I'm vacationing in Florida this month and giving little time to the blog, but I hate to let more than a week go by without touching base. So here are the few thoughts that have occurred.
"If we're all just pieces in a game of chess, then what does it matter if I'm a pawn and youre the king?"
"Why was I born? I don't know -- beyond it being a rather obvious attempt to distract my attention."
"What you discover about life's shell game is that it's hardest to follow the pea when you're the pea."
"I don't know if I'm the unwitting agent of a master conspiracy, but I'm sure the unwitting agent of something."
A reflection on marriage. "It is sad when someone from whom you could never part without one last kiss becomes someone from whom you could never part -- and so never kiss."
"To trade a childhood wonder for a plausible explanation -- is there a worst trade one makes in life?"
"If you would give up a breath-taking wonder, insist upon a breath-taking explanation."
~~ Robert Brault
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
More Snippets From My Email
To Russell,
Just discovered your message in my spam folder. Sorry. Birthdate is November 7, 1938. Date of death is still being negotiated. Please attribute to Robert Brault, American Writer, not Robert Brault, American Poet, who is another fellow (and glad of it).
To Carolyn,
It took 72 years, but I've finally been recognized as the "ultimate snuggie." Thank you. I will show your letter to all those who had me pegged for a tea cozy. So glad you like my stuff.
To Cathy,
Your [battle against cancer] gives hope to us all, and I'm honored to make a small [verbal] contribution to your efforts to get others through it as well. I was in Ireland in '76 for my brother's wedding -- he married a girl from the village of Killeagh in County Cork -- and I remember well a few days by the sea in nearby Garryvoe. A covey of white gulls will have to do for my snow geese, but they remain a memory of a little thing enjoyed along the way. Yes, I have run across Mary Oliver's poem and share your appreciation.
To Kathy,
Thanks for liking the quote. Your son probably needs no help from me to appreciate his mom. And if, as you say, friendship fills up the ruts in life's road, I suppose that love fills up the potholes.
To Regan,
Thanks for your gracious words. I'm delighted to know that you have found a bit of intellectual kinship in my writings. If you are inclined toward editorial journalism (opinion), you will find that there are indeed "thoughts left to be thought," included among them every thought ever voiced. The wisdom of the ages is applicable, not surprisingly, to any age, the trick being to rephrase it in the modern vernacular and to associate it with current events and current perceptions. If you knew nothing but Plato, you could mine that vein for your entire career.
With respect to acclaim, I wrote for years for a small side income and no acclaim; today I write for small acclaim and no side income. That is the transformation wrought by the internet. The readership today is enormous, but they have been conditioned to getting their reading free. That is the challenge facing the professional journalist today.
To Linda,
( who wrote "I'm was looking for business quotes and I found you. Thank you - I feel healthier, I have more space and I am more thoughtful - you are cool. You gave me oxygen, a space to breathe and a quick chuckle. Keep at it ... I'm following you :o)
What a neat letter! I've received one or two appreciative notes since starting the blog, but yours is the one I'll carry in my mental wallet. You've summed up everything I could hope to accomplish. Thanks so much.
To Nannette,
It's a generous nature that thinks of another in time of personal hardship. You are thoughtful in every sense. I really do believe that hope can be a healing as well as a consolation, and so might it be with you. Let us hope together for your recovery.
To Liz, (Elisabeth Meister, English soprano)
My humility is challenged by such kind words from one so accomplished. Thank you. The idea that I've kept you from your work is daunting. You have my blessing, of course, to use my quotes on your walls, assuming that you are short, at the moment, on medieval tapestries. I suggest using eraseable crayon.
To Don,
Without the concepts of dark matter, dark energy and dark flow, the Big Bang theory is inconsistent with itself and must be discarded. So cosmologists have assumed the existence of all three and are busy scanning the heavens in search of them. My point is, they might as well be looking for the Blessed Trinity itself. It's a wonder they don't start their day with a sign of the cross: "In the name of Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Dark Flow, Amen."
To Stephanie,
You're gracious to write. Thanks. I expect to keep the thoughts coming, although your words, "... you have certainly provided enough beautiful thoughts to last a lifetime" will suit me fine as a final legacy.
~~ Robert Brault
Just discovered your message in my spam folder. Sorry. Birthdate is November 7, 1938. Date of death is still being negotiated. Please attribute to Robert Brault, American Writer, not Robert Brault, American Poet, who is another fellow (and glad of it).
To Carolyn,
It took 72 years, but I've finally been recognized as the "ultimate snuggie." Thank you. I will show your letter to all those who had me pegged for a tea cozy. So glad you like my stuff.
