Thoughts on People

1. Talking about oneself rivals baseball as the nation's pastime. Much of poetry is a prime example. If "I" and "me" were removed from vocabulary, many would have difficulty speaking.

2. A child is given birth by the parents and has nothing to give in return except love. An obedient, loving child is a joy. A disobedient, disrespectful child to the obliging parents ranges from disappointment to burden to curse.

3. Perhaps life on earth is Heaven and Hell, the reward or punishment side by side. Perhaps life on earth is only Heaven (or only Hell). Most likely it is neither.

4. When you think you are impressing someone you are usually having the opposite effect. When you impress someone favorably, if you ever do, it's when you are unaware of being watched.

5. Jesus told his disciples,"...........do this in remembrance of me." because he understood that was the ultimate they could do for him after his death. Remembrance of those we love after they are gone, and perpetuating that memory in future generations, is the ultimate gift we can give them.

6. Life is a chess match and time is our opponent.

7. I have observed, with a few exceptions, the less hair a man has on the top of his head the more he wants in other places.

8. The savior of religions is that they are able to take any thought or event and twist it to their own ends.

9. The main difference between standing in the shower and the rain is that rain doesn't come in the right temperature.

10. Each man has more than one life, one he lived before and one where he straddles the line between then and to be.

11. I always wanted to be recognized for my looks. I didn't know it would come in the form of a senior citizen's discount.

12. I discovered today mayonnaise doesn't readily spread on a slice of tomato.

13. Have you noticed how dogs like to smell of each others rear ends but they don't like for us to blow in their faces?

14. If we truly believe Heaven is all we say then why do we take medicines and treatments to avoid it and why do we punish murderers for sending us there?

15. I wonder who started the rumor Barack Obama is smart.

16. Capitalism is built on the backs of laborers and the laborers are better off for it.

17. The flaw of Socialism - if the pie is equally divided no one will bake the pie.

18. The rich man may have more idle time but his air conditioner isn't any cooler or his bed any softer.

19. The Republicans are not the party of "No". The party out of power is the party of "No".

20. Prayer seems akin to having an imaginary friend. There is nothing wrong with having someone with whom to talk, someone who will listen without interrupting.

21. The veracity of the deity is not as important as the strength of faith. Faith is the reality. If you don't believe this then just let the natives use you as a sacrifice to the sun god.

22. The sarcasm and derision directed toward Christianity today by entertainers and the media, often disguised as humor or art, is actually a degree of persecution which Christianity has endured since its inception.

23. I suspect, no matter how obnoxious or offensive, every person considers himself or herself a misunderstood good guy.

24. I don't want someone to make me happy, just someone with whom I can be happy.

25. The truest measure of affection - will you miss me when I'm gone?

26. Be wary of those using Jesus as a character reference.

27. In regard to character -
When a man tells who he "is", be suspicious.
The man who says I "am .......", likely is not.

28. You can never be the equal of someone who has the power or ability to take that equality away. Unfortunately this applies to men and women in the United States today. If men give equality to women by writing laws and enforcing those laws, then that equality exists only on paper - a tenuous balance. Men have equality with each other due to these same laws. On a base level in the face of chaos, true equality is acquired through force.

29. Happiness is like a yo-yo. It always, eventually, comes back to Health.

30. Happiness, like other emotions, has a limited stage of intensity. However it can mellow into a prolonged contentment.

31. I knew a man who when confronted with subject matter with which he was unfamiliar would reply, "who cares". The more ignorant a person, the more "who cares" he or she is likely to have.

32. Every action one performs, regardless how benevolent or cruel, is motivated emotionally and/or physically by self-interest.

33. You can remember you had pain but you cannot, in your mind, recreate the sharp feeling of pain such as that of a cut finger or a broken ankle.

34. I have observed that many people want to weigh less but don't want to lose weight. Doing so is too disruptive to habits and comfort.

35. The closest some people come to having a sense of humor is the use of sarcasm. Mockery is next down the scale.

36. In spite of the personality you are stuck with, the one matter over which you have control is how you treat others. We are all capable of being nice to other people. After that whether they like you or not is up to them. Some will and some won't. Be nice to people and be yourself. You can't fake who you are for long but you can be authentically nice.

37. What seems to be a good idea sometimes turns out to be a hard lesson.

38. A strong sense of integrity is the linchpin of good character.

39. When you make a comment to someone on a random subject more times than not their response will be something about themselves on the same or similar subject.

40. The better you know someone the more fallacies and annoyances in them you have to overlook to be friends.

41. When someone makes a comment to you on some subject avoid the tendency to reply with a comment about yourself. That type of response is so ingrained in us that it comes out instinctively.

42. Hearing of the problems of others, regardless of their similarity to mine, is of no consolation to me.

43. The young make jokes about being old but the time will come for them when it is no longer a joke.

44. There is a difference between knowing and realizing. I know I am going to die but the moment has not yet come when I realize death is imminent.

45. If you are the type person you say you are, then you don't have to say it.

46. The older one becomes the harder it is not to be old. Acts and postures which once came as automatically as breathing now require thought. Standing up straight and picking up one's feet when walking require remembering in order to avoid slouching and stumbling. As age increases, remembering to remember becomes less frequent. This leads to a posture and/or gait of the elderly. I believe the day will come when, in time and space, my mind or body will no longer be under my control and that lack of control will then intersect with my chronological age. At that point I will be truly old and go from living to just being alive.