SOME THOUGHTS ON LOVE

 

                SOME THOUGHTS ON LOVE

            “Love” is briefly defined as: a strong feeling of deep affection for somebody. A bit longer definition encompasses : deep affection, care, respect, and a commitment to another person’s well-being, often involving compassion, loyalty, and a willingness to sacrifice for his/her happiness.

            True love must be sincere, cordial, unselfish, loyal, faithful, empathetic, compassionate, trust-worthy, and life-long.

              Some synonyms of love are:

            Affection, fondness, care, concern, attachment, regard, warmth, intimacy, devotion, adoration, passion, yearning, infatuation, and adulation.

                The English romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) began  his poem entitled Love with the following words:

                   All thoughts, all passions, all delights,

                   Whatever stirs this mortal frame.

                    All are but ministers of Love,

                    And feed his sacred flame.             

                

                  For all human beings love is a necessity, not a luxury.

               

                Another English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson(1809-1892) said:

It is better to have loved and lost, than not to love at all.  

 

            According to the French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885): Life is a flower of which love is the honey. 

 

              The English poet and writer John Dryden (1631-1700)  had this to say:

 

            Love reckons hours for months, and days for years, and every little absence is an age.

 

            The English poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) considered mutual loyalty and faithfulness the soul of love.

            Here is an extract from one of his poems:

           

                        Ah, love, let us be true

                        To one another! For the world, which seems

                        To lie before us like a land of dreams,

                        So various, so beautiful , so new,

                        Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

                        Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help, nor pains;

                        And we are here as on a darkling plain

                        Swept with confused alarms of struggle and fight,

                        Where ignorant armies clash by night.

                                                ________

PUNCHLINE: Life without love is like a body without soul.   

                                   

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

22 July 2026

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S THOUGHTS ON LIFE

 

                WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S THOUGHTS ON LIFE

          William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright. He was born at Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1564 and died there on the same date (23 April) in 1616.  

            He wrote 39 plays comprising Tragedies, Comedies, Histories, and Romances, 154 sonnets, and several narrative poems such as Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.

            His unparallel greatness as a poet playwright and otherwise is based upon profound psychological depth and enduring impact on the English language.

             Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, and  Romeo and Juliet are his most famous tragic plays.

            Given below are his famous thoughts on Life.

*The web of our life is a mingled yarn, good and ill together: our virtues would be proud if our faults whipped them not; and our crimes would despair if they were not cherished by our virtues.

**There is nothing in this world can make me joy:

Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale

 Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man;

And bitter shame hath spoil’d  the sweet world’s taste,

That it yields nought but shame and bitterness.

 

***Out, out, brief candle !

Life ‘s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

 

****Life is a shuttle.

 

*****We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.

 

******I see a man’s life is a tedious one.

                        -----------

PUNCHLINE: In this world our life is that of a tourist.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

21 July 2026

 

 

SOME MEMORABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT FRIENSHIP

 

                SOME MEMORABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT FRIENSHIP

                        Lexically a friend is a person you know well and like, and who is not usually a member of your family.

                        According to another definition friendship is a voluntary, mutual relationship characterized by affection, trust, and companionship beyond casual acquaintance.  It is a bond where individuals support one another, share experiences, and engage in continuous mutual growth.

                        Some common synonyms of friendship are : companionship, comradeship, camaraderie. intimacy, amity, acquaintance,  and  fellowship.

                         A very intimate friend is your second self. He is an ‘alter ego’ because he embodies the same traits as you do.

                         Temporary friends are not worth having. They are opportunists. They will desert you in your unfortunate times.

                        A proverb says :  A friend in need is a friend indeed.

                        According to another : True friends provide support during hard times.

                        Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC---322 BC) said: Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.

                        Give below are some famous quotes about  friendship:

*A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and sincerity.

He who has made this acquisition of a judicious and sympathizing friend, may be said to have doubled his mental resources.---English clergy Robert Hall (1764-1831).

** Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joy, and dividing our grief. ----English poet and essayist Joseph Addison (1672-1719).

