Gold found in the Road

~ Quotes, Anecdotes and Such ~

Do what thy manhood bids thee do,
from none but self expect applause,
He noblest lives and noblest dies
who makes and keeps his self-made laws.
- from "Kasidah", Sir Richard Burton


"Who knows how to have
The Void for his head
To have Life as his backbone
And Death for his tail?
He shall be my friend!"
- Chuang Tzu


"It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket if my neighbor believes there is no god or that there are twenty gods." - Thomas Jefferson


"I don't intend to die of creeping common sense."
                            - Robert Munson


"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell



Sixty-six times have these eyes beheld the changing
scene of autumn
I have said enough about moonlight,
Ask no more.
Only listen to the voice of pines and cedars
when no wind stirs.
- Death Poem of Ryonen, 19th C. Zen nun.


"Nurture your mind with great thoughts,
for you will never go higher than you think."
- Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81) British Prime Minister


"Yes! Life is a banquet,
and most poor sons-of-bitches are starving to death! Live!"
- Auntie Mame, act II, scene vi



The most striking difference between the philosophies of the Southwestern Indian
and Western man is the manner in which each views his role in the universe. The pre-
vailing non-Indian view is that man is superior to all other forms of life and that the
universe is his to be used as he sees fit. The value placed on every other life form is
determined only by its usefulness to man, an attitude justified as "the mastery of
nature for the benefit of man."

The Indian view is that man is part of a delicately balanced universe in which
all components -- all life forms and natural elements -- interrelate and interact, with
no part being more or less important than another. Further, it is believed that only
man can upset this balance.

It is a tragedy indeed that Western man in his headlong quest for Holy Progress
could not have paused long enough to learn this basic truth -- one which he is now
being forced to recognize, much to his surprise and dismay. Ever anxious to teach
"backward" people, he has been ever reluctant to learn from them.

- Tom Bahti, Southwestern Indian Ceremonials



"I put a capital N on nature and call it my church."
- Frank Lloyd Wright