LITERARY MEMORIES OF THE PAST---II

 

          LITERARY MEMORIES OF THE PAST---II

1.     A child is a man in a small letter, the best copy of Adam before he tasted of Eve or the apple; and he is happy whose small practice in the world can only write his character. He is nature’s fresh picture newly drawn in oil, which time, and much handling, dims and defaces. His soul is yet a white paper un-scribbled with observations of the world, wherewith at length. It becomes a blurred note-book. He is purely happy, because he knows no evil, nor hath made means by sin to be acquainted with misery. He arrives not at the mischief of being wise, nor endures evil to come, by forcing them. …The elder he grows, he is a stair lower from God. -----JOHN EARLE in Microcosmography . 1628.

2.     Motives of Prayer. The prayers of men have saved cities and kingdoms from ruin ; Prayer hath raised dead men to life, hath  stopped the violence of fire, shut the mouths of wild beasts, hath altered the course of nature, …made the sun to go from west to east, and the moon to stand still, and rocks and mountains to walk; and it cures diseases without physic, and makes physic to do the work of nature, and nature to do the work of grace, and grace to do the work of  God; and it does miracles of accident and event; and yet prayer, that does all this, is, of itself, nothing but an ascent of the mind to God, a desiring things fit to be desired, and an expression of this desire to God as we can, and as becomes us. And our unwillingness to pray is nothing else but a not desiring what we ought passionately to long for ; or, if we do desire it, it is a choosing rather to miss our satisfaction and felicity to ask for it. -----JEREMY TAYLOR in Holy Dying. 1651.

3.     ABRAHAM COWLEY’S PRAYER TO GOD. This only grant me, that my means may lie too low for envy, for contempt too high. Some honour I would have, not from great deeds, but good alone; the unknown are better than ill known. Rumour can open the grave; acquaintance I would have ; but when it depends not on the number, but the choice of friends.

Books should, not business, entertain the light, and sleep, as undisturbed as death, the night. My house a cottage, more than palace, and should fitting be for all my use, no luxury, my garden painted over with Nature’s hand, not Art’s; and pleasures yield .-----ABRAHAM COWLEY, OF MYSELF,  in essay titled Several Discourses. 1668.   

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

31 July 2026

 

LITERARY MEMORIES OF THE PAST ----I

 

LITERARY MEMORIES OF THE PAST ----I

            Synonyms of memories  are : recollections, reminiscences, and remembrances. 

            Memories of ordinary events, readings, sayings are not worth preserving.

            What follows here are very valuable  literary memories of my reading in the past.   

1.     If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much to say that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards man; for a lie faces God, and shrinks from man. -----Francis Bacon, Essays. 1597.

2.     For fountains they are a great beauty and refreshment; but pools mar all, and make the garden unwholesome, and full of flies and frogs. -----Francis Bacon, Essay Of Gardens, 1597.

3.     Whilst fortune favoured, friends, you smiled on me, but when she fled, a friend I could not see.----Robert Burton, essay On Melancholy Caused By Poverty. 1621.

4.     Language most shows a man : Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and innermost  parts of us, and is the image of the parent of it, the mind. No glass renders a man’s form or likeness so much as his speech.----Essay entitled Of The Dignity Of Speech by Ben Jonson, 1640.

5.     A Good Wife is man’s best movable, a scion incorporate with the stock, bringing sweet fruit; one that to her husband I more than a friend, less than a trouble: an equal with him in the yoke. Calamities and troubles she shares alike; nothing pleaseth her that doth not him. She is relative in all, and he without her, but half himself. She is his absent hands, eyes, ears, and mouth : his present and absent all. She frames her nature unto his howsoever : the hyacinth follows not the sun more willingly. Stubbornness and obstinacy are herbs that grow not in her garden. She leaves tattling to the gossips of the town, and is more than hard. Her household is her charge ; her care to that makes her seldom non-resident. Her pride is but to be cleanly, and her thrift not to be prodigal. By  her discretion she hath children, not wantons; a husband without her is a misery in man’s apparel ; none but she hath an aged husband, to whom she is both a staff and a chair. To conclude, she is both wise, religious, which makes her all this.---SIR THOMAS OVERBURY, Characters, 1614.

