Commonplace Book

 A Commonplace Book. “Commonplace”, from the Latin 'locus communis', meaning “a theme or argument of general application.”  For me, it is a collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

"How small, of all that human hearts endure, that part which laws or kings can cause or cure.” (Samuel Johnson, (1709-1785. An English poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer.)

"Remember that the first and great commandment is to love God with our heart, might, mind, and strength. All that we do should be motivated by our love for Him and for His Son. As we develop our love for Them by keeping Their commandments, our capacity to love ourselves and to love others will increase."

(Peter M Johnson, Power to Overcome the Adversary, October Conference 2019)

"You can choose to be kind. Be kind."

(Admin, Bookstore employee writes this on Facebook after “little old lady” shocks everyone at the register, Daily Love Online, September 22, 2019)

"The ancient prophets speak of ‘entering into God’s rest’; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive … The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into ‘God’s rest.’ … I pray that we may all enter into God’s rest—rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world” 

(Joseph F Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 58).

Oaks: He's an effective decision maker. He's not a postponer. Like a surgeon who must make a decision right now and can't appoint a committee to study it. He's gifted at noticing when we need to postpone a decision to get more facts. But for the most part, when something comes before him, he decides it. And we love that.

Eyring: Even in our schedules, he moves everything rapidly; why not now? Whenever we have - if we're going to do it, let's do it now."

(An exchange between Elder Dallin H Oaks and Elder Henry B Eyring, describing Pres Russell M Nelson as part of the celebration of Pres Nelson's 95th birthday, September 6, 2019, emphasis added)

"It's good to remember that there is still a place in religion for faith."

M Russell Ballard, An Epistle from an Apostle, Ensign, September 2019, page 23)

"If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory...The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak…We are, to be sure, a miracle every way; but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out."

(Jane Austen, 1775 – 1817, English novelist)

"The acquisition of memories is the business of life."

(The character Charles Carson, played by Jim Carter, Downton Abbey, S4:E4)