***If a man does not make new acquaintances as he passes through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair.---English author Samuel Johnson (1709-84).

****Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceasest to give, such will cease to love.----English divine Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)

*****A true friend is the gift of God, and he only who made hearts can unite them.---Robert South, English divine (1634-1716).

                                                            ******

G. R. Kanwal

20 July 2026           

 

REMEMBER

 

          REMEMBER

            *Knowledge without common sense is folly; without method it is waste, without kindness it is fanaticism; without religion it is death. But with common sense, it is wisdom; with method it is power; with character it is beneficence,    with religion, it is virtue, life and peace. ----The Talmud

            *Without labour nothing prospers.

            *A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.

            *A laugh is just like sunshine,

            For cheering folks along.

            A laugh is just like music,

            It lingers in the heart.------Anonymous

           

            *It is not growing like a tree

            In bulk, doth make Man better be;

            Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,

            To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere.

            A lily of a day

            Is fairer far in May,

            Although it fall and die that night---

            It was the plant and flower of Light.

            In small proportions we just beauties  see :

            And in short measures life may perfect be.

                                    ----English poet Ben Jonson (1572-1637).

 

 

            *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.

            ------American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).

           

*It is the age that forms the man, not the man that forms the age. Great minds do indeed react on the society which has made them what they are, but they only pay with interest what they have received.                  

------English critic and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay (1809-59).

 

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

19 July 2026

COMMENTS ON TENNYSON’S THE LOTUS EATERS

 

                COMMENTS ON TENNYSON’S THE LOTUS EATERS

                        “The Lotus Eaters” is a poem by the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). It is based on an incident in the epic poem Odyssey written by the ancient Greek poet Homer who lived during the 8^th century BCE on the coast of Asia Minor and belonged to a long tradition of wandering oral poet. In Book IX of his epic he wrote:

            “But on the tenth day we set foot on the land of lotus-eaters, who eat a flowery food.’’

            This fruit had an adverse effect on them. They became victims of forgetfulness and an intense desire for ease and relaxation.

            They even forgot the way to their homes. Moreover they were in no mood to travel again.

            In the above-mentioned mood they make pertinent statements about exertion and relaxation and ask such questions as have very deep relevance to human life.

            Here are some selected lines from the poem:

“There is sweet music here that softer falls

Than petals from blown roses on the grass---

Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,

Than tir’d eyelids upon tir’d eyes.

                        -----

After this they ask:

 

“Why are we weighed upon with heaviness,

And utterly consumed with sharp distress,

While all things else have rest from weariness?

All things have rest: why should we toil alone,

We only toil, who are the first of things,

And make perpetual moan.

Still from sorrow to another thrown:

Never ever fold our wings,

And cease from wanderings,

Nor steep our brows in slumber’s holy balm;

Nor harken what the inner spirit sings,

Why should we only toil, the roof and crown of things?

                                                ---

They further say:

The full juiced apple, waxing over-mellow,

Drops in a silent autumn night,

All its allotted length of days,

The flower ripens, in its place,

Ripens and fades, and falls, and hath no toil,

Fast-rooted in the fruitful soil.

                                                ----

After this they firmly and rightly say:

 

Let us alone. What is it that will last?

All things are taken from us, and become

Portions and parcels of the dreadful Past.

Let us alone. What pleasure can we have

To war with evil? Is there any peace

In ever climbing up the climbing wave?

All things have rest, and ripen toward grave

In silence; ripen, fall and cease:

Give us long rest or death, dark death, or dreamful ease.

                                    _____

 PUNCHLINE: Rest is rust if not followed by hard work.

                                      *******

G.R.Kanwal

17 July 2026

  

 

PERFECTION

 

                PERFECTION

                      What is perfect is flawless, faultless, unmarred, ideal, impeccable, consummate, immaculate, exemplary, superb, superlative, supreme, excellent, and wonderful.

                        If you are working on the perfection of any technique, you are trying to achieve improvement, refinement, consummation, superbness, and flawlessness.

                        A perfectionist is a stickler for perfection. He is a purist, formalist, precisionist, or idealist.

