Dancing thoughtless pleasure's mazes...

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762)

Writers of novels and romances in general bring a double loss on their readers,

they rob them of both their time and money;

representing men, manners, and things that never have been, nor are likely to be;

either confounding or perverting history or truth, inflating the mind,

or committing violence upon the understanding.

John Aikin (1747-1822)

The sunshine of life is made up of very little beams that are bright all the time.

To give up something, when giving up will prevent unhappiness;

to yield, when persisting will chafe and fret others;

to go a little around rather than come against another;

to take an ill look or a cross word quietly, rather than resent or return it...

these are the ways in which clouds and storms are kept off,

and a pleasant and steady sunshine secured.

Passe-Partout

Douglas Noël Adams (1952-2001)

Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable.

Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself,

and see if we may not eff it after all.

Ipecacuanha

"The vulgarity of inanimate things requires time to get accustomed to;

but living, breathing, bustling, plotting, planning, human vulgarity

is a species of moral ipecacuanha enough to destroy any comfort."

~~ Thomas Carlyle

"Oh, Tom, you ol' dotard! What a way with words you've got!"

~~ Jess D'Zerts

War... Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

The imponderables and the unforeseen

cannot be ignored in formulating foreign policy.

That is why a preventive war should always

be regarded as an act of criminal folly.

Sumner Welles, American diplomat, (1892-1961)

How many millions of tax dollars would be saved if we didn't have to pay the cost

of presidential retirement to George W. Bush for the rest of his life? Impeach now!

Custom doth make dotards of us all.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

Economy is in itself a great source of revenue.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.-65 A.D.)

Edward F. Knight (1852-1925)

Waste not the smallest thing created,

for grains of sand make mountains, and atomies infinity.

Waste not the smallest time in imbecile infirmity,

for well thou knowest that seconds form eternity.

Michel E. de Montaigne (1533-1592)

Courtesy is a science of the highest importance.

It is like grace and beauty in the body,

which charm at first sight

and lead on to further intimacy and friendship.

English Garden

Fribble

Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937)

When the first baby laughed for the first time,

the laugh broke into a million pieces,

and they all went skipping about.

That was the beginning of fairies.

Peter Pan

That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Nugatory

Welcome to the nugatorium.

What sweet delight a quiet life affords.

William Drummond (1585-1649)

Edna Wheeler Wilcox (1855-1919)

So many gods, so many creeds--

So many paths that wind and wind

While just the art of being kind

Is all the sad world needs.

The World's Need

Thomas Hood (1799-1845)

O God! that bread should be so dear,

And flesh and blood so cheap!

The Song of the Shirt

Popular applause veers with the wind.

John Bright (1811-1889)

John Clarke (1609-1676)

"Fair words butter no parsnips."

Paraemiologia

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

"Lord! I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing."

Polite Conversation

The Very Pink of Perfection

Jejune*

*which has nothing to do with June or this kaleidoscope

Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867)

It is the month of June,

The month of leaves and roses,

When pleasant sights salute the eyes

And pleasant scents the noses.

The Month of June

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;

Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,

And over it softly her warm ear lays.

Vision of Sir Launfal

Apparently the earth is not in tune at present. It was cold and rainy here today.