gratitude ingratitude

11 Things: Gratitude Ingratitude

Thursday, November 20, 2008

1. Literature: "Maybe the only thing worse than having to give gratitude constantly is having to accept it."

- William Faulkner

Maybe the only thing worse is having to figure out which is worse.

2. Philosophy: "There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life - reciprocity."

- Confucius

There is another word that finished a very close second: pants.

3. Kids: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

- Dr. Seuss

And even then, things may remain a bit sketchy.

4. Politics: "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

We can begin by reminding them that there won't be any Social Security, insurance or retirement when they get older.

5. Art: "The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

The essence of all beautiful understanding, all great understanding, is found in another quote.

6. Society: "The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."

- Oscar Wilde

Except on eBay.

7. Music: "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around."

- Willie Nelson

When the IRS stopped counting, things turned around even more.

8. Economics: "It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference."

- Tom Brokaw

It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to hold on to it.

9. Journalism: "Thanks to my solid academic training, today I can write hundreds of words on virtually any topic without possessing a shred of information, which is how I got a good job in journalism."

- Dave Barry

Thanks to our solid Internet connections, we can thank Dave Barry.

10. Food: "I feel a very unusual sensation - if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude."

- Benjamin Disraeli

Trust me. It's both.

11. Life: "Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."

- Dale Carnegie


And the day before yesterday? We'll let you know - the day after tomorrow.

- Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/20/NSMT1465OV.DTL

This article appeared on page G - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle