Nine Requisites For Contented Living

There are nine requisites for contented living:

1. HEALTH enough to make work a pleasure;
2. WEALTH enough to support your needs;
3. STRENGTH enough to battle with difficulties and forsake them;
4. GRACE enough to confess your sins and overcome them;
5. PATIENCE enough to toil until some good is accomplished;
6. CHARITY enough to see some good in your neighbor;
7. LOVE enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others;
8. FAITH enough to make real the things of God;
9. HOPE enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.

 

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Somebody With Skin

To help our four-year-old daughter overcome her fear of the dark, her father and I always reassured her at bedtime that God is always watching over her. One night after I had gone to bed, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. “Mommy,” a familiar voice spoke up, “I know God’s in there with me, but I need somebody with skin.”

-Contributed by Ann Gilbert

In Other Words

TOURIST: One who travels to see things that are different and then complains when they aren’t the same.

-Dublin Opinion

EDUCATION: What’s left when you’ve forgotten everything you ever learned.

-Quoted by George Plimpton in Esquire

JOURNALIST: A person with nothing on his mind and the power to express it.

-Russell Baker, There’s a Country in My Cellar

ECONOMIST: Someone who doesn’t have the personality to be an accountant.

-Robert Reich

FOOTBALL FAN: A guy who yells at the quarterback for missing a receiver 46 yards down field and then can’t find his own car in the parking lot after the game.

-Quoted by Ann Landers, Creators Syndicate

EXPERT: A person who may not have all the answers but is sure he could get them with the proper funding.

-Ivern Ball in The Wall Street Journal

Phenomenon or Phenomena?

Usage varies for the plural ending of nouns derived from Latin and Greek words. For phenomenon never use the false singular phenomena as in

This phenomena occurs only in the southern hemisphere;

write instead

This phenomenon occurs only in the southern hemisphere.

Similarly, never attach an -s plural to the already plural phenomena, as in

These physiological phenomenas are fascinating.

Write instead

These physiological phenomena are fascinating.

The variant plural phenomenons is appropriate only outside scientific and philosophical contexts with the meaning “extraordinary people, events, or things,” as in

The dot-coms are one of the most interesting 21st-century phenomenons.

Do not overuse phenomenon in nonscientific and nonphilosophical contexts. Restrict it to people, events, and things that are extraordinary, not merely interesting or vaguely out of the ordinary.

Taken from Microsoft Encarta Dictionary.

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

A few days ago I was looking for quotes about being stronger after some life-threatening experience and found these two authors from Goodreads website:

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
― Genghis Khan

“That which does not kill you makes you stronger.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

I don’t know whether they are the original authors of that popular saying, but not stopping there, I kept searching with similar keyword in the same website and found more “twisted” versions of it:

“What are you eating?” he ask us.
“Whatever won’t kill me, please” I said.
“Whatever don’t kill you’ll make you stronger” says Eddie, who is always ready with folksy wisdom.
“All right” I say. “Then give me whatever will make me stronger.”
“One pizza, coming up.”
― Adam Selzer

“What does not kill you will make you stronger and more cynical.”
― Jessica Zafra, Chicken Pox for the Soul

“They say what doesn’t kill the soul will make you stronger, but you can’t be a stone-hearted man.”
― Anthony Green

“What doesn’t kill you doesn’t make you stronger. It just fucks you up something rotten.”
― Shane Dunphy, Wednesday’s Child

“It’s the same with people who say, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ Even people who say this must realize that the exact opposite is true. What doesn’t kill you maims you, cripples you, leaves you weak, makes you whiny and full of yourself at the same time. The more pain, the more pompous you get. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you incredibly annoying.”
― Rob Sheffield, Love is a Mix Tape

“People say, That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But they are wrong. What doesn’t kill you doesn’t kill you. That’s all you get. Sometimes, you just have to hope that’s enough.”
― Tayari Jones

I find those quotes really funny. I think many people share their own responses to such hard/life-threatening/indescribable experiences showing how they don’t agree with the popular saying.

