Bread

Bread was what you wanted over the long haul, when you got right down to it. When you got right down to it, you wouldn't want a lifetime of cake.
--Alice McDermott

The Passage

All the tragedies which we can imagine return in the end to the one and only tragedy: the passage of time.
--Simone Weil

Unknown Unknowns

There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.
--Donald Rumsfeld

As If

It is as if happiness or unhappiness stem in large part from how we address what happens in the world, not what actually happens.
--Daniel Nettle

Stories

We often fail to honor stories.
--Cary Tennis

Being Born

He not busy being born is busy dying.
--Bob Dylan

The World Anew

If my heart could do my thinking
And my head begin to feel
I would look upon the world anew
And know what's truly real.
--Van Morrison

Capable of Living

Surely every one realizes, at some point along the way, that he is capable of living a far better life than the one he has chosen.
--Henry Miller

The Pauses

The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes--ah, that is where the art resides.
--Artur Schnabel

From Scratch

If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
--Carl Sagan

Remind Me

Man needs more to be reminded than instructed.
--Samuel Johnson

Taxation Is Mortal

This is the Great Theatre of Life. Admission is free but taxation is mortal. You come when you can and leave when you must. The show is continuous.
--Robertson Davies

Fast & Shallow

The faster our news, the shallower our history, the more frantic our panic.
--Jill Lepore

All Pleasures

I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.
--C. S. Lewis

Whole

Be really whole
And all things will come to you.
--Lao-Tzu

Elevates the Very Concept

Humanity is exalted not because we are so far above other living creatures but because knowing them well elevates the very concept of life.
--Edward O. Wilson

Not Penance

Environmental stewardship need not be a form of penance for past errors. And it's too late to save the planet by reverting to primitivism.
--Cary Tennis

Sharply Unexpected

We now boast genome research which makes clear that every individual is a genetic chef's salad, often with sharply unexpected contributions.
--Lionel Tiger

Then Return

At baseball's heart lies one simple goal: to leave home and then return.
--Alan Schwartz

Customs and Habits

Customs are generally unselfish. Habits are nearly always selfish.
--G. K. Chesterton

The Test

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
--F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sleeping Around

Participants seeking to dodge troubles face the same problem as someone seeking to avoid venereal disease: It's not just whom you sleep with, but also whom they are sleeping with. Sleeping around, to continue our metaphor, can actually be useful for large derivatives dealers because it assures them government aid if trouble hits.
--Warren Buffett