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COMFORT
COMMERCE --- COMMITMENT
COMMITTEES --- COMMON --- COMMON SENSE

.
.

COMFORT

see "HAPPINESS" for related links


I remember one evening sitting with a lot of men in
the Coffee House in New York—we had all been drinking,
carousing--rather cheap actresses, magazine illustrators,
popular painters, popular novelists. A pretty bad lot in
general, sold out and all that, but suddenly I found
myself saying to myself, "These are my people."
--Sherwood Anderson (1876—1941)
American writer of short stories.
_Letters_

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me.
--Bible
"Psalms" 23:4

I am convinced we have a degree of delight, and that no
small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others.
--Edmund Burke (1729—1797)
Irish-born Whig politician and man of letters.
_On the Sublime and Beautiful_,
in "The Harvard Classics" [1909-1914].

In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also,
one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when
they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong.
--John Kenneth Galbraith (1908—2006)
American economist.

In the end, more than freedom, they wanted
security. They wanted a comfortable life,
and they lost it all - security, comfort
and freedom. When the Athenians finally
wanted not to give to society but for
society to give to them, when the freedom
they wished for most was freedom from
responsibility then Athens ceased to
be free and was never free again.
--Edward Gibbon (1737—1794)
English historian.
_The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire _ [1776-1788] Ch. 29

Comfort and indolence are cronies.
--Thomas Hood (1799—1845)
English poet and humorist.

Men who pass most comfortably through this world are those who possess good digestions and hard hearts.
--Harriet Martineau (1802—1876)
English writer.

Little things console us, because little things afflict us.
--Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
French mathematician, physicist, and moralist.

Of all created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner.
--Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600—1661)
Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author.

No one shows himself as he is, but wears his mask
and plays his part. Indeed, the whole of our social
arrangements may be likened to a perpetual comedy;
and this is why a man who is worth anything finds
society so insipid, while a blockhead is quite at home
in it.
--Arthur Schopenhauer (1788—1860)
German philosopher.
_Studies in Pessimism_ [1851]

-----

anodyne [AN-uh-dyn], adjective:
1. Serving to relieve pain; soothing.
2. Not likely to offend; bland; innocuous.
noun:
1. A medicine that relieves pain.
2. Anything that calms, comforts, or soothes disturbed feelings.

solace (noun) ['sah-l๊s or 'so-l๊s]
Comfort, consolation in a time of sorrow, or
distress or the source of such consolation.



COMMERCE

.
.

see "CAPITALISM" for related links


There are no more useful members in a commonwealth than
merchants. They knit mankind together in a mutual intercourse
of good offices, distribute the gifts of nature, and find work for
the poor.
--Joseph Addison (1672—1719)
English essayist, poet, and dramatist.

Great stir and bustle prevails at Constantinople in
consequence of the great conflux of merchants who
resort thither from all parts of the world, from Babylon,
from Medea, from Persia, from Egypt and Palestine
as well as from Russia, Hungary, Italy and Spain. In
this respect the city is equalled only by Baghdad,
the metropolis of the Muslims.
--Benjamin of Tudela (f. 12th cent.)
Spanish-Jewish rabbi who was the first
known European traveler to approach the frontiers of China.
_Masa'ot Binyamin_ (The Voyages of Benjamin)

More pernicious nonsense was never devised
by man than treaties of commerce.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and
Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].

Chiefly the sea-shore has been the point of departure
to knowledge, as to commerce. The most advanced
nations are always those who navigate the most.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.

Commerce unites; religion divides.
--Alice Tisdale Hobart (1882—1967)
American novelist.

-

Japanese ships are strictly forbidden to leave for
foreign countries.

No Japanese is permitted to go abroad. If there is
anyone who attempts to do so secretly, he must be
executed. The ship so involved must be impounded
and its owner arrested, and the matter must be
reported to the higher authority.

If any Japanese returns from overseas after residing
there, he must be put to death.

--Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604—1651)
Third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty who reigned
from 1623 to 1651.
Edicts 1, 2, and 3 [1635]

-



COMMITMENT

.
.

see: "LOVE & MARRIAGE (OR NOT)" for related links
see "SUCCESS" for related links


Men do less than they ought, unless
they do all that they can.
--Thomas Carlyle (1795—1881)
Scottish historian and political philosopher.

