a happy birthday this evening, I sat by an open window and read till the light was gone and the book was no more than a part of the darkness. I could easily have switched on a lamp, but I wanted to ride the day down into night, to sit alone, and smooth the unreadable page with the pale gray ghost of my hand
Ted Kooser
Related How Many Michals Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb? And the lamp was on Darkening u... MICHAL CORET I wanted the past to go away, I wanted to leave it, like another country; I wanted my life... MARY OLIVER I wanted the past to go away, I wanted to leave it, like another country; I wanted my li... MARY OLIVER Songs of the Soul On a dark night, Inflamed by love-longing - O exquisite risk!... SAN JUAN DE LA CRUZ People are not an interruption of our business. People are our business. A man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes. It is hard to look up to a leader who keeps his ear to the ground. The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed. The more intelligent a man is, the more originality he discovers in men. Ordinary people see no diff... The intelligence is proved not by ease of learning, but by understanding what we learn. Communication is something so simple and difficult that we can never put it in simple words. Like threads of silver seen through crystal beads Let love through good deeds show. How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. In everyone's heart stirs a great homesickness. That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it. Our wisdom comes usually from our experience, and our experience comes largely from our experience. One thing about the school of experience is that it will repeat the lesson if you flunk the first ti... To reprove small faults within due vehemence, is as absurd as if a man should take a great hammer to... Faith is like electricity. You can't see it, but you can see the light. Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of... Some families can trace their ancestors back three hundred years, but can't tell you where their chi... A recent survey was said to prove that the people we Americans most admire are our politicians and d... If a man defrauds you one time, he is a rascal; if he does it twice, you are a fool. Flattery looks like friendship, just like a wolf looks like a dog. Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Courage is always greatest when blended with meekness; intellectual ability is most admired when it ... Freedom also includes the right to mismanage your own affairs. Let your friends be the friends of your deliberate choice. The man who has strong opinions and always says what he thinks is courageous - and friendless. Friendship is love with understanding. So few people think. When we find one who really does, we call him a genius Your life can't go according to plan if you have no plan. Practicing the Golden Rule is not a sacrifice; it is an investment. Conversation is an exercise of the mind; gossip is merely an exercise of the tongue. An expert gossiper knows how much to leave out of a conversation To live so that you would not be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip, is to have li... Gossip is sometimes referred to as halitosis of the mind If you would attain greatness, think no little thoughts. We are born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us remain greedy. People are changed, not by coercion or intimidation, but by example. Children are natural mimics; they act like their parents in spite of every effort to teach them good... The guilty catch themselves. Good habits are formed; bad habits we fall into. If happiness could be brought, few of us could pay the price. Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. Hatred is a boomerang which is sure to hit you harder than the one at whom you throw it. Hate pollutes the mind. If we miraculously became the people we hate, how lovable we would find ourselves. To feel "fit as a fiddle" you must tone down your middle. Our health always seems much more valuable after we lose it. A patient going to a doctor for his first visit was asked, "And whom did you consult before coming t... "Oh," replied his patient, with no malice aforethought, "he told me to come and see you." It is impossible to make wisdom hereditary. Honesty is a question of right or wrong, not a matter of policy. It is a pleasure to give advice, humiliating to need it, normal to ignore it. It is almost impossible to smile on the outside without feeling better on the inside. Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the t... Imagination was given man to compensate for what he is not, and a sense of humor to console him for ... Humor - the perfect relationship of the parts to the whole. Our five senses are incomplete without the sixth - a sense of humor. "What made the deepest impression upon you?" inquired a friend one day of Lincoln, "when you stood i... It isn't easy for an idea to squeeze itself into a head filled with prejudice. Too many people run out of ideas long before they run out of words. Imagination is the pontoon bridge making way for the timid feet of reason. Practical observation commonly consists of collecting a few facts and loading them with guesses. Friendship is a living thing that lasts only as long as it is nourished with kindness, empathy and u... Having supplied them with names, omnipotence, justice, knowledge, Providence, - what are they? A good laugh is sunshine in a house. When you laugh, be sure to laugh at what people do and not at what people are. One look around us ought to show that all our arbitrary measures and bounds have been clamped on us ... No punishment of the unrighteous has ever been too severe in the eyes of the righteous. Why keep on enacting laws when we already have more than we can break. The best leader is the one who has the sense to surround himself with outstanding people and self-re... Advice is the only commodity on the market where the supply always exceeds the demand. Successful men follow the same advice they prescribe for others. You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea Old age may seem a long way off. But on the day it doesn't, it will be too late to do anything about... Age withers only the outside. Where ambition ends happiness begins. The best answer to answer to anger is silence. The size of a man is measured by the size of the thing that makes him angry. A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about. People who know the least always argue the most. If you look for the positive things in life; you will find them. What we are doing at the moment is more that just one thing added to the rest; it is a memoir. Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes The human mind must believe in something, so why not let it believe what it does believe. He that boasts of his own knowledge proclaims his ignorance It is better to live richly than to die rich. On his examination paper a boy wrote, "A natural death is where you die by yourself without a doctor... Many things are worse than defeat,and compromise with evil is one of them. Desire for security keeps littleness little and threatens the great with smallness. We cannot be too earnest, too persistent, too determined, about living superior to the herd-instinct... A college education never hurt anybody who was willing to learn after he got it. Shortchange your education now and you may be short of change the rest of your life. Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them Catch your people doing something right and let them know you appreciate it. Create the kind of climate in your organization where personal growth is expected, recognized and re...
