Quotations Weblog

Fall had a slow start this year in Salt Lake City, Utah, but it is raging right now. The days have been fluctuating between sunny and overcast, but in both cases the air has been crisp and chilly. I always feel a little betrayed by Autumn. I feel like it should be spring all year ’round and these seasons just get in the way sometimes.

I can’t deny the beauty of the turning leaves, though. I have been wandering around the neighborhood just enjoying the crunch of leaves under my feet. Walking in the area has been nicer now that the heat has subsided. I just need to remember to bring a jacket now. I wonder what it would be like to live in an area of perpetual Spring. Would it feel like time had stopped or would I just notice the more subtle changes in my environment?

Here’s what the masters have to say:

My Favorite:

Autumn Quotes – The Quotations Page

It was sprayed on a rock. I don’t know what it means, but graffiti has changed from incomprehensible gibberish to strange messages. It seems like the tagger is trying to communicate, but what is he trying to say? I can only imagine…

If I purchase an O Magazine, I am almost guaranteed to add a couple of quotes to my Oprah Winfrey collection. Every month, she has a section at the back of the magazine called, “What I Know For Sure.” She talks about the most inspiring things there.

A secret part of me worries that she doesn’t actually write that section of the magazine every month. I worry that she is a little like Samuel Goldwyn and I’ll find out years from now that her quotes were written by her publicity department or a ghost writer. I don’t like to believe that, but I worry about it.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from her:

All Oprah Winfrey Quotes – The Quotations Page

At certain times in his life, Cato the Elder WAS able to control the evil tongues of others. He was also called Cato the Censor because an attack from him meant expulsion from Rome or self-banishment. He believed in a simple life and was critical of senators and knights who lived opulent and luxurious lives.

The Internet allows people to anonymously say things that they would never say in person. There are so many times when I get a nasty comment or email that really cuts me. I can delete the comment. I can delete the email, but it doesn’t stop my mind from repeating the words over and over. The worst are the articulate criticisms. Sometimes they are helpful to me and I am able to make things better. Other times, I know I am doing what is right, but the well-written words still haunt me.

I have yet to master today’s advice from Cato the Elder. I’m sure there were many times that tongues wagged behind his back, injuring him, but somehow, he was able to focus so much on living a wholesome and moral life that he was able to disregard them. I’m still working on this technique. Until then, I’ll lick my wounds and delete those emails.

I don’t particularly like being scared. I don’t watch scary movies. I don’t participate in extreme sports. I don’t read horror novels. I prefer scientific explanations of legends to the legends themselves. I don’t like to be scared, but I love stories about ghosts, vampires and werewolves.

So many of the legends have an element of a blessing to them. Vampires are allowed to live forever. Werewolves have one night a month where they are forced to be violent and aggressive animals. Ghosts promise a continuation of consciousness after death. Even Frankenstein lets us hope for reanimation.

We love stories about these literary characters because we place ourselves in the place of the villains. We imagine how we would conduct our immortal lives, addicted to blood. We wonder how we would be able to contain our animal desires when the full moon rises. We worry about our sentience being trapped in a house after our bodies have rotted. It’s not fear that makes us love stories about ghosts, vampires and werewolves; it’s desire.