Quote of the day

"You don't rise by pulling down
You don't fly by holding on
You don't climb by tearing down
Mind the foundation you build on"

- Palle Oswald

What's For Dinner?

A husband notices his wife’s hearing is deteriorating and decides to visit her doctor for advice. “I can’t speak to my wife directly as she might find it offensive, given our old age,” he says to the doctor.

“There’s a simple trick you can try to determine her hearing,” explains the doctor. “Simply ask her a question at a distance and if she doesn’t hear you, move slightly closer and ask again until she does.”

That night, the husband arrives home and sees his wife in the kitchen cooking. He thinks this will be the perfect opportunity to test her hearing.

He stands in the doorway of the kitchen and promptly asks: “What’s for dinner honey?”

No answer. He moves closer. “What’s for dinner honey?”

Still no answer. He moves even closer.

“What’s for dinner honey?”

Still his wife doesn’t answer. He now sees how serious her hearing problem is. At this point, he is stood right next to his wife.

“What’s for dinner honey?”

The wife swings around and yells: “FOR THE FOURTH TIME WE’RE HAVING CHICKEN!”

The Cure

A man says: “Doctor, I don’t know what to do. Every day my wife seems to lose her temper for no reason. It scares me.”

The doctor says: “I have a cure for that. When it seems that your wife is getting angry, just take a glass of water and start swishing it in your mouth. Just swish and swish but don’t swallow it until she either leaves the room or calms down.”

Two weeks later the man comes back to the doctor looking fresh and reborn.

The man says: “Doctor that was a brilliant idea! Every time my wife started losing it, I swished with water. I swished and swished, and she calmed right down! How does a glass of water do that?”

The doctor says: “The water itself does nothing. It’s keeping your mouth shut that does the trick.”

Three Men and a Genie

Three men are stuck on an island. One day, the three of them are walking along the beach and discover a magic lamp. They rub and rub, and sure enough, out pops a genie.

The genie says: “Since I can only grant three wishes, you may each have one.”

The first says: “I’ve been stuck here for years. I miss my family, my husband, and my life. I just want to go home.” Poof, he’s gone!

Then the second says: “I’ve been stuck here for years as well. I miss my family, my husband, and my life. I wish I could go home too.” Poof, he’s gone!

The third man starts crying uncontrollably. The genie asks: “My dear, what’s the matter?”

The man whimpers: “I wish my friends were still here.”

Character of the week

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. Here are some of his famous quotes.

“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”

“Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.”

“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.”

“I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.”

“The spread of civilisation may be likened to a fire; first, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power.”

Character of the week

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Here is some of the wisdom she left us.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.”

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.”

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.”

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”

Quote of the day

"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."

- Gandalf (Lord of the Rings)

Circle of Happiness

And old story tells that one day, a countryman knocked hard on a monastery door. When the monk tending the gates opened up, he was given a magnificent bunch of grapes.

– Brother, these are the finest my vineyard has produced. I’ve come to bear them as a gift.
– Thank you! I will take them to the Abbot immediately, he’ll be delighted with this offering.
– No! I brought them for you. For whenever I knock on the door, it is you opens it. When I needed help because the crop was destroyed by drought, you gave me a piece of bread and a cup of wine every day.
The monk held the grapes and spent the entire morning admiring it. And decided to deliver the gift to the Abbot, who had always encouraged him with words of wisdom.
The Abbot was very pleased with the grapes, but he recalled that there was a sick brother in the monastery, and thought:
“I’ll give him the grapes. Who knows, they may bring some joy to his life.”
And that is what he did. But the grapes didn’t stay in the sick monk’s room for long, for he reflected:
“The cook has looked after me for so long, feeding me only the best meals. I’m sure he will enjoy these.”
The cook was amazed at the beauty of the grapes. So perfect that no one would appreciate them more than the sexton; many at the monastery considered him a holy man, he would be best qualified to value this marvel of nature.
The sexton, in turn, gave the grapes as a gift to the youngest novice, that he might understand that the work of God is in the smallest details of Creation. When the novice received them, he remembered the first time he came to the monastery, and of the person who had opened the gates for him; it was that gesture which allowed him to be among this community of people who knew how to value the wonders of life.
And so, just before nightfall, he took the grapes to the monk at the gates.
– Eat and enjoy them – he said. – For you spend most of your time alone here, and these grapes will make you very happy.
The monk understood that the gift had been truly destined for him, and relished each of the grapes, before falling into a pleasant sleep.
Thus the circle was closed; the circle of happiness and joy, which always shines brightly around generous people.

Spirits in the Lake

Cain and Abel came to the banks of an enormous lake. They had never seen anything like it.

“There’s something inside it,” said Abel, looking into the water, not knowing that it was his reflection. Cain noticed the same thing, and raised his staff.

The image did the same thing. Cain stood waiting for the blow; his image did the same. Abel studied the surface of the water. He smiled, and the image smiled. He laughed out loud, and saw the other imitating him. As they walked away, Cain thought:

“How aggressive those creatures are who live in there.”

And Abel told himself:

“I’d like to return, for I met someone both handsome and in good humor.”

Character of the Week

Genghis Khan(born Temüjin) was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He was ruthless, pragmatic and his will was iron. The Great Khan turned enemies into trusted generals, created one of the first international postal systems and was tolerant of different religions. As Father of modern Mongolia, here is some of the wisdom he left with the world and what can be understood about the conqueror.

“There is no good in anything until it is finished.”

“If you're afraid - don't do it, - if you're doing it - don't be afraid!”

“The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.”

“An action committed in anger is an action doomed to failure.”

“Conquering the world on horseback is easy; it is dismounting and governing that is hard.”

“I am the flail of god. Had you not created great sins, god would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.”

The Nails

There once was a little boy who had a very bad temper. His father decided to hand him a bag of nails and said that every time the boy lost his temper, he had to hammer a nail into the fence.

On the first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into that fence.

The boy gradually began to control his temper the next few weeks, and the number of nails he was hammering into the fence slowly decreased.

He discovered it was easier to control his temper than to hammer those nails into the fence.

Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father the news and the father suggested that the boy should now pull out a nail every day he kept his temper under control.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

“You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”

Control your anger, and don’t say things to people in the heat of the moment, that you may later regret. Some things in life, you are unable to take back.