"Nostalgia is not so much the memory of happier times as of higher hopes."
"While I occasionally enjoy a bout of nostalgia, I would generally rather dream forward than backward."
"Eventually, if you're lucky in life, you find someone with the same chemical imbalance you have."
"Often the only thing a husband and wife have in common is that they used to go to the same places to meet members of the opposite sex."
"Meanwhile, there's a new medicine whose side effects are constipation, irritability and an uncompromising desire to balance the national budget."
"Life is a series of family photos in which eventually you stop showing up."
"It's not that you die, it's that you slow down to the point that even with the camera on ten-second delay, you aren't fast enough to get into the picture."
"Learn to listen. It's amazing the ideas that pop into your head while people are saying them into your ear."
"If it doesn't work horizontally as prose...
it
probably
won't
work
any
better
vertically
pretending
to
be
poetry."
Nothing's so facile
As the tongue of an acile.
"What if, instead of a parallel universe, there's a perpendicular universe. Discuss."
"It's curious the way we get nostalgic for some hoped-for thing that never happened, as if something that never happened were in the past."
"The way you know you're traveling backward through time is that your hopes keep getting higher."
"As revised for 21st-century reality, optimism is a brimming confidence that tomorrow will bring some reason for optimism."
"The hardest thing about reality is returning to it after an hour inside your child's mind."
"The reward for providing our kids a happy childhood is that we get to spend a little time in it ourselves."
"While I find that I can keep my nose out of other people's business, I do have a curiosity as to their non-business activities. "
~~ Robert Brault
20 comments:
first comment! haha :)
This is some good stuff. Keep taking those meds! (Well, for as long as you need to)
Sorry, it's 10 here, so my thoughtful responses are still premature.
These are all so good that I can't even pick one!
Well, maybe I can...
"If it doesn't work horizontally as prose...
it
probably
won't
work
any
better
vertically
pretending
to
be
poetry.
(This one speaks loudly to the poet in me...)
Seriously, my friend. You've outdone yourself with this crop!
=)
the perpendicular universe one sounds kind of fun.
I will quote you on my blog tomorrow with this one.
and... bonkbonk keep taking your meds
they keep you healthy and quite witty too!
Quite exceptional bunch - I liked the ones about kids most. In Romania we say that you need to spend one hour per day with kids and one hour with people over 70, if you want to keep your mind balanced.
The ones about life as a series of family pictures are also nice - never thought of it like that. I image life as a burning rope - you can check out here http://egooutpeters.blogspot.com/2011/05/ant-paths.html
Hugs,
G.
Curtman,
Thanks, I'll keep taking them. It's always fun to discover what the latest side effect of your meds will be. It's like opening a box of Cracker Jacks.
Sue,
You, my friend, are the last person on the planet who needs pointers from me on writing true poetry. Thanks for liking.
Pierro,
Thanks. I've known a few talking dogs, but you are the only one who speaks always to the point.
Georgina,
Thank you again -- and I do encourage readers to check out your blog.
smiles all,
rb
Smiling, as I often do whenever I visit ~
I love these wonderful thoughts!
Wishing you a lovely weekend,
~ Maria
ps. I picked my new Robert Brault quote for the school year:
"Learn to listen. It's amazing the ideas that pop into your head while people are saying them into your ear."
Perfect!
Oh, I really liked this one: "The reward for providing our kids a happy childhood is that we get to spend a little time in it ourselves."
Some of my happiest times were spent there... and now with the grandchildren! But I enjoy just about everything you post, so it's hard to truly pick favorites.
Have a good weekend -
I earmarked this set of quotes to read whenever I need a good laugh. My top favourites:
for HUMOR: "Learn to listen. It's amazing the ideas that pop into your head while people are saying them into your ear."
for PROSY-NESS: "If it doesn't work horizontally as prose...
it
probably
won't
work
any
better
vertically
pretending
to
be
poetry."
for PLAY ON WORDS: "What if, instead of a parallel universe, there's a perpendicular universe. Discuss."
Keep 'em coming! :) Cheers!
"Eventually, if you're lucky in life, you find someone with the same chemical imbalance you have."... hopefully before one is consumed by the "uncompromising desire to balance the national budget." Warm & Inspirational, as always Robert. Grateful
Maria,
Thanks. A short version of that would be "Learn to listen. It's amazing the ideas that pop into your head through your ears."
karen,
Thank you. As it happens, I'll get to spend a little time in my grandkids' childhood tomorrow.
teachersuz,
Glad you like (although I'm wondering when someone is going to mention "Nothing's so facile... .)"
Raj,
Thank you -- although with this bunch you pretty much have to supply your own warmth and inspiration.
smiles all,
rb
The "facile/acile" thing made me do a double take. Clever. On the horizontal/vertical bit and your caps, etc., I wonder if you ever mentioned that to ee cummings.
Good work. I really wish those who read your stuff regularly and see the value of it would start a grass roots movement to get some wise editor/ agent/ or publisher to pay attention. Or else there'd be a groundswell movement to help get your words between pages to reach an even broader audience. The SHACK is a pretty good example of friends seeing the value of something the "pros" missed.
Don,
Thanks as always. It was actually another poet who inspired the horizontal/vertical bit. I'll withhold his name. I doubt that my book would develop the word-of-mouth support that THE SHACK did, unless you count yawns.
smiles,
rb
Ok, well I will mention "facile!" That one was great. I am so sure I will repeat that one over and over as needed in my life. I too LOVED the family photos one and the listening one.
My favorite of this group is this one: "It's curious the way we get nostalgic for some hoped-for thing that never happened, as if something that never happened were in the past." When I hear people complain that some hoped-for event never happened, I always say, "You're not dead yet, are you? Then how do you know it never happened?"
I mentioned you on my blog today. :)
Randi,
I did scurry right over to your blog to see what you said. I'll only repeat here the comment I left there:
"Correctness would have me say that I am humbled my your kind words, but I am definitely not. I am buoyed by them. Thank you so much. I might only wish that the name 'Brault' were more adaptable to the verb form."
smiles,
rb
Oh Bob, I would love to meet someone with the same chemical imbalance I have.:) And you made me sit up at the "hoped-for thing that never happened". Your posts are wonderful! ~Maxie
Maxie,
Thank you. Being wonderful is all I ask. (smile)
rb
Just discovered you, love the comments and enjoy sharing them with family and friends.
Kathleen,
Thanks so much -- and welcome.
smiles,
rb
Wise sayings, was impressed. I must confess you've inspired me by this post.
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