                                                            ******

  G.R.Kanwal

30 July 2026

 

DON’T BE A WORKWORM

 DON’T BE A WORKWORM

If you are a bookworm, you are spending too much time on reading and becoming physically inactive. The knowledge that you gain from books is theoretical. It is not reliable because it is untried in the practical fields of life. 

An unschooled person is also a scholar. He has studied in the active  and industrial school of existence. His knowledge is based not on words but on actions. He has preferred learning by doing to learning by reading.

Bookworms spend a lot of time and money on books, In fact they consume the money which they have not largely earned by doing some job but received it from other sources. 

Scholars don’t care for money. They do not hoard it. They pile up books, develop personal libraries and when they are about to depart from this world are full of many worries about it. For example, I have not yet read all the books; what will happen to this treasure of knowledge when I am not there?; can’t I carry these books with me to heaven?  

The English poet and writer Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) is best known for his book The Canterbury Tales. In one of his tales he has described an Oxford Cleric as “thin, hollow-faced, and shabbily dressed with a bare, threadbare overcoat. He rides a horse that is remarkably lean, thinner than a rake, reflecting his extreme poverty and total devotion to studies over worldly comfort.”  

The poetic text of the life of this clerk is given below.

The Oxford Clerk 

A clerk from Oxford was with us also,

Who’d turned to getting knowledge, long ago.

As meagre was his horse as is a rake,

Nor he himself too fat, I’ll undertake,

But he looked hollow and went soberly.

Right threadbare was his overcoat, for he

Had got him yet no churchly benefice,

Nor was so worldly as to gain office.

For he would rather have at his bed’s head

Some twenty books, all bound in black and red, 

Of Aristotle and his philosophy

Than rich robes, fiddle, or gay psaltery.

Yet, and for all he was philosopher,

He had but little gold within his coffer;

But all that he might borrow from a friend 

On books and learning he would swiftly spend,

And then he’d pray right busily for the souls

Of those who gave him wherewithal for schools.

Of study took he utmost care and heed.

Not one word spoke he more than was his need; 

And that was said in fullest reverence

And short and quick and full of high good sense.

Pregnant of moral virtue was his speech;

And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.

********

G.R.Kanwal

29 July 2026

THOUGHTS

 

                THOUGHTS

                                    A thought is something that one thinks of or remembers. Collectively thoughts mean ideas, opinions, mental images, general beliefs, etc., that we have in our minds.

            Great thoughts are such ideas as are deep, noble, inspiring, full of wisdom, frequently helpful in day- to -day life, essence of a writer’s,  poet’s, philosopher’s, discoverer’s,  inventor’s and a statesman’s extraordinary  personal experience.

            We find great ideas in fiction, literature, and many other books on different subjects including those on religion and science.

            Indian physicist C. V. Raman (1888-1970), winner of Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 expressed a great idea when he said in an essay: Water Is The Elixir Of Life.”

                                    Give below are some great ideas attributed to great thinkers.

1.     If man only keeps the truth before his eyes in all its purity, is not untruthful to himself, then he will find a way to act in the best manner according to his strength.--------Famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). He is famous for his two epic masterworks War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

2.     Half the misery of human life might be extinguished by mutual offices of compassion, benevolence, and humanity. -----British writer and politician Joseph Addison (1672-1719).

3.     The things that destroy us are injustice, insolence, and foolish thoughts; and the things which save us are justice, self-command, and true thought, which things dwell in the loving powers of god.-----Greek philosopher Plato (427 B.C.—347 B.C.).

4.     Be not slack to seek wisdom when thou art young, nor weary in the search when thou art grown old ---for no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.---Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 BC—270 BC).

 

5.No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his own advantage. Thou must live for another if thou wishest to live for thyself.  ----A stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist of Ancient Rome,  Seneca the Younger, (Born?----Died 65, Rome, Italy ).

                                                                ______

PUNCHLINE: Content is wealth, the riches of the mind.

