Quotations

Here are some of my favourite quotations or poems; I hope they may bring a smile to your face or give you pause for thought as you journey through life.

English as it is Rot. 

Eye have a spelling chequer Witch came with my P C 
It plainly marques fore my revue Mistakes I mite not sea 
I've run this poem threw it I'm shore your pleased too no 
Its letter perfect in it's weigh 
My chequer tolled me sew. 
                                        Ann On. 

In Flanders Field 

In Flanders Field the poppies blow 
Between the crosses, row on row, 
That mark our place; and in the sky 
the larks, still bravely singing, fly 
Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the Dead. Short days ago 
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 
Loved and were loved, and now we lie 
In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe: 
To you from failing hands we throw 
the torch; be yours to hold it high. 
If ye break faith with us who die 
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow 
In Flanders Fields. 

Written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, who was a Canadian doctor in World War 1. There is a book out about him in case anyone is interested - 'A Crown of Life: the world of John McCrae' by Dianne Graves published by Spellmount Ltd ISBN 1-873376-86-3 

'Life is lived forward, but understood backwards.' 

Heredity

I am the family face; 
Flesh perishes, I live on, 
Projecting trait and trace 
Through time to times anon, 
And leaping from place to place Over oblivion. 
Thomas Hardy, (1917) 

Let not Ambition mock their useful Toil, 
Their homely Joys and Destiny obscure; 
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful Smile, 
The short and simple Annals of the Poor. 
Thomas Gray(1716-71) An Elegy written in a Country Churchyard 

When I use a word,it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less. Humpty-Dumpty in 'Through the Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll 

GENEALOGISTS DISEASE 

WARNING: This condition is very contagious to adults. 
SYMPTOMS: Continual complaint as to need for names, dates and places. Patient has a blank expression, sometimes deaf to spouse and children. 

On Criticism

Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, 
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. 
In every work regard the writer's end, 
Since none can confess more they intend. 
                                        Essay on Criticism by ALEXANDER POPE 

Those who fall in love with practice without science are like a sailor who steers a ship without a helm or compass, and who never can be certain whither he is going. 
LEONARDO 

It is easier to write ten volumes on theoretical principles than to put one principle into practice. 
TOLSTOY