QOTD - a l'heure

"It is not enough to run, one must start on time." French proverb

Not only that, but one must wear proper shoes. And decent coffee and bread can only help.



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - cheer up! It can only get worse!

"We will sail pathless and wild seas..." Walt Whitman, American poet

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - rugged individualism

"You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder." Emil Zátopek, Czech runner

Congratulations Calendar! A quote that admits that one might need assistance in order to succeed.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - in other words, carry on

"Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair"  Edmund Burke, 18th century British statesman

I doubt this is inspirational to anyone. But to people like me who already believe this, it's kind of nice to hear that someone quotable said it.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - Peace

"Peace hath higher tests of manhood than battle ever knew." John Greenleaf Whittier, 19th century American poet

Is there a longer conflict in human history than the conflict between those who believe in the strength of war and those who believe in the power of peace?

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD -

"Just because someone has fancy sneakers doesn't mean they can run faster." Jon Bon Jovi, American musician

This reminds me of something from many years ago, while I was still pursuing a career as an actor.

At the time, like most actors, I spent much of each week in class (acting class, dance class, singing lessons), in rehearsal for class, waiting on line for auditions, knocking on the doors of agents, taking "workshops" that were said to guarantee meetings with agents, pooling with other actors to stage "showcase" productions that we hoped would attract agents…I'm sure you've seen enough backstage movies to know what I mean. 

One day my college roommate mentioned that a mutual friend, who was also an actress, wryly described this as "being employed full time looking for work." I thought it was extremely well put. But I couldn't help but point out that for the other woman, this was at least her only job. She was paying for all of this with a trust fund. I, on the other hand, was working a series of office jobs, often on the overnight shift because it paid better, and running up credit card debt for expensive things like head shots and professional hair dye. 

To bring this back to Bon Jovi's sneaker remark, this woman and I were both in the same race and she didn't finish any better than I; we neither of us got very far. However, she was a lot more comfortable in her fancy sneakers that I was running barefoot. And, thirty years later, I'm still dealing with the damage to my unprotected feet. So yeah, while fancy sneakers don't guarantee the finish, they sure make the race a whole lot easier to run.



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - inexorable

"History knows no resting places and no plateaus." Henry Kissinger, US diplomat

And I am only an ant, among many ants, along this march of time. 

This doesn't inspire me. It simply reminds me how exhausted I am.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - paying the piper

"We all pay for our choices, and whatever life we choose determines the kind of payment we make." EL Doctorow, American writer

An interesting quote from Ed Doctorow. Certainly food for thought.

I would embellish this (don't I always?). "Whatever life we choose, and the context of the society in which we choose it, determines the kind of payment we make." 

I chose to try to live with honor and integrity. In my youth, in the late-20th century in the USA, I made a pair of idealistic choices that were bound to rebound. I chose to pursue the arts rather than go to law school or Wall Street and, not surprisingly, paid with a battered ego and massive debt. I chose to hold out for a "soul mate," and paid by living an unshared life and never having children. Two major gambles, and both lost. 

So then I put away childish things. I chose to pay off all my debts, and I chose to work hard on behalf of those who hired me. My employers and my government did not make the same choices as I did. They all seem to be thriving; but the result of my choices is that I face every day with worry and uncertainty, and my future is tenuous. In the context of my own place and time, I would have to say that I chose wrong.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - the thing with feathers

"Hope spurs humans everywhere to work harder to endure more now that the future may be better." Dwight D. Eisenhower, US President

Indeed.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD

"No spring -- no summer." John Ruskin, 19th century British art critic

No spring indeed! Today I hit the one page where the Keep Calm & Carry On people seem to have channelled the Farmer's Almanac. I doubt Ruskin was alluding to an endless winter like the current one we've been weathering in my part of the world (the East coast of North America), but it makes the quote seem no less apt.

If, as seems more likely, Ruskin was nodding to the beautiful interdependence of seasons, I'm right there applauding, too. I treasure the cycle of changing seasons. Spring is so much more wondrous because it follows winter. Summer would be insufferable (to me!) if it lasted all the year long, but in it's fleeting form, I can enjoy and even cherish it. Though, if this is the point of the quote, it might be better to say "no winter -- no spring."



