Problems
worthy
of
attack
prove
their worth
by
hitting back.
Put
up in a place
where
it's easy to see
the
cryptic admonishment
T.T.T.
When
you feel how depressingly
slowly
you climb,
it's
well to remember that
Things Take Time.
The
road to wisdom? - Well, it's plain
and
simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.
The
way to grow grand
is
not: to demand.
In
life's every field
you
are what you yield.
There
is
one
art,
no
more,
no
less:
to
do
all
things
with
art-
lessness.
THE
MIRACLE OF SPRING
We
glibly talk
of
nature's laws
but
do things have
a
natural cause?
Black
earth turned into
yellow
crocus
in
undiluted
hocus-pocus.
TWO
WORDS
Two
words express
My
love galore:
Nevertheless,
Alwaysthemore
A
PSYCHOLOGICAL TIP
Whenever
you're called on to make up your mind,
and
you're hampered by not having any,
the
best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
is
simply by spinning a penny.
No
- not so that chance shall decide the affair
while
you're passively standing there moping;
but
the moment the penny is up in the air,
you
suddenly know what you're hoping
A
WORD TO THE WISE
Let
the world pass in its time-ridden race;
never get caught in its snare.
Remember,
the only acceptable case
for
being in any particular place
is having no business there.
LIVING
IS -
Living
is
a
thing you do
now
or never -
which
do you?
THE
ETERNAL TWINS
Taking
fun
as simply fun
and
earnestness
in earnest
shows
how thoroughly
thou none
of
the two
discernest.
CONSOLATION
GROOK
Losing
one glove
is
certainly painful,
but
nothing
compared to the pain,
of
losing one,
throwing
away the other,
and
finding
the first one again.
OMNISCIENCE Knowing whatthou knowest notis in a senseomniscience. SIMPLY ASSISTING GOD I am a humble artistmoulding my earthly clod,adding my labour to nature's,simply assisting God. Not that my effort is needed;yet somehow, I understand,my maker has willed it that I too should haveunmoulded clay in my hand. HINT AND SUGGESTIONAdmonitory grook addressed to youth. The human spirit sublimatesthe impulses it thwarts;a healthy sex life mitigatesthe lust for other sports. 
MANKIND Men, said the Devil,are good to their brothers:they don’t want to mendtheir own ways, but each other's. NAIVE -- Naive you areif you believelife favours thosewho aren't naive. THE MIRACLE OF SPRING We glibly talk of nature's lawsbut do thing have a natural cause? Black earth turned into yellow crocusis undiluted hocus-pocus. DREAM INTERPRETATIONSimplified. Everything's eitherconcave or -vex,so whatever you dreamwill be something with sex. PRAYERto the sun above the clouds. Sun that givest all things birth,shine on everything on earth! If that's too much to demand,shine at least on this our land. If even that's too much for thee,shine at any rate on me. CIRCUMSCRIPTURE As Pastor X steps out of bed he slips a neat disguise on:that halo round his priestly head is really his horizon. SOCIAL MECHANISM When people alwaystry to takethe very smallestpiece of cakehow can it alsoalways bethat that's the onethat's left for me? A TOAST The soul may be a mere pretence,the mind makes very little sense.So let us value the appealof that which we can taste and feel. ON PROBLEMS Our choicest plans have fallen through,our airiest castles tumbled over,because of lines we neatly drewand later neatly stumbled over. AN ETHICAL GROOK I see and I hear and I speak no evil;I carry no malice within my breast;yet quite without wishing a man to the Devilone may be permitted to hope for the best. LILAC TIME The lilacs are flowering, sweet and sublime, with a perfume that goes to the head;and lovers meander in prose and rhyme,trying to say -- for the thousandth time -- wha's easier done than said. THE DOUBLE-DOOR EFFECT Double doors are justifiedbecause they're comfortably wide.Therefore you only half undo'em;and therefore nothing can get through 'em. FORETASTE WITH AFTERTASTE Corinna's scanty evening dressreveals her charms to an excesswhich makes a fellow lust for less. MAJORITY RULE His party was the Brotherhood of Brothers,and there were more of them than of the others.That is, they constituted that minoritywhich formed the greater part of the majority.Within the party, he was of the factionthat was supported by the greater fraction.And in each group, within each group, he soughtthe group that could command the most support.The final group had finally electeda triumvirate whom they all respected.Now, of these three, two had final word,because the two could overrule the third.One of these two was relatively weak,so one alone stood at the final peak.He was: THE GREATER NUMBER of the pairwhich formed the most part of the three that wereelected by the most of those whose boastit was to represent the most of the mostof most of most of the entire state --or of the most of it at any rate.He never gave himself a moment's slumberbut sought the welfare of the greater number.And all people, everywhere they went,knew to their cost exactly what it meantto be dictated to by the majority.But that meant nothing, -- they were the minority. EXPERTS Experts havetheir expert funex cathedratelling onejust how nothingcan be done. 
