Blog Archives - FordeFables

May 31st, 2013.

31/5/2013

Thought for today:
"On December 2nd, 1999, the tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from his mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner, as if to thank him for touching him with the hand of God and saving his life. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not have survived had he been removed from his mother's womb, so was operated on while in the womb. Samuel's mother, Julia Armas is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta and being aware of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure, she contacted him at his work at Vanerbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville. Samuel was born in perfect health. His mother wept after she saw the picture of her son reaching out for the surgeon's hand. She said, 'The photo reminds us that pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person.' This thought for today isn't to put across any Roman Catholic propaganda about 'pro-life'; it is merely to remind all that the current abortion limit in Great Britain is 24 weeks. When one sees a picture like this, the semantics that seeks to distinguish between 'fetus' and 'life' is much, much more than merely academic, isn't it?" William Forde: May 31st, 2013.

May 29th, 2013

29/5/2013

Thought for today:
"The Americans are certainly people for whom I've had ambivalent feelings since childhood. As a Second World War baby, I initially grew up resenting them for waiting until their Pearl Harbour was bombed before they joined the Allied Forces. As a growing child in the austerity of post-war 1950's, I wanted the good quality of life that all Americans 'seemed' to have, especially those new kitchen gadgets called fridges that made children ice pops. As a teenager, all my learning about the British monarchy throughout the centuries was dumped in favour of the one and only 'King'; Elvis Presley. As a history student, I learned to admire the Americans for having refused to cow-tow to the British in 1773, and instead of joining their tea party, the tax rebels from Botony Bay decided to have one of their own. Then following the happy hippy period of the 1960's where bombs were banned, love was free and everything else the mind and body could conjure up was allowed, America quickly went downhill. In came the culture of drugs, racketeering and pornography, along with a rapid increase in crimes of violence, sex trafficking, and the amount of food upon a plate that was required to fill a Philadelphian face and grossly enlarge an American butt. As an ageing adult, I have begun to question more its gun laws which it hangs on to as the last bastion of independence; just in case the British ever invade again. Well, let me tell you Yankees, they'll be no more hungry 'Wolfes' from this side of the Atlantic knocking on your door again. Most of us tea drinkers have gone teetotal now and drink nothing else but American coffee!

But whatever negative thoughts I have ever held about the Americans, they have always done enough to redeem themselves in my eyes. What I do love about the Americans, and where we British have much to learn from them, is their capacity to pick themselves up after any kind of national tragedy and to get on with their lives in the best way they know how. Burn their flag and you will get shot down in flames. Stand on any American street and preach hatred against their country and you'll not be the beneficiary of any state benefits other than being given a few years hard labour. They won't provide legal aid to the hate mongers. There may not even provide a trial!

Whenever faced with a problem such as the recent horrendous hurricane disaster, their 'can do' attitude and positivism is nothing less than inspiring. I wasn't surprised with their response when a huge tree was uprooted in Sequoia National Park, California. No picnics were cancelled, no traffic was re-routed: they didn't even bother trying to go around the problem; they just went through it! Long live America and Mamma's apple pie!" William Forde: May 29th, 2013.

May 28th, 2013.

28/5/2013

Thought for today:
"While the formula for success varies from person to person and situation to situation, the formula for failure remains constant. Those that never do always fail. Those who try to please everyone all the time, often finish up pleasing nobody. Why, even the most selfish person in the world is guaranteed to please one person at least all the time; himself!

There is no point trying to resist gravity when falling from on high. Far better to prepare for the landing and cushion it if possible. The best way however to avoid failure is to never anticipate it. Other ways include learning to perceive the outcome more positively and if necessary, as the late Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing advocated, learning to 're-frame' it.

R.D.Laing was the type of man I truly admired. He wrote extensively on mental illness, and in particular, the experience of psychosis. His existential philosophy ran counter to the psychiatric orthodoxy of the day by taking the expressed feelings of the individual patient or client as valid descriptions of lived experience rather than simply as symptoms of some separate or underlying disorder.

Although an alcoholic in his later years, his thought remained fresh until the day he died. He accepted we all experience neurosis and therefore advocated getting rid of one neurosis which hampered one's life by substituting it with one of lesser ill. If the delusional patient believed themselves to be the reincarnation of Henry 1V, then he would address them as though they were Henry 1V. If a person who was mentally ill, insisted that he first interview their imaginary friend who was reportedly sitting in the room with them, he would oblige. When one woman described her problem as remaining awake all night long when the rest of the city was fast asleep he replied, 'How marvellous. What an opportunity to get all those things done at night that the busy day and the interference of others will not allow you to do!'

