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NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time
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Subject: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Art Thieme Date: 03 Jun 02 - 01:54 PM What words have someone said to you---or that you found somewhere---wound up being the philosophy for, if not your whole life, a good portion of your life and your life's endeavors--your art--your morality--your world view. (I'm not thinking about bumper sticker humor sound bites.) There's another thread here I started for musical right words at the right time. Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: JenEllen Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:07 PM A friend brought me back a gift from Nepal a dozen or so years ago. A little pot-metal bracelet, with an inscription that basically translates to: BE HERE NOW It's jokingly become known as my 'buddhist wristwatch'. What time is it? Now. It's led me to think more about 'now' every time I wear it. That past and future pitfalls aren't really within my reach, and I should deal with each 'now' situation to the best of my ability. (not saying that I'm successful, mind you, but I try! *g*) |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: katlaughing Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:11 PM Ya gotta song about it, JE?*bg* (Have you seen the book of that title from the 60's?) Musically, Art, I'd have to say the words I remember having the most impact were those of my parents, full of praise and telling me "you can do it" whenever I struggled with learning a new piece on the violin or piano. I believed them and the confidence that built has stood me in good stead my whole life. Great thread! kat |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: GUEST,vixen @ work Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:13 PM I like that..."be here now" The one I try to follow is "First, do no harm." V |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Lonesome EJ Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:17 PM And so, Jen, in direct opposition to your bracelet, we find that icon of Western Civilization, the Answer Machine.....Sorry! I'm not here right now! |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: JenEllen Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:18 PM LOL kat....I wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's EYE in the 60's...*g* |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: JenEllen Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:25 PM *thread creep* (after 6 posts, is that a record?) Tea everywhere Leej... I actually had to get a new machine recently. My brief foray into 21st century technology--the thing is digital, and it TALKS! I pushed the power button and it said "Answer ON". I screamed. I thought he said his name was "Ansel". Anyhow, it's stuck. I left the origional message on it, and now when people call, I get messages like: "Hey Ansel, when Jen gets home, couldja tell her..." |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: CarolC Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:28 PM "You get what you focus on." |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Amos Date: 03 Jun 02 - 02:37 PM "The present is the only thing that is truly endless". Actually I think, JE, you should put a message on there that says "This is Ansel -- Jen isn't here, but wherever she is, she's there right now, okay?" LOL! I recommend you rent the movie "Being There" for a case study in how that philosphy can really mess up Western civ. :>) Art: Too many answers to lay on a single thread. But a truly wonderful question. One I recall: "The road to hell is paved with the validation of losing" from a late night red-wine and crackers until dawn session.
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Deda Date: 03 Jun 02 - 03:21 PM A brief philosophy of ethics: "If you can't talk about it, don't do it." Corollary: If you do it, talk about it. My husband's guiding philosophy: "Do the right thing, and do it right." Makes him a joy to live with most of the time, and a role model up to whom I'll never catch. ;o> |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Mark Ross Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:01 PM NEVER OWN ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO FEED OR PAINT! UTAH PHILLIPS That's my credo. MArk Ross |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Deda Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:14 PM Not unlike "If it has balls or tires you're going to have trouble with it." ;o) |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Wesley S Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:24 PM I was reading "Where is Joe Merchant?" by Jimmy Buffett - and one of his characters had a motto "Want what you have". It meant a lot to me when I read it. I see a relationship between it and JenEllen's quote. Every once in a while I have to stop myself and realise that even though I'll never have everything I want I already have everything I need. There's a big difference. Another one I heard somewhere that I use a lot { especially around Christmas } is "Expectations are just premeditated resentments". "One day at a time" works for me too. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: CarolC Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:30 PM I really like your "expectations" one, Wesley. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: harpgirl Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:33 PM Hi Art...hard to find just one set of words but "Suffering is Optional" always rings a bell (ala Alfred North Whitehead and Alice Toklas) for me. What's yours? harp |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: GUEST,Just Amy Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:38 PM My mother always said this was a poem but I don't know who by. Eat, Drink & Be Merry as long as oil remaineth in the lamp. For who knows if in the other world there be a tavern. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Sorcha Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:49 PM This too shall pass. I like "Want What You Have" and "Suffering is Optional" too. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: katlaughing Date: 03 Jun 02 - 04:56 PM Art, I know I posted my message up above in the thread that you said you wanted to be MUSICAL. Or...have I lost my mind? Did you have the messages edited?*bg* Sorry, Jenellen, but I KNOW I read it right and that the non-music thread hadn't been posted, yet.**BG** For this thread, I cannot remember who said it to me the first time, but learning that there was always at least a third alternative to and "either/or" question has always been very important to me. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Rick Fielding Date: 03 Jun 02 - 05:17 PM From my Mom: It doesn't cost extra to be nice. (really took that one to heart) From my Dad: If you wanna be successful you need to play a decent game of golf(!!?) What could he have been thinking? Next he probably thought I should have finished high school! From me: invite as many good folks into your life as you can.....and (try to) simply ignore the assholes, (even when it drives you crazy not TELLING them that they're assholes) From Quentin Crisp: NEVER keep up with the Joneses, drag them down to your level! Cheers Rick |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Celtic Soul Date: 03 Jun 02 - 05:50 PM We do not have a right to our anger, no matter how righteous we may feel it is. Instead, we have a responsibility to forgive. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Liz the Squeak Date: 03 Jun 02 - 05:56 PM When in Rome, do as we always did. I've never conformed to the crowd, never gone with the flow, always stuck my neck out and got into situations I might have avoided if I were a herd animal. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, and find Liz has got there first (and eaten all the chocolate). LTS |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: alanabit Date: 03 Jun 02 - 06:12 PM Busking Opladen in 96 or '97. I was broke, scratching for money to play bills and it starts to rain on a dull Thursday afternoon. My daughter has only just started talking and I feel I'm letting everyone down. A policeman comes over and I know he's going to tell me to move. He smiles, says,"At last some decent music in our town," and moves on. Forty year old busker nearly bursts into tears. Sometimes it's nothing particularly clever, but someone just says the right thing at the right time. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Bardford Date: 03 Jun 02 - 06:15 PM I had a sculpture instructor in art school who walked into the room on the first day, wrote "Consider" on the board and walked out. That word-picture pops into my head from time to time, especially when I find myself getting judgemental or critical. Also, continuing on the theme of 'being-here-now' is this one, and I'm sorry I don't remember the source: "Wherever you go, there you are." That one, too, reminds me of the neccesity of being present. Especially handy when I feel like running away. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 03 Jun 02 - 07:00 PM There was a slogan from May '68 that I've always believed is the best think to hold on to when up against the system - "Be realistic, demand the impossible."
And an older version of that: "Never take no for an answer." |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: GUEST,ozmacca Date: 03 Jun 02 - 07:32 PM We all have a different version of the Golden Rule... Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. I found this and I try to live by it: Everyone has needs. No-one has rights. Everyone has responsibilities. If I live up to my responsibilities, and you live up to yours, we will both have what we need. If I demand what I think I should have, I am taking what should be yours.
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Jeri Date: 03 Jun 02 - 08:01 PM Art said "(I'm not thinking about bumper sticker humor sound bites.)" How about greeting card sound bites? Seriously, the most useful piece of information I've ever heard - REALLY heard - was that bit about changing the things I can change, accepting the things I can't, and having the wisdom to know the difference. I believe all the bad stress in one's life is caused by trying to change things they have no hope in hell of changing. It's the same philosophy expressed in the eloquent phrase "If you can't fix it, f*** it!" |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: michaelr Date: 03 Jun 02 - 08:15 PM This is from a movie with Ben Kingsley (can't remember the title): "It's not hard to do the right thing -- it's hard to know what the right thing is. But once you know, it's hard not to do it." Michael |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Celtic Soul Date: 03 Jun 02 - 08:47 PM Bardford quoted: "Wherever you go, there you are". I heard this one as: "No matter where you go, there you are" in the film "Buckaroo Banzai". |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: kendall Date: 03 Jun 02 - 09:19 PM The greatest of all virtues, is, straightforwardness. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: GUEST,adavis@truman.edu Date: 03 Jun 02 - 09:33 PM "First love God, then do whatever you feel like doing." (St. Paul) "Hon, just because they're crucifying you don't make you Jesus." (old lady in the laundromat, sick of listening to me whine) |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Deda Date: 03 Jun 02 - 09:44 PM My mom wrote a fable about Noah's ark. It seems that a couple of unicorns arrived asking to be admitted, but they were both male. When asked where the female was, they said "We don't need one -- we're gay." After a little consternation the Noah family let them in and they were tremendously helpful, cooking and organizing the shuffleboard games and making friends with everyone. At the end of course, all the animals loved them but they, alone, were doomed to extinction. Her motto was, "If there's room in your ark, a few peculiar guests can break the monotony." She let everybody into her ark. We grew up surrounded by "peculiar" guests. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Bert Date: 04 Jun 02 - 12:23 AM Speaking musically I kinda like Je ne Regrette Rien" |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Liz the Squeak Date: 04 Jun 02 - 12:48 AM Yup, Je ne regrette just about says it all. I've ended up regretting the things I didn't do sooner, rather than those I did do. LTS |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: RichM Date: 04 Jun 02 - 02:13 AM "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time." - Edith Wharton
