How bless'd, how envied, were our life, Could we but scape the poulterer's knife! But man, curs'd man, on Turkeys preys, And Christmas shortens all our days: Sometimes with oysters we combine, Sometimes assist the savory chine; From the low peasant to the lord, The Turkey smokes on every board.

Dispatch is the soul of business, and nothing contributes more to Dispatch than Method.

criminal, n. A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation.

I dare say I am compelled, unconsciously compelled, now to write volume after volume, as in past years I was compelled to go to sea, voyage after voyage. Leaves must follow upon each other as leagues used to follow in the days gone by, on and on to the appointed end, which, being truth itself, is one -- one for all men and for all occupations.

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.

The family is one of nature's masterpieces.

Sickness is a belief, to be annihilated by the divine Mind.

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.

The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless, So dull, so dead in look, so woe-begone, Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night, And would have told him half his Troy was burnt. -King Henry IV. Part II. Act i. Sc. 1.

Love is friendship set on fire. thanks to a subscriber -Jeremy Irons.

Their kitchen is their shrine, the cook their priest, the table their altar, and their belly their god.

I'm the lamest lame duck there could be.

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing.

God is more concerned about who you are than what you do, and He is more concerned about what you do than where you do it.

Most joyful let the Poet be; It is through him that all men see.

If you are not very clever, you should be conciliatory.

The abstract metaphysical monotheism, the constant emphasis laid on God's unity and infinite and incomprehensible essence, could not give light to the mind or peace to the heart... How human is the God of the Old Testament -- the God who appears, speaks, guides, who loves and is loved, even as the Man of the New Testament, Christ Jesus, is divine! This difference between the idea of an absolute and infinite God and the God of Scripture is, after all, that which separates the true believer and Christian from the natural man.

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. -Fr. Alfred D'Souza.