                                                    *****

G. R. Kanwal

28 July 2026

 

SOME CHARACTER-BUILDING QUOATION

 

          SOME CHARACTER-BUILDING QUOATION

            A quotation is defined as a group of words or short piece of writing taken from a book, play, speech, etc. and repeated because it is interesting or useful.

            Some quotations are character-building because they are replete with proven wisdom . They indicate what is good or bad ; what should be remembered or  forgotten.  They build our conduct and character, and protect us from many pitfalls.

            Here are some famous quotations which will never become ineffective or irrelevant.

1.     Excess of everything is bad.

2.     Prevention is better than cure.

3.     Truth fears no examination.

4.     As you sow, so shall you reap.

5.     It takes two to make a quarrel.

6.      Health is wealth.

7.     Avarice is the vice of declining years.

8.     Handsome is that handsome does.

9.     A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

10.                         A drowning man catches at a straw.

11.                          A lie has no legs to stand upon.

12.                         Fear is the black godmother of all evils

13.                         Fidelity is the sister of justice.

14.                         Two heads are better than one.

15.                         Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

16.                        God helps those who help themselves.

17.                         Might is right.

18.                         Home is where the heart is.

19.                         Honesty is the best policy.

20.                         It is no use locking the stable when the horse has been stolen.

21.                         Water is the best drink for a gentleman.

22.                         The best sauce for food is hunger.

23.                         Go to the aunt, thou sluggard, consider her way, and be wise.

24.                         Lost time is never gained again.

25.                         Where ignorance is bliss. It is folly to be wise.

                                                _______

PUNCHLINE:  We don’t die, we kill ourselves.

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

27 July 2026

 

SOME FAMOUS THOUGHTS ON HABITS

 

                SOME FAMOUS THOUGHTS ON HABITS

            A habit is defined as : a routine behavior repeated regularly, performed almost automatically, and learned through frequent practice.

            A habit is also known as tendency propensity, predisposition, proclivity, penchant, leaning, bent, inclination, custom, practice, quirk, disposition, temper, temperament, nature, character, make-up, constitution, frame of mind.

            Good habits are desirable. They save time and cultivate perfection. They are called healthy habits because they prevent unnecessary trouble. For example, walking, reading holy books, visiting sacred places, fasting now and then, drinking water frequently, avoiding bad company, rising early, sleeping early, etc. are good habits.

            Smoking, drinking, gambling, telling lies, laziness, calling bad names, losing temper, gluttony, nail-biting, impulsiveness, neglecting health, etc. are bad habits.

            Here are a few famous thoughts on habits:

1.     Good habits are the best magistrates. 2. Habit is the deepest law of human nature. 3. The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. 4. Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to the blood. 5. Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity. 6. Habit is ten times nature. 7. All of us are more or less slaves to habits. 7. Habit, if wisely and skillfully formed, becomes truly a second nature. 8. If you sow an act, you reap a habit; if you sow a habit, you reap a character; and if you sow a character, you reap a destiny. 9. Habits work more constantly and with greater force than reason. 10.  Long customs are not easily broken; he that attempts to change the course of his own life very often labours in vain

                 Finally: This  very famous quote: “First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”---American major general and engineer Charles C. Noble (1916-2003).  

                                                ----

PUNCHLINE: Habits are good servants, but bad masters.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

26 July 2026           

 

 

 

 

PUNISHMENT

 

PUNISHMENT

            To punish is to make somebody suffer because he has broken the law or done something wrong and punishment is an act or a way of punishing .

            Some synonyms of punishment are: penalty, castigation, retribution, and chastisement.

            You can punish a culprit by beating, slapping, caning, whipping, flogging, lashing, or caning, etc.

            Governments punish criminals by imprisoning them or imposing fine or using  both imprisonment and fine.  

            Punishment normally does not achieve its purpose; compassion does.

            Not long ago children were punished by their parents and teachers very frequently. They acted on the proverb “Spare the rod, and spoil the child.” Now this proverb is almost dead. Corporal punishment in schools is forbidden.           Here are some famous quotes on punishment:

*The whole of life and experience goes to show, that right or wrong doing, whether as to the physical or the spiritual nature, is sure in the end to meet its appropriate reward or punishment. Penalties may be delayed, but they are sure to come. ----American clergyman H.W. Beecher (1813-1887).

