Inspiration

"His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom."

- J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

It was mealtime during our trip on a small airline.

"Would you like dinner?" the flight attendant asked the man seated in front of me.

"What are my choices?" he asked.

"Yes or no," she replied.

"If it could only be like this always - always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe."

- Evelyn Waugh

The proud father brought home a backyard swing set for his children and immediately started to assemble it with all the neighborhood children anxiously waiting to play on it. After several hours of reading the directions, attempting to fit bolt A into slot B, etc., he finally gave up and called upon an old handyman working in a neighboring yard.

The old-timer came over, threw the directions away, and in a short while had the set completely assembled.

It's beyond me," said the father, "how you got it together without even reading instructions."

"To tell the truth," replied the old-timer, "I can't read, and when you can't read, you've got to think."