Yea, I don’t agree completely with that saying too. I mean look carefully about the thing which didn’t kill you, it was either a very light (forgettable) or very hard thing. The former one doesn’t need discussing in this matter, but as far as I know the person encountering such hard experience, which might be a life-threatening one, will exhibit at least one of the two outcomes because of it:

1. Feeling traumatized
2. Feeling stronger for learning to overcome something painful

Both outcomes don’t kill you of course, however, only the second outcome really produces positive results like what is said in the saying. I think those funny quotes are proofs for the first outcome. Even when someone isn’t changed physically by such traumatizing experience, he/she will at least be shaken mentally.

In any way, even when the first outcome induces a trauma so great to that person, he/she will have a new understanding of how this “thing” can endanger his/her life. Then he/she will learn something new, a threat that should be avoided. So all in all the saying is pretty much valid. At least he/she will be stronger in avoiding similar threat.

Well, obstacles and threats can be overcome either by confrontation or by avoidance, can’t them?

“What doesn’t kill you isn’t strong enough to eliminate you completely. What are you going to do about it then? It’s your choice.”

What do you think?

Wisdom From Above

The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle [humbly patient], willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
-James 3:17 as quoted from RBC Ministries DSBS, “What does the Bible Say About Patience?”

“Keynote Speaker”

As the keynote speaker at an Olympic fund-raiser, a politician told his speechwriter to prepare something upbeat and motivational. Glancing quickly at the text the morning of the address, the politician bellowed, “What kind of nonsense is this? You want me to open my remarks with ‘Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh’?”

“Sir,” replied the aide, “I think you’re reading the Olympic symbol.”

-The Jokesmith

The Doctor and The Nun

The doctor’s receptionist was startled when a nun stormed out of the examining room and left without paying. When the doctor appeared, she asked what had happened.

“Well,” said the doctor, “I examined her and told her she was pregnant.”

“Doctor!” exclaimed the receptionist. “That can’t be!”

“Of course not,” he replied. “But it sure cured her hiccups.”

-Contributed by James Cheng

Being Invincible

“The invincible man is not the man without weaknesses but the one demonstrating how his strength can be shown through his own weaknesses.”
-Hasegawa Tomohisa

Determination

“If a man sacrifice something great for the woman he loves, he must truly have a great purpose working behind it.”
–Hasegawa Tomohisa

Anything to Offer The Court

Judge to defendant: “Have you anything to offer the court before sentence is passed on you?”

Defendant: “No, Your Honor. My lawyer took my last dollar.”

-Joey Adams

Baseball Challenge

The Devil challenged St. Peter to a baseball game. “How can you win?” St. Peter asked. “All the famous ballplayers are up here.”
“How can I lose?” retorted Satan. “All the umpires are down here.”

Bob Phillips, The Best of the Good Clean Jokes (Harvest House)

Another 50 Years

“Do you think I’ll live another 50 years, Doc?” asked a patient.

“How old are you now?”

“Forty.”

“Do you drink, gamble or chase women?”

“No,” the man answered. “I don’t drink, I never gamble, and I detest women. In fact, I don’t have any vices at all.”

“Why then,” the doctor retorted, “do you want to live another 50 years?”

-Contributed by H. B. McClung

Go Ahead, Make My Day

Reposted from that cute site

 

Aww, egg shaped bird, so cute!

 

Dating The Wrong Guy

You know you’re dating the wrong guy when your friend steals your boyfriend and all you can think is, “What does she see in him?”

Comic Sarah Blodgett

Light-bulb: Divorced Men

Q: How many divorced men does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Who cares? They never get the house anyway.

-Submitted by Elspeth McVie

Pray For My Hearing

Sam shows up at a revival meeting, seeking help.

“I need you to pray for my hearing,” he tells the preacher.

The preacher puts his fingers on Sam’s ears and prays. When he’s done, he asks, “How’s your hearing now?”

“I don’t know,” says Sam. “I don’t go to court till next Tuesday.”

