Something Beautiful

Lord Byron

Lord Byron, in all his libertinism, has never really been a favorite of mine.  And yet no one could deny that the man was gifted.   While looking for a quotation of his on the brevity of human life, I came across this quote from his Childe Harold: 

I live not in myself, but I become
Portion of that around me

It seems to me that is true, and that the modern world ignores this piece of wisdom at its (very great) peril.

I found that quote, btw, in an article, The Wholesome Revival of Byron, originally published in 1898 in The Atlantic. The Atlantic has placed its archive online and there are some truly beautiful articles in it.

- - - -

Here, at last, is the quotation I was looking for:

When one subtracts from life infancy (which is vegetation), sleep, eating and swilling, buttoning and unbuttoning - how much remains of downright existence? The summer of a dormouse.

~ Lord Byron

People who are beautiful

Today we celebrate the birthday of Daniel Berrigan, S.J. Here is a photo that is surely beautiful. It's from 1962, during a retreat at the hermitage of Thomas Merton, Gethsemani Abbey, Kentucky. Pretty amazing!

Eminent critic at Dunkin' Donuts

There's just something about these photos of Helen Vendler, eminent literary critic, Shakespeare scholar, and Harvard professor, at Dunkin' Donuts in New York City.

The Life of Riley (blog)

Here's something a little different from our usual StB fare -- The Life of Riley. It's the site of, reputedly, the world's oldest blogger, who recently passed away at the age of 104. .       

Dorothy Day

Any essay by Robert J. Ellsberg is likely to be a gem.  An essay by him about Dorothy Day is a can't miss - Five Years With Dorothy Day.

I was especially taken with this last paragraph --

Dorothy was a great believer in what de Caussade called 'the sacrament of the present moment.' In each situation, in each encounter, in each task before us, she believed, there is a path to God. We do not need to be in a monastery or a chapel. We do not need to become different people first. We can start today, this moment, where we are, to add to the balance of love in the world, to add to the balance of peace. 

   

Marian McPartland, still going strong

It's hard not to find Marian McPartland inspiring. Now ninety years old, she still plays the piano and has her own radio show. It should happen to all of us!

Another heroine

Here is a woman for whom I have long held deep respect -- lawyer Asma Jahangir of Pakistan. 

You can read more about her here. 

And here, among many other places.

Albert Baez, R.I.P.

I was moved to learn that Albert Baez has died.  Although a distinguished scientist in his own right, he is probably best known as the father of singers Joan Baez and Mimi Farina.  I was particularly impressed to see that, many years ago, he had changed his occupation because his work as an experimental physicist conflicted with his Quaker beliefs.   

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

A man whom I respected died a few days ago, on February 28, 2007.  In 1949, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., published his book,  “The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom.” In it he argued that pragmatic, reform-minded liberalism, limited in scope, was the best that man could hope for politically.  He explained --

Problems will always torment us because all important problems are insoluble: that is why they are important. The good comes from the continuing struggle to try and solve them, not from the vain hope of their solution.

Much more recently he defended Western culture by arguing that the concepts of freedom of expression, religion, human rights, liberty and democracy are distinctively Western values.   He wrote --

These are European ideas, not Asian, nor African, nor Middle-Eastern ideas, except by adoption. There is surely no reason for Western civilization to have guilt trips laid on it by champions of cultures based on despotism, superstition, tribalism, and fanaticism.

Well, I think that not be entirely true, but Schlesinger has here offered a useful reminder of the blessings of Western civilization and of the limitations of many other cultures. 

Fr. Robert Drinan, R.I.P.

I don't think I have ever posted about an individual person before.  And in fact, I've just added a new category, People, in order to have a place in which to put this post.   

Yesterday I read in the newspaper that Fr. Robert Drinan had passed away.   He was one of my heroes and, although I did not know him personally, I feel profoundly affected by this loss.   I am posting about him today because to me he truly was beautiful. 

You can read about him at these sites --

Anti-Defamation League
Boston Herald
Commonweal
Georgetown University
Linux Greenhouse
The Nation
Washington Post