ATOMYRIADES Nature, it seems, is the popular namefor milliards and milliards and milliardsof particles playing their infinite gameof billiards and billiards and billiards. ROAD SENSE God save us, now they're murdering another winding road,and another lovely countryside will take another loadof pantechnicon and car and motorbike. They're busy making biger roads, and better roads and more,so that people can discover even faster than before that everything is everywhere alike. OUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT We must expect posterityto view with some asperity the marvels and the wonders we're passing on to it;but it should change its attitudeto one of heartfelt gratitude when thinking of the blunders we didn't quite commit. THE TRUE DEFENCE The only defencethat is more than pretence is to act on the factthat there is no defence. PAST PLUPERFECT The past, -- well, it's just like our Great-Aunt Laura,who cannot or will not perceivethat though she is welcome, and though we adore her,yet now it is time to leave. 
MY FAITH IN DOCTORS My faith in doctors is immense.Just one thing spoils it; their pretenceof authorised omniscience. DEFENCE WANTED In International Consequencesthe players must reckon to reap what they've sown.We have a defence against other defences,but what's to defend us against our own? GETTING DOWN TO FUNDAMENTALS It will steadily shrink,our earthly abode,until antiode standsupon antipode. Then, soles together,the planet gone,we'll know the groundthat we rest upon. GROOK TO STIMULATE GRATITUDEin sour rationalists. As things so very often areintelligence won't get you far. So be glad you've got more sensethan you've got intelligence. MISSING LINK Man's a kindof Missing Link,fondly thinkinghe can think.
THAT IS THE QUESTIONHamlet Anno Domini. Co-existenceor no existence. BRIDGE OR TUNNEL?Channel project. A tunnel would be possible, a bridge would also do,but wouldn't it be better to amalgamate the two? Let bridge and tunnel undulate in waves from shore to shore,keeping green the memories of those who went before. LOSING FACE The noble art of losing facemay one day save the human race and turn into eternal meritwhat weaker minds would call disgrace.
A WORD TO THE WISE Let the world pass in its time-ridden race; never get caught in its snare.Remember, the only acceptable casefor being in any particular place is having no business there. MEETING THE EYE You'll probably find that it suits your bookto be a bit cleverer than you look.Observe that the easiest method by faris to look a bit stupider than you are. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN A poet should be of the old-fahioned meaningless brand:obscure, esoteric, symbolic, -- the critics demand it;so if there's a poem of mine that you do understandI'll gladly explain what it means till you don't understand it. THE CASE FOR OBSCURITYOn Thoughts and Words I. If no thoughtyour mind does visit,make your speechnot too explicit. LEST FOOLS SHOULD FAIL True wisdom knowsit must comprisesome nonsenseas a compromise,lest fools shouls failto find it wise. GROOK ON LONG-WINDED AUTHORS Long-winded writers I abhor, and glib, prolific chatters;give me the ones who tear and gaw their hair and pens to tatters:who find heir writing such a chore they only write what matters. 
OUT OF TIMEA holiday thought. My old clock used to tell the time and subdivide diurnity;but now it's lost both hands and chime and only tells eternity. 
