"He is a bastard. But now he is our bastard!"
- From a friend who shared how they had recruited a controversial mega-star to their circle.
Am on my way back from DC to NYC after a briefing with Paul McCartney on behalf of OneVoice (on whose Honorary Board he sits). Earlier during rehearsals, I was struck at the beautiful simplicity and deep truth of the lyrics of Ebony and Ivory:
EBONY AND IVORY,
LIVE TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMONY,
SIDE BY SIDE ON MY PIANO KEYBOARD,
OH, LORD, WHY DON’T WE?WE ALL KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE THE SAME WHEREVER YOU GO,
THERE IS GOOD AND BAD IN EV’RYONE.
AND WE LEARN TO LIVE, WE LEARN TO GIVE EACH OTHER
WHAT WE NEED TO SURVIVE, TOGETHER ALIVE.….
- Sir Paul McCartney (c)
Later this week, Sir Paul is receiving the Gershwin Prize from President Obama.
And the priestess spoke again and said:
Speak to us of Reason and Passion.And he answered, saying:
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon
which your reason and your judgment wage
war against your passion and your appetite.Would that I could be your peacemaker
in your soul, that I might turn the discord
and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.But how shall I, unless you yourselves be
also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?Your reason and your passion are the rudder
and the sails of your seafaring soul.
If either your sails or your rudder be broken,
you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill
in mid-seas.For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining;
and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns
to its own destruction.Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion,
that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason,
that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection,
and like the phoenix rise above it own ashes.I would have you consider your own judgement
and your appetite even as you would two
loved guests in your house.
Surely you wouldn’t honor one guest above the other;
for he who is more mindful of one loses
the love and the faith of both.Among the hills, when you sit in the cool
shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace
and serenity of distant fields and meadows
then let your heart say in silence,
"God rests in reason".And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind
shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning
proclaim the majesty of the sky, then let your heart
say in awe, "God moves in passion."And since you are a breath in God’s sphere,
and a leaf in God’s forest, you too
should rest in reason and move in passion.–Gibran Khalil Gibran, The Prophet, on Reason and Passion
(thanks to Uncle Jorge and Sioma Waisburd for sharing this)
"He who controls others may be powerful,
but he who has mastered himself is mightier still."
–Lao Tzu (forwarded by Len & Libby Traubman)
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power ,
the world will know peace."
- Jimi Hendrix (thanks to Len and Libby Taubman for forwarding)
FORTIS FORTUNA ADIUVAT
translation: Fortune favors the brave.
– Ancient Roman proverb (courtesy of Ian Fisher)
With extremism being particularly rampant among some religious followers who become increasingly zealous about their convictions and practices, and with the cartoonish tensions created by black and white contrasts set out by desensitized uber-capitalism vs. new age parsimoniousness, I was struck by the depth and timeliness of these contrasting messages:
With regard to all human traits, the middle of the road is the right path. For example: Do not be hot-tempered, easily angered. Nor, on the other hand, should you be unfeeling like a corpse. Rather, take the middle of the road: keep an even disposition, reserving your anger for occasions when it is truly warranted. Similarly, do not cultivate a desire for luxuries; keep your eye fixed only on genuine necessities. In giving to others, do not hold back what you can afford, but do not give so lavishly that you yourself will be impoverished. Avoid both hysterical gaiety and somber dejection, and instead be calmly joyful always, showing a cheerful countenance. Act similarly with regard to all the dispositions. This is the path followed by the wise.
- Maimonides, 12th Century
And
…this path, the one that avoids extremes, is called the ‘path of God,’ and Abraham taught his descendants to follow it. Whoever follows it gains goodness and blessing, as it is said, "For I have known him, that he might command his children and those who follow him to keep the Lord’s path, doing justice and right, that the Lord may fulfill for Abraham the divine purpose (Genesis 18.19)."
The goal is not happiness. The goal is purpose. And from that purpose comes happiness.
- Linda Gallanter, at dinner, sharing that when raising children, giving them purpose is a much more effective way to make them fulfilled and happy in life (whereas worrying about them being ‘happy’ can yield spoiled or malcontent kids)
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
- Winston Churchill
(as seen in http://ny-forum.com/)
We came to America for the American dream – to do good and to make good.
- K.R. Sridhar
(As quoted in a column by Tom Friedman in the NYT)