One of my favorite stories is about an antiques expert who, one day, while driving down a country road, stops at junky-looking store. Before going in, he notices, in the entrance-way, a cat drinking from a saucer. The cat doesn’t interest him – but what does is the saucer, which, he can tell immediately is […]
One of the songs I learned at some campfire gathering seemed to me to have profound significance – but I’m still not sure what it was. It’s about “Bill Grogan’s Goat” who, when “feeling fine, ate three red shirts, right off the line.” Bill Grogan was so outraged at this that he not only gave […]
Summer camp can be an educational experience, but not necessarily as the organizers intended. My first time was in 1943 at Camp Airy in Thurmont, Maryland. (It is still in operation today.) I was nine years old. World War II was still on. I went together with my best friend, Nathan Mensh, whose family lived […]
“Care” is an interesting and rather flexible concept. As a noun, it once had a very negative meaning, which today we would equate with “worry.” There was a song about “dull care” whose lyrics go back to the 17th century, and show how both “care” and “dull” have changed in meaning. The song starts by […]
You probably know Cole Porter’s songs that say: “I’ve got you under my skin.I’ve got you deep in the heart of me.So deep in my heart that you’rereally a part of me.” And that other verse: “Night and dayunder the hide of meThere’s an oh, such a hungryyearning burning inside of me.” I must confess […]
There are two famous poems which have one thing in common. What they have in common, however, might be considered by some critics a shortcoming. It is the literary practice of anthropomorphism. In case you need an explanation, that word describes any poetic attempt to endow non-human objects or creatures with human characteristics. For example, […]
With more and more of our work now being done by machines, the question naturally arises, how are we to spend all that “leisure” time? One answer is “Recreation.” But what are we re-creating? According to the Old Testament account, which we call Genesis, the whole world was created by God in six days – […]
One of several mass movements which have shaped the modern world is that of organized workers, usually campaigning for more pay and better working conditions. A key moment in this struggle occurred in 1848 with the publication of a document written by two German Jews, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was called The Communist […]
According to the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught his followers that nothing – even moving a mountain – is impossible to those who have faith. Some 600 years later, the Prophet Mohammed apparently had a very different take on this idea. He knew that no amount of faith would bring a mountain to […]
Why do we say “OK,” and say it so often? Where does it come from? There are various origin theories, but the one I like best involves a kind of humorous misspelling which, about 200 years ago, Americans used to think was very funny. One common expression at that time was “All Correct,” which had […]
As a child growing up in wartime, I was not unfamiliar with talk of guns. But even in peacetime, especially in America, guns were always literally child’s play. I had my own fake revolver, which fired rubber suction cups, but never worked very well. This may be the only country which guarantees to its citizens, […]
One of my favorite poems is by a woman named Susan Marr Spalding. It’s called “Fate,” and is in two parts, each of nine lines. It contrasts the different ways life could have turned out for two presumably imaginary couples. In the first part, the man and woman lead lives which make it extremely unlikely […]
My life story nearly had an early ending when, at the age of 18, I was in Israel, traveling on my own and often visiting ancient ruins. One was of a Crusader castle, many of which were built during the centuries after the First Crusade, which had succeeded in capturing, or re-capturing Jerusalem from the […]
Only recently have I been introduced to a well-established genre of music, and particularly of singing, called “Country.” It seems somehow to be peculiarly American, particularly “Southern,” and “Western,” and apparently derives from what used to be called a “Hillbilly” sound. I would say it’s the opposite of sophisticated, embodying the social outlook of people […]
What is it that makes us not want to be alone – at least, not all the time? The poet William Cowper put the question this way some 300 years ago: How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude!But grant me still a friend in my retreat,Whom I may whisper—solitude is sweet. Not that there is […]
It’s not always easy to believe in a particular religion, even – or especially – one you were brought up in. And, from there, it’s not such a big step to disbelieve all the conventional religions. But that doesn’t mean to turn up your nose at them. After all, religion serves a major role in […]
What makes a person a hero? In our culture we regard heroic deeds as those which involve courage and self-sacrifice for a worthy goal, such as rescuing another person or even an animal. It usually requires modesty. He or she did not intend to gain any reward, nor any other kind of glory. “I couldn’t […]
When people hear that I have created and copyrighted ten thousand epigrams, none of which is longer than seventeen words, they often ask me which was Number One. Of course, I can and do tell them – but when I wrote it, I had no idea of what it was going to be the First […]
There are many ways of dealing with an obstacle in your path. You can try to get around it, under it, or even through it. If worse comes to worst, you may have to negotiate with it. But the option our culture seems to prefer is to get over it. The trouble, in this welter […]
Much of our basic technology has to do with attaching things. Of course, in the new world of computers, documents can be made to stay together by a very simple command, like “Attach.” But in the world behind those electronic frontiers, the world of actual Things, it was – and still is – not quite […]