More Ted Kooser
His hands fluttered like birds, each with a fancy silk ribbon to weave into their nest, TED KOOSER Not to sound too much like Christopher Guest in 'Waiting for Guffman,' but on Thanksgiving y... TED ALLEN My whole problem is that all of my favorite things at Thanksgiving are the starches, and everyone is... TED ALLEN I'm not cool enough to hang out with any rock stars. Jay-Z doesn't come over to my house. I ... TED CRUZ I have self-actualized. Pardon me whilst I adjust my glowing halo. TED NUGENT I feel very confident in my skiing. I know I have a good chance to win any race I start. TED LIGETY Ski racing is probably the least guaranteed sport out there. It's really rare when the favorites... TED LIGETY A lot of racers have some of their best days when they're sick. TED LIGETY I wanted kids to know that it's cool to be in a ski race in the morning and to go play in the te... TED LIGETY It's the nature of the beast, playing sports on the ski team and how competitive all of us are. ... TED LIGETY When I grew up, I had a lot of fun ski racing with my friends. We pushed each other, and this made i... TED LIGETY There are definitely perks to being a good ski racer. TED LIGETY About the best thing an actor can do when all is said and done is to make people laugh. TED LEVINE I really enjoy comedy. It's a real challenge. TED LEVINE Take life slowly and deliberately, making sure to acknowledge the people who have helped you succeed... TED LEVINE I believe in Christianity, Judaism and Islamism, but I stay away from churches, synagogues and mosqu... TED LANGE I've played almost every lead character from Henry VI to Othello. I'm dying to tackle Richar... TED LANGE I suddenly discovered that acting made girls notice me. TED LANGE Stax was rejoicing in the difference in who we are, and that's what you see in the film. TED LANGE One of the things we're taught as actors is restraint - don't jump off the cliff. TED LANGE I talk to the universe all the time. TED LANGE I couldn't believe verse was supposed to be hard. It was a snap for me. I loved Shakespeare. TED LANGE I've always tried to explore the humorous aspects of life. TED LANGE To me, the job of a playwright is to explore and bring to light our lives. You can't hold back; ... TED LANGE Artists should always think of themselves as cosmic instruments for storytelling. TED LANGE I have to reinvent myself. TED KULONGOSKI Elections are about choosing sides, but inaugurations are about closing ranks. TED KULONGOSKI I do not come bearing a party label on my sleeve - or a quick fix in my back pocket. I do not come w... TED KULONGOSKI As long as the sun rises over Ontario and sets over the Pacific, I will dedicate myself to bringing ... TED KULONGOSKI The Administration should never have walked away from the Kyoto Treaty. Global warming is real and i... TED KULONGOSKI The power to shape Oregon's future remains where it has always been - in our collective hands. TED KULONGOSKI Debate is healthy and no one in this chamber - starting with me - has a monopoly on being right. TED KULONGOSKI It is a sad commentary that today we face a choice between having schools that are a monument to our... TED KULONGOSKI I'm very comfortable with where history will judge me. TED KULONGOSKI A healthy environment is essential to a livable Oregon and a strong economy. TED KULONGOSKI I have as much artistic freedom in my television work as I have in my films. TED KOTCHEFF I wanted to make Canadian films, and I ended up making American films. TED KOTCHEFF My plan was to stay in Canada to make films. TED KOTCHEFF Sylvester has a great popular sense, as good as any writer I've ever worked with. He knows what ... TED KOTCHEFF When you're actually making the film, you're constantly battling to maintain its integrity. TED KOTCHEFF But when I direct I become possessed, a possession I've never quite understood. TED KOTCHEFF I'm not an easygoing guy as a director. TED KOTCHEFF I have a bad reputation for being temperamental. TED KOTCHEFF When you meet me, I can be charming and intelligent and reasonable. TED KOTCHEFF Everything about filmmaking tries to distract you from that first fine rapturous vision you have of ... TED KOTCHEFF There is something very very special, universal and easily identifiable among all Jews; it is beyond... TED KOPPEL I have been an unabashed fan of NPR for many years, and have stolen untold excellent ideas from its ... TED KOPPEL More than four thousand programs produced and consumed. Some of them were pretty good, a great many ... TED KOPPEL My level of cynicism about the reasons that took us to war against Iraq remain just as well-develope... TED KOPPEL Emotions get in the way but they don't pay me to start crying at the loss of 269 lives. They pay... TED KOPPEL My function is, as objectively and accurately as I can, to present reality to people out there, and ... TED KOPPEL The responsibility that I feel is to do as good a job as a journalist as I can possibly do. TED KOPPEL I think we're glazing eyes all across America. TED KOPPEL I have the