Bits of wisdom

There was a special Nolan idea about the coffee. It was their one great luxury. Mama made a big potful each morning and reheated it for dinner and supper and it got stronger as the day wore on. It was an awful lot of water and very little coffee but mama put a lump of chicory in it which made it taste strong and bitter. Each one was allowed three cups a day with milk. Other times you could help yourself to a cup of black coffee anytime you felt like it. Sometimes when you had nothing at all and it was raining and you were alone in the flat, it was wonderful to know that you could have something even though it was only a cup of black and bitter coffee.”

“Francie is entitled to one cup each meal like the rest. If it makes her feel better to throw it way rather than to drink it, all right. I think it’s good that people like us can waste something once in a while and get the feeling of how it would be to have lots of money and not have to worry about scrounging.

Betty Smith A tree grows in Brooklyn

Sunday afternoon treat: coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

 I remember reading A tree grows in Brooklyn while I was still in highscool (seems like a lifetime ago) and this passage of the book affected me in a most profound way. Despite of the fact that we are forever scrounging and saving and whining about it, I am keenly aware that I live in a society of incredibly privileged people where certain commodities are taken for granted. Like clean running water, electricity, the ability to go on vacation, ... Imagine living in a world where your one and only luxury is to be able to afford to waste a cup of coffee

Bits of wisdom

Beauty will save the world.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

I've often wondered which is that single, universal value that should stand above all others. As a law student I've always held a strong position that it must be the truth. And with it all other values are put into perspective and made meaningful.

Recent experience, growing up if you will, has taught me a valuable lesson: no matter how hard I try, truth is sadly still relative but more disappointing than that, some people choose not to accept it. Maybe Dostoevsky was right all along and beauty proves to be a more unifying concept?

So here's the most beautiful thing I have discovered this summer, a couple of young musicians that have managed to turn their passion for music into a thing of beauty and wonder.

Bits of wisdom

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

I'm so tired of being constantly afraid, I simply ran out of energy to be afraid. And the funniest thing about it is that in every which way I look at it, I'm better off than I was 6 months ago. When I analyze the things I'm afraid of it all comes down to the things I read in the newspapers, about people being laid off, how terrible it is in Greece and all over Europe...
But in reality? I have a job, so does Mr. C. We're both busy with our other projects: DIY, volunteer work, spending time with family and friends.
So really, what am I so afraid of? Enough already.
(I'm cancelling all of my newspaper subscriptions.)

What are you afraid of? Does the widespread panic propagated by the media affect you?

Bits of wisdom

For society to evolve and prosper it is imperative that art sometimes be immoral and science non applicable.

Dean of Faculty of Law, Ljubljana

Bits of wisdom

People say travel broadens the mind. Mainly because people like me insist on it in their books. But I have to say I doubt that it is true. On the contrary, I suspect travelling narrows the mind. One becomes so blasé about the wonders of the World...All that ever matters is the people. Not the places.

Dame Celia Westholme, Appointment with Death

NYC August 1998

I suppose I may come off as a a jaded, malcontent cynic for backing this quote on today's bits of wisdom. The thing is, I've grown so tired of people boasting to anyone who will give them five minutes of their time about where they've been and what they've seen.
I'm tired of the social platforms like Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, especially Facebook overrun with photos of every Tom, Dick and Harry:

1. In front of The Eiffel Tower
2. In Chinatown NYC
3. Or the latest it destination: Australia

If I ever have the means, I'll travel to these places for myself alone. And not so that I can have interesting anecdotes up my sleeve for the next cocktail party.

This post is dedicated to my dear friend M, who's finally realizing a lifelong dream to travel over the Atlantic. I wish you many new adventures and unforgettable memories :-)

Love is...

Love means never having to say I'm sorry.

Love story

Then we wouldn't be saying or doing much. Would we now?

Ljubljana Zoo, May 2011

Here are some of mine:

Love is...

• Scary and exciting.
• It's about forgiving (mostly yourself) and letting go (of the fear).
• It's about laughing and being goofy together.

Ljubljana Zoo, May 2011

Love is a symphony of two notes, yours and mine.

Happy anniversary darling!

Bits of wisdom

If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.

Sir Ken Robinson

Lately I've been tremendously inspired by Sir Ken Robinson and some of his ideas and reasoning on changing the current educational system. I'm including a link to the speech he made at the TED conference 2006. If you're interested click here. It's about 20 minutes long but well worth watching.
I think the mere idea of failure scares the life out of most of us. As a society we've become obsessed with success and progress but what we fail to understand is that failure is inevitably just a learning tool. An indispensable instrument of (personal) growth.

Photo courtesy of Mr. C, taken this summer in my mum's garden.

Bits of wisdom

source

Lighten up a little bit. It's only the end of the world.

Battlestar Galactica TV series

Sometimes the most liberating thing in life to happen is to have your deepest fears come true. We spend so much time and waste so much energy fearing the unknown. The fear itself is more debilitating than the things we fear might happen.
Sometimes the only way to break the spell is to let go and throw yourself into the abyss of the unknown.

Bits of wisdom

Creativity is seldom the result of abundance.

my own

Bits of wisdom

my hero

All one ever needs are the good manners. The rest is just silliness and snobbery valued only by bores.

Hercule Poirot

I believe there is a difference between etiquette and manners.
The first is a set of rules though established with the purpose to minimize and prevent socially awkward situations but can also serve as an elitist way to exclude certain people or groups and ostracize them for their ignorance regarding the proper use of a fish knife.
Manners on the other hand are an outward expression of internal personal values. They can never be rehearsed. At the core of good manners is the desire to be kind and inclusive and respectful.

Good manners are universal, etiquette is strictly limited to a certain social circle.

Bits of wisdom

source

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Jane Austen, Pride and prejudice 

Even now, almost 200 years later, the opening sentence to this scintillating literary work remains one of the most intriguing and recognizable quotes. The most popular novel Jane Austen has ever written has seen countless film and stage adaptations and is even said to have inspired numerous writers to follow suit.
Jane Austen has been alternatively know as either the grandmother of popular romance novels or a most ingenious feminist of her era. Remaining single until her untimely death, her life has been the source of intrigue and mystery.
And though the sentence was meant to be ironic, it is still very much a sad reality that even today, in the so called liberal, pluralistic society the idea that women should secure their futures by marrying remains firmly in our collective conscience.

Bits of wisdom

Peggy Olsen from Mad Men:

I don't think anyone want's to be one of a hundred colours in a box.

When asked why she didn't participate in the lipstick sampling, Peggy unwittingly produces a slogan for the lipstick company. The striking realization being that the need to please (by conforming to the established norms)  is sometimes superseded by our innermost desire to be unique.