Thoughtful Thursday, 13 of October - magic and other paranormal activities

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

I chose the 13th day of October deliberately to ask you some questions about the paranormal. Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in magic? Do you think there are things which simply defy science and reason? Have you had any paranormal experiences?  Would you like to share?

Here are some quotes I chose as food for thought:

Mystery is the basic appeal of magic. Once the secrets are known, the magician becomes a mere manipulator, an actor in a suspense drama which has little impact because the audience knows the ending in advance.
MILBOURNE CHRISTOPHER, Magic: A Picture History

There is nothing special in the world. Nothing magic. Just physics.
CHUCK PALAHNIUK, Diary

Magic and all that is ascribed to it is a deep presentiment of the powers of science.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays


Magic is a faculty of wonderful virtue, full of most high mysteries, containing the most profound contemplation of most secret things, together with the nature, power, quality, substance and virtues thereof, as also the knowledge of whole Nature, and it doth instruct us concerning the differing and agreement of things amongst themselves, whence it produceth its wonderful effects, by uniting the virtues of things through the application of them one to the other.
HEINRICH CORNELIUS AGRIPPA, Three Books of Occult Philosophy or Magic


Magic trick: to make people disappear, ask them to fulfill their promises.
(Mason Cooley (b. 1927), U.S. aphorist. City Aphorisms, Sixth Selection, (1989).) I loved that one.

Magic is not a practice. It is a living, breathing web of energy that, with our permission, can encase our every action.
DOROTHY MORRISON, Everyday Magic

We do not need magic to change the world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.
J. K. ROWLING, speech to Harvard Alumni Association, 2008

Reality is determined not by what scientists or anyone else says or believes, but by what the evidence reveals to us.

–– ALAN HALE

There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.
–– LEONARDO DA VINCI

The most important sense to investigate the psychic sense is common sense.

–– WILLIAM ROLL

Now it is the time of night

That the graves, all gaping wide,

Every one lets forth his sprite

In the church-way paths to glide.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, A Midsummer Night's Dream

All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear,

All intellect, all sense, and as they please

They limb themselves, and colour, shape, or size,

Assume, as likes them best, condense or rare

JOHN MILTON, Paradise Lost

.

Thoughtful Thursday, 14 of July

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week my question is deceptively easy: why do you read? What do you look for in a book? Is it an escapism pure or simple or something beyond that ? What is more important to you: an interesting plotline, great philosophical remarks, characters you can relate to, action-packed plot or maybe just those steamy sex scenes and never-ending HEAs ? 

Here are some quotes and pics I found about reading and liked enough to post here:

“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”  A C Grayling, Financial Times (in a review of A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel)

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.”  Abraham Lincoln

"She understood now why her friend Elizabeth, with her near-genius, analytical mind gave wide berth to murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, and horror stories, and read only romance novels. Because, by God, when a woman picked up one of those steamy books, she had a firm guarantee that there would be a Happily-Ever-After. That though the world outside those covers could bring such sorrow and disappointment and loneliness, between those covers, the world was a splendid place to be."

—Karen Marie Moning

“To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company.” - Andre Gide “Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a dangerous enemy indeed.” - Anne Rice, The Witching Hour “Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought.” - Arthur Helps “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” - Confucius “The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries.” - Descartes “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” - Groucho Marx “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read.” - Mark Twain “I divide all readers into two classes: Those who read to remember and those who read to forget.” - William Phelps “All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape.” - Arthur Christopher Benson

Thoughtful Thursday, 30 of June

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

People might not believe it but some time ago I used to be a Harry Potter fan. Perhaps not a huge fan, not so totally in love with everything HP-related, but still. That's why this week I would like to discuss Pottermore, a new Internet-era addition to Potterverse. I got that idea while reading an excellent blog of Melissa (i swim for oceans) who asked similar question - you can visit and check it out here.

