Quack_Quotes

To the wise, this sunrise is the first of the day, the first of seven days, the first of a month and the first of a year. For they understand that the passing of time is constant and that each sunrise is one more day, just as was the day before. Others remember the passing of the new year and the passing of a year in life but the wise remember that time passes all the time. 

English: Footbridge over Garden The public footpath crosses a nice little footbridge which goes right over the centre of a delightful private garden. An excellent solution to a difficult problem (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Solving problems can be easier than we think.Sometimes it is the solution that 'prevents' us from solving a problem. But is it really? How many times have you thought, after solving a rather difficult problem, what was the big deal about? Why was it hard to fix in the first place? Why, in hindsight, something so easy to solve, seemed so difficult a problem? That the solution that was so simple, so difficult to just execute. It is maybe because the solution wasn't hard to begin with but was just a difficult choice. The reluctance to choose that solution or reluctance to put the solution in motion, makes the problem feel so much harder. So, the quote above distills the quandary to it's essence. It tries to capture this situation into wisdom that c...

Everybody makes mistakes. It is simply part of being who we are. Anybody who claims to have never made one, is lying. Big or small, a mistake was made somewhere. It's everywhere. Tward369 via photopin cc Some people simply eliminate the category altogether. 'There are no mistakes. Just setbacks / inconveniences / obstacles. All you can do is work around / move on / ignore them.' They work under the assumption that 'if nothing goes wrong, nothing is wrong'. Not admitting mistakes means not having to fix them. And that is the real objective. People attach a stigma to mistakes because of fear. Fear of prosecution. Fear of retribution. Fear of responsibility. This focus on the 'fear' delays and hinders efforts to fix the problem. Time is wasted on persecution and tossing blame between parties. Lost time that may be crucial to fixing the problem and recovering from it. The best way to move forward and focus on the remedy is forgiveness. It removes the b...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Sympathy vs Empathy. The distinction between both is either razor thin or gulf wide, depending on which side you stand on. From Sympathy's side, empathy looks like a step away, two sides of the same coin. Because from Sympathy, all that can be seen are the similarities. Sympathy wants to be on the same side. Sympathy feels that same. From Empathy's side, Sympathy is an ocean away. The similarities can be seen from Empathy but they can't and won't be reached. Empathy has the burden of doing what is necessary, what is right. It knows the hurt now but always compares that with the pain to come if what is right is not done. It's not without emotion but can only make the landing softer from the fall. Related articles Apathy for Empathy Friendship and empathy blurred lines of sympathy & empathy The Word: Empathy Empathy

Entertaining Boo 276/365 (Photo credit: @Dave ) We can prepare by amassing quantities of stuff. These things, ideas, notions, repartee.. whatever. We keep them with the hopes of using them one day. Sometimes we limit ourselves to situations that we know that what we have prepared will be of use. But why limit ourselves that way. When we learn to use what we have or what we have around us, we free ourselves. When you can use what ever you have to, it makes us prepared for all situations.

Landscape from Assam (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) This reminds me of an Arabic saying " All of life there are only two days, a day for you and a day against you ". Which means that things either work out for us or it doesn't. Which is seems obvious except that most people think that every day is for them, that things will always work out. The proverb then goes into many directions, many ways that it continues. One version goes " When time is for you, be thankful and when it is against you, have patience ". Sometimes, the next verse is specific to the recipient, a reminder of sorts. It sort of has resonance with the whole Buddhist "life is like a wheel" concept, sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down.

This is  the start of a series of older quotes from an earlier part of my life. I found a cache of quotes from a long-forgotten, pre-blog era. I'm labeling them 'Old Quotes' This is the first of my long list of struggles trying to make sense of this world. People almost never mean what they say, or worse never say anything at all but then just create in their minds what your reactions will be and react to that. How can you defend yourself against what people who make up what they think you'll say? You didn't say it and you didn't even think of it in the first place. But that is their perception. Do you deal with that? Or can you choose to not deal with them at all?