“You won’t live a life worth remembering if you don’t do the impossible on a fairly regular basis.” - Anonymous

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

28 February

“Ladies, if you want a man to tell the truth you must do away with moodiness. A man would rather be spat at.” – Jonathan Hanaghan

“How much better our family life would be if we used the words ‘Please,’ ‘Thank you,’ and ‘I’m sorry.’” – Pope Francis

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

27 February

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” – Gloria Steinem

“Love is intelligent, not sloppy.” – Jonathan Hanaghan

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

26 February

“Works of love are always works of peace.” – Mother Teresa

“When you choose to forgive those who hurt you, you take away their power.” - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

28 February

If the Lord’s Prayer is anything to go by, we're forgiven only insofar as we forgive. There’s something delicious about what you might call the mathmatical exactitude implicit in all that. Since I have no idea when I'm going to die, I should jettison all the garbage of recrimination on a regular basis as and when it builds up; I should make forgiveness a habit like I mean business; I should leave the dead to bury their dead, and move on to what gives life/Life. If nothing else, traveling light that way seems like a smart idea.

 “Everyone can do something.” - Mother Teresa

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

25 February

“Real queens fix each others’ crowns.” – Anonymous

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” - Edith Wharton

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 28

Early on Lincoln took to writing letters for the illiterate among his family and friends. In this way he combined two urges that never left him: to help those who needed what he could do with consummate ease, and to express himself both clearly and concisely in writing.

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 27

“First convince a man that you are his sincere friend. Therein is the drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what you will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause.” - Abraham Lincoln

“I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.” - Benjamin Franklin

“Avoid following the crowd - be an engine, not a caboose.” - Francis Quinn

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 26

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” - Abraham Lincoln

“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” - Mark Twain

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 25

In 1832 Lincoln served as a captain in the Black Hawk War, an Indian skirmish which lasted but a few weeks and in which he did not once hear a shot fired in anger. In short, there seemed to be virtually nothing in this experience that might contribute to a burgeoning political career. He had a way of dealing with those who, like himself, had virtually no combat experience to bolster their careers: he showed how they and he were pretty much on the same footing. In short, their pretense brought out his withering humor. “By the way, do you know I am a military hero? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk War, I fought, bled, and came away. Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of my own. I was not at Stallman's defeat, but I was about as near to it as Cass to Hull's surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon afterwards. It is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break, but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion... If General Cass went in advance of me picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in charging upon the wild onion.  If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say that I was often very hungry.” 

“No problem can possibly withstand the irresistible force of a sustained creative idea.” - Arnold Kunst

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

24 February

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - Maya Angelou

“My luck is so bad, if I bought a cemetery people would stop dying!” – Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

24 February

Little Johnny Stories VIII

Life can be harsh, even for a cutesy little kid. I lived in the British Isles during the 1970’s. I remember a program on BBC TV called “Opportunity Knocks!” It was a folksy, small-potatoes precursor of “America’s Got Talent,” a weekly variety show with singers, comedians, jugglers and so on, all competing to win first place. First place went to the act that got the most post-card votes [how’s that for ancient history!]. The prize was a few hundred pounds, the chance to compete next week [to a maximum of four weeks] and of course a lot of national exposure. 

I remember one week when little Johnny got introduced. He was 5 years old and, like, three-feet ziltch. He was going to play Chopin’s Minute Waltz on the piano. Well, the MC made a big deal out of this huge stopwatch they set up near the piano. He also pointed out the two London phone books stacked on the piano bench. Everybody clapped like crazy and said “Ooh!” and “Ahh” as little Johnny came out. He bowed awkwardly, but as he climbed up on top of those phone books, somehow his left elbow managed to come down on the bottom end of that keyboard- CRASH!

We were all shocked by this freak accident. Nobody was more shocked than little Johnny who climbed back down and said, “I didn’t mean to do that. You see, I was climbing up on the piano bench and my elbow hit those notes by accident. I can play the Minute Waltz really well, and I can do it in less than a minute. I want you all to forget that mistake. Please, just forget that mistake! FORGET IT!” 

He then played the piece perfectly, and, according to the stopwatch in the corner of the screen, he did it in 57 seconds flat. 

At the end of the program all the contestants would do a little bit of their act to remind the audience whom to vote for. My guess is, when they got to little Johnny everyone out there in TV-land thought something like this: “he was cute, and played really well; too bad about that mistake at the beginning, but I think I’ll vote for this other act.” 

In short, two things happened: everyone remembered the very thing Johnny told them to forget; and, when all the dust settled, the only vote he got was his mother’s. 

Is life a bummer, or what?

“As the caterpillar becomes the butterfly, so also the meaningless becomes meaningful to those who strive with persistence and trust with simplicity.” - Arnold Kunst

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 24

According to Lincoln’s senior partner at the time, right after he passed the bar exam, Lincoln’s “knowledge of the law was very small … but he would get a case and try to know all there was connected to it; and in that way he got to be quite a formidable lawyer.”