  **Punishment is lame, but it comes.--- English divine and poet George  Herbert (1593-1633).

***Don’t let us rejoice in punishment, even when the hand of God alone inflicts it. The best of us are but poor wretches just saved from shipwreck. Can we feel anything but awe and pity when we see fellow-passenger swallowed by the waves? ---English novelist and poet George Eliot (1819-1880).

****The object of punishment is threefold: for just retribution; for the protection of society; for the reformation of the offender. ---American theologian Tyron Edwards (1809-1894).

*****There is no greater punishment than that of being abandoned to one’s self.—French theologian Pasquier Quesnel (1634-1719).

                                                -------

PUNCHLINE: If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. ----Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

                                                ******

G. R. Kanwal

25 July 2026

 

TWO POEMS ABOUT GOD

 

                TWO POEMS ABOUT GOD

                        Given below are two poems, originally called songs. They are included in a book titled Gitanjali (Song Offerings) written by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, for its English translation.

                        Tagore who was a British Indian poet, author, playwright, musician, composer, philosopher, social reformer, painter and one of the foremost figures of the Bengal Renaissance, was born on 7 May 1861 at Jorasnko and passed away on 7 August 1941 at Jorasanko Thakurbari, Kolkata. He was the son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a new religious sect in the nineteenth century.

                        Tagore is most famous for his Gitanjali (1910), novels like Gora(1910), and Ghare-Baire (1916) concerning social and political identity. Among his short stories Kabuliwala is very popular.

                        Tagore also composed more than 2,2000 songs blending classical and folk traditions.

                        He authored two National Anthems “Jana Gana Mana” and “Amar Sonar Bangla”.

                        Tagore believed in spiritual humanism, universal brotherhood, and harmony with nature.  In Gitanjali he addresses God as an ordinary worker in quite a few songs.

                        The two poems which are given below are about God’s active presence among the poorest and ordinary human beings who are engaged in creative labour.  

FIRST POEM: Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.    

                        When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.

                        Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.

                        My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost.

                                    …………….

SECOND POEM: Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads ! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?  Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!

                        He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil !

                        Deliverance ? Where is the deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever.

                        Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense ! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained ? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.

                                                            *********

G.R.Kanwal

24 July 2026   

 

                                               

 

 

TEN QUOTES ON DEMOCRACY

 

          TEN QUOTES ON DEMOCRACY

            “Democracy” is defined as a system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives .             

1.     The 16h U. S. President Abraham Lincoln (189-1865) defined democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people”.

            He also laid out his philosophical core of democracy in an 1858 fragment. It went like this:

                        “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.”           

Here are more definitions by other great thinkers:

2.     The efforts of government alone will never be enough. In the end, the people must choose and the people must help themselves. ----John F. Kennedy Thirtyfifth President of the United States (1917-1963)

3.     No democracy can exist for long in the midst of want and poverty and inequality.---Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister (1889-1964).

4.     The ultimate failures of dictatorships cost humanity far more than any temporary failures of democracy,----Franklin D. Roosevelt Thirty-second president of the United States (1882-1945).

5.     People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.----Alan Moore, English author, born 18 November 1953.

6.     The love of democracy is that of equality.---French jurist, historian, and political philosopher Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu(1689-1755).

7.     Your little child is your only true democrat,---Mrs Hrriet Beecher, American author (1811-1896).

8.     If there were a people consisting of gods, they would be governed democratically; so perfect a government is not suitable to men.---Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Genevan philosopher and writer (1712-1778).

9.     Democracy will itself accomplish the salutary universal change from the delusive to the real, and make a new blessed world of use bye and bye,----Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian(1795-1881).

10.             The progress of democracy seems irresistible, because it is the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history.----Alexis Charles Henri Clerel, comte de Tocqueville, French diplomat, philosopher and historian (1805-1859).

                                                      ________

PUNCHLINE: The devil was the first democrat.---English poet , Lord Byron (1788-1824).

                                                                  ********

G.R.Kanwal

23 July 2026

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