This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
A traveler must have the back of an ass to bear all, a tongue like the tail of a dog to flatter all, the mouth of a hog to eat what is set before him, the ear of a merchant to hear all and say nothing
Good | Little | Simplicity | Treason |
What are we going to do about it? Well, for one thing, we can be aware of these immature and inadequate ideas. We do not have to let ourselves be dominated by them. We are free to think in better terms. Of course, we cannot do this all by ourselves. We need the help of articulate voices, themselves taught and inspired by love. This is the mission of the poet, the artist, and the prophet. Unfortunately, the confusion of our world has made the message of our poets obscure and our prophets seem altogether silent–unless they are devoting their talents to the praise of toothpaste.
Better | Church | Constraint | God | People | Revelation | God |
Maximus of Tyre, fully Cassius Maximus Tyrius NULL
The soul holds herself erect and strong, she gazes at the pure light [of the Godhead]; she wavers not, nor turns her glance to earth, but closes her ears and directs her eyes and all other senses within. She forgets the troubles and sorrows of earth, its joys and honors, its glory and its shame; and submits to the guidance of pure reason and strong love. For reason points out the road that must be followed, and love drives the soul forward, making the rough places smooth by its charm and constancy. And as we approach heaven and leave earth behind, the goal becomes clear and luminous-that is a foretaste of God's very self. On the road we learn His nature better; but when we reach the end, we see Him.
We can't tell how old the universe is by examining it, because we don't understand how it got here in the first place.
Blessed are you Hashem, our God, King of the Universe Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates all. He Who illuminates the earth and those who dwell upon it, with compassion, and in goodness He renews every day, perpetually the work of Creation. How abundant are your works, Hashem, all of them with wisdom You made; full is the earth with Your possessions. You are the King Who was exalted in solitude from before creation, Who is praised, glorified, and upraised since days of old. God of eternity, with Your compassion that is abundant, be compassionate on us; Oh Master of our power, our rocklike stronghold; O shield of our salvation, Who is a stronghold for us. The blessed God, Who is great in knowledge, prepared and produced the rays of the sun; the Beneficent One that he fashioned provided honor for His name. Luminaries did he place all around His power. The leaders of his legions, holy ones who exalt the Almighty, constantly relate the honor of God and his sanctity. May you be blessed, and for the luminaries of light that You have made, may people glorify You forever. May You be blessed, our Rock, our King, and our Redeemer, creator of holy ones; may your name be praised forever, Our King, O fashioner of ministering angels; and Whose ministering angels all stand at the summit of the universe of the living God and King of the universe. They are all beloved; they are all flawless; they are all mighty; they are do with dread and reverence in holiness and purity, in song and hymn, and bless, praise, glorify, revere, sanctify, and declare the kingship of the Name of God, the King Who is great, Who is mighty and Who is awesome; holy is He. Then they all accept upon themselves the yoke of the sovereignty of heaven, from one another, and grant permission one to another, of Creation. As it is said: Give thanks to Him Who makes the great luminaries, for enduring forever is His kindness. A new light on Zion may You shine, and may we merit, all of us speedily, to benefit from its light. Blessed are You, Hashem Who fashions the luminaries.
Since beauty is honoured all over the Empire, How could Xi Shi remain humbly at home? -- Washing clothes at dawn by a southern lake -- And that evening a great lady in a palace of the north: Lowly one day, no different from the others, The next day exalted, everyone praising her. No more would her own hands powder her face Or arrange on her shoulders a silken robe. And the more the King loved her, the lovelier she looked, Blinding him away from wisdom. ...Girls who had once washed silk beside her Were kept at a distance from her chariot. And none of the girls in her neighbours' houses By pursing their brows could copy her beauty.
Affront | Cause | Day | Effort | Looks | Men | Retirement | Right | World | Youth | Youth | Old |
A Poison Tree - I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I water’d it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunnèd it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright; And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine, And into my garden stole When the night had veil’d the pole: In the morning glad I see My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree.
Abuse of the Gospel - Too many, Lord, abuse Thy grace In this licentious day, And while they boast they see Thy face, They turn their own away. Thy book displays a gracious light That can the blind restore; But these are dazzled by the sight, And blinded still the more. The pardon such presume upon, They do not beg but steal; And when they plead it at Thy throne, Oh! where's the Spirit's seal? Was it for this, ye lawless tribe, The dear Redeemer bled? Is this the grace the saints imbibe From Christ the living head? Ah, Lord, we know Thy chosen few Are fed with heavenly fare; But these, -- the wretched husks they chew, Proclaim them what they are. The liberty our hearts implore Is not to live in sin; But still to wait at Wisdom's door, Till Mercy calls us in.
Battle | Cause | Change | Cruelty | Day | Death | Future | Grace | Heart | Heaven | Life | Life | Providence | Scripture | Temper | Words | Cruelty |
The sparkling eye, the mantling cheek, The polished front, the snowy neck, How seldom we behold in one! Glossy locks, and brow serene, Venus' smiles, Diana's mien, All meet in you, and you alone. Beauty, like other powers, maintains Her empire, and by union reigns; Each single feature faintly warms: But where at once we view displayed Unblemished grace, the perfect maid Our eyes, our ears, our heart alarms. So when on earth the god of day Obliquely sheds his tempered ray, Through convex orbs the beams transmit, The beams that gently warmed before, Collected, gently warm no more, But glow with more prevailing heat.
For washed in life's river, my bright mane forever shall shine like the gold as I guard o'er the fold.
As I was walking among the fires of hell, delighted with the enjoyments of genius; which to angels look like torment and insanity, I collected some of their proverbs, thinking that as the sayings used in a nation mark its character, so the proverbs of hell show the nature of infernal wisdom better than any description of buildings or garments.
Man |
But want of money and the distress of a thief can never be alleged as the cause of his thieving, for many honest people endure greater hard ships with fortitude. We must therefore seek the cause elsewhere than in want of money for that is the misers passion, not the thiefs.
Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think about what you shall write.
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair, but Desire gratified plants fruits of life and beauty there.
But why talk of exaggeration or contradiction? Alas! do not the workings of death and disolarion among us in the present time give them a fearful corroboration, and prove how far the strongest imagery of Fiction is frequently transcended by the terrible realities of Truth?
To open the eternal worlds, to open the immortal eyes of man inwards into the worlds of thought: into eternity ever expanding in the bosom of God, the human imagination.