Some Thoughts on Wonders,Wondering and Wonder(not the Stevie kind)

[Guest guest]

I sometimes wonder whether our planet is the asylum of the universe

for disordered minds.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

There are those much more rare people who never lose their curiosity,

their almost childlike wonder at the world; those people who continue

to learn and to grow intellectually until the day they die. And these

usually are the people who make contributions, who leave some part of

the world a little better off than it was before they entered it.

William H. Sheldon

 

 

The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of

wonder.

Ralph W. Sockman

 

 

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring

storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious

enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are

now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing

with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while

incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder

the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are

cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and

dimmer seems the Lord himself.

John Muir

 

 

There's a touch of the priesthood in the academic world, a sense that

a scholar should not be distracted by the mundane tasks of day-to-day

living. I used to have great stretches of time to work. Now I have

research thoughts while making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Sure it's impossible to write down ideas while reading " curious

George " to a two-year-old. On the other hand, as my husband was

leaving graduate school for his first job, his thesis advisor told

him, " You may wonder how a professor gets any research done when one

has to teach, advise students, serve on committees, referee papers,

write letters of recommendation, interview prospective faculty. Well,

I take long showers. "

Susan Landau

 

 

I'm not one o' those as can see the cat i' the dairy, an' wonder

what she's come after.

George Eliot

 

 

People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves

of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the

ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by

themselves without wondering.

Saint Augustine of Hippo

 

 

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do

and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of

the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday

school. These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair.

Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your

own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when

you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm

cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life-learn

some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play

and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out

into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder. Everything you need to know is in there

somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and

politics and equality and sane living. Take any one of those items

and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to

your family life or your work or your government or your world and it

holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be

if we all-the whole world-had cookies and milk about three o'clock

every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if

all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where

they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is true, no

matter how old you are-when you go out into the world, it is best to

hold hands and stick together.

Robert Lee Fulghum

 

It is no wonder that people are so horrible when they start their

life as children.

Sir Kingsley William Amis

 

The best feeling I have ever had about dogs came in a primitive Akah

village in the mountains of northern Thailand. The Akah keep dogs

like we keep chickens and pigs. They treat their cattle as useful

working companions, give them names and would never, ever think of

eating one. But they eat dogs. They are not pets - dogs are simply

food. There are other ways to look at dogs. I am embarrassed by how

people talk to dogs. I wonder what dogs must think. You know what I

mean. You have heard it. Even dogs think it is weird. Watch a dog

when a human does this. The dog can not believe what his is hearing,

either. " Does Poochie wantum drinky? No. Poochie wantum go outside. "

Robert Fulghum

 

Whenever I hear a man or women express hatred for any race, I wonder

just what it is in themselves they hate so much. You can always be

sure of this: You cannot express hatred for anything or anybody

unless you make use of the supply of hatred within yourself. The only

hatred you can express is your own personal possession. To hate is to

be enslaved by evil.

Thomas Dreier

 

 

re the next quote(W.James')...

( " Here's another clue for you all " ...john lennon from " Glass

Onion " (great tune!)).

 

O my Bergson, you are a magician, and your book is a marvel, a real

wonder in the history of philosophy . . . In finishing it I

found . . . such a flavor of persistent euphony, as of a rich river

that never foamed or ran thin, but steadily and firmly proceeded with

its banks full to the brim.

William James

 

 

There are those much more rare people who never lose their curiosity,

their almost childlike wonder at the world; those people who continue

to learn and to grow intellectually until the day they die. And these

usually are the people who make contributions, who leave some part of

the world a little better off than it was before they entered it.

William H. Sheldon

 

Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, believe me, that

angel's hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an

overshadowing presence. Our joys, too, be not content with them as

joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Giovanni Giocondo

 

 

Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much

deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.

Steven Wright

 

 

The man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder and

worship, . . . is but a pair of spectacles behind which there is no

eye.

Thomas Carlyle

 

The main duty of the historian of mathematics, as well as his fondest

privilege, is to explain the humanity of mathematics, to illustrate

its greatness, beauty and dignity, and to describe how the incessant

efforts and accumulated genius of many generations have built up that

magnificent monument, the object of our most legitimate pride as men,

and of our wonder, humility and thankfulness, as individuals. The

study of the history of mathematics will not make better

mathematicians but gentler ones, it will enrich their minds, mellow

their hearts, and bring out their finer qualities.

G. Sarton

 

Finding what brings peace and joy to your heart is important after a

hard day at work, or just living in our intense world. Walking

through your garden at the end of the day can rejuvenate you. I

wonder if God, Allah, Jehovah, Shiva, Gaia or whatever Supreme Being

you have come to know, looks down on the Garden that He or She

created with all the different varieties of life and " oohs and

aahs " ? It is a curious thought, but I think so.

Teresa Watkins

 

 

Whenever I hear a man or women express hatred for any race, I wonder

just what it is in themselves they hate so much. You can always be

sure of this: You cannot express hatred for anything or anybody

unless you make use of the supply of hatred within yourself. The only

hatred you can express is your own personal possession. To hate is to

be enslaved by evil.

Thomas Dreier

 

 

I wonder if the human touch, which people have, is not one of the

greatest assets that one can have. You meet some people, and

immediately you feel their warmth of mind or heart. You read a book,

sit before the performance of a fine actor, or read a poem - and

there it is - something that streams into your consciousness. . . .

Those who keep climbing higher, in their chosen work, all have this

outstanding something. The nurse in the hospital, the man who

delivers your mail, the clerk behind many a store counter, and the

effective minister or public speaker. Without this human touch, hope

has little on which to feed or thrive.

George Matthew Adams

 

 

Firefly: Where is your husband? Mrs. Teasdale: Why, he's dead.

Firefly: I'll bet he's just using that as an excuse. Mrs. Teasdale: I

was with him to the very end. Firefly: Hmmph. No wonder he passed

away. Mrs. Teasdale: I held him in my arms and kissed him. Firefly:

Oh I see. Then, it was murder.

Groucho Marx

 

And Away We Go!!....Jackie Gleason....La la La la

....bob