Thursday ~ August 11, 2016

It is very rare to find ground that produces nothing. If it is not covered with flowers, fruit trees, and grains, it produces briars and pines. It is the same with human beings; if they are not virtuous, they become vicious.

(Jean de la Bruyere (1645 - 1696)

Wednesday ~ August 10, 2016

Lord, bless those hands, the harvesters. Bless the travelers who gather our food, and those who grow it, clean it, cook it, who bring it to our tables. Bless the laborers whose faces we do not see - like the girl my grandmother was, walking the rails home; bless us that we remember.

(Natasha Trethewey, b. 1966)

Tuesday ~ August 9, 2016

Does the news bother you? Do you worry about things out of your control? Then take the time to concentrate your mind in the acquisition of some new and useful knowledge and stop it from flitting about. By the same token, guard against making the mistake of those who keep themselves so busy trying to gain control that they wear themselves out and lose their sense of direction, having no purpose to guide their actions or even their thoughts.

(Marcus Aurelius, 121 - 180)

Monday ~ August 8, 2016

Talk about it only enough to do it. Dream about it only enough to feel it. Think about it only enough to understand it. Contemplate it only enough to be it.

(Jean Toomer, 1894  - 1967)