“I am smiling!”
Message from the Tree: Without carbon I die. Without me, you die. You do the math.
The heart leaps when we add; the soul morns subtraction.
God gave us creativity so we could give it right back to him.
“Dates don’t matter ’till they happen.”
“Sometimes you have to lose to win.”
” Your credibility is only as good as your weakest point.”
Without the Yin can there be a Yang?
”I have outscored the scorekeepers.”
How to select a career - “Work on something you find fulfilling that will contribute to society.” Elon Musk
“Your diction is too copious for me to comprehend so will you please elucidate with more simplicity.”
"When poets brush up against one another, sparks fly like steel on flint."
Why do oak trees hold onto their leaves till spring?
Grow your own food. Bake your own bread.
Listen
”It ain’t told till ya tell it.”
Your body is smarter than you are; listen to it.
Information is part of the cure.
“I am a demented agnostic.” Ed Flynn
”As I get older I find conversations with people I like to be most rewarding.”
“A sign if getting old is. You look backwards more than forwards.”
Seeing is not the only way to see the truth. “I see what you mean.”
“There are things in my life I never could have imagined”
“Wisdom be not fleeting, but grasp me in thy clutches and set me free, for I am mankind in need!”
“Many songs begin as a poem, and vice versa. So sing to me my dear poet.”
“Without feedback from his readers, the writer stumbles.” Frost
”Poetry is everything.”
“Feedback is the fuel of the poet.”
“Poetry is the antithesis of AI”
“Poetry has no rules.”
“There are no bad poets.”
“I know not always from whence words flow.”
“. . . And there a baby in swaddling clothes on hay—
Why does this story never wear out?” Carl Sandburg‘s profound proof of God
“Thinking is writing and vice versa.”
“Journaling is therapeutic. Write every day.”
“Poetry is therapeutic. Write it every day.”
“To know but one side of an issue is to deceive one’s self.“ Socrates
“Know both sides of the coin before you flip it.”
“Try not to underestimate me; I’ve been there.”
“Without friends there is just the void.”
“Rich is family and friends.” PG
”Know thyself” Socrates
“Who knows what the future holds?”
🎶I get all the news I need on the weather report🎶
“Just what is on the other side of the universe?”
“How deep is the ocean; how high the sky?”
“Seeing is believing, Thomas.”
“When reason fails, look for another reason!”
“Poetry is in the soul of the beholder.”
”Generosity is the glue of mankind.”
“A demise of a powerful free country is infiltration.”
“The taste cannot be disputed.” (Brother Joseph)
”Anything, many things amaze me.”
“Suck - Squeeze - Bang - Blow!” = How a jet engine works.
"The amount of disappointment in sports injuries is directly proportion to how much you love the game."
“Things would be so different if they were not as they are.” Mickey Sharp
“If you want the future to be good, you must make it so.” Elon Musk
"If someone uses the word "right" in a conversation, don't trust them."
To understand a schizophrenic‘s mind listen to the word sounds of your pee in a toilet.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
“Welcome the gleaners, for they are God’s chosen.”
“You have every right to get what you want without harming anyone” - The psychological golden rule
“When all is lost, there is nothing.”
🎶Nothing ain’t worth nothing, but it’s free🎶
🎶I’ll tend to the fire; you see to the ashes🎶
“The main thing is to maintain.” (Eddie Wotier)
“The Journey to friendship is short and sweet”
“As a parent you have to be present to win.”
“You can’t Google intelligence.”
“What is your Common Sense IQ?”
“What is your emotional IQ?”
“What is your spiritual IQ?”
The Information Age is now the AI Age
“Is political correctness correct?”
“Assimilation belies diversity.”
“Humor keeps you young.”
“Nothing ain’t worth nothing, but it’s free.” (Bobby McGee)
“Do something for someone every day.”
“There are things in my life I never could have imagined.”
“It’s OK to be prejudice, just don’t act on it.” (Jake Foglio)
“We adore Thee oh Christ and we praise Thee, because by the holy cross Thy hast Redeemed the world.” https://www.tenbrunsel.com/post/the-redeemer-the-mask
“The sufficiency of the day is the evil thereof.” (JU)
“Hell is the absence of logic.” Dr. E. Michael Jones
“Can there be injustice if there’s no truth?” MLK‘s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,“ 1963
“And unjust law is no law at all.” Saint Augustine
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The Declaration on Independence, 1776
“And don’t you forget it!” Frank Mariano yelled out the driver’s window in Manhattan.
“I have a dream ...” Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington Mall, August 28, 1963
Whoever has the Archbishop’s ring must return it too his great, great nephew Fr. Chris, along with the chalice, “For it is truly just and fitting,” sayest the Lord!
“I lay my garden down to sleep. I pray that Winter whil’st it keep.” the Casual Gardening October prayer.
“You don’t age in a trout stream.”
“It takes a set to play tennis.”
“The Customer is always right.”
