"Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go."
-- Brooks Atkinson

"Once we truly understand that God's will is that we be happy, we no longer feel the need to ask for anything other than that God's will be done."
-- Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love

"One of the events of my life is my mother. Some of the rest of you may feel the same. After almost 99 years of frustration, she has finally made a kind of peace with her circumstances. She smiles and kisses everyone's hand, and is spoonfed pureed matter of different colors from a central kitchen. All it took for her to find peace was relinquishing her mind. I wonder what her life would have felt like if she'd done that in the beginning at Sweet Home, Idaho... After reading this, you have undoubtedly concluded that, like his mother, he's surrendered his mind. It is true, or it is becoming true. The mind is where all the problems lie. I'm literally leaping for joy, out of my mind, and into a perfectly peaceful world. The real world greets you this Christmas time with love. God is here, now."
-- Dale Thomas, Christmas Letter from Paran, 2002

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."

-- Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, 1952.

"Although this term is used casually in popular culture, health care professionals define dysfunctional family as one where the relationships among family members are not conducive to emotional and physical health. Sexual or physical abuse, alcohol and drug addictions, delinquency and behavior problems, eating disorders , and extreme aggression are some conditions commonly associated with dysfunctional family relationships... The concept of the dysfunctional family is based on a systems approach to mental health diagnosis and treatment, where the individual's symptoms are seen in the context of relationships with other individuals and groups, rather than as problems unique to the client. There is no strict definition of a "dysfunctional family," and especially in popular usage the term tends to be a catchall for many different relational disorders that take place within the family system and its subsystems (parents, children)..."
-- Gale Research, Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood & Adolescence, 1998.

"Sometimes we performers mess ourselves up, because we feel we don't deserve it."
-- Michael Rivera, musician, in The New York Times, today.)

"Bah Humbug!"
-- Mr. Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."
-- Anonymous, The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 449.

"Right now there is a perception in New York that is something like a tale of two cities: there are some great schools, and a lot of not-so-great schools, and some in the middle.We need that perception to change. That perception will change by the actions we do."
-- Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Department of Education.

"The greatest song anybody ever wrote..."
-- Irving Berlin, on describing his own White Christmas.

"It's 10pm... do you know where your children are?"
-- Public Service Announcement in the United States, during the seventies.

"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left."
-- Unknown

"I think that a campaign, that would be a rematch between myself and President Bush, would inevitably involve a focus on the past that would, in some measure, distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about."
-- Al Gore

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."
-- William Faulkner

"The new motto for the Baby Boom generation is, 'Don't trust anyone over
seventy!'"
-- Unknown

"If a man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar!"
-- Abraham Lincoln

"It is not only our right, but in a way, our responsibility to be happy. God doesn't provide any of us with happiness that is only meant for us alone. When God sends us happiness, he does so in order that we might then stand up more fully in the world on His behalf."
-- Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love

"Have you ever met a proctologist? They usually have a very good sense of humor. You meet a proctologist at a party, don't walk away. Plant yourself there because you will hear the funniest stories you've ever heard. See, no one wants to admit to them that they stuck something up there. Never. It's always an accident. Every proctologist story ends in the same way... 'It was a million to one shot, doc, million to one.' "
- Kramer, as played by Michael Richards on Seinfeld, television series.

"If I went to work in a factory, the first thing I'd do would be to join a union."
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"They have a destruction machine. We don't have a destruction machine."
-- Bill Clinton, in a speech last week.

"The media is kind of weird these days on politics, and there are some major institutional voices that are, truthfully speaking, part and parcel of the Republican Party," Gore said. "Fox News Network, The Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh–there’s a bunch of them, and some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations and the rest of the media." -- Al Gore, in The New York Observer.

"Something will start at the Republican National Committee, inside the building, and it will explode the next day on the right-wing talk-show network and on Fox News and in the newspapers that play this game, The Washington Times and the others. And then they’ll create a little echo chamber, and pretty soon they’ll start baiting the mainstream media for allegedly ignoring the story they’ve pushed into the zeitgeist. And then pretty soon the mainstream media goes out and disingenuously takes a so-called objective sampling, and lo and behold, these R.N.C. talking points are woven into the fabric of the zeitgeist."
-- Al Gore, The New York Observer.

"Whatever the conservative dominance of the radio dial, there's no one on the left who can carve meat like Mr. Limbaugh or Mr. Hannity."
-- John Leland, The New York Times, today.

"There are lots of other important things to do in life."
Paul H. O'Neill, in announcing his resignation as Treasury Secretary yesterday.

The most enlightened prayer isn't 'Dear God, send me someone wonderful,' but 'Dear God, help me realize that I am someone wonderful,' "
-- Marianne Williamson

"Eighty percent of success is showing up."
-- Woody Allen

"We'll hold this line until Hell freezes over -- Then we'll hold it on ice skates."
-- Anonymous, from a picket sign.

"The road may be less travelled for a reason..."
-- Fortune Cookie

"Only bad witches are ugly."
-- Glinda, The Witch of the North, The Wizard of Oz motion picture.