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Thought for the Week Facts, altruism, money, luck, specialization February 15, 2010 What are the facts? Again and again and again - what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars fortell", avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" - what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts! If tempted by something that feels 'altruistic,' examine your motives and root out that self-deception. Then, if you still want to do it, wallow in it. Money is a powerful aphrodisiac. But flowers work almost as well. There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe. A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn [steer] a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Robert Heinlein. Excerpts from the notebooks of Lazarus Long in Time Enough for Love. Nature February 1, 2010 The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles. Anne Frank Love January 15, 2010 Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the 'fight with fire' method which you suggest is bitterness and chaos, the aftermath of the love method is reconciliation and creation of the beloved community. Physical force can repress, restrain, coerce, destroy, but it cannot create and organize anything permanent; only love can do that. Yes, love - which means understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill, even for one's enemies - is the solution to the race problem. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1957 Riches January 1, 2010 ... a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone. Henry David Thoreau | Walden | Where I Lived and What I Lived For Young Gardener July 1, 2009 Though an old man, I am but a young gardener. Thomas Jefferson, from his 1811 garden journal. Happiness June 1, 2009 Happiness is a small house with a big kitchen. Alfred Hitchcock Image ... Detail of Picture of the Moon Viewing Party at the at the Palace of the Emperor Go Daigo in Yoshino. Courtesy of Claremonet College.