To congratulate oneself on one's warm
commitment to the environment, or to
peace, or to the oppressed, and think
no more is a profound moral fault.
--Robert Conquest (1917— )
British historian.
_Reflections on a Ravaged Century_ [1999]

-

My particular inner desire to fly the Atlantic
alone was nothing new with me. I had flown
Atlantics before. Every one has his own Atlantics
to fly. Whatever you want very much to do, against
the opposition of tradition, neighborhood opinion,
and so-called 'common sense' — that is an Atlantic....

I flew the Atlantic because I wanted to ... To want
in one's heart to do a thing, for its own sake; to
enjoy doing it; to concentrate all one's energies
upon it — that is not only the surest guarantee of
success. It is also being true to oneself.

--Amelia Earhart (1897—1937)
American aviator who disappeared
in a flight over the Pacific Ocean.

-

-

At the end of a rainbow, you'll find a pot of gold,
At the end of a story, you'll find it's all been told.
But our love has a treasure, our hearts always spend,
And it has a story, without any end.

At the end of a river, the water stops its flow,
At the end of a highway, there's no place you can go.
But just tell me you love me, and you are only mine,
And our love will go on, till the end of time.

--"The End"
Words and Music by Sid Jacobson and Jimmy Krondes
[Sung by Earl Grant in 1958.]

-

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness
in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us
strive on to finish the work we are in.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865)
American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865].

I have already given two cousins to the war,
and I stand ready to sacrifice my wife's
brother.
--Artemus Ward [Charles Farrar Browne] (1834—1867)
American humorist and writer.



COMMITTEES

.
.

see "WORK" for related links


Committee — a group of men who individually can do nothing
but as a group decide that nothing can be done.
--attributed to Fred Allen [John Florence Sullivan] (1894—1956)
American humorist.

A committee is a group that keeps the
minutes and loses hours.
--Milton Berle (Milton Berlinger) (1908—2002)
American comedian.

Meetings are indispensable when
you don't want to do anything.
--John Kenneth Galbraith (1908—2006)
American economist.

A committee should consist of three men,
two of whom are absent.
--Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852—1917)
English actor-manager.
In Hesketh Pearson _Beerbohm-Tree_ [1956].



Click picture to ZOOM
COMMON

.
.

Photograph: Boston Common


The average person thinks he isn't.
--Ambrose Bierce (1842—1914)
American newspaperman, wit, and satirist.
_The Cynic's Word Book_ [1906]
(Retitled in 1911 as _The Devil's Dictionary_.)

-----

bromide [BROH-myd], noun:
1. A compound of bromine and another element or a
positive organic radical.
2. A dose of potassium bromide taken as a sedative.
3. A dull person with conventional thoughts.
4. A commonplace or conventional saying.

ignoble [ig-NOH-bul], adjective:
1. Of low birth or family; not noble; not illustrious;
plebeian; common; humble.
2. Not noble in quality, character, or purpose;
characterized by baseness, lowness, or meanness.
Ex.:" Although she returns to Ireland, Billy counts on her coming
back to marry him, and when Dennis tells him she has died from
pneumonia, he's shattered for life, drowning his romantic sorrow in
alcohol and sliding passively toward a drunk's ignoble death."
--Celia McGee,
"'Billy' captivates with quiet strength,"
"USA Today," [2 December 1999]

nondescript (adj.) ['nahn-d๊-skript]
Ordinary, pedestrian, of no particular type or kind.

plebeian [plih-BEE-uhn], adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to the Roman plebs, or common people.
2. Of or pertaining to the common people.
3. Vulgar; common; crude or coarse in nature or manner.
noun:
1. One of the plebs, or common people of ancient Rome; opposed
to patrician.
2. One of the common people or lower classes.
3. A coarse, crude, or vulgar person.
Ex.: "During the Soviet era, anyone of any ethnic background who
did the dirty deeds demanded of them to get ahead was rewarded
with a crummy but better-than-average apartment, a steady supply
of cheap sausage and low-grade vodka, and a host of other plebeian
amenities too dull to talk about here."
--Jeffrey Tayler, "Russia's Other World," interview by Toby Lester,
_The Atlantic_, March 10, 1999
Synonyms: coarse, common, low, lowborn, unwashed, vulgar.

prosaic (adj.) [pro-'zey-ik]
1. Pertaining to writing that is not poetry;
2. Unadorned, plain, lacking in imagination.

quotidian [kwoh-TID-ee-uhn], adjective:
1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever.
2. Of an everyday character; ordinary; commonplace.

ubiquity (noun) [yu-'bi-kw๊-ti]
Wide-spread presence, presence everywhere,
commonplaceness.