 Ok, so have you heard about it already? If no you might want to get it straight from the horse's mouth. Here is the video with J.K. Rowling annnouncing allegedly the next great attraction for all Harry Potter fans young and old...

What do you think of this kind of HP-based social network site cum playground ? Would you like to enrol at virtual Hogwarts and try it yourself? Would you consider it something good for your children/younger siblings? Would you recommend it to your friends? Would you like to purchase anything there, like Harry Potter e-books?  Is it really aimed at giving free rein to your imagination?

In general, do you think contemporary readers need and seek out this kind of experience? Or maybe  it's just another ingenious way to milk that splendid but already slightly exploited cow called Harry Potter by its lovely creator?

What's your opinion?

Thoughtful Thursday, 16 June - happiness

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week I would like to discuss the notion of happiness. It's summer, isn't it? We should be happy but...

what does it mean to be happy to you? Plenty of chocolate? A lot of great books? A peaceful moment enjoyed in the sun? Somebody to love? Sex drugs and rock and roll? 


Such a simple question, so many possible answers...and so many great quotes! Choose your favourite and tell me about your notion of happiness!

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.  ~Jacques Prévert

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy.  ~Robert Anthony

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.  ~Mark Twain

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.  ~Edith Wharton

Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place.  But there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.  ~E.L. Konigsburg

Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy.  ~Cynthia Nelms

Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.  ~Norm Papernick

What a wonderful life I've had!  I only wish I'd realized it sooner.  ~Colette

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think.  Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.  ~A.A. Milne

Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.  ~St. Augustine

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.  ~Lady Blessington

A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness.  ~Bernard de Fontenelle

The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not.  ~George Bernard Shaw

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.  ~Mahatma Gandhi


When you're really happy, the birds chirp and the sun shines even on cold dark winter nights - and flowers will bloom on a barren land.  ~Grey Livingston

Thoughtful Thursday, 21 April - fairy tales

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week I would like to discuss fairy tales and their influence over children and adults. 

Have you read fairy tales as an adult? Why/why not? Did you enjoy them as a child? Which one were your favourites? Which one you hated? What do you remember about them? Whad did they teach you? Would you like to read them to your children? Do you like modern versions of fairy tales? Which ones?

 I would love to know your thoughts!

Now some quotes concerning this topic:

Image via Wikipedia

Every man's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers.
Hans Christian Andersen

Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
G. K. Chesterton

I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now.
John Lennon

The loveliest fairy in the world; and her name is Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby.
Charles Kingsley
The Water Babies.

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.
Albert Einstein
Attributed, but unsourced.

The tooth fairy teaches children that they can sell body parts for money.
David Richerby

A woman is a female who is human,
Designed for pleasing man, the human male.
A human male is pleased by many women,
And all the rest you hear is fairy tale.
Oscar Hammerstein II

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.
Rachel Carson

Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?
Douglas Adams

Image via Wikipedia

Thoughtful Thursday, 7 April

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week I would like to discuss and answer these questions: if you were given an opportunity what historical period would you like to visit/live in? Do you think  you would fit in better then than now? If yes why?  Why people tend to think that the life was better/easier/more interesting in the past? Do you agree with them?

Now some quotes concerning this topic:

You can’t change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future. (Anonymous)

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana (1863 - 1952)

Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882)

There is no past that we can bring back by longing for it. There is only an eternally new now that builds and creates itself out of the Best as the past withdraws.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832)

Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.

George Orwell (1903-1950) 

If you look back too much, you will soon be headed that way (Anonymous)

The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

Albert Einstein

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Buddha

I would love to know your thoughts!

Thoughtful Thursday, 10 March

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week I would like to discuss friendship, especially Internet friendship. Do you believe it's possible to befriend anybody without seeing him/her in real world, at least from time to time?

Do Internet friends are important to you - as important as real life friends? Do you often make friends on the Internet? What do you think of so-called social network sites - do they, in your opinion, help meeting true friends or not?

Here are some quotes I've chosen as food for thoughts:

 

"Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."
- Jacques Delille (1738 - 1813) French poet. 

"Thy friendship oft has made my heart to ache: do be my enemy for friendship's sake."
- William Blake

"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives."
- Euripides, Greek playwrite

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost."
- Charles Caleb Colton 

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin 

"My friends are my estate."
- Emily Dickinson

"A friend is one who walks in when others walk out"
-Walter Winchell 

"A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
- Len Wein 

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thoughtful Thursday, 10 February - love at first sight

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!

This week I would like to ask you whether or not you believe in love at first sight - maybe you have even experienced it?

There must be a reason why love at first sight is such a common trope in Western literature (especially YA novels) - in many books we often read how a person, character, or speaker feels romantic attraction for a stranger on the first sight of them. Elaborated upon by poets and critics from the Greek world on, it has become also one of the most powerful tropes in Western fiction. Romeo and Julietta is one of the most widely known examples (and you can quote many many more).

Research has shown two bases for love at first sight. The first is that the attractiveness of a person can be very quickly determined, with the average time in one study being 0.13 seconds. The second is that the first few minutes of a relationship have shown to be predictive of the relationship's future success, more so than what two people have in common or whether they like each other. In such a subjective area research and scientists are one thing, your personal experiences are quite another, though.

Now some quotes I found about this topic (and love in general):

"What's so remarkable about love at first sight? It's when people have been looking at each other for years that it becomes remarkable" ~Unknown 

 

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.  ~Jonathan Carroll, "Outside the Dog Museum"

Who would give a law to lovers?  Love is unto itself a higher law.  ~Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, A.D. 524

            Love is an ocean of emotions entirely surrounded by expenses.  ~Lord Dewar

 Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane.  ~Honoré de Balzac

A lover is a man who tries to be more amiable than it is possible for him to be.  ~Nicholas de Chamfort

 If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?  ~Author Unknown

Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart.  ~Author Unknown

 

Now please let me know your thoughts!

Boetius teaching his students via Wikipedia

 

Thoughtful Thursday, 20 January - teaching

 

This week I would like to start the discussion about teaching and influential teachers you've met/known - at school or elsewhere. Teaching is not easy but it is necessary for our development. Everybody has had some teachers. What are your personal experiences? What sort of influence did the teachers have over you? Did they manage to change your plans for the future/ improve your life? What was their style of teaching? What did they do right/wrong ? Do you know any teachers you would love to have for your kids? If you are a teacher what are your objectives? Do you know a good method of imparting knowledge? What are your major problems?

Apart from usual quotes, posted below, you can also consult a list of 12 incredibly inspiring American teachers which was sent to me by Tina Sans (thanks a lot for contacting me!) - enjoy!

Now some food for thought:

Image via Wikipedia

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.  ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.  ~Gail Godwin

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.  ~Horace Mann

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence.  He inspires self-distrust.  He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him.  He will have no disciple.  ~Amos Bronson Alcott


A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism.  ~Louis A. Berman


We expect teachers to handle teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and the failings of the family.  Then we expect them to educate our children.  ~John Sculley


Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.  ~Bob Talbert


The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.  ~William Arthur Ward

Image via Wikipedia

Thougthful Thursday, 30 December

 

What does a New Year mean to you? Is it an important occasion or just a date? Do you see the point of celebrating it? Is it a new beginning, a day as usual, a nice holiday, or simply some free time to enjoy with  your family and/or friends? Do you go to a party or do you stay at home watching tv? Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you really intend to keep them?

Here are some quotes I chosen for this topic:

Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve.  Middle age is when you're forced to.  ~Bill Vaughn

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.  ~Author Unknown

New Year's Day is every man's birthday.  ~Charles Lamb

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.Benjamin Franklin

New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions. ~Mark Twain

 

I would love to know your opinion - do share!