AN ODE TO MODESTY Talking of successful racketsmodesty deserves a mention.Exclamation marks in bracketsnever fail to draw attention. THE CURE FOR EXHAUSTION Sometimes, exhaustedwith toil and endeavour,I wish I could sleepfor ever and ever;but then this reflectionmy longing allays:I shall be doing itone of these days. 
I'D LIKE -- I'd like to know what this whole show is about before it's out. 
A MAXIM FOR VIKINGS Here is a fact that should help you fight a bit longer:Things that don't act- ually kill you outright make you stronger. MAKING SENSE Life makes sensesand who could doubt it,if we haveno doubt about it. A MOMENT'S THOUGHT As eternityis reckonedthere's a lifetimein a second. 
LIVING IS -- Living is a thing you donow or never -- which do you? (for Expo 67) We travel where ever mankind reignsand find good men in all the worlds domainsand recognize them as a kind of Danes. 
TAUGHT We are taught to live, we are taught to feel.We are taught to conform and conceal. We are taught so well what we ought to feelthat we cannot feel what we feel. 
THE LITTLE MERMAID'S LITTLE SISTER The Little Mermaid's Little Sisterwas also partly girl and codthough in a way which those who kissed her found odd. ...but which, well worth to mention,though at first sight absurd,I, with my fond intention, preferred. 
THE TYRANNY OF THINGS I am trying to rule over ten thousand thingswhich I thought belonged to me.All of a sudden a doubt take wings:Do they... or could it be..? A hardhanded hunch in my mind's ear ringsfrom whence such suspicions may stem:that if you posses more than just eight thingsthen y o u are possessed by t h e m 
MOTIVATION OF TOASTS FOR A STEADFAST CHARACTER Your steadfast character appeals to frequent toasts, methinks:you never eat except at meals -nor drink 'twixt drinks. 
LOOK AND THOU SHALT FINDFoes see no worth behind it.Thosethat are lookingfor nothing - will find it. WHAT ARE YOU? The way to grow grand is not: to demandIn life's every field you are what you yield. THE EGOCENTRICS People are self-centeredto a nauseous degree.They will keep on about themselveswhile I'm explaining me. THRIFT Nobody can be lucky all the time; don't think you've been abandoned in your prime,but rather that you're saving up your ration. CAPACITY A contribution to the psychology of disappointment Some people live in a dream of what'llallow them to live their dream:they solemnly hold out a half-pint bottleand ask for a pint of cream. THAT WEARY FEELING Do you know that weary feeling when your mind is strangely strangledand your head is like a ball of wool that's very, very tangled;and the tempo of your thinking must be lenient and mild,as though you were explaining to a very little child. ONE'S OWN WEATHER You're squandering spleen on your brothers,and wasting good self-pity too,if you think that there's sun on the otherswhenever it's raining on you. 
TWO PASSIVISTSEradicate the optimist that human values will persist no matter what we do. Annihilate the pessimist whose ineffectual cryis that the goal's already missed however hard we try. THE CENTRAL POINT A philosophistry I am the Universe's Centre.No subtle sceptics can confound me;for how can other viewpoints enter,when all the rest is all around me? MOUSE AND MANA relativistic grook on co-existence A human being sharing with a mouse.Each thinks himself the master of the house.In fact, of course, each occupier's place isthe other's insulating interspaces. THREE FACTS ABOUT TRAFFIC Three facts, quite easy, should be known to all would-be arrivers who set out on wheels: that roads are greasy, safety margins small, and fellow drivers fellow imbeciles. VITA BREVIS A lifetimeis morethansufficiently longfor people to get what there is of itwrong. ETERNITY AND THE CLOCKA homage to finity Eternity's one of those mental blocks- the concept is inconceivable.The clock concedes it in ticks and tocks, belittled, belaboured, believable. Each passing moment is seized and chewed with argument incontestable.Premasticated, like baby food, eternity is digestible. ASTRO-GYMNASTICSDo-it-yourself grook