To Cathy,
Your [battle against cancer] gives hope to us all, and I'm honored to make a small [verbal] contribution to your efforts to get others through it as well. I was in Ireland in '76 for my brother's wedding -- he married a girl from the village of Killeagh in County Cork -- and I remember well a few days by the sea in nearby Garryvoe. A covey of white gulls will have to do for my snow geese, but they remain a memory of a little thing enjoyed along the way. Yes, I have run across Mary Oliver's poem and share your appreciation.
To Kathy,
Thanks for liking the quote. Your son probably needs no help from me to appreciate his mom. And if, as you say, friendship fills up the ruts in life's road, I suppose that love fills up the potholes.
To Regan,
Thanks for your gracious words. I'm delighted to know that you have found a bit of intellectual kinship in my writings. If you are inclined toward editorial journalism (opinion), you will find that there are indeed "thoughts left to be thought," included among them every thought ever voiced. The wisdom of the ages is applicable, not surprisingly, to any age, the trick being to rephrase it in the modern vernacular and to associate it with current events and current perceptions. If you knew nothing but Plato, you could mine that vein for your entire career.
With respect to acclaim, I wrote for years for a small side income and no acclaim; today I write for small acclaim and no side income. That is the transformation wrought by the internet. The readership today is enormous, but they have been conditioned to getting their reading free. That is the challenge facing the professional journalist today.
To Linda,
( who wrote "I'm was looking for business quotes and I found you. Thank you - I feel healthier, I have more space and I am more thoughtful - you are cool. You gave me oxygen, a space to breathe and a quick chuckle. Keep at it ... I'm following you :o)
What a neat letter! I've received one or two appreciative notes since starting the blog, but yours is the one I'll carry in my mental wallet. You've summed up everything I could hope to accomplish. Thanks so much.
To Nannette,
It's a generous nature that thinks of another in time of personal hardship. You are thoughtful in every sense. I really do believe that hope can be a healing as well as a consolation, and so might it be with you. Let us hope together for your recovery.
To Liz, (Elisabeth Meister, English soprano)
My humility is challenged by such kind words from one so accomplished. Thank you. The idea that I've kept you from your work is daunting. You have my blessing, of course, to use my quotes on your walls, assuming that you are short, at the moment, on medieval tapestries. I suggest using eraseable crayon.
To Don,
Without the concepts of dark matter, dark energy and dark flow, the Big Bang theory is inconsistent with itself and must be discarded. So cosmologists have assumed the existence of all three and are busy scanning the heavens in search of them. My point is, they might as well be looking for the Blessed Trinity itself. It's a wonder they don't start their day with a sign of the cross: "In the name of Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Dark Flow, Amen."
To Stephanie,
You're gracious to write. Thanks. I expect to keep the thoughts coming, although your words, "... you have certainly provided enough beautiful thoughts to last a lifetime" will suit me fine as a final legacy.
~~ Robert Brault
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Thoughts From The Better Demons Of My Nature
"Doing one fool thing after another is not so terrible when you consider the human proclivity to do several fool things at once."
"Raising kids is a series of mistakes which it is absolutely critical to perform in the proper order."
"My wife has noted two road habits of mine -- a tendency to belittle the driving skills of truckers and a tendency to follow an 18-wheeler in a dense fog."
"Recalling days of sadness, memories haunt me. Recalling days of happiness, I haunt my memories."
"Sometimes I sit up late with my thoughts, reluctant to fall asleep and leave my thoughts alone by themselves."
"Before you consult someone else, be sure you consult the person who will forever have to live with it."
"I was talking to the devil the other day, and he told me that he seldom leads people astray anymore, finding it easier to just follow along in their footsteps."
"One is more apt to become wise by doing fool things than by reading wise sayings."
~~ Robert Brault
"Raising kids is a series of mistakes which it is absolutely critical to perform in the proper order."
"My wife has noted two road habits of mine -- a tendency to belittle the driving skills of truckers and a tendency to follow an 18-wheeler in a dense fog."
"Recalling days of sadness, memories haunt me. Recalling days of happiness, I haunt my memories."
"Sometimes I sit up late with my thoughts, reluctant to fall asleep and leave my thoughts alone by themselves."
"Before you consult someone else, be sure you consult the person who will forever have to live with it."
"I was talking to the devil the other day, and he told me that he seldom leads people astray anymore, finding it easier to just follow along in their footsteps."
"One is more apt to become wise by doing fool things than by reading wise sayings."
~~ Robert Brault
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