I did not agree with all his announcements however, particularly those of the more amoral type. He seemed wholly able to tolerate and accept anyone else's problem in life that did not directly impact upon his own life and circumstances. He once argued on late-night television that the act of bestiality with pig did not disturb him in the slightest, so long as it wasn't his porky getting stuffed." William Forde: May 28th, 2013.

May 27th, 2013.

28/5/2013

Thought for today:
"I have always been fascinated by history of the Indian continent. Having been born during the years of the British Empire, I have acquainted myself with the polemic arguments about the merits of India's independence in August 1947. While many ways of running the country was deliberately maintained by Indian administrators, I only wish that their transport upon the rails had not tried to copy the example of the British trains. I very much doubt today that there is any significant difference between the train out of King's Cross station during the rush hour of a Friday evening and one travelling from Delhi to Mumbai; apart from the fact that the Indians seem to prefer being outside their sardine-can experience instead of rubbing shoulders inside the train whilst trying to furtively read their copies of '50 Shades of Grey' or their newspapers." William Forde: May 27th, 2013.

May 26th, 2013.

27/5/2013

Thought for today:
"Viewing the attainment of 'happiness' as a reward and not as a goal will be more likely to bring it your way. The more good you do and the better you do things, the more likely you are to taste happiness as a regular dish." William Forde: May 26th, 2013.

May 25th, 2013.

25/5/2013

Thought for today:
"I really admire all of those workers who go out to their jobs daily, especially to do work that provides them with less wage than they could collect on the dole, offers no prospects and provides them with very little satisfaction. It must be extremely demoralising today, when employers are demanding more work for even less pay than last year, to find the very life blood squeezed out of you. All of the politicians in the past thirty years seem to have helped nobody in this country apart from those of 'victim' mode who clearly have no inclination ever to help themselves!" William Forde: May 25th, 2013.

May 24th, 2013.

24/5/2013

Thought for today:
"They do say that 'curiosity killed the cat, but I've always found that those who don't inquire rarely find out and are never able to see the full picture." William Forde: May 24th, 2013.

May 23rd, 2013.

23/5/2013

Thought for today:
"The cold of winter lingers too long. Spring has been smothered in the waiting of its thaw and summer shall have been and gone before the season comes around once more for the snow's return. Oh Nature, what has mankind done to offend thee so grievously that you rob us of our summer and threaten our coming autumn with more months of floods and storms? Though I be seventy years of age, I have never known your weathers over a twelve month cycle be so unpredictably hostile. And yet, I'd rather live in England, filled with all its unpredictability than in the hurricane corridor of Oklahoma where the certainty of death and destruction is an annual event. " William Forde: May 23rd: 2013

May 22nd, 2013.

23/5/2013

Thought for today:
"Happiness is the most fleeting of emotional festivities. It is not unlike a butterfly, which when pursued with too much eagerness is always beyond our grasp, but which, if we sit down quietly, may alight upon us." William Forde: May 22nd, 2013.

May 21st, 2013.

21/5/2013

Thought for today:
" If you make forgiveness a permanent attitude in your life instead of an occasional act, less anger will be available for you to store. The attainment of happiness is no vague dream; it has to be actively worked for through the positive channels of unconditional love and an appreciation of life's infinite beauty. Let go of all your fears and doubts and allow yourself to fall in love with life itself and enjoy the company of all its beautiful creatures; for once we are happy to lose our hold on everyday things we begin to meet all manner of angels on our travels." William Forde: May 21st, 2013.

May 20th, 2013.

20/5/2013

Thought for today:
" Oh citizens and stalwarts of Haworth Heath, walk forth the dusty road of time in splendid step. Oh muse of majestic colour, roll out thy carpets of lush green grass, grey, windy walks filled with fluttering butterflies of crimson reds, bottled blues and speckled yellows and foot-trodden tracks across graceful fields that flow down invitingly into Sladen Reservoir and gullies deep. How wonderful thou art on a summer's day when you break into a warm blush of Nature's fancy. Oh let me smell your stone-walled fragrance as I walk your path of glory all the way back to Main Street far below this country heaven here in the heart of Haworth Moors. Put the tea on Sheila and get out that soda bread and jam I love so much, for soon your man shall return to home so sweet." William Forde: May 20th, 2013.

May 19th, 2013.