necessary lack of tact. TED KOPPEL There is no more respected or influential forum in the field of journalism than the New York Times. ... TED KOPPEL In the days of Caesar, kings had fools and jesters. Now network presidents have anchormen. TED KOPPEL History is a tool used by politicians to justify their intentions. TED KOPPEL Our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not ... TED KOPPEL People shouldn't expect the mass media to do investigative stories. That job belongs to the '... TED KOPPEL There are ogres and black beasts out there; you have to be constantly on guard. TED KNIGHT Of course I could have retired anytime. But retiring would drive me crazy. TED KNIGHT People send me CDs all the time because I love music. It's great. I listen to them in my dressin... TED KING I got into music when I was a little boy. My dad was always into jazz. I got my education from him. ... TED KING I have tons of jazz records: John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis. I could go on and on. TED KING I collect LPs, but only if they're pretty high quality. I don't go back and dig through the ... TED KING The Bush administration doesn't particularly like public participation. It makes them look bad. TED HUGHES It took the whole of Creation To produce my foot, my each feather: Now I hold Creation in my foot. TED HUGHES What happens in the heart simply happens. TED HUGHES We must expect to fail... but fail in a learning posture, determined no to repeat the mistakes, and ... TED ENGSTROM Excellence is a process that should occupy all our days. TED ENGSTROM The rewards for those who persevere far exceed the pain that must precede the victory. TED ENGSTROM What do you want to get done? In what order of importance? Over what period of time? What is the tim... TED ENGSTROM Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time. The best management of our time thus becomes ... TED ENGSTROM The whole of our national sport is not doing very well. TED DEXTER Once again our cricketers have flattered to deceive in Australia. TED DEXTER I think we are all slightly down in the dumps after another loss. We may be in the wrong sign... Ven... TED DEXTER Sympathetic cracks. A term frequently used by architects and surveyors in terms of ageing houses. I ... TED DEXTER Endless cricket, like endless anything else, simply grinds you down. TED DEXTER For those whose lives have been turned upside down by Chinese drywall, we're trying to give them... TED DEUTCH We need to get the corporate money out of the political system and return democracy to the people. TED DEUTCH Social media companies must work closely with the U.S. government to ensure their platforms are not ... TED DEUTCH When enacted, health care reform provides generous tax credits to help people afford their health in... TED DEUTCH Kids from financially distressed households are twice as likely to have to repeat a grade and more t... TED DEUTCH We know that for children, hunger is especially devastating. TED DEUTCH Any constitutional amendment that simply gives Congress the option of regulating campaign finance fa... TED DEUTCH We need to move past blame and make sure we are delivering care to our veterans. TED DEUTCH It is no surprise that companies do not often respond to moral pressure alone. We need to hit them h... TED DEUTCH Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and yet so many Americans ar... TED DEUTCH I have an open door to meet with my constituents and that I work hard to respond to their needs, and... TED DEUTCH We must not allow the Iranian regime to use the nation's vast energy resource as a financial pip... TED DEUTCH I am proud to have played a small part in ensuring that no veteran's heroic service will be cast... TED DEUTCH This OCCUPIED amendment, this constitutional amendment, would overturn Citizens United. It would mak... TED DEUTCH Individuals can stand up against genocide in Darfur and Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. TED DEUTCH Ultimately, the goal of sanctions is to ratchet up the economic pressure on the Iranians to such a l... TED DEUTCH As I understand, the role of the federal judiciary, the role of our court system, is to provide just... TED DEUTCH It's hard to see how the Copyright Office can rise to the many challenges of the 21st-century wo... TED DEUTCH From the preemptive strike that destroyed Egypt's air force during the Six-Day War, to the darin... TED DEUTCH I wasn't a vegan when I came to Congress. It was a decision I made soon after I got here, and it... TED DEUTCH I believe we're stronger when we speak loudly and unapologetically for human rights; when we sta... TED DEUTCH For many older Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, a lifetime of discr... TED DEUTCH Many of my constituents are in their 80s, 90s, even 100, and our focus is ensuring that their needs ... TED DEUTCH It was sanctions that drove Iran to the negotiating table in the first place. TED DEUTCH There are a lot of films that are drug dramas, and we didn't want to tell Scarface again. TED DEMME The thing that's great about those guys at Miramax is the Weinstein brothers. They are the two f... TED DEMME That's why I'm really trying to produce my own stuff. This film was so good, because I produ... TED DEMME I'm at Miramax now, where I've actually been treated like a Prince. TED DEMME I was influenced by European movies, old Fellini, old Kurosawa - any sort of foreign film. TED DEMME I think, on a larger note, that filmmakers and studios should start to tuck it in a little bit, beca... TED DEMME And then we watched an amazing number of movies from the late '60s and '70s, which is my fav... TED DEMME I felt that as long as we were being honest, and that we didn't bend the truth to accomplish ano... TED DEMME I tried to stick to my game plan, which was always being aware of what my A story was - the love sto... TED DEMME What I think happens today is that a lot of filmmakers look at other films that are retro pieces, li... TED DEMME The older I get the more I realize there's no real good guys or real bad guys, and I'm curio... TED DEMME But my humble opinion is, I'm not quite sure where I stand on the legalization of drugs - though... TED DEMME You know, I think everything I do cinematically for the rest of my life will probably have some dire... TED DEMME My idea for 'BoneMan's Daughters' came from the loss of my own daughter when she left ho... TED DEKKER I always managed to get in trouble, like every kid. But I had to learn a lot of hard lessons on my o... TED DEKKER For me, writing is an experience. It's an exercise in which I want to discover myself by taking ... TED DEKKER I think everything we do, on one level or another, as writers, most of our writing is informed by ou... TED DEKKER I studied philosophy, religious studies, and English. My training was writing four full-length novel... TED DEKKER I never write my stories as a wake-up call as such. I simply explore the kinds of situations that I ... TED DEKKER My stories are not Christianized at all. I don't even have any Christians in my stories. What th... TED DEKKER All my books are very spiritual. I started out writing what was most natural to me, many years ago, ... TED DEKKER My research for 'Adam' affected me profoundly, particularly the research into evil's und... TED DEKKER It is critical that writers who embrace the light of Christ's redemptive love characterize the d... TED DEKKER My writing is a very authentic journey of discovery. I'm going out there to learn who I am. My r... TED DEKKER Writing wasn't about making money. I wanted to find fulfillment in writing and telling stories, ... TED DEKKER If you could find a way to peel back the skin of this world so to speak, would you really see this s... TED DEKKER I think everything we do, on one level or another, as writers, most of our writing is informed by ou... TED DEKKER What matters is discovering myself under the veneer, under the layers that are wrapped around me. Th... TED DEKKER When I sit down to write a novel, I am exploring my own relationship with God, with the struggle bet... TED DEKKER My first seven novels were contemporary spiritual novels, my next nine had strong elements of fantas... TED DEKKER For me, writing is an experience. It's an exercise in which I want to discover myself by taking ... TED DEKKER Most believers struggle to really believe in the supernatural as a meaningful, deterministic reality... TED DEKKER Thrillers provide the reader with a safe escape into a dangerous world where the stakes are as high ... TED DEKKER While the older generation is content to sit around and critique culture, that culture is moving bey... TED DEKKER The good news is that even though we walk through this valley of death, we don't have to fear, a... TED DEKKER My journey is so similar to everyone else's journey, because we all are human. We all have been ... TED DEKKER If readers, young and old, would take even a moment to reflect on our rapidly shifting culture and i... TED DEKKER It's critical that we use a very dark brush to paint evil. When you bring the light into that da... TED DEKKER Like all of my fictions, 'Sinner' is a mirror. Look into it and you will find yourself. What... TED DEKKER Sharks are in real trouble, and they need all the help they can get. TED DANSON Everything I am, everything I've been allowed to do, career-wise, has come out of the opportunit... TED DANSON We need to start looking at having a way of managing the whole ecosystem, because you can't pick... TED DANSON We are so arrogant, we forget that we are not the reason for evolution, we are not the point of evol... TED DANSON If you take one rivet out of an airplane, it will be all right, it'll keep flying. You take anot... TED DANSON When people are in the midst of really heavy stuff and still have a sense of humor, I admire that. TED DANSON 'Cheers' was great. They paired me up with Shelley Long on this tiny bar set for the final a... TED DANSON Address these environmental issues and you will address every issue known to man. And we keep dabbli... TED DANSON I became interested