Echo as life

“Civility costs nothing and buys everything.” 

- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Once upon a time, a man and his son were walking in the forest. Suddenly the boy tripped and screamed, "Ahhhhh." Surprised, he heard a voice coming from the mountain, "Ahhhhh!"

Filled with curiosity, he yelled "Who are you?", but the only answer he received was: "Who are you?"

This made him rather angry, so he screamed "You are a coward!" and the voice answered: "You are a coward!"

The boy looked at his father and asked, "Dad, what is going on?" "Son," the man replied, "pay attention!" 

Then he yelled, "I admire you!" 

The voice answered: "I admire you!" 

The father shouted, "You are wonderful!", and the voice answered: "You are wonderful!"

The boy stood surprised, still not understanding what is going on.

Up where we belong...

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens." 

- Jimi Hendrix

"Up Where We Belong" is a quite an inspirational song from the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. Although this was oldie in my youth, I loved this song in my high-school days. Do you remember the lyrics...

True Friend and a Friend

“What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies.” 

- Aristotle

A friend will tell you what is new in their life.
True friend will ask "What is happening in your life?"

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A friend thinks that your troubles are new.
True friend says: "You have been grumbling about that for years. Make a move and do something about it!"

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A friend has never seen you cry.
True friend has shoulders soggy from your tears.

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A friend doesn't know your parents' first names.
True friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

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A friend brings a ready meal to your party.
True friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

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A friend hates it when you call after they've gone to bed.
True friend asks you "What prevented you from calling me earlier?"

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A friend will talk with you about your problems.
True friend wishes to help you with your problems.

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A friend, when visiting, acts like a guest.
True friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself.

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A friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument.
True friend knows that real friendship is just beginning after you've had a fight.

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A friend expects you to always be there for them.
True friend is always there for you.

It’s now or never

"Avoiding the phrase “I don’t have time...”, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life." 

- Bo Bennett

Once upon a time, a man stopped at a flower shop to order flowers to send to his mother who lived in a city two hundred miles away. 

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and one red rose costs two dollars."

The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. We'll buy you a rose for your mother."

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered flowers to be sent to his own mother. As they were leaving the flower shop, he offered little girl a ride home. 

The three sieves test

"Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing." 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once upon a time in ancient Greece, one of the acquaintances of the great Greek philosopher Socrates came running and said: “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?”

“Wait a minute”, Socrates stopped him, “Before you tell me, I would like to conduct a simple test. It is called the three sieves test.”

“Three sieves test?”

“Yes. Before you tell me anything about my student, take a moment to consider carefully what you are going to say and pour your words through special sieves.”

“The first one is the sieve of truth. Are you absolutely, without any doubt, sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“Well... no. Actually I heard it recently and...”

“Alright”, interrupted Socrates, “So you don’t really know if it is true or not!”

Keeping love alive

You know very well that love is, above all, the gift of oneself!

- Jean Anouilh

Once upon a time, a mother and her son were walking along the beach. Suddenly, the boy asked: "Mom, how do you keep love alive?"

The mother looked at her son and replied, "Take some sand in your hand and squeeze it as hard as you can." The boy did as instructed, but the harder he squeezed the sand, the faster it escaped his hand, running through his fingers. "But like this the sands falls out." complained the boy.

"Yes," said the mother. "Now, open your hand wide." The boy opened his hand and the wind blew away all the remaining sand. "I can't keep it in my hand that way either!"