"Those who never risk themselves, never fully become themselves."
-- Alexandra Saperstein
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend
If you haven't heard about these ladies, you're missing out.
In the isolated enclave of Gee's Bend, Alabama, over a period of 150 years, women have been turning out some of the most incredible artwork -- in the form of quilts -- I've ever seen.
With their use of bold colors, linear forms, and largely asymmetrical designs, they have married form and function in a stunningly beautiful way. Words can't do them justice.
To see some of these quilts, click here, here, here, and here.
To read and learn more, click here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Items for purchase: a PBS DVD and books.
In the isolated enclave of Gee's Bend, Alabama, over a period of 150 years, women have been turning out some of the most incredible artwork -- in the form of quilts -- I've ever seen.
With their use of bold colors, linear forms, and largely asymmetrical designs, they have married form and function in a stunningly beautiful way. Words can't do them justice.
To see some of these quilts, click here, here, here, and here.
To read and learn more, click here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Items for purchase: a PBS DVD and books.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Marcus Aurelius on Tranquility
"Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, seashores, and mountains... But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself.
[T]ranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Part IV, paragraph 3
[T]ranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Part IV, paragraph 3
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Gandhi's wisdom
"Action expresses priorities."
"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching."
"Find purpose, the means will follow."
"Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position."
“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.”
"A man is but the product of his thoughts -- what he thinks, he becomes."
"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well."
"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed."
“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”
"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."
"We cannot be speakers who do not listen. But neither can we be listeners who do not speak."
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
“Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected.”
“We must always seek to ally ourselves with that part of the enemy that knows what is right.”
“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
"An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so."
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
"Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed."
"The Rich must live more simply so that the Poor may simply live."
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."
"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- that is the myth of the atomic age -- as in being able to remake ourselves."
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching."
"Find purpose, the means will follow."
"Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position."
“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.”
"A man is but the product of his thoughts -- what he thinks, he becomes."
"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well."
"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed."
“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”
"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth."
"We cannot be speakers who do not listen. But neither can we be listeners who do not speak."
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
“Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected.”
“We must always seek to ally ourselves with that part of the enemy that knows what is right.”
“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
"An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so."
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
"Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed."
"The Rich must live more simply so that the Poor may simply live."
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."
"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- that is the myth of the atomic age -- as in being able to remake ourselves."
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Keynes on avoiding a type of fossilization
"When confronted with new information, I reassess and modify my position. What, sir, do you do when confronted with new information?"
-- John Maynard Keynes, economist
-- John Maynard Keynes, economist
Purpose
To those who seek to use the term "do-gooder" as an insult or epithet, I would pose this question: What, exactly, would you do with your life?
Monday, August 28, 2006
Marcus Aurelius
"[A] limit of time is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and thou wilt go, and it will never return... [D]o what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice... [D]oest every act of thy life as if it were the last."
-- excerpted from Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" at Part II
-- excerpted from Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" at Part II
Bass Man
A great documentary about the power of singular purpose and achieving transcendence through pro bass fishing.
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