                        If a thing is perfectly good, it is utterly, absolutely, completely, altogether, fully, exquisitely, superbly, superbly, and wonderfully and thoroughly good.    

                        Perfection is however difficult to achieve. What seems perfect today, appears imperfect tomorrow. Even the world is not perfect after billions of years. Perfection is thus a process, not a final achievement,

                        The English writer John Ruskin (1819-1900) said: No good work whatever can be perfect, and the demand for perfection is always a sign of misunderstanding of the ends of art.

                          According to the Greek philosopher Diogenes (died 323 BC) to arrive at perfection, a man should have very sincere friends or inveterate enemies; because he would be made sensible of his good or ill conduct, either by the censures the admonitions of the other.

                        The French writer and philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) says perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time           

                        The English courtier, orator and wit Philip Dormer Stanhope 4^th Earl of England (1694-1773) said: Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable, However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than whose laziness and despondency make them give  it up as unattainable.

                                      _______

PUNCHLINE : Napoleon said :  The word impossible exists in the dictionary of fools.

                                                            ****

G.R.Kanwal

16 July 2026

 

 

 

 

                  

 

 

SOME QUOTES ON WORK

 

                SOME QUOTES ON WORK

            “Work” is  defined as  activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.

            Some synonyms of work are: effort, exertion, labour, toil, job, trade, profession, employment, vocation, calling, craft, career, business, occupation, and function.

            Work is worship is a proverb which means that we should respect and worship our work as we worship God.  It teaches us to do our work with full dedication and devotion.

            Work is also a duty, rather a sacred duty. It should never  be neglected. On the other hand it should be done punctually and most faithfully.

            Look at the following quotes:

*The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of work. –Sara A. Bolton

*It is the biggest mistake to think you are working for someone else.—Nashua Cavalier

*Work as if you were to live 100 years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow.---Benjamin Franklin.

*We work day after day, not to finish things; but to make the future better. ---Charles F. Kettering.

*Man must work. That is certain as the sun. But he may work grudgingly or he may work gracefully; he may work as a man, or he may work as a machine. There is no work so rude, that he may not exalt it; no work so impassive, that he may not breathe a soul into it; no work so dull that he may not enliven it.----Henry Giles.

 

                        Work is life. Even iron shines when it is used. Idleness is rust. Not to use your faculties actively is to kill them through slow poisoning.

                        Good things come to those who work really hard.

                        Never forget that work is livelihood.

                        The American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) said : I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident.       

                        According to the Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924):A  man is a worker. If he is not that he is nothing.

                        And finally these words of an American politician, academic and jurist Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948):

                        “I believe in work, hard work and long hours of work. Men do not break down from overwork, but from worry and dissipation.”

                                                _______

PUNCHLINE: All growth depends on activity.

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

15 July 2026

 

SHORT LINES WITH DEEP MEANINGS

 

                SHORT LINES WITH DEEP MEANINGS

1.     Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime.

2.     Life is simply life; it is one flow.

3.     One should live to love, to enjoy, and to be ecstatic.

4.     Each moment is full, overfull.

5.     Nirvana is a very simple phenomenon. It simply means ‘blowing out the small candle of the ego’.

6.     Conscience is given by the society.

7.     Ego is that which you accumulate.

8.     Self is that which you are born with.

9.     A great library contains the diary of humanity.

10.                         The execution of the laws is more important than the making of them.

11.                        Never return a kindness. Pass it on.

12.                         The difference between existence and life is the intelligent use of leisure.

13.                        He who adds not to his learning diminishes it.

14.                         Living without faith is like driving in the fog.

15.                        Failure is only te opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.

16.                         It is a double pleasure to deceive he deceiver.

17.                         It isn’t necessary to blow out the other person’s light to let your own shine.

18.                         He who borrows sells his freedom.

19.                         A danger foreseen is half avoided.

20.                         It is magnificent to grow old, if one keeps young.

21.                         Everybody wants to live longer but nobody wants to grow old.

22.                         Zeal is fit only for wise men but is found mostly in fools.

23.                         Impatience and not inexperience is the greatest handicap of youth.

24.                         Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.

