This is a quick note to tell you that I've found a motto for myself.
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~ Plato
I don't know why I haven't chosen this phrase before, as it rings so true, but it doesn't matter.
What do you think of my choice? :)
Note to add: I'm a sucker for images. I couldn't just leave this post image-less, so I've put this beautiful mosaic of Plato in Athens to illustrate it, which I found here. *snort* heh
I think that is an EXCELLENT motto! It says so much!
ReplyDeleteHello, Mari-girl! Running out to dinner but stopped in for a moment to see your motto.
ReplyDeleteThis is a favorite quote of mine so I do give it two thumbs as a motto for you.
The sentiment is wonderful. We ALL are in some struggle or another as we live a life that has many joys and griefs, so giving/sharing compassion, friendship, and a helping hand to all we meet helps us all.
That's two thumbs up, not just two thumbs pointing out uselessly! Heh. That's what I get for not editing my words before I rush off.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anne and Marisa. The quote reminds me of the short story "If I Loved You" in Robin Black's wonderful collection called If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This. A must read. And Plato's quote is what popped in my head over and over as I read the story. Great choice!
ReplyDelete--Anne: Thanks dear! :D
ReplyDelete--Mari-girl (Marisa): Thanks for the double thumbs up dear! And also for taking time to stop by *before* getting dinner.
Since the "up" part was implied in your most kind comment, you're forgiven. Well, you'd be forgiven anyway, so why worry? heh ;)
--Darrelyn (ficwriter): Thanks for the suggestion! I shall add it to my reading list, but I'll give it high priority. :)
Hmm, I'm thinking that I've heard of this collection before, probably more than once. *head on desk* Must read it indeed!
I love that quote. It makes for a great motto. :)
ReplyDeleteI've seen this motto before on Twitter and it is truly apt. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome motto - one we should all live by. We often assume things when we just look at the surfac - we need to look deeper and feel more deeply - awesome!
ReplyDeleteI like!
ReplyDeleteThat Plato sure said a lot of quote-able things. Your motto is a good one :)
ReplyDelete--Amy (amyknichols): Thanks, and most of all, thanks for stopping by and commenting. :)
ReplyDelete--Dawn: Exactly. I had just seen and retweeted the quote when it clicked me that I should adopt the concept for myself, instead of only parroting it for others, heh. ;)
--Jemi: Indeed! Sometimes a hard look is not directed at us, but to the inner self of the hard looking person, like when we're remembering past moments. So, I believe that instead of taking a frown as offense, we should let go and be kind all the same. :)
--Susan and Madison: Thanks! Glad you liked. :D
Greeks knew what they were talking about! :)
ReplyDeleteI think it is an amazing motto to live by, I’ll write this down somewhere where I can see all the time. Thanks for sharing it.
--Lua: You're most welcome!
ReplyDeleteIndeed they knew. I sort of envy the Greeks (well, at least the old ones), as philosophy was considered one of the noblest arts, which is a great fuel for actual thinking. ;)
Wonderful philosophy and motto, my dear.
ReplyDeleteA little bit of kindness and empathy for others goes along way...across the world even. I like your comment above about old greeks and actual thinking. I agree.
--Jodi: Thanks dear! I believe we all need kindness. We should also try to be kind with ourselves, which can be even harder in some cases.
ReplyDeleteCheers to real thinking! heh
It's a great quote and motto to have, I might adapt it for myself too!
ReplyDelete--Olive: How wonderful that you identify with this motto too!
ReplyDeleteSee, yesterday night we were having a great #LitChat party with Kathryn Magendie, and she said something that touched me deeply. I may adopt it as a writing motto:
Write with abandon.
Sounds perfect, yes? :D
Oh, yeah. Somewhere in the future a blog post on this topic will arise. Can't say when exactly, though...
I find myself distracted from your main question by your little note at the end. I must always post some fascinating little image with every post I make. It's in the style-contract I signed with my sense of aesthetics. Good work on the facebook api / twitter widget gubbins. Much neater than my attempts so far. So, back to the point of your post ... erm, well, you can't go wrong with Plato I suppose. Nice sentiment -- consider what others are going through, don't dwell on your own problems and that. Yeah, good motto. What are you going to do with it?
ReplyDelete--Barry: The post was "nude" for several days, but at one point I just couldn't bear it anymore, heh. Good to know I'm not alone on the aesthetic sense. :)
ReplyDeleteAbout the widgets, I found them on this site: http://www.bloggerplugins.org/. The administrator is really nice and helpful, and there are lots of good things in there, besides the different facebook and twitter buttons. For instance, I've found the top commentator widget there (Randomities' Best Pals), the recent comments (Randomities' Chatter) and a few things that can't be seen, like a widget to make the post address easier to find by google searches. I'm sure you'll have fun finding new stuff for your blog there. ;)
Regarding the motto itself, I'm learning a lot about it living here in Italy. It's a curious thing how the people of Veneto are so nice one day, and the next day they're so rude with you. Obviously it can happen the other way around too, so I try not to judge people by their appearance, or first contact. I think this is a good start, although the motto implies in much greater actions as well. One thing at the time, yes? :)