In a once-popular song, written in 1935 and attributed to Billie Holiday, these words occur: “You came, you saw, you conquered me.” I doubt very much if whoever wrote the lyrics realized that they were quoting, or misquoting, a message originally said to have been written, 2,000 years earlier, by none other than Julius Caesar. […]
Among the many books my wife had brought back from her travels, which I’d never looked at until recently, was one I thought I might enjoy. It is a supposedly amusing collection of signs and other short messages written in English by Japanese people not totally familiar with our language. But I did not find […]
You have probably heard it said that “Confession is good for the soul.” I myself don’t have much to confess nowadays – but in my “growing up” years, I had tremendous feelings of guilt, especially in connection with sex – and particularly masturbation. When a psychiatrist I went to asked me about it, I actually […]
What is it about the human psyche that makes so many of us want to collect things? Does it go back to our animal ancestry, in which many creatures’ survival depended on their collecting materials to eat, or from which to construct their homes? Maybe, but I think it also reflects our very human desire […]
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2nd Edition), there are several different versions of the last words of William Pitt (1759-1806), one of the greatest British statesmen. One version is “Oh my country! How I love my country!” Another is “Oh my country! How I leave my country!” A third version quotes the words […]
There is a certain piece of literature which is dear to the hearts of many people who don’t generally love poetry, and who also possibly have no interest in organized sports, such as baseball. It is a poem which celebrates both hero-worship and disappointment. The work in question is, “CASEY AT THE BAT.” It describes […]
You have probably heard about the restaurant customer who says to the waiter “Bring me a scrambled egg – and step on it!” I can almost guarantee that that joke did not originate before 1900. Why? Because it was only the coming of the automobile (which started happening about then) that brought to public consciousness […]
If we’re talking about hardness and softness – which we will be here – the classic example in literature is a fairy tale attributed to Hans Christian Andersen. In this story, a woman is taking refuge in a castle from a terrible storm which has ruined all her garments and left her looking very bedraggled. […]
Only once has my heart been broken – but don’t ask me for details – not here, anyway – and in any case, it’s only a metaphor. The human heart is a very strong organ. When it fails, the cause is rarely disappointed love. Ask any cardiologist. Bones are another matter. They can withstand any […]
As we know from cave paintings, humans from earliest times seem to have always had an innate urge to make marks with whatever materials, and on whatever surfaces, were available. Outside of caves, it was stones, trees, or bones which presented themselves as the most “natural” surfaces. After writing was invented, it was possible to […]
No, it’s not an oxymoron – though it almost sounds like it. We tend to associate the making of a will with thoughts about what is to happen after we are no longer around – i.e. when we are not living. But the “living will” is apparently a new concept in jurisprudence and in medicine. […]
Recently a lady whose opinions I respect happened to see one of my epigrams, which says, “Just when I nearly had the answer – I forgot the question.” To me, this was simply a short, funny thought – but to her, it immediately brought to mind some of her “patients” or “clients,” who are afflicted […]
What’s remarkable about human conflicts – even very nasty ones – is that they usually do get settled, one way or another. Here are some ways this can happen: By overwhelming force (war).By negotiation and compromise.By some kind of payment or reparations.By legal process, i.e., “going to court.”By persuasion.By agreed-upon arbitration.By intervention on the part […]
Considering that we have only ten numerical digits and twenty-six alphabetical letters, it’s remarkable that so much use can be made of them without our having to invent any more. Actually, the trend seems to be in the other direction, with more and more of the numerical work being done by ones and zeros, and […]
The ancient activity of laundering has woven itself into our culture in many ways. As an example, there was once a popular catchphrase “no tickee, no washee” which derived from the time when most of the laundry businesses in the U.S., were owned and operated by immigrants from China. Originally it meant that, in order […]
One piece of advice I’ve given myself (after some unhappy experiences) is this: “Try to avoid situations in which all you have is a good legal case.” Of course, it’s desirable to have the Law on your side – but it’s even better to be able to negotiate an “out of court settlement,” sometimes through […]
From the ages 13 to 18, I went to school in Hendon, a London suburb. It was just after World War II, and in the field behind the school were several surface air-raid shelters; recent wartime relics which were now being used for storage. They were not locked. Once, when during a holiday I had […]
At a certain point between “Some Of” and “Too Much Of,” there comes a magic amount called “Just Enough.” You may remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. If any part of it has stayed in your mind, it’s probably where Goldilocks tastes the Bears’ porridge and finds the Papa Bear’s “too hot” […]
Most of us have probably had the experience of re-visiting a place we once knew well, and finding it changed in such a way as to tell us we don’t belong there anymore. Thomas Wolfe said it in the title of one of his novels – You Can’t Go Home Again. There is a word […]
In size and extent, the British Empire (even without the American colonies which it lost in 1776) was the greatest the world has ever known. It was usually colored red on world maps, and you could easily see, by looking at a globe, the truth of the expression, “The sun never sets on the British […]