25.                         It is the biggest mistake to think you are working for someone else.

                                                            ******

G. R. Kanwal

14 July 2026

 

                                      

SUPERSTITIONS

 

                                SUPERSTITIONS

            A superstition is defined as “the belief that particular events happen in a way that cannot be explained by reason or science.”

            This word is also used to mean that particular events bring good or bad luck.

            We daily come across people who believe that such and such days in a week are lucky; if somebody sneezes while you are going to do some important piece of work, it will not produce the result that is expected; number 13 is unlucky; if a cat crosses your way, it means bad luck.

            Scientific temper is still not wide-spread. Idol worship has not vanished. Success is still regarded as the fruit of good luck. Hard work is not fully regarded as productive of proportionately good results. God is considered as the real doer; you are only an agent.

            According to another interpretation superstition is regarded as a belief or practice that is not based on reason or scientific evidence. “It often involves the idea that certain unrelated actions or events bring good or bad luck, or that magic and supernatural forces influence the future.”

            It is a common phenomenon that many people consult astrologers for lucky days or time to do something auspicious significant.

            Some people wear particular types of rings for good luck.

            Some astrologers calculate lucky days or time according to your date and   time of birth.

             Science doest no support such irrational beliefs.

            Given below are some popular quotes on superstitions.

*By superstitions I mean all hypocritical arts of appeasing God and procuring his favour without obeying his laws, or reforming our sins; infinite such superstitions have been invented by heathens, by Jews, by Christians themselves, especially by the Church of Rome, which abounds with them.----English bishop Thomas Sherlock (1678—1761).

*The greatest burden in the world is superstition, not only of ceremonies in the church, but imaginary and scarecrow sins at home,---The English poet John Milton (1608-1674).

*Superstition renders a man a fool, and skepticism makes him mad.---Henry Fielding, English novelist (1707-1754).

*Superstition is the poetry of life. It is inherent in man’s nature; and when we think it is wholly eradicated, it takes refuge in the strangest holes and corners, whence it peeps out all at once, as soon as it can do with safety. ---German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).

*Liberal minds are open to conviction. Liberal doctrines are capable of improvement. There are proselytes from atheism; but none from superstition. ---Junius, pseudonym of an unknown political writer in England  who wrote during 1769-1772.

                                                            ------------

PUNCHLINE:” As we sow, so shall we reap” is not a superstition.

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

13 July 2026                                                                       

 

 

LITTLE THINGS

 

                LITTLE  THINGS

            The  main question in life is how to spend one’ time usefully. Most of the people aspire to do such activities as enhance their wealth. They work for money and more money. They are selfish. If some needy person seeks their help, they do not accept his request. They mind their own business. However,   some of them do love God, worship Him, go to places of prayer and offer gratitude, but these very people do not spare any time for social service.

            In a poem, a character tells an angel who is writing the names of those who love God and when he is asked by a person who was watching him whether his name was also there in the  book which he had completed.  The answer given to him is “No”.  Not disappointed, he requests that very angel to write his name as one who loved the people of God. The angel fulfils his request and when he comes again the next day his book shows that whose name was not there the previous day was now at the top.

            In an anonymous which is given below, the poet prays to God:

            “Give give me love, and care, and strength

            To help my toiling brother.        

 

 The toiling brother here is not his own real brother but any  other man who is there in the world looking for help.

 

                        Here is the full text of the aforesaid anonymous poem. Its title is Little Things but its message is great,

 

                        If any little word of mine

                        May make a life the brighter,

                        If any little song of mine

                        May make a heart the lighter,

                        God help me speak the little word

                        And take my bit of singing,

                        And drop it in some lonely vale

                        To set the echoes ringing.

                       

                        If any little love of mine

                         May make a life the sweeter,

                        If any little care of mine

                        May make a friend’s the fleeter

                        If any little lift may ease

                        The  burden of another.

                        God give me love, and care, and strength

                        To  help my toiling brother.

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

12  July 2026