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure — which is: Try to please everybody.” - Herbert Bayard Swope

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 23

In the six months following the start of the spring campaign of 1864, a titanic struggle ensued between Ulysses S. Grant commanding the Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee commanding the Army of Northern Virginia. During that time Grant suffered over 50,000 casualties – more than the size of Lee’s entire army. Such astronomical casualty figures virtually guaranteed that Lincoln would pay the ultimate price during that presidential election year. On August 23, 1864 Lincoln wrote the following: “This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so cooperate with the president-elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards.” 

“Every man who can be a first-rate something has no right to be a fifth-rate something, for a fifth-rate something is no better than a first-rate nothing.” - Josiah Holland

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 22

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step across the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reaches us it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” - Abraham Lincoln

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” - Charles Schultz

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

23 February

“My husband and I have never considered divorce. Murder sometimes, but never divorce.” - Joyce Brothers

“Smile at everyone you meet. God knows, they need it far more than you realize!” - Arnold Kunst

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

22 February

“One must not let oneself be overwhelmed by sadness.” – Jackie Kennedy

“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” – Emily Dickinson

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

21 February

“The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.” - Mark Twain

“You see things that are and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say, ‘Why not?’” - George Bernard Shaw

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

20 February

“The plural of spouse is spice.” - Robert Morley

“You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.” – Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

23 February

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it,” says the Bible - not yesterday, not tomorrow, not some pretend day. So, grab on to the thing with both hands, and GO!

“The critic belongs on the sidelines; you belong in the game.” - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual” by Arnold Kunst

22 February

“You’ll never succeed until you want to do the thing more fiercely than your critics don’t want you to do it.” – Arnold Kunst

“Because you were neither hot nor cold I have vomited you forth from my mouth.” – The Bible

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

21 February

If you end up not getting what you once said you wanted, it is either because you didn't really want it, and/or you tried to bargain over the price. Here’s the rule: the definitive always win; the tentative always lose. Oh, and one other thing: nobody can break that rule.

“I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.” - Abraham Lincoln

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

20 February

“Give freely and abundantly because you have been super-blessed and enriched. That way you will always be super-blessed and enriched. It's a law of psychic dynamics that nobody can break.” - Arnold Kunst

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” - Henry David Thoreau

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 21

“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.” - Abraham Lincoln

“Even the most exciting project eventually settles in, calms down. When you dive off the board you get lots of impetus from the law of gravity, but eventually you'll be dead in the water if “the long pull” doesn't start soon.” - Arnold Kunst

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 20

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” - Abraham Lincoln

“Hope: the little voice in your head whispering ‘maybe’ when the rest of the world screams ‘NO!’” – Anonymous

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

19 February

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

“It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be.” - Virgil

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

 18 February

“The biggest coward is the man who awakens a woman’s love with no intention of loving her.” - Anonymous

"I like the word 'Indolence;' it makes my laziness seem classy." - Bernard Williams

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

19 February

One of the self-evident truths of the couch potato is that his right to the TV remote is God-given.

“Life is a gift, not a guarantee.” - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

18 February

Little Johnny Stories VII

Somewhere along the line little Johnny learned in the College of Hard Knocks the value of the passive voice, an especially important component in the bag of tricks of any guilt-prone kid, particularly one in a Catholic school. He’s playing in a pick-up basetball game in the yard after school when he hits a home run – a tremendous blast, over the fence and, unfortunately, through one of the windows of the nuns’ convent. So he goes to the convent, and when Sister Superior answers the door he says the following: “Sister, I’ve come to ask for our baseball back. You see, one of your windows happened to get broken by a ball that was hit by a bat that happened to be in my hands when the bat was swung on the arrival of a beautiful pitch right down the middle.” When Sister Superior is finished translating all that, one of her many reactions will no doubt be a renewed appreciation for the deadening power of convoluted sentences full to the brim with the passive voice. 

Johnny is picking up some valuable lifeskills!

“When you invite your own personal demons in for a cup of coffee it is like breaking the sound barrier. Once that happens, POWER is yours – it is power nobody gave to you; it is power nobody can take from you!” - Arnold Kunst

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 19

Once Mary Todd's relatives learned of her [initial] engagement to Lincoln they pressured the couple to call the wedding off. The reason, clearly, was Lincoln’s lack of family respectability - he had an illiterate father and a mother of dubious origins. So he asked Mary to release him, which she did. She understood, but was obviously hurt. Although they eventually did marry later, at this time Lincoln was arguably more depressed than at any time in his life. “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.”

“Everything is beautiful in its own way.” - Ray Stevens

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 18

“I never went to school more than six months in my life, but I remember how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand...  I can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with my father, trying to make out what was the exact meaning of their, to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep, although I tried to, when I got on such a hunt for an idea until I had caught it; and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until I had put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and it has stuck by me; for I am never easy now, when I am handling a thought, till I have bounded it north and bounded it south, and bounded it east and bounded it west.” - Abraham Lincoln

 

“Embrace all that you most fear or find repugnant, the better to realize that everything in the Universe, being inseparably related, is therefore holy.” - Lama Marpa

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

17 February

“In marriage, don’t hammer it out – just love one another. If you find yourself arguing, stop it and kiss her, for God’s sake.” – Jonathan Hanaghan

“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything, will determine its successful outcome.” - William James

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 17

For Lincoln ambition for a high station in life, as his law partner of nearly 20 years William Herndon put it, was “a little engine that knew no rest.”

