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27 January 2008

I approve this message

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
-- Elie Weisel


I can't pass up this delightful meme I'm lifting from Charlotte's and I'm adding a twist because it affords me the opportunity to share with you some wonderful quotations from some learned masters. I'm not running for office, but I approve this message.

Seven Things I Heartily Approve Of

1. Learning. Questioning. Seeking knowledge and wisdom.

John Dewey: Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.

Marie Curie: Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

2. Laughing with friends.

Nietzsche: And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

3. Spirit. Find the spirit within you and around you and celebrate it.

William Blake: For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life.

Albert Einstein: True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness.

4. Justice and truth. Seek what is right and true and speak out against that which is false, unjust or evil.

Martin Luther King: An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

Thomas Jefferson: It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.

Pearl S. Buck: The truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it.

5. Sunbeams and flowers. Especially on cold winter afternoons, I like to curl up like a cat in a sunbeam. Perfect for napping. In the Spring and Summer, what finer place to understand the world than to be in a garden?

Matthew Arnold:
Is it so small a thing
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done...


Buddha: If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

6. Conservation of natural resources.. Water is vital to life, yet more than 1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water. 42,000 people will die this week from diseases related to inadequate water quality and lack of sanitation. Read the WHO/UNICEF report Water for Life. Cherish what you have; use it wisely; conserve. Do what you can to help those who don't have the basics necessities of life.

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, Environment News Service, 27 Nov 02: Water is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a pre-requisite to the realization of all other human rights.

7. Kindness, love, life in community with others.

Henri Frederick Amiel: Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.

9 comments:

Rebecca H. said...

Thank you for the post -- there is a lot of wisdom here.

Anonymous said...

What an incredibly eloquent and beautiful response to this meme...I feel like a better person for having read it. And I love the blogosphere, where quotes from Arnold randomly appear!

Camille said...

You turned this meme into something so meaningful. I agree with Courtney that I feel like a better person now, or that I want to try to be a better person than I am now. It makes me want to print it out and hang it on the refrigerator to read each morning.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! People forget how much joy there is in Nietzsche...

Anne Camille said...

Thank you all for your comments. I'm glad that you appreciated reading the quotes I included here. I'm glad that I could gladden your hearts -- to reference the Amiel quote which is one of my favorites -- even if just for the few moments spent reading this post.

Courtney & Camille: Thank you for the wonderful compliments. blush

(Un)R: I often forget that Nietzsche isn't all gloom and doom. But I agree that it's sad if you don't find an occasion to dance and find just a bit of joy in the world each day.

Kay Cooke said...

Thank you for some marvellous quotes Cam.

Emily Barton said...

Wonderful meme. Great answers, and thanks for all the wise quotes!

LK said...

Thank you for these quotes -- they really gave me an uplift.

Anne Camille said...

CB, Emily, and LK: glad you liked reading this. It was uplifting to write, more so that others found it that way as well. :)