I slough my skin and start fresh." His fame rests largely on the poetic drama "Faust", the product of sixty years of meditation. It inspired novelist Thomas Mann and composer Richard Wagner.

Helen Keller

"To keep our faces toward change, and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate, is strength undefeatable."

A Vignette

Once when I was young and sorely pressed for funds, I found a ten dollar bill on the sidewalk - that was a lot of money in those days. Coincidence? Serendipity?
That's when I first had the feeling that somebody is looking out for me.

Judy Kisailus

"My father once told me that by the time he was seven, he had stopped drinking coffee, and smoking cigarettes. It cracks me up to think he had given up his bad habits by the age of seven. My dad - the infantile delinquent.
(from Tim Russert's "Wisdom of Our Fathers)

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Music loving George Bernard Shaw wrote "The thing that marks him out from all the others, is his disturbing quality, his power of unsettling us and imposing his giant moods on us." Some of Beethoven's mightiest symphonies, concertos, and chamber works were written in the throes of a cruel deafness.

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason."

Rembrant Harmenszoon Van Rijn (1606-1669)

In 1947 Rembrant's masterpiece "The Nightwatch" underwent cleaning. As centuries of grit were lifted, curators discovered it was actually a daylight scene. Experts agree he was a master of "chiaroscuro", the effect of the play of light and dark in a scene. In all he produced 600 paintings, 300 etchiings, and thousands of drawings. With his brilliant technique he has influenced artists through centuries.