-Submitted by James Hoskin

My Anxiety And Wish

Feeling useless I am
Cannot help you I do
Missing you much here I lie down
Thinking about you the most while I ponder

Being a hindrance to you I am afraid
Honestly I hope only happiness for you
Praying for your success I can
Wishing to GOD, I pray for you only the best…
In HIS wondrous way, I want to see.

张志恩

WORTH and WORTHY

WORTH

adjective
1. equal to particular amount: equivalent in value to a particular amount
–> How much is it worth?
–> a painting worth thousands
2. important enough to justify something: important, large, or good enough to justify something
–> His friendship is not worth having.

WORTHY

adjective
1. deserving: fully deserving something, usually as a suitable reward for merit or importance
–> That remark is not worthy of a reply.
2. respectable: morally upright, good, and deserving respect
–> a worthy person

Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

Considering the references from Encarta Dictionary (posted above), Merriam-Webster and Wiktionary, I found that the adjective worth means mentioning a specific value of a thing (to a certain acceptable level), while worthy means emphasizing that same value with a higher importance, deserving more attention (compared to worth).

In my opinion, we should choose worth when we would like to value something over a certain level of quality, however, we might as well choose worthy to describe a thing which level is way above other things if compared using the same standard.

For example:

• This desktop computer is worth buying in the $400 price-range.
• That brand of desktop computer is worthy to have the best-bang-for-the-buck award since it offers higher specifications and higher quality compared to the other computers on the same price-range.

hitherto

1. up to now or then: up to the present time or the time in question

2. to here

Example Sentences

• It was a worrying sign that the hitherto stalwart consumer was hesitating to spend.

• It is clear that the chemotactic behaviour of Paramecium is less simple than was hitherto thought.

• But violence like this was hitherto unknown.

Synonyms: heretofore, theretofore, yet, so far, thus far

Antonyms: henceforth, henceforward, hereafter, thenceforth, thenceforward (also thenceforwards), thereafter

 

References:

Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Dictionary.com

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

 

advice or advise?

Advice is a noun only, spelled with a -c-:

He followed the doctor’s advice;

advise is a verb only, spelled with an -s-:

She advised me to seek a doctor’s advice.

 

Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Soar Vs Sore

soar or sore? Do not confuse the spelling of soar and sore, which sound similar.

Soar is chiefly used as a verb, meaning “increase rapidly” or “fly or rise high in the air”: The plane soared into the clouds.Prices are soaring.

Sore is an adjective meaning “painful” (as in a sore finger) or a noun meaning “a painful skin infection or wound” (as in open sores on his arms and legs).

 

Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Kia and Rolls-Royce

A guy in a Kia pulls up next to a Rolls-Royce at a red light and asks, “Hey, is your car Bluetooth enabled?” The Rolls owner nods.

“So is mine. Got Wi-Fi?” The Rolls owner nods again. “Me too. What about a double bed?”

“No. Do you?” asks the Rolls guy.

“Yep.” The light turns, and the Kia takes off. Jealous, the Rolls guy heads to the Pimp My Rolls customizing shop and gets a double bet put in, then drives around until he finds the Kia parked on the side of the road. He raps on the window. “Guess what. I got a double bed put in my car too.”

The Kia owner peers out. “You got me out of the shower to tell me that?!”

-Reader’s Digest May 2010

The Book Collector

A rare-book collector met a guy who said he’d just thrown out an old Bible that had been packed away for generations. “Somebody named Gutten-something had printed it,” the man explained.

“Not Gutenberg!” gasped the book lover. “You’ve just thrown away  one of the most famous books ever printed. One copy recently sold at auction for over $4 million!”

The other man was still unmoved. “My copy wouldn’t have brought a dime,” he said. “Some guy named Martin Luther scribbled notes all over it.”

-Tal D. Bonham, The Treasury of Clean Jokes (Broadman)

Know How To Pray

As the storm raged, the captain realized his ship was sinking fast. He called out, “Anyone here know how to pray?”

One man stepped forward. “Aye, Captain, I know how to pray.”

“Good,” said the captain, “you pray while the rest of us put on our life jackets — we’re one short.”

-Dale Radke, quoted by Alex Thien in Milwaukee Sentinel.