This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
John Chrysostom, fully Saint John Chrysostom
I do not know whether anyone has ever succeeded in not enjoying praise. And, if he enjoys it, he naturally wants to receive it. And if he wants to receive it, he cannot help but being distraught at losing it. Those who are in love with applause have their spirits starved not only when they are blamed off-hand, but even when they fail to be constantly praised.
Generosity | Good | Joy | Need | Pleasure | Receive | Resentment | Sense | Spirit | Will |
It is no wonder you are tempted; on the contrary, it would be something new if you were not, because man's life is nothing but temptation, and no one is exempt from it, especially those who have given themselves to God; his own Son even passed through this trial. But if it is necessary for everyone, it is also a source of merit for those to whom God grants the grace of turning all things to good, as you do.
It seems to me that the best way will be the one that is most gentle and forbearing, which is more in conformity with the Spirit of Our Lord and more apt to win hearts.
Day | Distrust | Good | Grace | Heart | Hope | Joy | Munificence | Peace | Prayer | Reason | Receive | Regard | Soul | Strength | Time | Trust | Will | Work |
I beseech the Divine Goodness to bless you by bestowing on you the gentle kindness of true Daughters of Charity, mutual forbearance in your weaknesses, the grace of reconciliation with one another, if any little difficulties arise amongst you.
Anyone who emerges in the midst of mankind as a herald who knows how to employ the gift of poetry to inspire the human mind with enthusiasm for all that is pure and true and godly, anyone who knows how to make man proud to be human and to enable him to recognize his God in every breath of his existence, anyone who can snatch man from the dust to have him stand upright in all his dignity and nobility, is, in the view of Judaism, a messenger of God on earth.
Culture | Danger | Education | Joy | Knowledge | Pleasure | Usefulness | Will | Danger |
We mourn over the sin which brought about that downfall (the Temple destruction -- author), we take to heart the harshness which we have encountered in our years of wandering as the chastisement of a father, imposed on us for our improvement, and we mourn the lack of observance of the Torah which that ruin has brought about. Not in order to shine as a nation among nations do we raise our prayers and hopes for a reunion in our land, but in order to find a soil for the better fulfillment of our spiritual vocation in that reunion and in that land which was promised, and given, and again promised for our observance of the Torah. But this very vocation obliges us, until G-d shall call us back to the Holy Land, to live and to work as patriots wherever He has placed us, to collect all the physical, material and spiritual forces and all that is noble in Israel to further the weal of the nations which have given us shelter. It obliges us, further, to allow our longing for the far-off land to express itself only in mourning, in wishing and hoping; and only through the honest fulfillment of all Jewish duties to await the realization of this hope. But it forbids us to strive for the reunion or possession of the land by any but spiritual means.
Aims | Childhood | Children | Dawn | Experience | Joy | Knowledge | Life | Life | Light | Philosophy | Self-interest | Will | Wisdom | Yearnings | Youth | Youth |
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
Mathematics alone make us feel the limits of our intelligence. For we can always suppose in the case of an experiment that it is inexplicable because we don't happen to have all the data. In mathematics we have all the data ... and yet we don't understand. We always come back to the contemplation of our human wretchedness. What force is in relation to our will, the impenetrable opacity of mathematics is in relation to our intelligence.
The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say, “What are you going through?”
Indispensable | Joy | Learning | Study | Will |
Simcha Zissel of Kelm, fully Rabbi imcha Zissel Ziv Broida, aka the Elder of Kelm
The person who desires more physical pleasures will frequently feel frustrated since he always desires more than he can obtain. On the other hand, the person who desires to do good deeds is easily able to find good deeds to engage in.
Simone de Beauvoir, fully Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir
The day had been spent in the expectation of these hours, and now they were crumbling away, becoming, in their turn, another period of expectancy...It was a journey without end, leading to an indefinite future, eternally shifting just as she was reaching the present.
Joy | Marriage | Pleasure | Self | Weakness | Woman | Child | Happiness |
To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
Gregory: Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention? Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. Gregory: The dog did nothing in the night-time. Holmes: That was the curious incident
Abstinence | Joy | Sorrow | Will |
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own little adventures.
Thérèse de Lisieux, fully Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin NULL
The science of loving, yes, that's the only kind of science I want. I'd barter away everything I possess to win it.