Vocal Chords

"The key for longevity is getting eight hours of sleep per night."
- Michael Bolton

"Joyous Journeys: The Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda"

Curated travel trips here.

chess axiom

"Let your opponent show you how he'd like to lose."

"The only thing harder than leaving show business is coming back."

"I haven't failed, just retreated."
- Dave Cappelle

always look on the bright side

"It'll all work out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end."
- Betsey Johnson

on history

"I'm not interested in my own past. Perhaps today, maybe tomorrow."
- Karl Lagerfeld

recluse

"I'm nobody! Who are you?"
- Recluse Emily Dickinson, who changed poetry from her small bedroom.

the significance of gold

A metal that never corrodes. 

halfwitted

"Humans smile with so little provocation."
- Spock

on success

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
- Bessie Anderson Stanley

Monk Junk

Buddhist contemporized anecdote circa 500BC:

A car horn beeps and forces you to leave depression for that instant. The point of meditation is to continually work to expand that instant. Depression doesn't have to be terminal if you work continually on eliminating it.

(Provided by former Monk Jim Vuylsteke}

It's what's now called "neuroplasticity" i.e. you can remake your brain. One man had Alzheimer's and couldn't walk. But by focusing intensely on each trembling, modest step over time he's now able to sprint. He's maybe one in many millions, but he rewired neural circuits.

considerate

"I'll write slow because I know you can't read real fast."
- Radar in a letter to his mother

blue

Before George Carlin, only stupid people were thought to curse.

automation and technology

"100 years ago farmers constituted 40% of the work force, but now it's just 2% and production is higher. This is a global trend across all industries."
- American Enterprise Institute

on painting

"One may imagine that a man who blew the trumpet for his living would be glad to play the violin for his amusement."
- Winston Churchill

turn on, tune in, drop out

"My favourite three words in the English language are 'I don't know.' Because over time when I say it, I learn something new."
- Timothy Leary

routine

The Dali Lama meditates every morning at 1:40am. Time zone uncertain.

humility

"I'm very insecure. If I wasn't, I'd be cool."
- Frank Gehry, who built Bilbao for about $100 million which has generated billions for the local economy.

Scrumpy

"A gallon a day keeps the doctor away."
- Medieval Truism

Image source here.

hunger strike

"If you have problems, you must create problems to solve them."
- Mansur, Gitmo detainee

mindfullness

About 8% of the U.S. population meditates.

stone cold

- Caravaggio's Medusa

anesthetizing schedule

Average lifetime TV consumption in North America approximates 100K hours or 12 years 24/7.

PSI

After one use Nixon replaced LBJ's too powerful shower. 

you need to try this

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
- Benjamin Franklin

Why pay an accountant minimum $75 when you can do it yourself in ten minutes for free here.

rough rider

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, than to take rank with those poor, timid spirits who know neither victory or defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt, 1899

tyrant

"When one man dies it's a tragedy. When thousands die it's statistics."
- Stalin

jerking back and forth

"Do not confuse motion with progress. A rocking horse keeps moving, but does not make any progress."
- Alfred Montapert

mentor

"To be the best, you have to beat the best."
- Dennis Quaid as Coach Ben Schwartzwalde in the The Express.

medieval signals

"Wet wood by day for smoke; dry wood by night for light."
- Dover Castle