Good morning, Digital Neighbors! Happy Thursday to all you fine souls frequenting the Rubin Report, Phetasy, Outspoken, or Padre’s. I have always enjoyed quotes. Sometimes a well-stated thought can convey far more meaning and relevance than any long lecture or presentation.
Back in the late ’90s, when one could still shop at malls and browse in smaller bookstores like Walden Books, B. Dalton, or Borders, you’d discover random gems on the shelves. That was part of the joy of loitering for long stretches in those little shops. Amazon was still more of a novelty back then, and malls were where people went. Barnes & Noble was one of the giants, and their bookstores even sold coffee—what an invitation to loiter even longer!
One of those pleasant little finds was The Forbes Leadership Library—a set of eight small books published between 1995 and 1998. Each one was chock-full of quotes under various headings such as wisdom, courage, opportunity, success, and so forth. I thought a visit with some of these little gems over the next few weeks would be worthwhile. Mondays and Thursdays will be for quotes, keeping things fresh between my usual ramblings on words, prayers, and other ruminations. A few thoughts from the compilation on wisdom, under the heading of “advice”: Unsolicited advice or opinion is one of the quickest ways to sour a conversation—and possibly a relationship. Off to the quotes! Happy Thursday, my friends!
When you talk, you repeat what you already know; when you listen, you often learn something. — Jared Sparks
He is an incorrigible ass who never listens to others. — Baltasar Gracián
Have you learned lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who rejected you, and braced themselves against you, or disputed the passage with you? — Walt Whitman
Barn, Alley Spring MO - Intricate Explorer - Unsplash
Today marks the three hundred and thirtieth birthday of the Frenchman François-Marie Arouet, better known by his nom de plume, Voltaire (1694-1778).
Born into a bourgeois family during the reign of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” (r. 1643-1715), Voltaire suffered tragedy at a young age when his mother died. Never close with his father or brother, Voltaire exhibited a rebellious attitude toward authority from his youth. His brilliant mind was fostered in the care of the Society of Jesus, who introduced him to the joys of literature and theater. Despite his later criticisms against the Church, Voltaire, throughout his life, fondly recalled his dedicated Jesuit teachers.
Although he spent time as a civil servant in the French embassy to the Hague, Voltaire’s main love was writing—an endeavor where he excelled in various genres, including poetry, which led to his appointment as the royal court poet for King Louis XV. Widely recognized as one of the greatest French writers, and even hyperbolically referred to by ...
Padre - Tom Miller invites you to a Coffee Talk, Speakeasies, Schmoozes, Tea Times, Afterhours and other gatherings.
https://teams.live.com/meet/93792382189049?p=DiBHsYfuECPgDrG7vO
2026 Coffee Talk with the ADD Irregulars
Thursday, January 1, 2026
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Quite apart from the fact that I utterly admire, even love, her, this is the best possible response to an idiot, who, in his defense, asked a pretty good question.
https://x.com/TBifford/status/2087992591279407133/video/1?s=61
The Beautiful
Said the Disciple to the Lover, “Sir, before I left the world I heard certain men who were held in high esteem and thought to know the will of the Beloved say that those who loved the Beautiful did not love the Beloved but loved idols, yet in the Garden of the Beloved we are ever striving to create beauty for the pleasure of the Beloved. Were they then speaking the truth?”
The Lover answered, “Those who said this had never glimpsed the form of the Beloved nor ever truly sought Him, for all beauty is but the reflection of the beauty of the Beloved, although seen very dimly as in a dark and faulty mirror, even as all goodness is a dim reflection of the goodness of the Beloved. So it is that those who love beauty and goodness recognize dimly in them the form of the Beloved and though often in ignorance those who are seeking the Beautiful and the Good are seeking after the Beloved.”