20/5/2013

Thought for today:
"True friendship is the strongest of bonds. Even a quarrel between friends, when made up, can add a new dimension to the friendship; as experience shows that wind-battered trees learn to withstand future storms and that the callosity formed around a broken bone makes it stronger than before. Worry not therefore about experiencing honest fall outs, as 'fall ins' will more than compensate that which once did taste bitter." William Forde: May 19th, 2013.

May 18th, 2013

18/5/2013

Thought for today:
"They'll be some good rocking tonight. One has to admit that the women of fifty years ago who jitter-bugged the night away on the dance hall and who became the rock and rollers of the New Millennium never lost either talent or looks. I reckon its the floor exercise, along being married to a good bloke that keeps them forever young. Not that I was ever one who wholeheartedly approved of the beauty contests of the 1950's and 60's, but of one thing I have not the slightest doubt; that despite their age, those dancing legs of the 1960's are a beauty match for any pair of modern pins one might see today." William Forde: May 18th,2013.

May 17th, 2013.

17/5/2013

Thought for today:
"When someone cares to listen or stretches out a hand, or whispers words of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person or shares the pain of someone bereaved: when such compassion moves the heart in a way that allows prisoners to genuinely repent, widows to weep more openly and the tears of big men to flow more freely, extraordinary things begin to happen and sanity and humanity return to the world once more." William Forde: May 17th, 2013.

May 16th, 2013.

17/5/2013

Thought for today:
" There is no problem in this life that perseverance, sheer doggedness and a refusal to be beaten allied to a good dollop of ingenuity won't sort out." William Forde: May 16th, 2013.

May 15th, 2013.

15/5/2013

Thought for today:
"If you ever doubted the capacity of a good woman over that of a man to multi-task, just observe her during her quieter moments while she breast feeds her two youngest. Some woman, 'can do it all.' They can work outside the home on a part-time basis, wash, clean, iron; even look after her young and prepare her husband's evening meal for when he returns from work, whilst continuing to look every bit as fetching as the sexy-looking Goddess, Nigella as she serves it up on a plate. To her, it's as easy as peeling spuds and shelling peas!" William Forde: May 15th, 2013

May 14th, 2013

15/5/2013

Thought for today:
" Just because I am a few stones overweight, a bit flabby in my folds and have always been as straight as a fletcher's arrow, doesn't stop me from knowing and appreciating a good figure of a man when I see one!

Just because I have never personally experienced depression or emotional disturbance, doesn't mean that I'm not aware of its presence when I see it sour the soul of another.

What I am aware of is the awesome power of the picture and the word to influence the outcome when combined in single objective and identical purpose; even before the task has commenced. Such is the true extent of power of the images we hold and the words we speak immediately before we act!" William Forde: May 14th, 2013.

May 13th, 2013.

13/5/2013

Thought for today:

'Hands, Words, Feelings and Love' by William Forde.

"Hands that help are holier than lips that pray.

Words that touch do better argument than opinion sway.

Feelings that meet are never lost in raw expression.

Love breathes life in sorrowful souls,
the only source to quench depression.

You are my lover, my soul mate and my friend.
Be forever with me 'til the end."

William Forde: May 13th, 2013.

May 12th, 2013.

13/5/2013

Thought for today:
"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her nor killed the glory of her autumn to satisfy the hunger of an early winter. She knows there is a pleasure to be had by woodland strollers on pathless walks; a moment of perfect solitude to be found in the stillness of the breeze that winds its way silently though the naked tree tops on a misty morn. All these small woodland things help to make up the pulse of woodland life in which mother nature breathes fresh life into its trodden soil and oversees all." William Forde: May 12th, 2013.

May 11th, 2013.

11/5/2013

Thought for today:
"Come forth into the light of things and let nature be your teacher of delights. See the changes in the season's colours as the leaves of the trees fall to ground and start to mould the earth's woodland carpet. Hear the change in the sound of woodland creatures great and small as they sing their morning song or breathe their last as the mouth of the fox sinks into their flesh. Smell the fragrance of new ground where both sun and shade give space to springtime flowers. Come forth into the woodland and let nature instruct you in the ways of 'The Green Man.' There can be no misery to him who lives in the midst of nature and still has his senses to enjoy its seasons to the full. William Forde: May 11th, 2013.

May 10th, 2013.

10/5/2013

Thought for today:
"Matthew Arnold, the 19th Century poet, cultural critic and essayist will be remembered for many things. Some will know of him first as being the son of the famous Thomas Arnold who was the Master of Rugby School. Some may be amused by his work as a school inspector and others applaud him for his translation of Homer in 1861. For myself though, it was his beautiful simple words as a poet that moved me in admiration of the man:

'Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived the light in the spring, to have loved ,to have thought, to have done?'

