Silas Thorne's Journal

W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951:

...Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings ...

I like the ballad 'John Barleycorn' a great deal. Written by the the finest Jewish poet of Scotland, the great Rabbi Burns, it can be appreciated by all, decipherable by all those who can understand the title and are remotely interested in the natural world, alcoholic beverages, or beautiful wordcraft.

Here are a few lines of John, in Summer (it being Summer here tha now):

...The sultry suns of Summer came,
And he grew thick and strong;
His head weel ...

I don't know whether anyone will read this or not, but in case you are wondering, the cane in my avatar is a sword-cane.

In actual fact, I carry a solid-metal Parker pen, not a sword, on my person, together with a small notebook. This pen, given to me by one of my students, means a lot to me. I hope that I'll never have to use it for other than writing....

From the Clepington Catastrophe:

....But accidents will happen by land and by sea,
Therefore, to save ourselves from accidents, we needn't try to flee,
For whatsoever God has ordained will come to pass;
For instance, ye may be killed by a stone or a piece of glass.



I love the last line.

And check this out, it's his worst poem, read by sock puppets:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WAqj9QZCac