Passing passages

THERE ARE ANGELS on this earth and they come in subtle forms, and I decided LaTrice Haney was one of them. Outwardly, she looked like just another efficient, clipboard-and-syringe-wielding nurse in a starched outfit. She worked extremely long days and nights, and on her off hours she went home to her husband, Randy, a truck driver, and their two children, Taylor, aged seven, and Morgan, four. But if she was tired, she never seemed it. She struck me as a woman utterly lacking in ordinary resentments, sure of her responsibilities and blessings and unwavering in her administering of care, and if that wasn’t angelic behaviour, I didn’t know what was. Often I’d be alone in the late afternoons and evenings except for LaTrice, and if I had the strength, we’d talk seriously. With most people I was shy and terse, but I found myself talking to LaTrice, maybe because she was so gentle-spoken and expressive herself. LaTrice was only in her late 20s, a pretty young woman with a coffee-and-cream co...

Men say they know many things; But lo! They have taken wings,— The arts and the sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that blows Is all that anybody knows. ~  Henry David Thoreau (1817--1862)

The girls are made up of two halves - one half is with the conservatory and only participates for money and feels like God's gift to the world, and the others are with the drama school. They don't get paid, but pay for it - and feel like a million dollars. The same thing is true for the male extras. And they carry on in a way that I've never seen before in my life and treat me with condescension, which they are going to regret. And the real actors look down on those from the drama school and are sure to let them know. They also look down on each other, but that they don't show too much. In any case, there's a hell a lot of looking down on each other, and everyone thinks they're the only one who's wonderful. And the janitors are the only ones who act like normal people and greet you when you say hello to them. ~  Irmgard Keun in The Artificial Silk Girl

There's a difference between a failure...and a fiasco. A failure is simply the non-presence of success. Any fool can accomplish failure. But a fiasco.... A fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions. A fiasco is a folktale told to others.. that makes other people feel more alive... because it didn't happen to them. (from Elizabethtown )

American Journalist: Hello, they said you were on the beach. Thank you for granting this interview. Edith Piaf: My pleasure. American Journalist: It’s odd to see you so far from Paris. Edith Piaf: I’m never far from Paris. American Journalist: I’ve a list of questions. Answer whatever comes to mind. Well…what’s you favorite color? Edith Piaf: Blue American Journalist: What’s your favorite dish? Edith Piaf: Pot Roast. American Journalist: Would you agree to live a sensible life? Edith Piaf: It is already the case American Journalist: Who are your most faithful friends? Edith Piaf: My true friends are my most faithful. American Journalist: If you could no longer sing…? Edith Piaf: …I could no longer live. American Journalist: Are you afraid of death? Edith Piaf: Less than solitude. American Journalist: Do you pray? Edith Piaf: Yes, because I believe in love. American Journalist: What is your fondest career memory? Edith Piaf: Eve...

That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going. ~ Forrest Gump (The Film, 1994)

Jenny: Were you scared in Vietnam? Forrest: Yes. Well, I-I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out... and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water... like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful. Jenny: I wish I could've been there with you. Forrest: You were. ~ Forrest Gump (The Film, 1994)