“I don’t know what I don’t know.”
“Graduations and weddings are for mothers.”
“If you’re gonna fix something, first know what the problem is.”
“You can try to rewrite history, but you can’t rewrite the facts!”
“These are the times that try men’s souls.” Tom Paine
“I’ve not yet begun to fight!” JP Jones
“Aim small miss small.”
“I pray for the end of black racism and white racism every day”
Perhaps we are just now “in the end of the beginning” as Churchill so eloquently put it.
“Never. Never. Never. Never. Never give up!” Churchill’s shortest graduation speech.
“Tom, your genius is your error.” John Roark, Editor of Frontier Press.
“Those that can, do; Those that can’t, critique.”
“Take a calm deep breathe often.”
“Going hooome!!!” My dear Aunt Rose at 103
“Phone Home!” (ET)
“Visualize success!”
“Why does a mirror reverse left and right but not up and down?”
“Stay two seconds behind the car in front of you.”
“Do all you’re braking before you leave the pavement😮
“Turn left to go right,” Doc
“Start me up!” Mick
“Don’t play with knives. All guns are loaded!”
“Pray for a miracle.”
“The pain then is part of the happiness now.” (Shadowlands)
“Freedom!” (Amistad)
“Political poles are like posts only dumber.”
“Games are won in practice.” (Yogi)
“Winning is everything!” (Lombardy)
“Make my day!” (Dirty Harry)
“You can’t handle the truth!” (A Few Good Men)
“It’s about honor.”
”When you do something for someone’s child, you own them.” Mark Smith
“You can do it that way, but I’ll mark it wrong!” (Sr. Mary John)
“We were once here.” (Last of the Mohicans)
“There will be times like this momma said.”
“What is an RC and a moon pie?”
“It ain’t my dog.”
“You can’t always git what you waunt.” (Mick)
“But if you try, sometimes you might just find, you get whut you need.” (Mick)
“Hey, Jude, don’t be afraid.” (Beatles)
“They’d a made Whitefish Bay if they’d a put fifteen more miles behind ‘em.”
“Shelter from the Sturm.” (Dylan)
Regarding Wagner - Mark Twain said it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds.
Paul Harvey - “Good Day!”
“Subtlety is the spice of life”
“I am amazed at what I don’t know.”
“For what is something, if there is nothing?”
”I would like to charge people to spend the day in my head.” twt
“Don’t let the old man in.” (Clint Eastwood/Toby Keith)
The Navy Seals say, “The only easy day was yesterday.” The Marines, “Booyah!” Black Ops (and THE Bears,) mantra is, “Another One Bites the Dust!”
John Paul Jones in 2021 says, “ I have not yet begun to fight!”
“I hope we make it.”
“Take the Road Least Traveled.”
“Say ‘I love you’ every day.”
“Say ‘Thank You’.”
“Be yourself”
Call a friend.
If a person uses the word “right” in a sentence, don’t buy it.
“A deal is not a deal until it happens twice.” (Jack Tenbrunsel)
Out of the blue at dinner Will asked, “Papa, are you tired of living yet?”
“Sometimes I want to call seconds ‘time pennies’,” (Tommy)
“Pink on it.” (Kaitlin Ten)
“Play Ball!”
“There I am, Pimmy.”
“While our spirit will remain for a few generations, our memories we take with us.”
“If you plant it; it will grow.”
“Will you remember me in a year?
Will you remember me in a month?
Will you remember me in a week?
Will you remember me in a day?
Will you remember me in a an hour?
Will you remember me in a second?
Knock! Knock!”
(Tommy)
”There will be a time in your life when the wisdom of youth overtakes you.”
“Be Smart”
“Be Safe”
“Be Alert”
“Check Six!”
“Peace”
“Hug”
“Love”
“Laugh”
“Live”
“Celebrate”
“Be Proud”
“Be Patriotic”
“Go to Church”
“Have family dinner”
“God Bless America!”
“Smile”
“Play”
“Pray”
“Kick ass!”
”These are my words and as such are beyond contestation.”
tom tenbrunsel
Poet Laureate of the Last Resort
Author’s Note: These quotes are a collection of life lessons. if you just read them, you missed the point. Their meaning goes deep. To read is to skim, to skimp. Reading is easy. Understanding their meaning is profound. Read, study and learn. Go back again and pick a few and dwell on them until they reveal themselves to you. Enjoy the “Ah Ha!” moment they afford. Take their gift off the page and carry it in your heart.
If you read these rapidly so as to get thru them, you have befallen superficiality. Read them once again. Take your time for the are capsules of a thousand ideas. Ponder each. Look for the “Ah Ha!”
Let’s hear it! What’s your favorite saying that I’ve never heard before? Come on. Share. I’ll put it on the website. Give it a try. Subscribe (free!), Sign In, and leave a comment below. If not now, when? For we shall pass this way but once😎
tom tenbrunsel
Author, writer, poet, papa