A BUNCH OF GREAT THOUGHTS

 

                          A BUNCH OF GREAT THOUGHTS 

            Thoughts are ideas, viewpoints, opinions, beliefs, convictions, concerns, considerations, reflections, contemplations, notions, theories, intentions, plans, purposes, concepts, deliberations, etc.

 

              Great thoughts are virtuous, pious, constructive, beautiful, splendid, glorious, impressive, magnificent, majestic, noble, august, illustrious, remarkable, outstanding, elevating, inspirational, noteworthy, memorable, majestic, adept, admirable, excellent, marvellous, wonderful, fantastic, first-rate, etc.

            Here are a few examples.

*To err is human; to forgive, divine.

*Our affections are our life. We live by them; they supply our warmth.

*Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes.

*It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.

*Applause is the spur of noble minds.

*Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy.

*Atheism is the death of hope, the suicide of the soul.

*The best way to do good to ourselves, is to do it to others.

*Better a blush on the face than a blot on the heart.

*God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose.

*Is death the last sleep? No, it is the last and final awakening.

*Habitual intoxication is the epitome of every crime.

*There is not a moment without some duty.

*We make our fortunes, and we call them fate.

*Good humour is the health of the soul; sadness  is its poison.

*No legacy is so rich as honesty.

*Idleness is the key of beggary, and the root of all evil.

*A good laugh is sunshine in a house.

*Libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of saints, full of true virtue,        and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed.

*Man is limited in his nature, infinite in his desires.

*All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

7^th July 2025

 

 

TODAY

 

                                                   TODAY

                             A Poem By Thomas Carlyle 

                                            

            Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. “Today” is one of his rare poems. In his book “On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History,” he discusses the concept of the hero as a poet, focusing on the extensive impact of poets like the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and the English poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616). He regards poets of their stature as leaders who are capable of  inspiring  people to realize their fullest potential and enable them to strive for higher ideals.

            The poem “Today” reflects the regrettable nature of human beings for not using the present time as creatively as they should. They put off till tomorrow what they can and should do today. It the present time which is the real time available to humans.

            In one of his favourite songs, even “today” means this current  moment not some future  moment in the remaining part of the day.

            According to a literary critic Carlyle’s poem “Today” is a call to seize the day and make the most of every moment. As time has a fleeting nature, it should not be allowed to slip away because  every “Today” is a piece of continuous cycle of time, and each new day is born from eternity and returns to it at night.  

 

            Here is the full poem:

So here hath been dawning

Another blue day:

Think, wilt thou let it

Slip useless away?

 

Out of Eternity

This new day was born;

Into Eternity,

At night, will return.

 

Behold it aforetime

No eye ever did;

So soon it forever

From all eyes is hid.

 

Here hath been dawning

Another blue day:

Think, wilt thou let it

Slip useless away.

 

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

6^th July 2025

 

 

   

MYSELF

 

                MYSELF

            “Myself” is the title of a famous poem written by the American poet Edgar Albert Guest.                 

            It reads as follows:

I have to live with myself, and so

I want to be fit for myself to know,

I want to be able as days go by,

To  look at myself straight in the eye.

I don’t want to stand with the setting sun

And hate myself for the things I’ve done.

 

I don’t want to hide on a closet to shelf

A lot of secrets about myself,

And fool myself as I come and go

Into thinking that nobody else will know

What kind of man I really am;

I don’t want to dress myself in sham.

 

I want to go out with my head erect,

I want to deserve all men’s respect

And in the struggle for fame and pelf

I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to look at myself and know

That I’m bluster and bluff ; and empty show.

 

I can never hide myself from me;

I see what others can never see,

I know, what others may never know ,

 never can fool myself, and so,

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.

 

            Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959) was a British-born American poet. He wrote delightful optimistic poetry which made him very popular. He is also known as “the people’s poet” because of his poems about everyday life.

 

            According to a literary critic, the poem reproduced above explores the importance of “self-acceptance and living authentically.”

 

            Look at the following concluding lines of the poem:          

 

I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to look at myself and know

That I’m a bluster and bluff and empty show.

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.

 

                        ********     

G.R.Kanwal

5^th July 2025

MORE ABOUT GOODNESS

 

MORE ABOUT GOODNESS

            I wrote some words on goodness in my blog yesterday (3.7.25). They were not enough. In fact, goodness can have no end. Man’s goodness falls and rises in different eras. We do not know how many people were there on this earth soon after it came into existence. There is also no book about the size of population in the different bygone eras of this world.

            Civilization seems to be a late arrival.  Many ages have remained with a lot of savagery and almost no refinement of character. There was never adequate goodness nor is it there today. Goodness is still limited.

            Nobody can predict a time of adequate goodness in man. Man has to shed a lot of rudeness before he can touch even the edge of God’s infinite goodness.

            Given below are some aspects of goodness described by different writers.

*Qualities of Good Nature.

Its good nature only wins the heart. It moulds the body to an easy grace, and brightens every feature of the face; it smoothens the unpolished tongue with eloquence, and adds persuasion to the finest sense.---English writer and clergyman Benjamin Stillingfleet (1702-1771).

*Acme of Goodness. To love the public, to study universal good, and to promote the interest of the whole world, as far as lies within our power, is the height of goodness, and makes that temper which we call divine. ---Anthony Ashley-Cooper 3^rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713).

*Characteristics of Goodness. Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of nature the inclination. This, of all virtues and dignities of the mind, is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it man is a busy, mischievous, wretched being.--- English -Essayist and philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626).

*Rewards of Goodness. ---- A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love: pleasure bestowed upon a graceful mind was never sterile, but generally gratitude begets reward. ---Saint Basil of Caesarea ? (330 Ad-379 AD).

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

4^th July 2025

 

 

THE LOOM OF TIME

 

THE LOOM OF TIME

            “The Loom of Time” is an anonymous poem. It has been regarded as one of the best loved poetic creations since long ago.  It is related to man’s life and God the creator of human life.

            The phrase ‘loom of time’ has been used metaphorically. It stands for a web of different colours the pattern of which is known only to God who is the planner of that web.

            God does not reveal the above-mentioned  pattern and its significance “till each loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly.”  

            According to a literary critic the poem explores the themes of time, fate, and the interconnectedness of life’s experiences.

            As for the metaphor of weaving, it has been used to illustrate how all events, both positive and negative, contribute to the larger pattern of human  destiny.

            On the whole, the poem emphasizes that life’s meaning is revealed through the totality of experiences, including the importance of both joy and sorrow.

            What follows the full text of the poem.

Man’s life is laid in the loom of time

To a pattern he does not see,

While the weavers work and the shutters fly

Till the dawn of eternity.  

 

Some shuttles are filled with silver threads

And some with threads of gold,

While often but the darker hues

Are all that they may hold.

 

But the weaver watches with skilful eye

Each shuttle fly to and fro,

And sees the pattern so deftly wrought

As the loom moves sure and slow.

 

God surely planned the pattern:

Each thread, the dark and fair,

Is chosen by His master skill

And placed in the web with care.

 

 

He only knows its beauty,

And guides the shuttles which hold

The threads so unattractive,

As well as the threads of gold.

 

Not till each loom is silent,

And the shuttles cease to fly,

Shall God reveal the pattern

And explain the reason why

 

The dark threads were so needful

In the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

For the pattern which He planned.

 

                                    *******

G.R.Kanwal

3^rd July 2025

 

 

 

GOODNESS

 

GOODNESS              

            Goodness is a powerful virtue. It eliminates evil. The wounds of evil are not healed by any poisonous gel. They go away as soon as you treat them some virtuous balm.

            Some synonyms of goodness are: virtue, kindness, righteousness, generosity, virtuousness, fairness, purity, trustworthiness, compassion, decency, benevolence, honor, nobility, wholesomeness, holiness, etc.

            The English poet and literary critic John Dryden (1631-1700) said: Good sense and good nature are never separated; and good nature is the product of right reason .--- It makes allowance for the failings of others by considering that there is nothing perfect in mankind; and by distinguishing that which comes nearest to excellence, though not absolutely free from faults, will certainly produce candor in judging.

           

            The Greek philosopher Sophocles (496/495 BCE---406/405 BCE believed : To be doing good is man’s  most glorious task.

           

            The French essayist and moralist Jean de la Bruyere (1645-96) claimed: He is good that does good to others. If he suffers for the good he does, he is better still; and if he suffers from them to whom he did good, he has arrived to that height of goodness that nothing but an increase of his sufferings can add to it; if it proves his death, his virtue is at its summit; it is heroism complete.

           

            To conclude, here is a goodness  quote by the American essayist, poet, and philosopher  Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862):  Goodness is the only investment that never fails.  

           

            The following is also one of his famous quotes: “I learned this, at least, by my experiment that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

2^nd July 2025

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

 

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

            The poem reproduced below is the work of Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895). She was an Irish hymn writer. Born in Dublin, she was just a child when she began to write poetry. She was influenced by the 19h century Oxford Movement which sought to restore the original, apostolic nature of the Church of England. Cecil wrote particularly for children . Her charitable work, especially in education, was concerned with deaf children.

           

            “All Things Bright And Beautiful” is one of her most famous poems. It is a poem of gratitude to God who has made all things bright and beautiful.

 

            Full Text of the Poem

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful:

The Lord God made them all.

 

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colors,

He made their tiny wings.

 

The purple headed mountains,

The river running by,

The sunset and the morning

That brightens up the sky.

 

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruit in the garden,

He made them every one.

 

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

            *******

G.R.Kanwal

1^st July 2025