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - Catching Up

"Happiness is the child of sweat." Lugbara proverb

If the QOTD is correct, then I must be happy as a clam these days. After a couple of weeks of riding the temperature roller-coaster, from balmy to frigid (or the other way 'round) in 18 hours, I wasn't surprised to catch a whopping seasonal cold. When it comes to colds, I've learned I get through it best by going old school: plenty of fluids; no dairy or chocolate; and early to bed, with a gulp of aspirin and a slather of Vicks. That last bit explains the sweating.

And the whole having a cold thing explains why I've missed a couple of days of posting. I apologize to my regular readers; but I know you'll understand (having had many a cold yourself).

Just for the record, here are the two quotes I missed posting:

Yesterday, March 19:
"If you don't blow your own horn, there's no music." Mario Cuomo, American politician

and Tuesday, March 18:
"I see thee better -- in the Dark." Emily Dickinson, American poet


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - Merrily merrily merrily

"Nodding the head does not row the boat." Irish proverb

I assume the calendar folks wanted something Irish for St. Patrick's Day. Considering all the wonderful possibilities, this is what they came up with?

And, while it is unquestionably true, it doesn't seem to stop the head-nodders from prospering.



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - Labor day

"Not all the labor of the earth is done by hardened hands." Will Carleton, American poet

Less and less, as it happens. But I would say that none of the labor of the earth is done by hardened hearts. Anyone in that state tends to pass of the labor to others, while assuming all credit and/or benefit.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - to go where the brave dare not go

"All men are preparted to accomplish the incredible if their ideals are threatened." Hermann Hesse, German-Swiss writer

I wish this were true. But I don't think it is. Which says nothing about Hesse's statement, but everything about the devaluation of ideals in the society in which I live.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

"No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There's too much work to do." Dorothy Day, American activist.

I mostly complain about how poorly the quotes in this calendar fit the Keep Calm and Carry On motif. But I read today's page with a big nod of agreement. I'd never heard this quote before, but the sentiments are very much in keeping with what I tell myself on a bad day. It's not about not feeling hopeless, you understand. I often feel hopeless. Hopeless, angry, frustrated, dismayed. But I hardly ever sit down and fall into it. I tell myself that's a luxury I can't afford. There's far too much that needs to be done. After so many years of fighting, I've learned that I draw strength from action, from taking back even a shred of control and refusing to be beaten down. This isn't hope, but it is endurance. There are many shades of darkness. Action may not lead to light, but it can push back against the worst.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

"You have to be like the pebble in the stream, keeping the grain and rolling along without being dissolved or dissolving anything else." Joseph Jourbet, 19th century French essayist

Keep the integrity of your own self, and do no harm to others. While continuing to roll through life.

Yes, this pebble in the stream idea appeals to me more than being a candle in the wind.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD (and a plug for Cosmos)

"If we don't watch what we're doing, we can make great troubles for ourselves." Carl Sagan, American astronomer

In honor of today's quote (with which I cannot quarrel), I decided to post this link to a YouTube channel where you can watch episodes of the original Cosmos.

And don't forget to watch Neil deGrasse Tyson in the new Cosmos.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - so what else is new?

"Still fisheth he that catcheth one." George Herbert, 17th century British poet

Well of course he does. Because nothing succeeds like success. But why should those of us who haven't caught so much as a minnow keep fishing? We're the people who need the inspiration, Calendar People -- not the people who are already reeling them in.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - nicely nicely

"Nice guys finish first. If you don't know that, then you don't know where the finish line is." Garry Shandling, American comedian

Maybe so. But for some reason, that finish line is the one without the applause. Or ribbons or silver cups or giant checks.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - the Way of love

"If thou wish to reach the perfection of love, it befits thee to set thy life in order." Saint Catherine of Siena, 14th century Italian theologian

Though Saint Catherine no doubt means Heavenly and not earthly love, those of us whose thoughts dwell yet on corporeal existence might prefer this re-shaped as, to be loved, you must first love yourself.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark

"The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured." Dean Acheson, American statesman

This quote implies a great deal about Dean Acheson's personal experience. Could one say this if one had been raped? tortured? enslaved? forced to shoot one's own parents and join their enemies? It's reasonable to think that Acheson meant to encourage dignity in the face of adversity but, as an isolated sentence, this comment trivializes evil by implying that it pales by comparison to the manner in which the victim suffers it.



