Au Cochonnet Marin

An exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, “If you were my husband I’d poison your tea.”
He said, “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.” 

A Member of Parliament to Disraeli:
“Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”
“That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”

“He had delusions of adequacy.” – Walter Kerr 

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” – Winston Churchill 

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” – William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway). 

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it” – Mark Twain 

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends..” – Oscar Wilde 

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend… if you have one.” – George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second… if there is one.” – Winston Churchill, in response.

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.” – Irvin S. Cobb

“He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” – Samuel Johnson 

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” – Mae West 

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde 

 

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. 
Thomas Stephen Szasz

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Life is full of unexpected vicissitudes, but generally speaking we harvest what we sow.

Unconsciously or consciously we judge the people around us and store our feelings in one of our brain’s little compartment.
When one of these storage units overfills, the spillage spoils the smooth running of the human machine.
We become tense, anxious, volatile.
Any careless remark can trigger a tsunami of contained emotions.

Forgiving those who hurt us is not easy and is often difficult to contemplate. It takes courage to do so.
But forgiving does not mean forgetting. It does not give the offender a clean slate.
Forgiving means that you are willing to let some hurtful language slide by with the caveat that you won’t be so lenient if it happens again.

In life there is an unwritten code of conduct that civilized people go by.
And one of the first rule of that code is not to speak carelessly and hurt people by insensitive remarks.

“A knife wound heals, but a tongue wound festers.”  Turkish proverb

Offensive language from a stranger is less hurtful than when coming from somebody you know, but no matter what the source, it hurts.

A responsible adult is somebody who is able to control his thoughts and keep his mouth in check.

Alain

 

Let’s not deny it, we all like facility. We like to do things easily and quickly. The easier the better.

For instance, sometimes after staring at your computer screen for a while, you start squinting and your eyes beg you for mercy.
Well, you don’t have to squint anymore. Your Mac (version OS X) can read anything out loud to you.
I was not aware of this until my wife pointed it out.

To experience this feature, first click on “System Preferences”. Then click on the “Dictation & Speech” icon and select either Tom, Kathy, Vicky or Victoria’s voice. You can test each voice by clicking on the “Play” button.
Personally I like Tom’s voice.
And you can also select the “speaking rate”, the speed at which the text is read.

To have your Mac speak to you, highlight the text to be spoken and press the Option + Esc keys (you can select different keys) at the same time.
Et voila! Your Mac will read any text to you.

If you are tired of typing, you can also dictate to your computer.
In the “Dictation & Speech” area you simply need to turn Dictation “ON” and your machine will type whatever you speak.

Isn’t beautiful? You don’t need that costly secretary anymore… unless you cannot do without the way she speaks and the way she walks. But this is for you to decide.

Go ahead, try it on. Highlight any chapter (or the entire text) in this little piece and press the Option + Esc keys together.
Your Mac will read it to you.

Will wonders ever cease?

Alain

PS: To get a better view of the spider, click on the image.