Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities; artistic creation can never be anything but the production of an individual mind.
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Poetry is the work of poets, not of peoples or communities; artistic creation can never be anything but the production of an individual mind.
Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolutions, the first waves of modern invention, and the first wave of nuclear power, and this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it--we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding. J.F.K
Do not ask what you can do for your country unless you ask first what your country can do for you. Otherwise what would you want government for? What would you want good morals and law and order for? ~ C A Cafolini
Being humble, humus of this earth, might be a good thing, a very wise thing. A tail cannot waggle a dog. But having your thought repressed, a victim of antidemocratic treatment, might rightly demand and arrogant revolutionary. Jefferson and many other founding fathers thought so. ~ C A Cafolini
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
― Rumi
Some persons have what has been called “presence.” This is an unexplainable ability to enter a place and change the disposition of the audience in their absolute favor. David Letterman, Larry King, and Jay Leno, some of the very best interviewers of the 20th century recognized this “presence.” There have been several people in history that have had it. To mention a few: Cyrus the Great of Fars, Alfred the Great of England, Eleanor Roosevelt at the UN, Lew Wasserman of MCA, Johnny Carson of The Tonight Show. ~ C A Cafolini
Russian president Putin is one of those guys who often makes me smile and sometimes laugh out loud. He plays it as if the UN were a body of people able to make decisions regarding how we in USA will act. But the UN is an advisory organ, not a decision-making one.
Regarding Syria and the gasing of rebels we will act according to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’s best interest, regardless of the stupid KGB blah-blah of Dicktopped Putin. We have demonstrated this again and again and will do it once more for sure. ~ C A Cafolini
Memorable quotes from basic training in the 60's.
This is my weapon
this is my gun
this is for fighting
this is for fun.
***
-What is the spirit of the bayonet?
-To kill, sergeant, sir. To kill.
-How many kinds of bayonet fighters are there?
-The quick and the dead, seargent, sir. The quick and the dead.
I just found this from Thomas Pynchon, it's an acute observation on the cabalistic nature of politicians; especially in relation to their desire to bomb Syria without proof or legality.
Quotation:
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers."
''to understand life you must conquer right, and to do that you must live prosper and give ''
''to infinity a beyond and to the beyond a long, let both bond, to you there is mond''
Tyrants, despots and nepotists are so much the same in their obstinacy that they cannot be dealt with other than by getting them out of their posts by whatever means are available. ~ C A Cafolini
The last words of Saddam Husain:
I am the president of Iraq and I'm willing to negotiate ~ Ace in the hole.
I am Saddam. Allah loves me ~ Close to death.
When president Videla, in Argentina was sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes:
"Going to prison is just another service I'll render my country."
“You must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul.” - Ratatouille
Today there is no quote that could reach the memorial that is taking place as the families of the victims of 9/11 read the names.
Some problems arise when we begin to believe literally in our own metaphors. - D.Brown.
It is true that if the Syrians of Assad use chemical weapons, we should attack their headquarters without delay. But Assad's army already killed tens of thousands with so-called conventional weapons and we should arm the rebels like we did in Lybia. Assad, like one more Gadaffi that will eventually bite the dust, will scream "kill the rats," to the heavens just like Gadaffi did. We have to, we must help get him and his out of there without delay. ~ C A Cafolini
As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
Once I met a man, born into Islam. He was an exiled like myself (whatever that is). He was a good man from Iraq and very ingenious, industrious, and more. We could talk many subjects, for he was well read. He would tell me stories about the torture chambers of Chemical Ali in the fascist government of Saddam Husain, how he had been in jail for months and how his good fortune had finally liberated him. He was a relative to one of the powerful hypocrites in government and by the pleading of his wife he was given a ticket to exile in America.
One day we were discussing the Quran, Mohamed’s exile from La Mecca to Yatrib, later known as Medina (The City of the Prophet), and the battles that were fought against the tribes until by the time of his death he had the Arabs at his feet.
Suddenly he started telling me that the Quran was a revelation, for it was impossible for Mohamed to have created it. He said, “Mohamed didn’t know his *** from a hole in the ground. He was an analphabet, a very poor man.”
I began thinking of Handel’s famous Messiah and paralleling it, “Unto us a true prophet is born, and the government shall rest upon his shoulder.”
But he was no longer listening. He had gone into a trance, as if seeking the unspeakable. And that, my friends, was the funniest joke a Muslin ever told me.
C A Cafolini
1. Understanding the meaning of morals requires the following thoughts.
We invented the word immorality to hide from ourselves a clear understanding of morals. Naturally we then think of bad morals as immoral. But morals are a gift of pre-eminence, a-priori. This gift lets us judge what's convenient or inconvenient to us, that is, good or bad morals. You may consider this a gift of God or not. I prefer to look at it that way, but it is irrelevant in the actual context. Bad morals are the ones of a criminal. They are simply not convenient morals. Good morals are the ones of a law-abiding citizen. They are simply convenient morals. And in this regard, if you grasp this, the word "immorality" in contrast to "morality" loses the feigned meaning and disappears as such. Also in knowing this, any "amorality" becomes impossible, for a moral judgment is always imperative in behavior calls. Hope you get this. It's the way it ist, ex-ist, and makes sense at once. ~ C A Cafolini
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver
In college, you learn how to learn. Four years is not too much time to spend at that. ~ Mary Oliver
To see the world in a grain of sand,
and to see heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hands,
and eternity in an hour.
