Thought for the Day

You use the past. You do not worship it – you consult

it. And one of the obligations to the poetry . . . you are obliged

 not just to keep it alive, but to change it and contribute to it

 and adapt it and keep it alive by making it new.

~ Robert Pinsky

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Quoted from John O'Rourke, "Robert Pinsky, America's Ambassador for Poetry, Retiring from Teaching After 36 Years at BU, More Than 1,000 Students" in BU Today, April 29, 2025 (Online)

 

Robert Pinsky, Poet, Translator, Nonfiction Writer; U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to Library of Congress, 1997-2000; William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Director, Creative Writing Program, Boston University (Retired, 2025); Jazz Vocalist of Poetry

Favorite Poem Project, BU Center for the Humanities

Thought for the Day

A freedom which is occupied in denying freedom is itself so
outrageous that the outrageousness of the violence which one
practices against it is almost cancelled out: hatred, indignation,
and anger [. . .] wipe out all scruples. But the oppressor would not
be so strong if he did not have accomplices among

the oppressed themselves; [. . .]
~ Simone de Beauvoir

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Quoted from Simone de Beauvoir, Section 3, "The Antinomies of Action" in Chapter III, "The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity" in The Ethics of Ambiguity, 1947 (Online Text at  Marxists Internet Archive)

 

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), French Writer, Feminist Activist, Philosopher (Existentialist), Social Theorist

 

On The Ethics of Ambiguity 

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Thought for the Day

Seek and learn to recognize who and what,

in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno,

then make them endure, give them space. 

~ Italo Calvino's Marco Polo

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Quoted from Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, Illustrated 50th Anniversary Edition (Mariner Books Classics, 2025) 

 

Calvino's Invisible Cities (Le citta invisibili) was published in 1972 by Giulio Einaudi Editore. Harcourt published an English translation in 1974. Mariner Books Classics published a paperback version in 1978.

 

Italo Calvino (1923-1985), Cuban-born Italian Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, and Short Story Writer 

Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324), Venetian Merchant, Explorer, Writer

 

Anthony Doerr, "The Timeless Magic of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities at 50" in LitHub, March 20, 2025

 

Carrie McBride, "Where to Start With Italo Calvino," New York Public Library, October 11, 2023

Thought for the Day

[. . .] Everybody makes mistakes, but you can't

keep asking people to forgive you again and again.[. . .]

Instead of a quick  apology, take the time and make 

the commitment to practice seeing the roots of your behavior. 

    ~ ThichNhat Hanh 

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Quoted from Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Love (Parallax Press, 2015), p. 107 

Thich Nhat Hanh a.k.a. Thay (1926-2022), Vietnamese Thien Buddhist Monk, Zen Master;  "Father of Mindfulness"; Peace Activist; Poet, Author, Teacher; Founder, Plum Village

 

Plum Village, First Monastic Community Founded by Thich Nhat Hanh; International Practice Center in Plum Village Tradition in Southwest France

 

A Cloud Never Dies, Biographical Documentary About Thich Nhat Hanh (Available on YouTube)

Thought for the Day

Once upon a time giants sculpted the sand, but now

it is us who are the giants. The question we must ask

now is how we use our power.

~ Boardwalk Notice, 

Parnidis Dune, Curonian Spit

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Quoted from Nick Hunt, "In the Wake of the Sandbound" (Essay) in Emergence Magazine, April 13, 2025; Online (Audio and Text Available). Hunt notes in his essay that the quote appears on a sign near the boardwalk where the sand dunes have been roped off. The Curonian Spit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is part of two national parks shared by Lithuania and Russia.

 

Nick Hunt, Fiction and Nonfiction Writer, Novelist, Travel Book Author; Journalist; Editor; Mentor; Storyteller; Recipient, Royal Geographical Society Journey of a Lifetime Award; Contributor and Co-Director, Dark Mountain Project

 

Thought for the Day

[. . .] Religions, governments, corporations, and organizations are all

 highly capable of evil while not recognizing it as such, because it

 profits us for them to be immoral. Evil finds its almost perfect

camouflage in the silent agreements of the group

when it appears personally advantageous. [. . .]

~ Fr. Richard Rohr

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Quoted from Richard Rohr, "Contemplative Nonconformity | Islands of Sanity," Center for Action and Contemplation, Daily Meditations, March 30, 2025; Online

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar, Ecumenical Teacher, Internationally Recognized Spiritual Leader; Author; Founder, Center for Action and Contemplation 

Center for Action and Contemplation

Thought for the Day

We cannot love the earth 

without getting blood on our hands.

~ Danusha Lameris

 

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Quoted from Danusha Lameris, "The Cows of Love Creek" in Blade by Blade (Copper Canyon Press, 2024), p. 22

 

Danusha Lameris, American Poet; Faculty Member, Pacific University Low-Residency M.F.A. Program

Thought for the Day

At the edge of not knowing

is the beginning of the extraordinary. 

~ Victoria Labalme

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Quoted from Victoria Labalme, Risk Forward: Embrace the Unknown and Unlock Your Hidden Genius, 2nd Ed. (Hay House Business, 2023) 

Victoria Labalme, Author, Workshop Leader, Performance Strategist, C-Suite Consultant

Thought for the Day

Then they came for me —

and there was no one left to speak for me.

~ Martin Niemoller 

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Quoted from Martin Niemoller's "First they came for . . ." (The famous quotation, of which only the last line is given here, is on display permanently at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.)

 

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemoller (January 1892 - March 6, 1984), German Theologian and Lutheran Pastor

 

Niemoller, though strongly nationalist and an early Nazi supporter, subsequently found himself in conflict with Hitler and the National Socialist Party when he began openly opposing the party political ideology and laws and otherwise preaching against the Nazi government and its interference with church governance. Repeatedly arrested by the Gestapo, Niemoller ultimately spent more than seven years, much of it in solitary confinement or "protective detention," imprisoned in, first, Sachsenhausen and, later, Dachau concentration camps. In the mid-1950s he became a pacifist and worked for international peace. By the time of his death he was a global public figure.

 

Quotation's Origin

Thought for the Day

My belief is that tears, although they look like a mere emotive

reaction, are much more: a deeply free action that many do not

enjoy. They proceed from deep inside, where we are most truly

ourselves. Tears reveal the depths at which and from which we care.

~ Fr. Richard Rohr

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Quoted from Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditations, The Tears of Things: Universal Sadness," March 5, 2025; Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage (Convergent, 2025), pp 96-98

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar and Ecumenical Teacher; Author; Founder, Center for Action and Contemplation