Such simple truths stirred my imaginations in 1953 as I lay in a hospital bed dying from a traffic accident and having heard the doctor tell my parents that if I lived that I would never walk again.

If I could pass a law, I would seek to have this wise man's poetry established in our schools as required reading for every boy and girl of 11 years of age. In this way, they would live their adult lives more in the spirit of life's game: that is, when you have the ball in your hands, don't drop it, run with it!" William Forde: May 10th, 2013.

May 9th, 2013.

9/5/2013

Thought for today:
"A man will exceed other people's expectations only when he chooses to be defined by his own, and it is only then can such a creature be known as 'one's own man.' It is only then that he will ever get the true measure of a woman. It is only then that he can look his sweetheart straight in the eye and tell her, 'I know exactly what you did with my pajama bottoms and I know precisely why you did it!' " William Forde: May 9th, 2013.

May 8th, 2013.

9/5/2013

Thought for today:
"We shall never understand the whole of life; perhaps just one small part of it. What we have done, what we do now and what is yet to be done will not disclose its overall purpose until it has been done.

As a family member, we are but one branch of a larger tree and should not seek to reach out beyond the light that shines upon its trunk.

We learn more of life when we do it and not read it, and yet life is much better lived with a book nearby. When we read, we should read for pleasure as much as knowledge: when we look at the skies, we should look well beyond the clouds into the heavens to see more clearly the rainbow beyond: we should sing and dance to lighten the soul and write poetry to warm the senses: we should smell the roses as we pass by, for they will never smell as sweet again.

That is why the experience of one's suffering is required before one can fully appreciate and truly understand the pain of another. That is why the stretch of one's imagination is needed to broaden the narrow mind. That is why you must first be 'you,' so that one day you may become the 'you' that you were meant to be. All that is life. All that is good!" William Forde: May 8th, 2013.

May 7th, 2013.

7/5/2013

Thought for today:
"Approximately 1600 years before John Donne, the English poet and satirist proclaimed his immortal words, 'No man is an island' the great Roman philosopher, dramatist and statesman, Seneca wrote,' No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his own advantage. Thou must live for another if thou wishes to live for thyself.'

The more I learn about the past, the less I know about the present. All our learning has been before us and will go on after our bodies have departed this life. No lesson is new, though it be new to us; no problem is one that has not been presented and solved in part before. Those of us who stand for anything at all; those who have learnt all there is to know, both stand and learn on the backs of those who went before them.

Without a grandfather there can be no father; without a father there can be no child; without a history there can be no future and without a vision and regard of others there can be no self! " William Forde: May 7th, 2013.

May 6th, 2013.

6/5/2013

Thought for today:
" Once upon a time, there were two birds who went out on the town. They were loving doves who dressed to kill. During their night out they met Fred. Fred was a real cool dude; the flashiest of dressers who loved his own looks almost as much as others admired them. Fred liked the idea of having two good looking birds on the wing. It was good for his masculine pride and it also boosted his image as the 'most eligible' bird around. The trio had a super night out and were being escorted home by Fred at the end of it, as he hoped to share their nest, when a cat mugger emerged and threatened to snap their tiny necks if they didn't come across with the readies. Upon seeing the cat mugger, Fred, who'd been hiding behind the two birds, took instant flight, leaving his two lady friends to the mercy of the bloodthirsty cat. Just as the cat was about to pounce upon the two stunning birds, another bird arrived on the scene. It was Simon, the House Sparrow who was out for his traditional nightly fly-by. Simon was a simple bird who was somewhat plain to the eye of a beautiful female bird, but when it came to quick thinking, he was no tit. He quickly assessed the danger and without any consideration to his own safety he flew furiously towards the mugging cat and pierced his rear end with the point of his sharp beak. The cat meowed in pain and jumped over the wall and scarpered. The two female birds thanked their rescuer and rewarded him with a peck on each cheek. Simon simply smiled and flew off satisfied that his fly-by had been one with honour of which his parents would have been highly proud, had they still been alive to see it. As for the two stunning birds who had come so close to having been mugged by the cat and mogged by the colourful popinjay, they had learned an important lesson and had no intention of repeating their experience. They had learned that good looks will always attract the popinjays who parade their finery for all to see and parrot their self-praises, but it takes good judgement of character to bag oneself a lifelong partner who won't desert you when your beautiful plumage starts to fade and a few loose feathers are left in your wake." William Forde: May 6th, 2013.