COMMON SENSE

.
.


see: "INTELLIGENCE"
see: "LOGIC"
see: "REASON"
see: "WISDOM"


There's a sucker born every minute.
--attributed to Phineas T. Barnum (1810—1891)
American showman.

Common sense...is very uncommon.
--Lord Chesterfield [Philip Dormer Stanhope] (1694—1773)
British writer and politician.
Letter to his son [27 September 1748].

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what
the world calls wisdom.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772—1834)
English poet, critic, and philosopher.

That good sense which nature affords us is preferable
to most of the knowledge that we can acquire.
--Philippe de Commynes {also spelled Comines}
(c. 1447-1511) French statesman and chronicler.

Good sense is of all things in the world the most equally distributed,
for everybody thinks he is so well supplied with it, that even those
most difficult to please in all other matters never desire more of it
than they already possess.
--Ren้ Descartes (1596—1650)
French philosopher and mathematician.
_Discours de la m้thode_ [1637] (Discourse on Method)

Common sense is merely the deposit of prejudice
laid down in the human mind before the age of
18.
--Albert Einstein (1879—1955)
German-American physicist who developed the
special and general theories of relativity.
In Lincoln Barnett _The Universe and Dr Einstein_ [1950 ed.].

Nothing astonishes men so much as
common sense and plain dealing.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.
_Essays_, First Series [1841], "Art"

The greatest results in life are usually attained by
simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities.
These may for the most part be summed up in these
two — common sense and perseverance.
--Owen Feltham (c. 1610—c. 1678)
English religious writer.

Common sense in one view is the most uncommon sense.
While it is extremely rare in possession, the recognition of
it is universal. All men feel it, though few men have it.
--Henry Norman Hudson (1814—1886)
American clergyman.

-

Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.
--Victor Hugo (1802—1885)
French poet, dramatist, and novelist.

& note:

Common sense is in spite of, not because of age.
--Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow (1731—1806)
British lawyer and Tory politician.

-

He was one of those men who possess almost every
gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
--Charles Kingsley (1819—1875)
English writer and clergyman.

We rarely find that people have good sense
unless they agree with us.
--Fran็ois de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Reflections; or, Sentences and Moral Maxims_ [1678];
maxim 347

-

Common sense is not so commom.
--Voltaire (Fran็ois Marie Arouet) (1694—1778)
French writer and philosopher.
"Self-Love", _Philosophical Dictionary_, [1764]

& see:

Common sense is very uncommon.
--Horace Greeley (1811—1872)
American newspaper editor.

-

To act with common sense according to the
moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the
best philosophy is to do one's duties, take
the world as it comes, submit respectfully
to one's lot; bless the goodness that has
given us so much happiness with it,
whatever it is; and despise affectation.
--Horace Walpole (1717—1797)
English writer and connoisseur.

-

Today I am mourning the passing of an old friend by
the name of Common Sense. Common Sense, AKA C.S.,
lived a long life but died from heart failure at the
brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old
he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in
bureaucratic red tape. He selflessly devoted his life
to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories and
offices, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare
and foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws
and frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S. He
was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as
to know when to come in out of the rain, the early bird
gets the worm, and life isn't always fair.

C.S. lived by sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you earn) and reliable teaching and
parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not
the kid). A veteran of the Industrial Revolution,
the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution,
C.S. survived cultural and educational trends including
feminism, body piercing, whole language and "new"
math. But his health declined when he became infected
with the "If-It-Only-Helps-One-Person-It's-Worth-It"
virus.

In recent decades his waning strength proved no
match for the ravages of overbearing federal
regulations. He watched in pain as good people
became ruled by self-seeking lawyers and enlightened
auditors. His health rapidly deteriorated, as schools
mindlessly implemented zero tolerance policies.

Reports of 6-year old boys charged with sexual
harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended
for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a
teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.
Finally, C.S. lost his will to live as the Ten
Commandments became contraband, churches
became businesses, criminals received better
treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck
their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to
professional sports. As the end neared, C.S.
drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed
of developments regarding questionable
regulations for asbestos, low flow toilets,
"smart" guns and mandatory air bags.

Finally, when told that the homeowners association
restricted exterior furniture only to that which
enhanced property values, he breathed his last
breath. C.S. was preceded in death by his parents,
Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter,
Responsibility; and his Son, Reason. He is survived
by three stepbrothers, Rights, Tolerance, and
Whiner. Few attended his funeral, because so
few realized he was gone.

--anon.

-


end page



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