TODAYS BIRTHDAYS  PIERRE CORNEILLE DRAMATIST 1696-1684 “Le Cid” “L’illusion Comique” TO WIN WITHOUT RISK IS TO TRIUMPH WITHOUT GLORY. LOVE IS A TYRANT SPARING NONE. WE NEVER TASTE HAPPINESS IN PERFECTION, OUR MOST FORTUNATE SUCCESSES ARE MIXED WITH SADNESS. TRUE, I AM YOUNG, BUT SOULS NOBLY BORN VALOR DOESN’T  AWAIT THE PASSING OF YEARS. THE … Read more

BIRTHDAY JUNE 5 BILL MOYERS  JOURNALIST 1934 I’LL BELIEVE CORPORATIONS ARE PEOPLE WHEN TEXAS EXECUTES ONE. HOW DO WE PROTECT THE SOUL OF DEMOCRACY AGAINST THE BAD  THEOLOGY IN SERVICE OF AN IMPERIAL STATE? OUR MEDIA AND POLITICAL SYSTEM HAS TURNED INTO A MUTUAL PROTECTION RACKET. AN UNCONSCIOUS PEOPLE, AN INDOCTRINATED PEOPLE, A PEOPLE FED … Read more

BIRTHDAYS JUNE 4 ROBERT FULGHUM  AUTHOR. 1937— THE EXAMINED LIFE IS NO PICNIC. SOLITUDE IS NO THE SAME AS LONELINESS. SOLITUDE IS A BOAT FLOATING IN A SEA OF POSSIBLE COMPANIONS. ALL I NEED TO KNOW . . . I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN. STICKS AND STONES WILL BREAK OUR BONES, BUT WORDS WILL BREAK OUR … Read more

BIRTHDAYS JUNE 3 ALAN GINSBERG FOLLOW YOUR INNER MOONLIGHT; DON’T HIDE THE MADNESS. POETRY IS THE ONE PLACE PEOPLE CAN SPEAK THEIR ORIGINAL HUMAN MIND. IT IS THE OUTLET FOR PEOPLE TO SAY IN PUBLIC WHAT IS KNOWN IN PRIVATE. POETS ARE DAMNED . . . BUT SEE WITH THE EYES OF ANGELS. THE WEIGHT … Read more

BIRTHDAYS TODAY April 2 MARQUIS de SADE 1740-1814 YOUR BODY IS THE CHURCH WHERE NATURE ASKS TO BE REVERENCED. I’VE ALWAYS TOLD YOU: THE ONLY WAY TO A WOMAN’S HEART IS ALONG THE PATH OF TORMENT. HAPPINESS IS IDEAL, IT IS THE WORK OF THE IMAGINATION. THE IMAGINATION IS THE SPUR OF DELIGHTS . . … Read more

             And what is so rare as a day in June!                           Then, if ever, come perfect days;              Then, if ever, come perfect days;                    And over it softly her warm ear lays;              Whether we look, or whether we listen,                   WE hear life murmur, or see it glisten;                    Every clod feels a stir of might.              An instinct within … Read more

WHY, who makes much of a miracle?         AS to me I know nothing else but miracles,          Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, OR dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, OR wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,            OR stand under the trees … Read more

“As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason anyone should be exempt.” – Moliere “You can’t study comedy; it’s within you. It’s a personality. My humor is an attitude.” – Don Rickles “The only honest form is laughter, comedy. You can’t fake it… try to fake three … Read more

CHEERFULNESS THE MOST CERTAIN SIGN OF WISDOM IS CHEERFULNESS. Michel de Montaigne SUFFERING becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.    ARISTOTLE CHEERFULNESS is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.    JOSEPH ADDISON THE PRINCIPLE … Read more

CLASSIC BOOK REVIEW—“Practical Mysticism” by Evelyn UnderhillEvelyn Underhill (1875-1941) English poet, novelist and mystic, was born in England and educated at Kings College, for women, London. “Practical Mysticism” 1915 “THE SPIRITUAL LIFE is not a special career, involving abstraction from the worldof things. It is part of every man’s life; and until he realizes it … Read more