Category Archives: Quotes

All Shall be Well —

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Touch2Touch

It’s a story that should begin, “Once upon a time.” It has that ageless storytale quality. Once upon a time there was a woman who was born on the 8th November 1342 (and how do we know that so definitively?), … Continue reading →

Posted in Etcetera, Life and Death, Memory, Personal Essay, Quotes, Wisdom, Wonderings | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Promiscuously, in a Vase

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Touch2Touch

Why have I been sequestered so long, away from my blogs (and yours)? I’ve been preparing to moderate a seminar on the Cultural Arts of Japan in our local Learning in Retirement program. I’m sure that in a previous life … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Etcetera, Flowers, Japan, Nature, Pioneer Valley, Quotes, winter | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Knitting up that Sleeve!

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Touch2Touch

Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care — You may be thinking that Shakespeare had a bit of a spelling problem.  Actually, though, he didn’t. Spelling hadn’t been codified yet in Elizabethan times, and so people pretty much … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddha, Etcetera, Health, Medicine, Pioneer Valley, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , | 42 Comments

In Praise of Shadows

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Touch2Touch

Here in the West we often favor brilliant colors, hyperrealism, and a superabundance of light. Dazzle! Clarity! Vision! But in the East, in Japan, there are also alternate aesthetic values. This quote from the novelist Junichiro Tanizaki presents a traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in Flowers, Japan, Mindfulness, Quotes, Writers | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

There are Two Kinds of People?

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Touch2Touch

“There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Color, Etcetera, Paintings, Quotes | Tagged , , , , | 36 Comments

Schadenfreude, and other Genius German expressions!

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Touch2Touch

If most people know anything at all about the German language, it is that it can produce some of the longest, bulkiest words ever,  which mostly seem impossible to pronounce. For instance, in English we simply say Incorporated; the German … Continue reading →

Posted in Definitions, Etcetera, Mindfulness, Quotes, Wisdom | Tagged , , | 49 Comments

What Matters in the End?

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Touch2Touch

Here is one answer, from playwright, author, actor Alice Childress:  “Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave, and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.” And here is another, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Definitions, Democracy, Freedom, Life and Death, Personal Essay, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Non-Violence and Hard Boiled Eggs

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Touch2Touch

I make really good egg salad. Which, of course, starts with hard-boiled eggs. When my egg salad comes to the table, it looks great, usually in its blue-and-white Chinese bowl, maybe some thin-sliced radishes adorning it, maybe nothing at all, … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddha, Definitions, Enlightenment, Etcetera, Mindfulness, Personal Essay, Quotes, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Of Making Many Books, There is No End — or Reward?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Touch2Touch

“Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Ecclesiastes 12 It was that way right from the beginning, I’m sure. Carvers in stone, makers of runes,  scribes in papyrus and parchment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddha, Challenge, Etcetera, Personal Essay, Quotes, Reading, Writers | Tagged , , , , , | 123 Comments

Like a Snake in Springtime …

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Touch2Touch

“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.” — Friedrich Nietzsche Spring, that season of new growth, is generally greeted with joy. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Etcetera, Nature, Personal Essay, Quotes, Spring, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments