SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT DREAMS

               

                   SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT DREAMS

          A dream is defined as a series of images, events and feelings that happen in our minds while we are asleep.

          It is also defined as a wish to have or be something , especially one that is difficult to achieve.

          Some synonyms of dreams are : fantasies, reveries, fancies, hallucinations, and visions. Their antonyms are : facts, certainties,  realities, realizations, substances, and verities.

 

          The American Unitarian divine Frederick Henry Hedge (1805-1890 ) said: Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which, if it were available  in waking, would make every man a Dante (an Italian poet 1265-1321 ) or a Shakespeare (English poet-playwright 1564-1616).  

 

          The English dissenting clergy William Benton (1802-1882) said : Nothing so much convinces me of the boundlessness of he human mind as its operations in dreaming.   

 

          Shakespeare rightly exclaims: Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls!

 

          The American poet Louise Driscoll (1875-1957) is who is also  famous for her poem Hold Fast Your Dreams “ emphasizes emotional preservation through idealism, advocating for a private inner space where dreams remain insulated from external harshness.”  She  regards dreaming not as escapism but as necessary resistance against societal and existential decay.”

 

             Dreams can be turned into inspirational thoughts carrying  positive hopes and desires.

         

          Persons without dreams , at any time of their life, are not fully alive and dynamic.

             

          Louise Driscoll’s wisely advises in her poem Hold Fast Your Dreams:

         

          Hold fast your dreams!

          Within your heart

          Keep one still, secret spot

          Where dreams may go,

          And, sheltered so,

          May thrive and grow

          Where doubt and fear are not.

          O keep a place apart,

          Within your heart,

          For little dreams to go!

         

                    To conclude, here is a famous quote by the American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892):

 

                   “Keep your face always toward the sunshine ----and shadows will fall behind you.”

 

                                      *******

G.R.Kanwal

21 May 2026

         

SHYLOCK’S SPEECH IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAY

 

                SHYLOCK’S SPEECH IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAY                 

            The father of the Indian nation Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 1869-1948) said : “All Men Are Brothers.”

            The English poet, translator and travel writer James Harold Kirkup (1918-2009) says in his poem titled NO MEN ARE FOREIGN:

            Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign,

            Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes

            Like ours : the land our brothers walk upon

            Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.    

 

            And in the concluding lines of his long poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,  the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) says:

           

            He prayeth well, who loveth well

            Both man and bird and beast.

            He prayeth best, who loveth best

            All things both great and small;

            For the dear God who loveth us

            He made and loveth all.

           

            In Act III , Scene 1 of his  play Merchant of Venice, the British poet-playwright  William Shakespeare (1564-1616 ), reproduces  a famous speech   by  Shylock, a money-lender Jew, treated unfairly by  Antonio , a Christian who has taken loan but not repaid , thus entitling Shylock to take a pound of Antonio’s flesh as per a clause of the written agreement.

 

             The core idea of the speech  is that Shylock has the right to be as revengeful to Christians as they are to Jews.   

 

            Here is full text of Shylock’s speech.

           

            I am a Jew

            Hath not a Jew hands,

            organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions:

            fed with the same food,

            hurt with the same weapons,

            subject to the same diseases,

            heal’d by the same means,

            warm’d and cool’d by the same

            winter and summer as a Christian is?

           

            If you prick us, do we not bleed?

            If you tickle us, do we not laugh?

            If you poison us, do we not die?

            And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

20 May 2026

WHAT IS WISDOM?

 

                WHAT IS WISDOM?

            “Wisdom” is defined as the ability to make sensible decisions and give good advice because of the experience and knowledge you have.

            Another definition is  “the right use of knowledge”  or “the use of the most important means for attaining the best ends”.

            The word is also used to mean “knowledge that a society oo culture has gained over a long period of time. Example: the collective wisdom of the Indian people.                

            Some synonyms of wisdom are: enlightenment, erudition, foresight, insight, judgment, knowledge, prudence, reason, sagacity, skill, and understanding.   

            Likewise some  antonyms are: absurdity, folly, foolishness, idiocy, imprudence, indiscretion, senselessness, and stupidity.

            What follows are some famous quotes on wisdom.

1, Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. ---The English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892).

2. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. ---American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790 ).

3. All life is an experiment.----American Jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935).

4. Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world wisdom.---The English poet and literary critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).

5. Much wisdom often goes with fewest words.---The Greek tragedian Sophocles who lived from about 496 to about 406 BCE. )

6. Wisdom is to the mind what health is to the body.---the French author Francois de La  Rochefoucauld (1613-1680).  

7. Very few men are wise by their own counsel, or learned by their own teaching; for he that was only taught by himself had a fool to his master.---The English poet and dramatist Ben Jonson (1572-1637).

8. True wisdom is a thing very extraordinary . Happy are they that have it; and next to them, not the many that think they have it, but the few that are sensible of their own defects and imperfections, and know that they have it not.---The English divine John Tillotson , Archbishop of  Canterbury (1630-94)

                                                *******

 

 G.R.Kanwal

19 May 2026

SHORT QUOTES BY GREAT MEN

 

SHORT QUOTES BY GREAT MEN    

1.     Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.---American statesman and philosopher Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).

2.     The art of life is the avoiding of pain. ---Third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).

3.     The ballot is stronger than the bullet.---America’s Civil War President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).

4.     When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.---American writer-humourist  Mark Twain (1835-1910).

5.     Things do not change; we change.----American writer Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).

6.     The great act of faith is when man decides that he is not God.---American Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.  (1841-1935).

7.     Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged with man. –Indian Nobel laureate, poet Rabindranath Tagore  (1861-1941).

8.     Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.---Indian mystic, Vedanta  philosopher Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902).

9.     The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.---American philosopher, teacher, writer George Santayana (1863-1952).

10.                         To a man with an empty stomach food is God.---Father of te Indian nation Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948).

11.                         The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age  brings wisdom.---American humourist  H. L. Mencken (1880-1956).  

12.                         It is useless to win battles if the cause for which we fight these battles is lost. ---Thirty-second President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).

13.                         The basic fact of today is the tremendous pace of change in human life. ---India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964).

14.                         Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.---Thirty-fifth President of the United States John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).

                                                            *******

G. R. Kanwal

18 May 2026

 

 

           

A POEM FOR TODAY

 

                A POEM FOR TODAY

            Today is a reality. It is on your hands. If you don’t grab it, it will pass away.  It will not come back, even if you call it  with all your might and main.

            Yesterday is history.  Whether it was good or bad, fruitful or futile, successful or failure, it is gone for ever. It is nothing more than a memory of  bygone day/days. . You can’t revive it. To brood over it is to waste your  precious time on hand.

            Tomorrow is a dream. It may not be realized. Its expectations are uncertain. It is undependable.  Any prediction about it is a fancy, not a solid possibility.

            Given below is a poem titled NOW. It was written by the English poet and philanthropist Miss Adelaide Anne Procter (1825-1864 ).

            It inspires the readers to act now without thinking what happened in the past or what may be done in the future. The former is dead beyond revival and the latter is uncertain and unreliable for the execution of any expected action.

Look at the full text of the poem:

“Rise ! for the day is passing,

And you lie dreaming on;

The others have buckled their armor,

And forth to the fight are gone:

A place in the ranks awaits you,

Each man has some part to play;

The Past and Future are nothing,

In the face of the stern To-day.

 

Rise from your dreams of the Future,

Of gaining some hard-fought field;

Of storming some airy fortress,

Or bidding some giant yield;

Your Future has deeds of glory,

Of honor (God grant it may!)

But your arm will never be stronger,

Or the need so great as To-day.

 

Rise! if the Past detains you,

Her sunshine and storms forget;

No chains so unworthy to hold you

As those of a vain regret:

Sad or bright, she is lifeless ever;

Cast her phantom arms away,

Nor look back, save to learn the lesson

Of a nobler strife To-day.

 

Rise! for the day is passing;

The sound that you scarcely hear

Is the enemy marching to battle: —

Arise! for the foe is here!

Stay not to sharpen your weapons,

Or the hour will strike at last,

When from dreams of a coming battle,

You may wake to find it past!

                                                ****

G.R.Kanwal

16 May 2026

SPEAK GENTLY

 

                SPEAK GENTLY     

            Words are good, soft, sweet, kind, gentle, affectionate, sympathetic, appreciative, winsome, beautiful, attractive, persuasive, soothing, pleasant, agreeable, delightful, nice, etc. These win hearts, attract people, please listeners, amuse strangers, gratify kith and kin, and deeply influence various kinds of people.

             On the other hand -- harsh, bitter, unfriendly, antagonistic, ridiculous, belligerent, bellicose, confrontational, hostile, aggressive,  unpleasant, inimical, satirical, and aggressive words offend the listeners whoever they may be.

             It is not only desirable but also sagacious  to speak gently on all sorts of occasions.

            Given below is a famous poem titled Speak Gently by an unknown poet.  

            “Speak gently; it is better far

            To rule by love than fear  ;

            Speak gently ; let no harsh word mar

            The good we may do here.

           

            Speak gently to the little child ;

            Its love be sure to gain;

            Teach it in accents soft and mild,

            It may not long remain.

 

            Speak gently to the aged one ;

            Grieve not the care-worn heart,

            Whose sands of life are nearly run ;

            Let such in peace depart.

 

            Speak gently; ‘tis a little thing

            Dropped in the heart’s deep well;

            The good, the joy that it may bring

            Eternity shall tell.

                                                            *********

G.R.Kanwal

15 May 2026

 

                          

LOVE FOR ANIMALS

 

LOVE FOR ANIMALS

            Human beings and animals are friends. They are good companions.  They love each other. They are unique natural antidotes to loneliness. Their faithfulness and self-sacrifice to their masters are  universally acknowledged. .

            The dog is eternally famous for its loyalty. His master is his hero, even his god. Dogs have no religion but they can have  one while being in your company. They have seen them joining in religious rituals according to their masters’ faiths.

            Not to love animals is to have incomplete love for God. In the end of his poem The Rime of Ancient Mariner,  the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge  (1772-1834)  says:

             Farewell, farewell but this I tell

            To thee thou Wedding Guest !

            He prayeth well, who loveth well

            Both man and bird and beast

           

            He prayeth best, who loveth best

            All things both great and small;

            For the dear God who loveth us,

            He made and loveth all.

     

            The American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) said the following  lines in a famous poem about himself:

             

            I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-    contained;

            I stand and look at them long and long.

            They do not sweat and whine about their condition.

            They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,

            They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.    

           

            Finally, the following relevant quotes:

            *Love for animals is a profound form of compassion and empathy, highlighting the deep bond between humans and creatures. It involves treating all beings with respect, caring for their well-being, and protecting their habitats.

            **According to the French poet and journalist Anatole France (1844-1924):

            “Untill one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened”.

***And Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) said:

            “The geatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

                                                            *****

G.R.Kanwal

14 May 2026

 

LORD BUDDHA SAID

 

                LORD BUDDHA SAID

            According to historical records  Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in 623 B.C. in the famous gardens of Lumbini located in the Terai plains of Southern Nepa. His is testified by the inscription on a pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Lord Asoka (c.304-232 BCE) who himself was one of the pilgrims.                          

            The word“Buddha” means “the enlightened one. It is a word derived from Sanskrit/Pali root Budh which means to wake, observe, become  aware.

            “Buddha”  is a title for “someone who has awakened from the slumber of ignorance, transcended desire and hatred, and achieved complete insight into reality and freedom from suffering.’

                        Buddhism sheds light on :  overcoming suffering and the cycle of rebirth to achieve nirvana i.e. enlightenment . The means to be employed are :   ethical living, meditation, and wisdom.  

                        Like many other saints Lord Buddha was  a poet. His collection of sayings in verse is printed in the book titled Dhammapada. It is a famous  scripture which is widely  read all over the world.

                        Here are a few citations from the English translation of Dhammapada  by Ven. Thanissoro, Bhikhukhu.

  *Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a corrupted heart, then suffering follows you ---as the wheel of the cart, the track of the ox that pulls it.

**Phenomena are preceded by the heart, ruled by the heart, made of the heart. If you speak or act with a calm, bright heart, then happiness follows you, like a shadow that never leaves.

***He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me’ for those who don’t brood on this,  hostility isn’t  stilled.

****He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed m’---for those who don’t brood on this, hostility is stilled.

*****Hostilities aren’t stilled through hostility, regardless. Hostilities are stilled through non-hostility: this, an unending truth.

            Unlike those who don’t realize that we’re here on the verge of perishing, those who do: their quarrels are stilled.

                                                                        *****

G.R.Kanwal

13 May 2026

 

 

 

ARROGANCE

 

ARROGANCE

            “Arrogance” is defined as the behavior of  persons when they feel that they are more important than other people, so they are rude to them. An arrogant person is proud, his behavior is unpleasant, and he shows little thought for other people.

            Some synonyms of the word arrogant are : haughty, conceited, egotistic, snobbish, overweening, overbearing, high-handed, disdainful, imperious, lordly, presumptuous, pretentious, swaggering, blustering, and insolent.

             It is one of the deadly sins, others being --- greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

            Arrogance is repulsive. It shatters relationships, inhibits personal growth, and creates poor performance in many circles.

            Arrogance is also dangerous because it contributes to loneliness, depression, lack of direction, and dearth of success.

            One of the relevant views about arrogance is that it impacts all facets of life. It is one of the serious problems in the business world where it can harm one’s  performance and further growth.

            The causes of arrogance may be many. One of the important ones is an inflated sense of superiority, often masked by insecurity or a lack of self-awareness.

              Lack of empathy is another cause. It means ignorance of one’s own weaknesses and a failure to see how their actions affect others.

            The Scottish philosopher, historian and essayist David Hume (1711-1776)  said: When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities,

            According to the  English bishop Richard Cumberland (1631-1718) : Nothing is more hateful to a poor man than the purse-proud arrogance of the rich. But let the poor man become rich and he runs at once into the vice against which he so feelingly declaimed. There are strange contradictions in human character.

            Finally, the following quote by another English Bishop Jeremy Collier (1650=1726):

            The arrogant man does but blast the blessings of life and swagger away his own enjoyments. To say nothing of the folly and injustice of such behaviour, it is always the sign of a little and un-benevolent temper, having no more greatness in it than the swelling of the dropsy.

                                                            *******

G. R. Kanwal

12 May 2026.          

 

 

SOME USEFUL THOUGHTS

 

SOME USEFUL THOUGHTS    

1.     What is this life if full of care,

      We have no time to stand and Stare. --Welsh poet W.H.Davies(1871-             1940) .

2.     He prayeth well, who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best

All things great and small,

For the dear God who loveth us,

He made and loveth all. ---The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).

 

3.Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign.

    Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes

     Like ours; the land our brothers walk upon

      Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.---The English poet James

       Kirkup (1918-2009).                                    

      

4.     Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;-

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing, o’er life’s solemn main,

Seeing, shall take heart again.-----The American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).

 

5.     Not gold, but only men can make

A people great and strong---

Men who, for truth and honour’s sake,

Stand fast and suffer long.                                                  

Brave men who work while others sleep,

Who dare while others fly---

They build a nation’s pillars deep,

And lift them to the sky.----The American poet Ralph waldo  Emerson (1803-1882).

 

6.     Just to be tender, just to be true ;

Just to be glad the whole day through;

Just to be merciful, just to be mild;

Just to be trustful as a child;

Just to be gentle and kind and sweet;

Just to be helpful with willing feet;

Just to be cheery when things go wrong;

Just to drive sadness away with a song;

Whether the hour is dark or bright,

Just to be loyal to God and right! ------Anonymous.

                                        *******

G. R. Kanwal

11 May 2026