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.

"We are constantly deluged with economic studies and statistics, implying that economic outcomes are the only ones that matter. The reality is that any national scorecard of well-being must take a much broader view. How well families do in preparing children for adulthood and how well they transmit important values is a much higher standard for success."

(Robert J Samuelson, An unlikely cause of our bitterness: The nuclear family, Washington Post, 2/16/2020))

"And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies."

(Hosea 2:19)

"Most of us have much that needs to be forgiven, and how can that happen unless we ourselves are prepared to forgive."

(Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, It’s love that guides our feet along the path to joy, delivered on BBC Radio 4, 14 February 2020)

"You meet people coming and going in this life. Be careful how you leave them."

(Anonymous)

"Genesis is not about power. It is about families. Because that is where life together begins. The [scripture do] not imply that there is anything easy about making and sustaining a family. … Yet there is no diminution of the significance of the family. To the contrary, it is the main vehicle of blessing."

(Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Family, Faith and Freedom, Vayechi 5780, January 8, 2020)

"Focus on the love you have to give, not the places you can’t give it."

(Carolyn Hax, Washington Post Advice Column, January 28, 2020)