in ocean issues in the 1980s when I couldn't take my daughters swimming beca... TED DANSON The environmental movement, like all political processes, reacts best to disasters. But these are ve... TED DANSON Looking out at the ocean, it's easy to feel small - and to imagine all your troubles, suddenly i... TED DANSON We're not trying to reinvent the wheel; for any environmental organization to claim sole respons... TED DANSON We have a project with Unocal here in Los Angeles, where we as an environmental organization, the oi... TED DANSON Cloning, wow. Who would have thought? There should be a list of people who can and cannot clone them... TED DANSON The industrial way we fish for seafood is harming the marine habitats that all ocean life depends up... TED DANSON You use and lose a lot of energy being grumpy. TED DANSON Humor can bring people under the tent. And a good joke can deflect some of the intensity surrounding... TED DANSON The planet will survive. Whether we get to be here and enjoy it, or enjoy life as we've known it... TED DANSON Years ago, we all talked about recycling and not dumping things down your drain and all of that, but... TED DANSON I have been proud to fight and stand for religious liberty, to stand against Planned Parenthood, to ... TED CRUZ When my father came over here penniless with $100 sewn into his underwear, thank God some well-meani... TED CRUZ The power of the American people, when we rise up and stand for liberty, knows no bounds. TED CRUZ We are witnessing a great awakening. Millions of Texans, millions of Americans are rising up to recl... TED CRUZ I'm not serving in office because I desperately needed 99 new friends in the U.S. Senate. TED CRUZ This election presents a stark choice - we can continue down the road of the Obama Democrats, more a... TED CRUZ I am blessed to receive a word from God every day in receiving the scriptures and reading the script... TED CRUZ I think it's an enormous blessing to be the child of an immigrant who fled oppression, because y... TED CRUZ If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you. TED CRUZ It is the job of our military to protect America and to hunt down and kill those who would threaten ... TED CRUZ I was so horrifically bad at tennis. TED CRUZ I've really had two heroes in my life. My father and Ronald Reagan. TED CRUZ In both law and politics, I think the essential battle is the meta-battle of framing the narrative. TED CRUZ I support capital punishment. But let's be clear: It's a decision for each state to make. TED CRUZ Stopping bad things is a significant public service. TED CRUZ The American free market system is the greatest engine for prosperity and opportunity that the world... TED CRUZ When I was a kid, I figured I would be a physicist when I grew up, and then I would write science fi... TED CHIANG I started submitting stories for publication when I was about 15, but it was many years before I sol... TED CHIANG We don't normally think of it as such, but writing is a technology. TED CHIANG I can't recommend technical writing as a day job for fiction writers because it's going to b... TED CHIANG The universe began as an enormous breath being held. I am glad that it did... until this great exhal... TED CHIANG There have always been arguments showing that free will is an illusion: some based on hard physics, ... TED CHIANG Typically, a book takes me about a year to write. TED BELL I like to sit down every day and not know where the book is going. I have no idea where the book is ... TED BELL I live in Florida, and I live on a small lagoon. I sit and look out at the water all day - that'... TED BELL I think it takes a lot of desire because I think a lot of people who've never written books don&... TED BELL You don't make houses cheaper by making them more expensive to build. TED BAILLIEU I think there is a degree of speculation that is satisfied the climate is changing. TED BAILLIEU A week is a long time in politics. TED BAILLIEU The core character of Victorians is one of aspiration and ambition, and Victorians have, since first... TED BAILLIEU I went in saying I wanted to be the food guy. TED ALLEN Because the show is popular, people do recognize us on the streets. TED ALLEN People who hardly ever cook at all, suddenly at the holidays, feel like it's their responsibilit... TED ALLEN I think what I do differently from a lot of TV chefs is that I break down barriers and make fine foo... TED ALLEN The best way to learn is live, in person, cooking, feeling, smelling and tasting, but TV is the seco... TED ALLEN In recent years, I've been writing because I'm fortunate enough to work in the world of food... TED ALLEN Sesame oil is probably my favorite condiment, period. TED ALLEN However, I was a restaurant critic at Chicago magazine before I worked at Esquire, and I've been... TED ALLEN For me, the kitchen is the most special room in the house. It's a place for adventure - not drud... TED ALLEN Cooking for people is an enormously significant expression of generosity and soulfulness, and entert... TED ALLEN