Ranald's Collection of Sayings and Verses
Quotes and Verses (Part 1)

Tom Longstaff

To live in the present and soak in the great moments so that they never come out. Enjoy - and for always, as you can by concentration.

Speeches

If all speakers were in anti room and first speaker, who was very confident, suggested you were very nervous and offered to change speeches. After it is all over you say "Didn't mine go down well"!!

Nose

Uncle Bill had no nose. Mother told children not to say anything about nose. Children's reaction 1 After much laughter, but he hasn't got a nose. Mother's reaction 2 How many sugars do you take in your nose?

Timpany player too ill to perform asks a friend that was an amateur to help out. Friend went to concert and at appropriate bars played accordingly. When concert was finished conductor pointed to him and he rose to his feet to much applause. After he sat down conductor pointed to him again and once more was greeted with applause, which was embarrassing as he did not think he had played all that well. The third time the finger was pointed he again rose to his feet, to which the conductor said, "you pillock - the Queen !"

Peter McWilliam
When we are together - We are one,
When we are apart, each is whole,
Let this be our dream,
Let this be our goal.

Arabian Proverb
A friend is one to whom one may pour out
All the contents of one's heart,
Chaff and grain together
Knowing that the gentlest of hands
Will take and sift it
Keep what is worth keeping,
And with a breath of kindness
Blow the rest away.

Gordon Lightfoot
I wish you good spaces
In far away places you go,
If it rains or it snows
May you be safe and warm
And if you need somebody sometime
I will always be there.

Walter Rinder
I care about you in a troubled wind
When you find it hard to hold on,
Your dreams blow away
Your hopes don't seem to stay
My strength stands with you till the calm.

O Lord, support us all the day long,
'till the shades lengthen,
And the evening comes;
And the busy world is hushed;
And our work done.
And forever life is over;
Then in Thy mercy, give us a safe lodging,
A Holy rest,
And Peace at last.

Choosing names for children

Don't tear your hair or get too wild,
Consider well, then name your child.
Should it be girl or boy,
Avoid the name that will annoy.

But how am I to manage this?
You call him Christopher, he'll get Chris.
Should you choose Janet - a lovely name,
They'll cut it short and call her Jane.

Charles seems so nice to me,
But Chick I know it's sure to be.
Michael's nice 'twould be my pick,
But there again, they'd call him Mick.

Elizabeth - the choice is his,
But what's the use? They'd call her Liz.
Diana such a lovely name,
But she'd get Di, a wicked shame.

Violet makes the lover sigh,
But once they're married she'd be Vi;
Rose - a flower, a perfect posy,
But whither then they call her Rosie.

You could go on 'till setting sun,
So why not simply number one?
And when another child's in view,
Decide to call it number two.

Retaining name after marriage
Gail MacKay - Jim Flood; Rose Bush; Lydia Box; Gay Gordon; Daisy
Field; Dawn Knight; June March; Robyn Bird; Penny Stamp; Chris Cross;

On a Gravestone at a Cathedral

Remember Man, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am Now, so you must be,
Prepare, therefore, to follow me.

But at the back of the stone, as seen from the path known as "the Haining" some wag had written in chalk.

To follow you, I'm not content,
Until I know which way you went.

Little boy called Jamie asked father, called Wallace, "what will my name be when I grow up?"
Father said "Jamie of course". Little Jamie said "do you mean to say I will have a little boy's name when I'm a grown up man?"

Sunday Post 31/07/88

Laura Married at Newcastle church - grandmother died a few weeks earlier - while cleaning house came on S. P. of Aug 82 with the following, which Laura copied out and sent to her parents on her
wedding day.

The wedding takes place in an hour or so,
But before I am married I want you to know,
That though I am going to a life of my own,
I'll not forget you or the home that I've known.

You, my dear Mother, brought me into this earth,
And taught me the truth from the date of my birth.
You gave up so much for me - now I impart my love
And my thanks from the depths of my heart.

To you, my dear Father, I wish to convey
The love that I feel for you both on this day.
It mightn't seem much, but what else can I do?
I just want you to know I appreciate you.

But a new life is calling - soon married I'll be,
So thanks Mum and Dad, for the life you gave me.

When someone offers help to you,
Don't say with solemn face,
"Oh, I can manage, thank you dear"
Accept it with good grace,
That other person needs to give
And you must learn to take.

The task ahead may seem a daunting one, you feel yourself quailing within. Get into the mood - just take a deep breath, and begin. Once you have started you are over the worst. The hardest steps are always the first.

Tender-handed grasp a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains.
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.
Aaron Hill 1685-1750
Verses on a window

If those that mourn keep bravely on
Their lonely, misty way,
And patiently, in spite of tears,
Do what they must each day,
If there's no bitterness, time brings
The broken spirit healing wings.

Indian poet - Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) Translated by William Radice

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling for your mercy in my success alone.
But let me grasp your hand in my failure.

For eight months Rabindranath Tagore lived an invalid existance at Santiniketan. A local pariah dog became a welcome visitor and inspired this poem, written in December 1940.

Every day in the early morning this faithful dog
Sits quietly beside my chair
For as long as I do not acknowkedge his presence
By the touch of my hand.

The moment he receives this recognition,
Waves of happiness leap through his body.
In the inarticulate animal world
Only this creature
Has pierced through good and bad and seen
Complete man.

He has seen him for whom
Life may be joyfully given,
That the free outpouring of love
Whose conscieousness points the way
To the realm of infinite consciousness

When I see the dumb heart
Revealing its own humility
Through total self-surrender,
I feel unequal to the worth
His simple perception has found in the nature of man,
The wistful anxiety in his mute gaze
Understands something he cannot explain:
It directs me to the true meaning of man in the universe.

Even as a catipillar, when coming to an end of a blade of grass, reaches out for another blade of grass and draws itself over to it, In the same way the soul, leaving the body and unwisdom behind, reaches out to another body and draws itself over to it.
Upanishads (c. B.C. 800)

Passerby to gardener "why keep some of the old plain polyanthus when there was such a variety of vivid modern strains ?" - "Ah, but it's the plain ones that set the rest off."

Because something is true doesn't mean that it's convincing, either in life or in art.

Driver in car during rush hour traffic standstill to lorry driver "why are you so happy?" - "I'm at already at work"

The comedian, Joey Adams laments "last year when on holiday burglars broke into the house and stole $350 - This year I was clever left the lights, radio and television on and nothing was stolen - but it cost $523.25 for electricity"

John Prebble's Scotland
A tight flock of sheep moving before a circling dog, like mercury on a sloping glass. Herds of black and white cows drinking their reflections

rudeness - someone who keeps talking while your are trying to interrupt

an alarm clock is a device to wake up people who do not have children

do you remember when you could buy an overcoat in February and a swimsuit in August ?

Understanding your hairdresser
"I haven't seen you for ages" you've been going elsewhere

"It's got long hasn't it ?" I'm safe ground here
"What kind of shampoo are you using?" there has to be some explanation for the state of your hair

"Are you busy at the moment?" I can't remember what you do

"do you want anything on it?" after what I've done, I suggest a hat.

Laurence Binion 1869 - 1943
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.

Rupert Brooke 1887 - 1915
The soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field,
That is forever England.
There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed.

And when you return home tell them,
That for their tomorrow we gave our today.

I cannot guide you
Through the problems and the sorrow;
I cannot tell you
Things to please you most of all.
I may not promise
That the sun will shine tomorrow,
But I can listen -
And I'm ready for your call

When times are good it's easy
To show the world a smile
And face with perfect confidence
Life's most tempestuous mile.
But, oh, how rare and valuable,
How richly to be treasured,
The smile that shines through hurt and grief,
It's courage can't be measured.

You can't see through a curtain,
Beyond a door shut fast,
Or tell if on the other side
The sun may shine at last.
You cannot see through the sorrow,
Yet beyond, my friend, I say
You'll find some hope, some happiness
To lift your heart some day.

Why me? I don't deserve this,
Why me? it isn't fair,
I could have done without this pain,
This cross is hard to bear.
But as my back's been chosen
To take this burden on,
I'll shoulder it the best I can
Until one day it's gone.

The road to recovery from the illness of bereavement may be long, hard, filled with potholes - before that welcoming light at the end of the of the dark tunnel of tears and grief, but it will be bordered by the flowers of memory.

Memory, shadow, fantasy. The past, the present and the dreaming moment in between, are all in one country, living one immortal day. To know that is wisdom. To use it is the art. The Book of Art.

Religion referred to as the only justification for a demonstration of loyalty and devotion that would otherwise be completely inexplicable

You don't need faith - I have never been inside a church. All religion is a man made invention. The only place to build a religion is in your own heart. Olga Stringfellow - a touch healer.

Silence can be golden,
There are times when this is so,
Times when conversation
is just too much, you know.
Following bereavement,
Friends who understand
Silently and lovingly
Will simply hold your hand.

Who can say how comforting
Can be that loving touch ?
Quiet, thoughtful deeds
Cost so little, but mean so much.
Silence can be golden
And companionable, and heal
When it's motivated
By love sincere and real.

Everybody makes mistakes,
All have gone astray,
What's important now, is that
You feel you've found the way.
Turn your back on old regrets,
Make another start,
Give the future all you've got,
Take courage friend, take heart.