Nine Lives
In Les Misérables, Jean Valjean saves at least nine people: two children in Montreuil-sur-Mer from a fire; Fauchelevent from being crushed to death by a cart; Cosette from her troubled life with the Thénardiers; Fantine…
Today’s One-Liner (#246)
For justice cannot exist where all the best things in life are held by the worse citizens; nor can anyone be happy whee property is limited to a few, since those few are always uneasy…
Just One Little Onion
“You see, Alyoshechka,” Grushenka turned to him, laughing nervously, “I’m boasting to Rakitka that I gave an onion, but I’m not boasting to you, I’ll tell you about it for a different reason. It’s just…
Today’s One-Liner (#245)
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. –The Gospel according to St. Luke, 6:37.
Two Faculties
C.S. Lewis once discussed the problem in terms I here paraphrase: During Mass I can exercise either a critical or a devotional faculty, and the two are mutually exclusive. If my critical faculty is alert,…
Today’s One-Liner (#244)
‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ –The Gospel of Luke, 24:18
Be Pro-Active
“What is this song or picture, this engaging personality presented in life or in a book, to me? What effect does it really produce on me? Does it give me pleasure? And if so, what…
Today’s One-Liner (#243)
We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. –William James, Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals
Stick with the Gospel
Ivan has maintained that people bear no responsibility for their wishes— “who has not the right to wish?”—a position that directly contradicts the Sermon on the Mount, which deems not just bad actions but also…
Today’s One-Liner (#242)
Brothers, do not be afraid of men’s sin, love man also in his sin, for this likeness of God’s love is the height of love on earth. –Zosima, in Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov