MARMELODIAN: Quotes (from folks who 'get it')

"Probably no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization.  We must make our choice; we cannot have both."  Abraham Flexner
It's the choice I believe we need to think about as we decide how to trim the U.S. federal budget.  I read the other day that the U.S. spends more money on our military than does the entire rest of the world combined.  Is it any wonder that we have little money left for the things that make a society civilized:  health care, education, the arts, medical and scientific research, infrastructure and green energy initiatives?   
It seems to me that our wars drag on endlessly, with no victories in sight.  In my life, we have had no victories, only stalemates:  I cite Korea and Viet Nam.  And frankly, I doubt that even the politicians or the generals know what a victory in Iraq or Afghanistan would look like.  For those who say that victory [...]

My favorite journal is Adbusters, Journal of the Mental Environment.  I buy every one that comes out and treasure them as I would any other book I love.  They may be hard to find where you live. 
I read this quote from Max-Neef in the March/April 2011 edition of Adbusters. 
"I worked for about ten years in areas of extreme poverty in the Sierras, in the jungle and urban areas of Latin America.  And one day at the beginning of that period I found myself in an Indian village in the Sierra in Peru.  It was an ugly day.  It had been raining all day.  And I was standing in the slum.  And across from me, a guy was standing in the mud - not in the slum, in the mud.  He was a short guy...thin, hungry, jobless, five kids, a wife and a grandmother.  And I was the fine economist from Berkeley.  As we looked at each other, I suddenly realized that I had nothing coherent to say to that man in those circumstances, that my whole language [...]

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.
Dalai Lama

I'm increasingly aware that time and love are the only sources of true wealth. It's an irony that time weighs heaviest on those for whom it is running out. When I was young, I thought that I and everyone I loved would live forever. Now, too many of the people I love have been gone for years, yet their absence still feels like a surprise. And as my next birthday approaches (Beware the Ides of March!) I have a sense that the window of endless possibilities is starting to shut for me as well.

How is it that the bittersweet recognition of loss and limit is what makes each moment in the here and now so achingly sweet and meaningful? I love each moment in the festival of life with an ardor that I could not have imagined when I was young.

I remember a long time ago, when [...]

This page was inspired by a quote from Salvador Dali, who happens to be my husband's favorite artist.  Dali is one of my favorites too...a wonderfully playful, creative and slightly wacky free spirit!