Someone who’s not yet an adult will tend to respond to a challenge from an adult in a way that acknowledges their dominance. If an adult says ‘that’s a stupid idea,’ a kid will either crawl away with his tail between his legs, or rebel. But rebelling presumes inferiority as much as submission. The adult response to ‘that’s a stupid idea,’ is simply to look the other person in the eye and say ‘Really? Why do you think so?’
Strange as it may seem, I still hope for the best, even though the best, like an interesting piece of mail, so rarely arrives, and even when it does it can be lost so easily.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution’s power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.
“
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Excerpt from Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live…..the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and Hope.
There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.
O remember
In your narrowing dark hours
That more things move
Than blood in the heart.
You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.