First, contrary to popular belief, Buddhists can actually be very anxious people. That’s often why they become Buddhists in the first place. Buddhism was made for the anxious like Christianity was made for the downtrodden or AA for the addicted. It...
CHAPTER VI Concerning New Principalities Which Are Acquired By One's Own Arms And Ability LET no one be surprised if, in speaking of entirely new principalities as I shall do, I adduce the highest examples both of prince and of state; because men, wa...
The History Teacher Trying to protect his students' innocence he told them the Ice Age was really just the Chilly Age, a period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters. And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age, named after the long drive...
When we neared the orchard a flock of birds lit from its outer rows. They hadn't been there long. The branches shook with their absent weight and the birds circled above in the riddy mackerel sky, where they made an artless semaphore. I was afraid, I...
It used to be obvious that the world was designed by some sort of intelligence. What else could account for fire and rain and lightning and earthquakes? Above all, the wonderful abilities of living things seemed to point to a creator who had a specia...
In my world, you don’t get to call yourself “pro-life” and be against common-sense gun control — like banning public access to the kind of semiautomatic assault rifle, designed for warfare, that was used recently in a Colorado theater. You do...
If Mom is convinced that ballet lessons are a must, she should take them. Although it may look odd to see a thirty-year old woman hang- ing onto a bar and flinging a slightly plump leg in the air, the sight is not as pathetic as seeing her seven-year...
Dear Aspiring Writer, you are not ready. Stop. Put that finished story away and start another one. In a month, go back and look at the first story. RE-EDIT it. Then send it to a person you respect in the field who will be hard on you. Pray for many m...
I used disbelieve in fate, but now I realize that it exists. I still do not believe that it is written in somewhere by any supernatural being. It is our brain, our fate is hidden in our brain. We cannot do anything in strict sense of term, our brain ...
A novel works it's magic by putting a reader inside another person's life. The pace is as slow as life. It's as detailed as life. It requires you, the reader, to fill in an outline of words with vivid pictures drawn subconsciously from your own life,...
There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness,...
Hermione: Harry, you told me you'd figured that egg out weeks ago! The task is two days from now! Harry: [sarcastically] Really? I had no idea. I suppose Viktor's already figured it out. Hermione: Wouldn't know. We don't actually talk about the tourn...
Jules: So, tell me again about the hashbars? Vincent: Okay, what you wanna know? Jules: Hash is legal there in Amsterdam, right? Vincent: Yeah, it's legal, but it ain't a hundred percent legal. I mean, you can't just walk into a restaurant, roll a jo...
Mr. Darcy: I love you. Most ardently. Please do me the honor of accepting my hand. Elizabeth Bennet: Sir, I appreciate the struggle you have been through, and I am very sorry to have caused you pain. Believe me, it was unconsciously done. Mr. Darcy: ...
Pawnbroker: Burnt my fingers, man. Louis Winthorpe III: I beg your pardon? Pawnbroker: Man, that watch is so hot, it's smokin'. Louis Winthorpe III: Hot? Do you mean to imply stolen? Pawnbroker: I'll give you 50 bucks for it. Louis Winthorpe III: Fif...
Roy: [grabbing Sebastian] If we don't find help soon, Pris hasn't got long to live. We can't allow that. [Roy goes to the chess board, studying the game in progress] Roy: Is he good? J.F. Sebastian: Who? Roy: Your opponent. J.F. Sebastian: Oh, Dr. Ty...
We're young. We’re supposed to drink too much. We're supposed to have bad attitudes and shag each other's brains out. We were designed to party. We owe it to ourselves to party hard. We owe it to each other. This is it. This is our time. So a few o...
Eena!” Recognizing Ian’s voice, Eena turned to find him approaching her from behind. He was entirely clad in body armor and gauntlets, cradling an open-faced helmet in one arm. Painted on his chest plate was a flaming, gold sword. From his side h...
I haven't had a lot of good, soft things in my life," he said against my forehead. "Not since my family sent me away. Apart from being your sire and feeling that pull to you, it's that goodness, that softness and warmth, along with the resolve and st...
You should be spreading the good word. You should be etching the good word onto the glass scanning beds of library photocopiers. You should be scraping the truth onto old auto parts and throwing them off bridges so that people digging in the mud in a...
Even our behavior and emotions seem to have been shaped by a prankster. Why do we crave the very foods that are bad for us but have less desire for pure grains and vegetables? Why do we keep eating when we know we are too fat? And why is our willpowe...
