and...just a few more....(hey, I just noticed I'm an old hand now, no longer a "mere" addict - when did that happen?! )

From Nelson Mandela's inauguration speech:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.


Never retract, never explain, never apologize; get the thing done and then let them howl. – Nellie Mooney McClung.

All truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self–evident. – Schopenhauer

The great question...which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is "what does a woman want?" – Sigmund Freud


Parent's Pledge, from home–order toy catalogue (author unknown):
I will always love and respect my child for who he and and not who I want him to be.
I will give my child space – to grow, to dream, to succeed, and even, sometimes, to fail.
I will create a loving home environment and show my child that she is loved, whenever and however I can.
I will, when discipline is necessary, let my child know that I disapprove of what he does, not who he is.
I will set limits for my child and help her find security in the knowledge of what is expected of her.
I will make time for my child and cherish our moments together, realizing how important – and fleeting – they are.
I will not burden my child with emotions and problems he is not equipped to deal with, remembering that I am the parent and he is the child.
I will encourage my child to experience the world and all its possibilities, guiding her in its ways and taking pains to leave her careful, but not fearful.
I will take care of myself physically and emotionally so that I can be there for my child when he needs me.
I will try to be the kind of person I want my child to grow up to be – loving, fair–minded, moral, giving and hopeful.


From "Nepalese Tantric Totem" off the Internet (email):
– When you say, "I love you," mean it.
– When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
– Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
– Remember the three R's: respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for all your actions.
– Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.
– Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
– Remember that your character is your destiny.
supposedly if you sent this to 15 or more people, "Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever dreamed of will begin to take shape." I did it back in April 1999, and have yet to see that happen....and I sent it to 35 people!


From The Body Shop's gift bag:
– Lighten up. Take in some fresh air and sunlight. Dream of harmony. Face challenges eagerly. Look through the eyes of appreciation. Relish adventure. Forgive your parents and cut yourself some slack. Make someone happy. Work for peace. Never be disheartened. Re–invent. Reach. Risk. Refuse, resist and re–use. Make a wish. Send little gifts in the mail. Accept love. Walk the dog. Surrender. Be silly. Do not wait for a better world. Show respect to your body and the earth. Dance with the stars. Let it go. Expect the best. Know all difficulties in your life have purpose. Follow your bliss. Practise random acts of kindness. Find calm (go there daily). Stand tall. Walk proud. Run after your dreams. Learn from the past. Look to the future. Live every moment.


Rules for dealing with animals often also work for guys: make no sudden moves, let them sniff you first, and remember that they're probably more frightened of you than you are of them.... – Dave Cheoros, in an email, May 2000


From Clarissa Pinkola Estes' Women Who Run With the Wolves:
General Wolf Rules For Life:
1. Eat.
2. Rest.
3. Rove in between.
4. Render loyalty.
5. Love the children.
6. Cavil by moonlight.
7. Tune your ears.
8. Attend to the bones.
9. Make love.
10. Howl often.


The Mutineer (Punch magazine?)
I have handed the whole thing back to Mr Bevin. I can no longer direct our foreign policy over the dinner table. Poor Mr Morrison must do what he can with America without my advice propounded to the moon in the middle of the night. Mr Shinwell may or may not produce coal, I will not help him. I have no views whatever on housing, rationing, education or national insurance. If there is a drain handy, let the world go down it. Today I am going to devote to my darling self. I am going to lie on the green grass in the Park under a pink may–tree on a blue rug, I am going to read all about Unity, the baby Panda, I am going to suck an orange through a lump of sugar. I am going to think about the joke I made last March. With all my heart and mind and soul I am going to love my adorable self and not give a thought to the universe or the ways in which it can be saved. Lord Pethick–Lawrence can hand India over to the Eskimoes for all it concerns me. What if the lads do miss me? Although I have given Mr Dalton a lot of assistance lately he must jolly well get on as best he may without me, while I take that kind face of mine to look at the ducks, while I sing myself little songs and write myself poems, and pick myself bouquets of roses tied up in ribbon, while I flirt with that carefree delightful old dear that is me.


From P.D. James' Shroud for a Nightingale:
– This, after all, was the commonest, the most banal of personal tragedies. You loved someone. They didn't love you. Worse still, in defiance of their own best interests and to the destruction of your peace, they loved another. (p. 119)
– In any relationship there was one who loved and one whopermitted himself or herself to be loved. This was merely to state the brutal economics of desire; from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. But was it selfish or presumptuous to hope that the one who took knew the value of the gift...? (p. 141)
– "I'm too old to feel sexy when I'm cold and tired. At my age you need the creature comforts if you're to perform with any pleasure to your partner or credit to yourself." (Adam Dalgliesh, p. 215)
– "We were talking once about sex and she said that a man's nature and character were always completely revealed when he made love. That if he were selfish or insensitive or brutal he couldn't conceal it in bed whatever he might do with his clothes on...." (Arnold Dawson, p. 225)