William Blake
I like that!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by cafolini
She was very outstanding in a very modest way. She was the #1 best seller of the New York Times for the longest time. I'm very glad you brought her to our attention. It is easy to forget some people that don't make much noise on the surface. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckthorn
Many have called Blake a romantic, but he's one of the most scientific poets.Quote:
Originally Posted by Melanie
Of course there is a world in a grain of sand, since the depths of it are infinite for which infinity can be held in the palm of your hands. And heaven can be anywhere you decide. And what about time? There is as much in one second as there is in 1000 years. Conventions don't measure absolute time but only for communications. Blake is consistent with science in whatever he says.
Check Robert Frost's I'm Well Acquainted with the Night, for another version of it.
Good quote, Melanie.
Regarding prayer, every person has committed outrageous acts to a larger or lesser degrees, such as blind reactions, malice, uncalled for prejudices, vengeance, pride, envy, the seeking of glory, etc. So people's biggest prayer, outspokenly or in silence goes to asking that the punishment will not come to be an eye for an eye but that God in His Grace would give them a second chance to show that they have fully recognized their outrageous stupidity and allow each to become a member of the Church of God. This church is beyond the scope of any denomination or congregation claiming apostolic power. C A Cafolini
To paraphrase Mencken: the apes have a definite disadvantage.
It is very difficult for people to accept that they evolved from apes. But it is far more difficult for apes to accept that they evolved from people.
There is an extraordinary myth built around and wrapped around murderers. The idea is that it is possible to commit murder in cold blood. But every criminal I ever studied was always hot as hell at the time. ~ C A Cafolini
There is no salvation-ism that could help beyond this life. There is no congregation or denomination that could redeem you beyond a hope. And there is no prayer that could close the issue. Clues are not dues. It is only by His Grace that you can be given a second chance to love before it becomes too late. Your complete exposure to your acts are unavoidable. You are absolutely transparent to those of us that have sense. And if so, can you imagine how transparent you are to your creator? ~ C A Cafolini
There is absolutely no question as to the validity of genetic evolution. But some people think of it as a synonym of progress. It is not. It is a form of change that could go one way or the other.
How long would it take you to tell me that time doesn't exist? ~ C A Cafolini
onE oF mY fAv iS "Maybe GOD hAS a biGGer pLan fOr mE thAn I hAd fOr mYSelf.... thiS thinKinG bRinGs a pOSitivE enerGy...
The only thing you own is time. You either waste it or you join us in the establishment of conventional units of measurement in order to communicate your whats. hows. wheres. and whens. ~ C A Cafolini
Time is the only critic without ambition. ~ John Steimbeck
“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life…You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like ‘maybe we should be just friends’ turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
“…”Shhh”, she said. “I`m sleeping.”
Just like that. From a hundred miles an hour to asleep in a nanosecond. I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not ****, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together, in the most innocent sense of phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.”
–John Green, Looking for Alaska
“It’s just… I wish it was easier, for me, you know?” I make a special point not to look at her. “I wish it was someone else who was chosen for this. Someone competent. If only I didn’t stop that robbery. I wish I didn’t have to go through with it all.” It comes gushing out, with words like spilled milk. “And I wish it was me with you and not that other guy. I wish it was my own skin touching with yours…”
And there you have it.
Stupidity in its purest form.
“Oh, Ed.” Audrey looks away. “Oh, Ed.”
Our feet dangle.
I watch them, and I watch the jeans on Audrey’s legs.
We only sit there now.
Audrey and me.
And discomfort.
Squeezed in, between us.
She soon says, “You’re my best friend, Ed.”
“I know.”
You can kill a man with those words.
No gun.
No bullets.
Just words and a girl.”
― Markus Zusak, I am the Messenger
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
― William Shakespeare, As You Like It
“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.”
― William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew
“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
“thus with a kiss I die”
― William Shakespeare
Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires. ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth
The only thing you own is time. You either waste it or you join us in the establishment of conventional units of measurement in order to communicate your whats. hows. wheres. and whens. ~ C A Cafolini
Time is the only critic without ambition. ~ John Steimbeck
“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life…You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like ‘maybe we should be just friends’ turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones
If any thing you state is ultimately an illusion, what's the point in telling me that? Isn't that also an illusion? Pricking, psychopathic behavior? Who could you kid? ~ C A Cafolini
The deep, personal material of the latter half of your life is your children. You can write about your parents when they're gone, but your children are still going to be here, and you're going to want them to come and visit you in the nursing home. ~ Alice Munro
The world has changed so much that the young people must reinvent everything: a way to live together. Institutions, a way of being and of knowing. ~ Michel Serres
You have to be an SOB to tell somebody what the president can't tell. ~ Leon Panetta
I've been a quote freak longer than I care to remember; forever thumbing through my 17th edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations in search of sublime and inspirational quotes (good thing it's hardcover.) Here's one that just popped into my head:
It was a brave man who first ate an oyster.
- Jonathan Swift