#fat

Even in a minute instance, it is best to look first to the main tendencies of Nature. A particular flower may not be dead in early winter, but the flowers are dying; a particular pebble may never be wetted with the tide, but the tide is coming in. To the scientific eye all human history is a series of collective movements, destructions or migrations, like the massacre of flies in winter or the return of birds in spring. ↗

— G.K. Chesterton

#nature

...the story of the young woman whose death I witnessed in a concentration camp. It is a simple story. There is little to tell and it may sound as if I had invented it; but to me it seems like a poem. This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge. "I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard," she told me. "In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously." Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, "This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness." Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. "I often talk to this tree," she said to me. I was startled and didn't quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. "Yes." What did it say to her? She answered, "It said to me, 'I am here-I am here-I am life, eternal life. ↗

— Viktor E. Frankl

#fate #friendship #illness #life #loneliness

There were two types of strong men: those like Uncle Monty and Abe Steinheim, remorseless about their making money, and those like my father, ruthlessly obedient to their idea of fair play. ↗

— Philip Roth

#father #human-nature #men

I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom. ↗

— Umberto Eco

#parenting #wisdom #parenting

...it’s my job to lead you to success, and, if you fail, it’s because I failed, not you.’” (Spoken by Bracke, told by Eric) ↗

— Shannon A. Thompson

#failure #father-son #father-son-conversation #father-son-relationship #fiction

That is a dream also; only he has remained asleep, while you have awakened; and who knows which of you is the most fortunate? ↗

— Alexandre Dumas

#fate #fortune #life #death

God is merciful to all, as he has been to you; he is first a father, then a judge. ↗

— Alexandre Dumas

#father #god #judge #justice #religion

Qu'importe, mon Dieu, que je brûle toute l'éternité en enfer, si c'est ta volonté. ↗

— St. Thérèse de Lisieux

#hell #l-enfer #religion #ste-thérèse #will-of-god

Well we've moved through the funfair a bit - we've done the rollercoaster, now we're on the ghost train. ↗

— Steven Moffat

#nightmare-fuel #science-fiction #steven-moffat #science

A father has to be a provider, a teacher, a role model, but most importantly, a distant authority figure who can never be pleased. Otherwise, how will children ever understand the concept of God? ↗

— Stephen Colbert

#teacher