poems for veterans

Conscience is less an inner voice than the memory of a mother's glance. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com


The Christian faith makes it possible for us nobly to accept that which cannot be changed, and to meet disappointments and sorrow with an inner poise, and to absorb the most intense pain without abandoning our sense of hope. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963


When compiling his great dictionary, the young Noah Webster travels to the Himalayas, where he climbs to the cave of the world's wisest man. "O, great sage," he says, "tell me the meaning of life." The sage sits Noah at his feet and, with great solemnity, commences to unfold the meaning of life. When finished, he places a hand on the young man's shoulder and says, "Do you have any other questions, my son?" Noah flips a page in his notebook and says, "You wouldn't know the meaning of lift, would you?" ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com


Clouds are like boogers hanging on the nostrils of the moon. ~Robin Williams


A mystique of history and heritage surrounds the New York Yankees. It's like the old days revived. We're loved and hated, but always in larger doses than any other team. We're the only team in any sport whose name and uniform and insignia are synonymous with their entire sport all over the world.... the Yankees mean baseball to more people than all the other teams combined. ~Paul Blair, quoted in Washington Post, 22 June 1978


Your best work always seems to have been done by someone else. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966


Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences. ~Norman Cousins


One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man. ~Marlo Thomas


It appears that every man's insomnia is as different from his neighbour's as are their daytime hopes and aspirations. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald


You can't go through life quitting everything. If you're going to achieve anything, you've got to stick with something. ~From the television show Family Matters


Conscience whispers, but interest screams aloud. ~J. Petit-Senn


We may look old and wise to the outside world. But to each other, we are still in junior school. ~Charlotte Gray


Why are sex and violence always linked? I'm afraid they'll blur together in people's minds - sexandviolence - until we can't tell them apart. I expect to hear a newscaster say, "The mob became unruly and the police were forced to resort to sex." ~Dick Cavett, 1978


If a dog jumps into your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer. ~Alfred North Whitehead


All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim. ~Christopher Morley, Where the Blue Begins


Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions. ~Edgar Cayce


There is no more intrepid explorer than a kitten. ~Jules Champfleury


The faintest waft is sometimes enough to induce feelings of hunger or anticipation, or to transport you back through time and space to a long-forgotten moment in your childhood. It can overwhelm you in an instant or simply tease you, creeping into your consciousness slowly and evaporating almost the moment it is detected. ~Stephen Lacey, Scent in Your Garden, 1991


Unhappiness is not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it. ~Don Herold


Histories are a kind of distilled newspapers. ~Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship