This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain - and back in rain. I have out walked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly light, One luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, A luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
Strayed in mid-youth, rouse up, nor sleep, for lo! The days of youth like clouds of smoke will pass. Ere evening falls, thou shalt be withered grass, Though morning saw thee like a lily blow. Why waste on ancestors a heated breath, Or note which progeny was Abraham’s? Whether his food be herbs or Bashan rams, Man, wretched wight, is on his way to death.
Abundance | Anger | Awe | Day | Destroy | Fate | God | Gold | Judgment | Little | Man | Praise | Regard | Riches | Silence | Trust | Vengeance | Will | Riches | Fate | God |
`Confound Romance!' . . . And all unseen / Romance brought up the nine-fifteen.
Body | Capacity | Consciousness | Devotion | Means | Need | Relationship | Will | World |
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone NULL
The secret consciousness of duty well performed; the public voice of praise that honors virtue, and rewards it; all these are yours.
Children | Eternal | Father | Hate | Life | Life | Lord | Mother | Receive | Rule | Wife | Will | Wishes |
Saint John of Kronstadt, fully John Il’ich Serguiev, aka Holy Father John of the Kronstadt NULL
When you see a beautiful girl or woman or a handsome youth, immediately lift your thoughts to the supreme, most holy Beauty, the Author of every earthly and heavenly beauty, that is, to God; glorify Him for having created such beauty out of mere earth; marvel at the beauty of God’s image in man, which shines forth even in our perverted state; imagine what our image will be when we shall shine forth in the kingdom of our Father, if we become worthy of it; picture to yourself what must be the beauty of God’s saints, of the holy angels, of the Mother of God Herself, adorned with the Divine glory; imagine the unspeakable goodness of God’s countenance, which we shall behold, Carnal desire is sweet, but it is sinful, corruptive, and repugnant to God. Do not attach yourself with your heart to any girlish or female beauty, but to the Lord God alone, Who has created every beauty for His own sake, and say: ‘It is good for me to hold me fast by God,’ to God alone, and not to fleeting carnal beauty.
Conversation | Order | Soul |
If the gentleness of your spirit needs a dash of vinegar, borrow a little from Our Lord's spirit. O Mademoiselle, how well He knew how to find a bittersweet remark when it is needed!
Will |
What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright.
Better | Books | Childhood | Consideration | Fate | Happy | Justice | Labor | Learning | Leisure | Society | Work | Fate | Society |
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
But it is evident, that these bursts of universal distress are more dreaded than felt; thousands and ten thousands flourish in youth, and wither in age, without the knowledge of any other than domestic evils, and share the same pleasures and vexa?tions, whether their kings are mild or cruel, whether the armies of their country pursue their enemies or retreat before them.
Distinction | Virtue | Virtue | Think |
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
If lawyers were to undertake no causes till they were sure they were just, a man might be precluded altogether from a trial of his claim, though, were it judicially examined, it might be found a very just claim.
Distinction | Virtue | Virtue | Think |
Great talk among people how some of the Fanatiques do say that the end of the world is at hand, and that next Tuesday is to be the day. Against which, whenever it shall be, good God fit us all!
This morning (we living lately in the garret) I rose, put on my suit with great skirts, having not lately worn any other, clothes but them. Went to Mr. Gunning's chapel at Exeter House, where he made a very good sermon.... Dined at home in the garret, where my wife dressed the remains of a turkey, and in the doing of it she burned her hand.
Mercy |
Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological clock. Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes, ignorant perhaps of the messages buried in its long history. Let us hope that we are still in the early morning of our April day.
The possession of facts is knowledge, the use of them is wisdom.
The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors.
Perhaps the belief in God is the belief that the universe is intelligible, but not to us.
Decision | Life | Life | Philosophy | Uncertainty |