And in the same vein, "The World is full of cactus, but we don't have to sit on it." - Will Foley
And my most favorite:
"The Sufis advise us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through three gates. At the last gate, we ask, 'Are they kind?'" |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Terry K Date: 04 Jun 02 - 02:33 AM Mine are really simple "Life is not a rehearsal" "Life! - be in it!" (from a campaign in Australia in the 1970s to persuade people to get off their bums and DO something) "There but for the grace of god go I" - whenever I see someone who I perceive to be better off than me. cheers, Terry |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: fat B****rd Date: 04 Jun 02 - 03:57 AM "The secret of a happy life is not to do what you like but to like what you do" From the gents toilet wall, South Bank Jazz Club, Grimsby 1966/67. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 04 Jun 02 - 09:24 AM A man I worked for many years ago told me: "Thank God for your troubles. If you had no troubles in your job, you'd die of boredom. There'd be no challenge. Anybody could do the job. There'd be no money in the job either. And maybe not even the job."Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: DancingMom Date: 04 Jun 02 - 09:36 AM Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? RichM. ya beat me to it. Still worth repeating. Sharon |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: mack/misophist Date: 04 Jun 02 - 09:58 AM Two things Ed Sullivan said 'Keep a straight face. Never telegraph the punch li8ne by smiling.' "Be here now." really means "Pay attention". |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Amos Date: 04 Jun 02 - 10:56 AM "Ya can't change your problems by changing your skies." A great argument in favor of standing up to what is, here and now. Right up there with "Never squat with your spurs on." And the cowboy aphorism that says when you start thinking you're pretty important, just try ordering someone else's dog around! Also, from the renowned "Seven Habits..." lexicon, "You can't talk your way out of something you walked your way into..." A |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: SINSULL Date: 04 Jun 02 - 11:27 AM "The only thing in this life anyone HAS to do is die. Everything else is an option." "Worrying does not change the outcome so don't waste your time." |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Rich_and_Dee Date: 04 Jun 02 - 01:14 PM When I became a father, a friend with 3 kids gave me one piece of advice: "Wish nothing away".
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Wesley S Date: 04 Jun 02 - 04:34 PM Amos - There's a great singer/songwriter named Chuck Pyle that is fond of saying "Always ride your horse in the direction it's going". |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: CapriUni Date: 04 Jun 02 - 04:52 PM From my grandmother to my mother, and my mother to me, in response to: [with whine] "There's nothing to do!" "Do What You See Needs to Be Done!" Other favorite sayings of my mother's:
Assume nothing. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: MAG Date: 04 Jun 02 - 06:45 PM This thread reminds me of the NPR discussion yesterday with Marlo Thomas. (Monday is my day off and I spend a lotta time inna car.) Two parts: right words need to come at the right time. Mine tend to be from literature. This from Katherine Paterson, an outstanding author who happens to write for young people:
If I am silent, no one will hear me. A lot of her books involve someone all fucked up because they've been treated bad, and some person embraces them and makes them whole. (*great Gilly Hopkins* contains a foster mother who is practically God.) I had hung around various New Left groups and was tired of the screamies. I had done enough screaming myself and it didn't do wonders for my social skills. I was working on becoming a storyteller. It was just what I needed to hear about telling any story at that point. Happy summer, y'all. |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: CapriUni Date: 04 Jun 02 - 07:35 PM If I am silent, no one will hear me. If I scream, no one will listen. Between the silence and the scream is the story. Ooooh... I think I remember reading this, but I can't for the life of me remember the title. Wasn't this the story about the voluntary mute? Or am I way off base? |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Bill D Date: 04 Jun 02 - 08:07 PM harpgirl back up ^ there reminded me of Alfred North Whitehead, who also said.."Strive for simplicity, but learn to mis-trust it." and an old carpenter I worked with said: "Don't do too good of a job - folks will begin to expect it." and I, myself, said..."Entropy will get you if you don't watch out....in fact, Entropy will get you if you do watch out!" which is just a roundabout way of connenting on the transient nature of this adventure..... |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: CarolC Date: 04 Jun 02 - 09:35 PM Your bit about entropy, Bill D, reminds me of something I used to say about myself. I used to say I thought I was suffering from accelerated entropy. (I don't say that any more, because of what I've learned from the quote in my first post to this thread.) |
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Subject: RE: NOT MUSIC--Right Words--Right Time From: Stephen L. Rich Date: 04 Jun 02 - 10:28 PM When I was a child, whenever I would trip and fall in my grandfather's presence, he would say, "Keep your feet under you!" Though my childhood klutziness is gone, it's STILL darned good advice. Stephen |
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