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Keeping track of your towel
Aren’t quotes great? You don’t have to think up something original if other people say it better. And with the Internet you don’t have to read tome after tome to find them.
For example, take the subject of hard times. Some famous and not so famous people have had a few good things to say about hard times. One of my newest favorites is by 19th century French philosopher Bernard-Paul Heroux, who said: “There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.”
Until I looked for quotes about hard times, I had never even heard of Heroux. But any good quote about tea resonates with me.
Here’s another: “Dreams come true if you survive the hard times!” — Anonymous. Isn’t it funny how wise this Anonymous person is. Anonymous also said: “Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”
Emily Dickinson said: “People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.” How are your psychic muscles doing? I’ll bet they’re getting quite the workout these days.
“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.”
— Paul Valéry. Valéry was not talking about science fiction and in case you’ve never heard of him, which is likely, he was a French poet and critic who died in 1945. He was absolutely right — where are the things futurists promised we’d have by now?
Whether it was by Buck Rogers, Duck Dodgers or Star Trek, we were promised all kinds of amazing stuff — much longer lives; laundry that never got dirty or washing machines that not only cleaned it but also dried it, folded it and packaged it; space colonies and household robots. Where is George Jetson’s Rosie when we need her?
Oprah Winfrey, or her writers, is always good for a wise quote such as this one: “Every one of us gets through the tough times because somebody is there, standing in the gap to close it for us.” This is what volunteers and charitable organizations do. They look for gaps and close them — whether it’s wood for a fire, food for an empty table or somewhere to go when you can’t stay where you are, these organizations are ready to help and need our help to continue doing so.
Here’s another Winfrey quote: “Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you need is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” That’s the other thing volunteers do, they get on the bus with you and sometimes they even pay the bus fare.
Who didn’t know more about change and weathering financial hard times than J. Paul Getty. He said: “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.” When doing things the way they’ve always been done no longer works, how willing are we to find new solutions to those old problems — food, water, shelter and companionship.
Of course, whatever comes, whatever promises were made that weren’t kept, whatever new solutions we come up with, we’re always better off if we hang on to our towels.
As the late Douglas Adams wrote in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”
Do you know where your towel is?
For example, take the subject of hard times. Some famous and not so famous people have had a few good things to say about hard times. One of my newest favorites is by 19th century French philosopher Bernard-Paul Heroux, who said: “There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.”
Until I looked for quotes about hard times, I had never even heard of Heroux. But any good quote about tea resonates with me.
Here’s another: “Dreams come true if you survive the hard times!” — Anonymous. Isn’t it funny how wise this Anonymous person is. Anonymous also said: “Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”
Emily Dickinson said: “People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.” How are your psychic muscles doing? I’ll bet they’re getting quite the workout these days.
“The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be.”
— Paul Valéry. Valéry was not talking about science fiction and in case you’ve never heard of him, which is likely, he was a French poet and critic who died in 1945. He was absolutely right — where are the things futurists promised we’d have by now?
Whether it was by Buck Rogers, Duck Dodgers or Star Trek, we were promised all kinds of amazing stuff — much longer lives; laundry that never got dirty or washing machines that not only cleaned it but also dried it, folded it and packaged it; space colonies and household robots. Where is George Jetson’s Rosie when we need her?
Oprah Winfrey, or her writers, is always good for a wise quote such as this one: “Every one of us gets through the tough times because somebody is there, standing in the gap to close it for us.” This is what volunteers and charitable organizations do. They look for gaps and close them — whether it’s wood for a fire, food for an empty table or somewhere to go when you can’t stay where you are, these organizations are ready to help and need our help to continue doing so.
Here’s another Winfrey quote: “Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you need is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” That’s the other thing volunteers do, they get on the bus with you and sometimes they even pay the bus fare.
Who didn’t know more about change and weathering financial hard times than J. Paul Getty. He said: “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.” When doing things the way they’ve always been done no longer works, how willing are we to find new solutions to those old problems — food, water, shelter and companionship.
Of course, whatever comes, whatever promises were made that weren’t kept, whatever new solutions we come up with, we’re always better off if we hang on to our towels.
As the late Douglas Adams wrote in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”
Do you know where your towel is?
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