“Never forget who was there for you when nobody else was.” - Anonymous

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

16 February

“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” - Mother Teresa

 

“Nothing is more powerful than a surrendered life in the hands of God.” - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual” by Arnold Kunst

16 February

“We’re meant to prepare for the future as we tidy up the past.” - Anonymous

“Be dismissive of none; let none be dismissive of you.” - Anonymous

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 16

“Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” - Abraham Lincoln

“Action speaks louder than words, but not nearly as often.” - Mark Twain

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

15 February

“Is there any fire in your belly?” – Anonymous

“Stand with anybody that stands right; stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.” - Abraham Lincoln

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

14 February

“My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.” - Maya Angelou

 “Let me love you a little more before you’re not little anymore.” - Anonymous

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

15 February

Little Johnny Stories VI

By the time my son Johnny turned 6 he looked like he was actually maturing. Somehow he had become a hard worker. He could be, and sometimes was, remarkably focused, to the point where he wouldn’t take no for an answer, but probably like all 6-year-olds he could be a little impatient especially when he got tired. [Know anybody like that?] 

Anyway, during what might be called his jigsaw puzzle phase I bought him a 75-piece Donald Duck puzzle. He really liked doing puzzles, but 75 pieces probably represented a greater challenge than he could handle at that age. It was certainly more complicated than anything he had ever tried up to that point. 

He made a promising beginning. He had learned to turn all the pieces face up, then to separate them so no part of a piece was covered by another piece. Then he connected all the edge pieces, then Donald, then the buildings and the people in the background, then the grass. Eventually all he had left was maybe 20 pieces that represented the blue sky – a remarkably uniform blue sky. I remember he looked like he was getting tired, and a little crabby – eventually he took a blue piece that almost fit the space he chose, and when that piece didn’t quite slide into place, he encouraged it into place with a pounding fist. 

Eventually he found that he had a relatively small number of those blue pieces left over and just a few spaces for them to fit into, but no matter how he adjusted here and rearranged there, for some reason none of those remaining pieces would fit in any of the spaces. 

The moral of the story: it takes more than a can-do attitude and determination to get the job done. Sometimes it takes a little patience, and the capacity to walk away from a quick fix that doesn’t, like, fix. 

“The Babe is here. Who’s coming in second?” - Babe Zaharias

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

14 February

There's one trait common to all the characters in Christ's parables: they all live on the edge. They are open to discover the marvelous, the life giving, the utterly abundant camouflaged by earth tones, ever buried among the mundane. Also, they were willing to sell everything, risk everything because they’re tingling with vitality, because boundless excitement is right there, on the other side of their fear[s]. These guys were not into Playing It Safe; Life for them isn't a spectator sport – never was, never will be.

I’d like to be like them. So, where do I sign?

“We judge others by their behavior, ourselves by our intentions.” - Anonymous

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 15

“Our cause was so just, so sacred, that had I known what was to be inflicted upon me, all that my country was to suffer, all that our posterity was to endure, I would do it all over again.” - Jefferson Davis

“Failure is not an option.” - NASA

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 14

“...and then, there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation.” - Abraham Lincoln

“When you are obedient to the ought you are at one with the universe.” – Jonathan Hanaghan

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

13 February

“I always wanted children, but not until they were actually part of my life did I realize that I could love that fiercely, or get that angry.” – Cokie Roberts

“Real politeness consists in being easy one’s self, and in making everyone about one as easy as one can.” - Alexander Pope

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 13

“I have stepped out upon this platform that I may see you and that you may see me, and in the arrangement I have the best of the bargain.” - Abraham Lincoln

“The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.” – Joseph Campbell

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

12 February

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” - Madeline Albright

“You are a majority of one.” – Anonymous

“Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

From 11 February

“God will take care of the poor trampled slave, but where will the slaveholder be when eternity begins?” - Sojourner Truth

“How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?" - Satchel Paige

From “Me Too, 365,” by Arnold Kunst

10 February

"You're never too old to grow younger." - Mae West

Happy birthday, Mr. President!

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

12 February

“I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” – Abraham Lincoln [b. 2/12/1809] 

“Be still - the quieter you become the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

11 February

It takes no particular skill to recognize and react to beauty, truth, goodness where they are blatantly apparent. The real challenge, and fun, in life is to recognize them and prise them loose where they are hidden. Because they're everywhere. Literally everywhere. Isn't that what the poet meant by saying that earth is crammed with heaven? 

“Would you consider ‘guilty-ish’?” – Defense attorney to judge

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

10 February

“If you don’t risk anything you risk even more.’ - Erica Jong

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” - Mother Teresa

 From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

February 12

Those around Lincoln strove from beginning to end to erect barriers to defend him against constant interruption, but the President himself was always the first to break them down. He disliked anything that kept people from him who wanted to see him. “You will wear yourself out,” they pleaded with him. Lincoln of course agreed, but, he contended, they wanted so little - how could he refuse to see them?