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - Long term goals?

"Keep swingin'. Maybe you'll give them a cold." Gordan Bombay (Emilio Estevez) in The Mighty Ducks, screenplay by Steven Brill

This quote is actually encouraging -- if you're playing a long game. Okay, a very long game. But if you are...

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - the scorpion and the frog

"Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that carry them far apart." Confucius, ancient Chinese philosopher

What place does the Confucian version of the "nature vs nurture" argument have in a "Keep Calm & Carry On" calendar?

But since the calendar people tossed it on the heap, I will take the opportunity to take exception to it. Yes, I'm disagreeing with Confucius. I'm also disagreeing with Anne Frank, who wishfully expressed the opinion that all men are good. Because I don't believe all people have the same nature.

I believe that we are born with our own natures and, as we make our way through life, these core natures color how we react to challenge and acheivement and adversity and anything else we wander into or that the world hurls at us.

Two of the similar nature who face different challenges and rewards in life will have their characters diverge. Not because of their "habits" but because their experiences will deliver different results from those habits. One who is trusting by nature but whose trust is betrayed will diverge from one of the same nature whose trust is validated. As the same challenges and rewards will bear different fruit to those of different natures (consider the old glass-half-empty-glass-half-full).

When it comes to whether we all have the same nature, I'll have to stick with Aesop.


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - a spoonful of sugar

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22

Indeed. The stumbling block, however, may be finding the medicine that will create the merry heart.

And so, I will set this recommendation aside in favor of an entry from the book of Poppins.




Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - let it go, let it go!

"The greatest happiness is to transform one's feelings into actions." Germaine de Staël, 18th century Swiss writer

Despite her origins, isn't it traditional to consider Madame de Staël as a French writer? 

And how much do you covet that turban?


Bien. Having, by these statements, transformed my feelings into actions, I am surely one gesture nearer to happiness. Though I really don't think Madame could have imagined social media. In this landscape, where every frisson of emotion is parent to an epic rant or rhapsody, there may be greater happiness in merely observing.




Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - Ain't it a kick in the head?

"To be alive is to be kicking." Studs Terkel, American writer and historian

...so DON'T Keep Calm! Kick it! Kick it good! (well, if Studs said so...)



Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - the quote cometh cross-gartered

"Thou art made, if thou desir'st to be so." William Shakespeare, English playwright, Twelfth Night

In the actual play from which this is quoted, the line appears in a letter that promises Malvolio that "greatness" awaits him, if only he is bold enough to seize it. As he does desire to be so, he follows the instructions in the letter and utterly humiliates himself. Because the letter is a forgery, and the promise of greatness is false. 

Today's quote of the day is part of an elaborate falsehood, designed to destroy a man's life. See what happens when you pull your content from a collection of quotations without checking the original source material?  Nice work, calendar editorial team!


Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar

QOTD - stop picking on that scab!

"Try not to make it worse than it already is." Russell Baker, American writer

Kicking off March with some good common sense from Russell Baker. This is the kind of simple advice that tends to slip through the mental cracks, simply because it's simple. 

It's hard to improve on this idea. Bad things happen. No amount of positive thinking or wishful ignorance is going to change that. But when we find ourselves in bad situations, the one thing we can do is our damnedest not to make it any worse than it has to be. This might be as simple as accepting that bad things happen, rather than tying yourself in a knot looking for a "why" that doesn't exist, or blaming yourself for something you could never have avoided or changed. And sometimes it means turning the other cheek, because negative emotions fester; which only hurts you, not the target of your anger.

If you're having a hard time Keeping Calm, it couldn't hurt to remember this one.

Quotes-of-the day from the 2014 Keep Calm & Carry On desk calendar