Quotes

Another selection of recently encountered amusing or thought-provoking quotes. In no particular order …
I’m not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.
[AA Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh]
Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
[Oscar Wilde]
Unlike riding a camel, driving a car places a woman in danger of being raped.
[source unknown]
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.
[Herman Wouk]
It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual bur not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money — for many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history did not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name.
[Pope Francis]
The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up.
[Marilyn Monroe]
[Soil is] literally and — it seems — metaphorically, beneath us. To judge by its absence from the media, most journalists consider it unworthy of consideration. But all human life depends on it. We knew this long ago, but somehow it has been forgotten. As a Sanskrit text written in about 1500BC noted: “Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.”

Landowners around the world are now engaged in an orgy of soil destruction so intense that, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, the world on average has just 60 more years of growing crops. Even in Britain, which is spared the tropical downpours that so quickly strip exposed soil from the land, Farmers Weekly reports, we have “only 100 harvests left”.

This is what topples civilisations. War and pestilence might kill large numbers of people, but in most cases the population recovers. But lose the soil and everything goes with it.

[George Monbiot at www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/25/treating-soil-like-dirt-fatal-mistake-human-life]
Los Angeles, where abuses by the super-rich are clearly evident all over the city … is a desert town. Why are there lush green golf courses all over it? The rich steal water from the poor and ultimately ruin the future for everyone including themselves and their heirs.
[Brad Warner; Hardcore Zen blog]
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.
[Matthew 7:12 (AV)]
To be beautiful means to like yourself, you don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
[Thich Nhat Hanh]
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
[Dalai Lama]
I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.
[WC Fields]