Final Thoughts for 2011

"Once an absurdity is accepted as truth, it will seem truer the more absurd it is shown to be."


"The strongest marriage is between two who seek the same God, the strongest friendship between two who flee the same devil."


"Most often, the person you would die for would settle for dinner and a movie."


"There are days when you need someone who just wants to be your sunshine and not the air you breathe."


"Eventually you realize that not all opposing viewpoints come from people who oppose you."


"The choice so often these days is to believe something that seems insane or go insane."


"There is no tomorrow.  There is only a planet turning on its axis, and a creature given to optimistic fancies."


"If the human race ever becomes civilized, it will be the story of how a species called man became woman."


"It is not easy, the choice between God and the devil, for it is presented to us as a choice between forgiveness and understanding."


"Basically we are all looking for someone who knows who we are and will break it to us gently."


~~ Robert Brault

Faith, Hope and Charity

"What is certainty but the refuge of those whose faith is not strong enough to entertain doubt."


"Of course I doubt.  I do not practice a certainty.  I practice a faith."


"If you listed all the reasons for your faith, and all the things that make you cry, it would be essentially the same list."


"Where hope would otherwise become hopelessness, it becomes faith."


"Though you lose all hope, there is still hope, and it loves to surprise."


"Hope is a walk through a flowering meadow.  One does not require that it lead anywhere."


"If hope and despair were paths to the same destination, which would you choose?"


"It is charity in the giver to require no thanks.  It is charity in the receiver to wish no revenge."


"Act always from a sense of common humanity, and let God judge if it be charity."


"The willingness to share does not make one charitable.  It makes one free."

~~ Robert Brault

Everything I Ever Said About Dogs

"Life is mostly a good reason to go for a walk with your dog."


"I would not wish to live a dog's life, except for the times when you show up to help and are told to go lie down."


"An old dog, even more than an old spouse, always feels like doing what you feel like doing."


"If dogs could talk, the world would lose its best listeners."


Sometimes my dog looks at me as if to say, "Did you know that petting an animal is a wonderful way to relieve stress?"


"Ever wonder where you'd end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash?"


I almost can't bear the look in a dog's eyes that says, "I would gladly be your soulmate, if I only had a soul."


If dogs don't talk, how do they say to themselves, "I guess I'll go take a nap."


"After a scolding, a cat goes about its business. A dog slinks off into a corner and pretends to be doing a serious self-reappraisal."


"If you could combine a cat and a dog, you'd have man's best accomplice."


"There is no better actor than a dog pretending to be as sad and lonely as you are."


"My dog and I have enjoyed many a silence together, a conversation always resumed exactly where left off."


"If it is true that my dog has no hope for salvation, then which of us is the nobler friend?"


"If a dog defined intelligence the way man does, then the most intelligent animal would be a dog, followed by the animal most willing to obey the commands of a dog."


~~ Robert Brault

A Twitter Treasure Trove

Since August I have been tweeting one or two thoughts a day on Twitter -- some new, some old, some revised.  Here is a collection of recent tweets.


"As a friend, you first give your understanding, then you try to understand."


"What to do with your one life?  The same thing you would do if you had two lives, and this were the second."


"The trouble with spending your time seeking wealth is that you never get wealthy enough to buy back the time."


"You know you're a family when blaming each other doesn't make any of you feel less guilty."


"There is in every truth a wise saying, and in every contradiction, two wise sayings."


"The trouble with selfish motives is that they begin to look like principles, and you end up sending your kids to die for them."


"Often what we take for a kindness is just someone acting in his or her capacity as a human being."


"Though we have the children of our destiny, destiny knows exactly the ones we would have picked out of our own free will."


"If the human race ever becomes completely civilized,  it will be the story of how a species called man became woman."


"Meanwhile, the IRS is after me because I listed Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs as dependents."


"It's odd the way that people who don't feel honor-bound to do anything else feel honor-bound to get even."


"The most fundamental winning formula is to bet on human decency and be patient."


~~ Robert Brault