On supporting artists...

(Don't talk, just kiss - Mundy-Castle, 1993)

If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams. ( Yann Martel -Life of Pi )

IDEALS

The difficulty is not so much that of moving towards an ideal, or even remaining in a fixed relationship to it, as of trying to slow up the pace at which we are always moving away from it. (from an old notebook)

Silence is golden

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent"
(Wittgenstein).

Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

I love trees all the year round. At this time of year they always bring to mind that wonderful Shakespeare sonnet:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

Contentment

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.When you realize there is nothing lacking,the whole world belongs to you.- Lao Tzu

Brand Essence

I really like Jo Brand. She's as sharp and zesty as a sprig of fresh mint.

She became a mother at 43 and commented, "They say men can never understand the pain of childbirth. Well, they can if you hit them in the testicles with a cricket bat for 14 hours"

Nobody says it quite like she does.

DAWN

I woke early this morning to see a serge-blue sky reflected in a window across the street. It was quiet; a good time for thinking and starting out.

The dawn speeds a man on his journey, and speeds him too in his work.

Hesiod - 800BC