poems for grandparents

Literary: of, relating to, or dealing with literature.



There is no cure for laziness but a large family helps. ~Herbert Prochnov



One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn't do you any good. ~Abe Lemmons



A letter is an unannounced visit, the postman the agent of rude surprises. One ought to reserve an hour a week for receiving letters and afterwards take a bath. ~Friedrich Nietzsche



It is because of men that women dislike one another. ~Jean de La Bruyere, Characters, 1688



To suppose as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave as the rich behave, is like supposing that we could drink all day and stay sober. ~Logan Pearsall Smith



In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia. ~Charles A. Lindbergh, Life, 22 December 1967



You can out-distance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you. ~Rwandan Proverb



When you're a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours. ~Author Unknown



In the end, who among us does not choose to be a little less right to be a little less lonely. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com



Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary. ~Mark Twain



Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits are objects of scorn to smart Americans who blow horns to break up traffic jams. ~Mary Ellen Kelly



It is not only the most difficult thing to know oneself, but the most inconvenient one, too. ~H.W. Shaw



You can't see Canada across lake Erie, but you know it's there. It's the same with spring. You have to have faith, especially in Cleveland. ~Paul Fleischman



I always turn to the sports section first. The sports section records people's accomplishments; the front page nothing but man's failures. ~Earl Warren, quoted in Sports Illustrated, 22 July 1968



Sin is geographical. ~Bertrand Russell



Opportunity is a parade. Even as one chance passes, the next is a fife and drum echoing in the distance. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com



Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious. ~William Feather



The first time the duchess halted by my side, I whispered to her to calm her gushing spirits, not to meddle with her dress, and for public opinion's sake, not to step so high. I said she could get over just as much ground at a moderate gait; and, beside the noble grand duke, her father, might happen along at any moment. I might as well have talked to the wind. She only laughed that characteristic laugh of hers that silvery laugh that I could recognize anywhere if I were to the leeward, and then, bending a little, she grabbed up the sides of her apparel with both hands, began to jerk it to and fro in a violent manner, threw her magnificent head back and skipped furiously away on an Irish jig step, all excitement, wild hilarity, distracted costume, frenzied motion! A spectacle to seal the eye-balls and to astonish the soul of a hermit! ~Mark Twain (unconfirmed), Atlanta Daily Constitution, 28 February 1878, "The Fascinating Duchess"



The problem with fundamentalists insisting on a literal interpretation of the Bible is that the meaning of words change. A prime example is 'Spare the rod, spoil the child.' A rod was a stick used by shepherds to guide their sheep to go in the desired direction. Shepherds did not use it to beat their sheep. The proper translation of the saying is 'Give your child guidance, or they will go astray.' It does not mean 'Beat the shit out of your child or he will become rotten' as many fundamentalist parents seem to belive. ~Author Unknown