“Will this generation be able to turn things around and learn a valuable lesson from all of this? I hope so, but I have my doubts. The damage has been done. And as a lifelong student of history, it's quite evident that human beings don't learn from the mistakes of past generations.”
― quote from Voluntary
“No fucking popcorn? No Junior Mints?”
― quote from Voluntary
“I want that little blonde bitch in the lobby to hear me screaming your name.”
― quote from Voluntary
“it gets better.
When Mystery Boy lifts the bike off my legs and I roll over onto my back and see his face, well--
He’s note cute--
He’s gorgeous.
Carved like a sculpture, a warrior. His hair is jet-black and shaved close to his head. And his skin is smooth and tan.
He looks about my age. I think.
And, God--I’m so busy staring at my Knight in Shining Armor that for a second I don’t notice that I’m bleeding.
My forehead.
I start to sit up.
“Whoa, Nelly,” he says, smiling down at me with this big toothy grin that actually causes my heart to palpitate. He puts his hand behind my head and eases me back, gently, onto the ground. “Hold your horses,” he says, smiling this gentle quiet smile. “You battled a moose, and--” He moves close and winks. “I think you won.”
― Megan Shull, quote from Amazing Grace
“There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha's name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, "Namo Amitabha Buddha" for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don't say "strike" or "hit" a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time.
A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha," he came to her door, and said, "Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!" She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that," and she went on, "Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha."
The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, "Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?" But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant "Namo Amitabha Buddha." The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, "Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!"
She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, "Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?" The gentleman smiled at her and said, "I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha's name for ten years. Think how angry he must be!”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, quote from Being Peace
“...now and then a giggling trail of mermaids appeared in our wake. We fed them oatmeal.”
― Tove Jansson, quote from Moominpappa's Memoirs
“Hence it is written (Wis. 9:14): "The thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain." Thus man needs to be guarded by the angels. Reply”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols
“Hell of an ornithologist you'd make.”
― Peter S. Beagle, quote from A Fine and Private Place
Nightmares!
Faceless
The Teacher
Up in the Treehouse
The Twelve Tribes of...
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