Find Good Fortune In Dragon's Wings.

(I don't believe in fortune that came a-calling.)

Do not then stand idly waiting,
For some greater work to do;
Fortune is a lazy goddess,
She will never come to you.

- Ellen M. H. Gates (1834 - 1920)


Even when you beat it to her door,
She may not receive you:
For her suitors are many,
And her favors few.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

“To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.”

- Proverb


Why is fortune as hard to find as dragon's wings?

- Ghostwise

The Miles I Traveled, The Things I Saw.

(On the way to Taman Negara, we stopped to smell the flower in Lanchang like this bumblebee.)

The world is a rose; smell it and pass it to your friends.

-Persian Proverb


Your friend is a rose; keep him by your side.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.

-Louis L'Amour, novelist (1908-1988)


In the haste to get to the destination, they forgot about the journey.

- Ghostwise.

Others' Scandals Are Scandalous But Ours Have Reasons.

(Out on the road yesterday, I slept in a hotel where scandal brought down a mighty politician.)



There is a lust in man no charm can tame:
Of loudly publishing his neighbour's shame:
On eagles wings immortal scandals fly,
while virtuous actions are born and die.

- William Harvey


We lecture on other people's scandals
And justify on our own.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

You find out who your real friends are when you're involved in a scandal.

- Elizabeth Taylor


You find them out by the distance they keep.

- Ghostwise

The Best Mirror Is An Old Friend.

(Last night, we had a reunion of old friends in an old place.)

There is no friend like an old friend who has shared our morning days, no greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise.

- Oliver Wendell Holmes


New friends are only good if they become old. For the passage of time always sift new friends to people you knew and friends you care about.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~"

The best mirror is an old friend.

- George Herbert


Friends come and go
Those that remained becomes old
Have their reasons to stay
Like a mirror they say -
"We're what you deserve
and deserving of you."

- Ghostwise

Friends Are Like Bras.

(Today I talk about close and closeness.)

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.”

- Flora Whittemore


Do not let close doors deter you and make sure you close the doors you open.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~"

“Friends are like bras: close to your heart and there for support.”

- Author Unknown


Is that why those who wears bra understand the value of friendship better?

- Ghostwise

You Are As Old As Your Despair.

(Despair: I need someone to care who is not there.)

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.”

- Henri Nouwen


That is a friend indeed. Rare.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~"

“You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair”

- Author Unknown


When I'm as old as my despair, I need a friend who cares. Who may not be there. Despair.

- Ghostwise

If For Ever, Then For Ever, Fare Thee Well.

(Today I had a farewell dinner for another of my staff. Seemed to be having a lot of them the last year. I remembered I won the secondary school story writing competition which I started with this line "We part only to meet again, When the flowers have a greater blossom And the birds a merrier song." Still wish this is true.)

Fare thee well! and if for ever,
Still for ever, fare thee well.

- Lord Byron Fare Well.


And if we never meet again,
My wishes remain the same.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

- Garrison Keillor


Be happy, be rich, and remain a friend.

- Ghostwise

Like An Egg Learning To Fly.

(Yesterday, I visited a farm producing 500,000 eggs a day. I learned that cracked eggs are still good and there are still buyers for it and that eggs can only last about 7 days. Useful information used in today's post).

“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked”

- Bernard Meltzer


I learned at the farm that most cracked eggs are still good but few will accept them as such.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

- C.S. Lewis


And that an unhatched egg can only last 7 days before it goes bad.

- Ghostwise

At Five, Your Son Is Your Master.

“Your son at five is your master, at ten your slave, at fifteen your double, and after that, your friend or your foe, depending on his bringing up”

- Anonymous

And it is all because of you.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

“Every father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice”

- Anonymous


He follows - good or bad,
Whether he loves or hates,
He follows - good or bad.

- Ghostwise

True Friends Stab You In The Front.

“True friends stab you in the front.”

- Oscar Wilde


And feels the stab himself.

- Ghostwise

~~~~~~~~~~"

“A friend is someone who, upon seeing another friend in immense pain, would rather be the one experiencing the pain than to have to watch their friend suffer.”

- Anonymous


If you would not suffer his pain, you're not much of a friend.

- Ghostwise