Diocletian, perhaps the only Roman emperor to retire voluntarily (he was the one who first split the empire into East and West), when receiving word that Maximian (his partner, who had been forced to abdicate as per their prior agreement) was urging him to come out of retirement, is said to have written that "if he could show Maximian the cabbages which he had planted with his own hands at Salona, he should no longer be urged to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness for the pursuit of power." (John Julius Norwich, "Byzantium: The Early Centuries, Knopf, 1988, p.34.) Norwich's trilogy on the Byzantine Empire is truly memorable, by the way.

Even when he is absorbed in practical matters that have life-or-death consequences, our ancient mariner maintains a sense of style; there is a subtle self-consciousness in his efforts to embody the old Hemingway-esque ideal of grace under pressure. He is a model of masculine virtue and he knows it.


The ancient Greeks believed that character should be revealed through action.

He told the story of an Indian nun who was

asked when a man could be certain of

safety on this road, and who sent back,

for answer, a little plate of ashes. For

the fight against passion was long and

fierce, and at any moment the conqueror

might become the conquered.

stains of life.


 | Vivekananda

Do you know how a silversmith determines when the metal is pure? It is only when he sees his face upon the shining, pure metal. We are like gold or silver, melted in the fire of tribulation, so that the dross (waste or impurity) is burned away. We are to reflect God's face upon our face or surface. Life is a process of purification.

God , Country & Tattoos
Dennis E. Dwyer

Who-ever expected such language, out of a book like this. Mr. Dwyer had the privilege of meeting Horitoshi back in the late 1980s during a visit to Japan and several of his deshi's (some of which no longer are- e.g. Daisuke)

the 1958 lecture Indeterminacy:
After I had been studying with him for two years, Schoenberg said, "In order to write music, you must have a feeling for harmony." I explained to him that I had no feeling for
harmony. He then said that I would always encounter an obstacle, that it would be as though I came to a wall through which I could not pass. I said, "In that case I will devote my life to
beating my head against that wall."[37]

| John Cage

 Dawn columnist Huma Yusuf summarized three main complaints of Yousafzai's critics: "Her fame highlights Pakistan’s most negative aspect (rampant militancy); her education campaign echoes Western agendas; and the West's admiration of her is hypocritical because it overlooks the plight of other innocent victims, like the casualties of U.S. drone strikes."

In the United States, where health experts estimate half of adults will be obese by 2030 unless lifestyle habits change, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says less than 48 percent of adults exercise enough to improve their health.