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Gentle Thoughts; a Collection of Tender and Wise Sayings From Sundry Authors of Wisdom and Renown
62 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1969
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 9, 2019
I bought this little book at an antique bookstore, although I have to say it's not all that antique. It was published the year before I was born. The title attracted me to it, because not that many people ponder "Gentle Thoughts" anymore in our world of harshness. Plus, it looked like a short read. I got a bookmark out for it, but found I didn't need it. I finished it in one sitting.
I would actually rate this somewhere between a 3 and a 4. Some of it, most of it, was quite enjoyable, but to describe it, I'll add a C. S. Lewis quote not in the book: "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair."
Some of "Gentle Thoughts" were not all that true, just sentimentality, and I do think it can be a dangerous thing to build on mere sentimentality without truth. In that regard, "Gentle Thoughts" were not much different than today's more modern fluff reads.
Having said that, there are many quotes that I did enjoy, and sometimes, I don't mind a bit of a fluff read - as long as it's not the only thing I'm reading. I have several favorite quotes from it.
"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. I liked that quote because it describes why I always find myself out in nature somewhere, taking pictures of the beautiful. That sums it up beautifully.
"Some of your hurts you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived,
But what torments of grief you endured
From evils which never arrived!"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I loved that quote, because it caught me worrying about an adult child returning to college, never mind that most, if not all of my worries did not come to pass during her earlier college times.
Speaking of that college child, here are two quotes that bring that one to mind:
"Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity." - Joseph Addison
"One of the most effectual ways of pleasing and of making one's self loved is to be cheerful; joy softens more hears than tears." - Mme de Sartory
And here is one that makes me think of my middle child, what would be wanted in the future trips home:
"Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food, and an immense quiet." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I like this following quote, just because I like butterflies, but honestly, I'll have to think over whether or not there's truth in it. I don't know if there's anything we can do to help happiness to alight on us. I'm thinking there is, but there's probably far more we can do to frighten it away:
"Happiness is as a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Here, in fact, within the same book, are two quotes on happiness that seems to be at odds with Hawthorne's:
"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness." - Charles H. Spurgeon
"He that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so." - C. C. Colton
On thinking of recent deaths (There have been four within the past two weeks, on the fringes of my life, mostly loved ones of loved ones, and my heart goes out to their survivors.):
"The best portion of a good man's life
His little nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and love."
- William Wordsworth
"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
-Emily Dickinson
Also thinking of the grieving families and their current needs:
"Give what you have. To some one, it may be better than you dare to think."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"How far the little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world."
- William Shakespeare
And just a couple more favorites:
"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday." - Jonathan Swift
"Thou has given so much to me,
Give one thing more - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy Blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be
Thy praise."
- George Herbert
I would actually rate this somewhere between a 3 and a 4. Some of it, most of it, was quite enjoyable, but to describe it, I'll add a C. S. Lewis quote not in the book: "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair."
Some of "Gentle Thoughts" were not all that true, just sentimentality, and I do think it can be a dangerous thing to build on mere sentimentality without truth. In that regard, "Gentle Thoughts" were not much different than today's more modern fluff reads.
Having said that, there are many quotes that I did enjoy, and sometimes, I don't mind a bit of a fluff read - as long as it's not the only thing I'm reading. I have several favorite quotes from it.
"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing." - Ralph Waldo Emerson. I liked that quote because it describes why I always find myself out in nature somewhere, taking pictures of the beautiful. That sums it up beautifully.
"Some of your hurts you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived,
But what torments of grief you endured
From evils which never arrived!"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
I loved that quote, because it caught me worrying about an adult child returning to college, never mind that most, if not all of my worries did not come to pass during her earlier college times.
Speaking of that college child, here are two quotes that bring that one to mind:
"Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity." - Joseph Addison
"One of the most effectual ways of pleasing and of making one's self loved is to be cheerful; joy softens more hears than tears." - Mme de Sartory
And here is one that makes me think of my middle child, what would be wanted in the future trips home:
"Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food, and an immense quiet." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I like this following quote, just because I like butterflies, but honestly, I'll have to think over whether or not there's truth in it. I don't know if there's anything we can do to help happiness to alight on us. I'm thinking there is, but there's probably far more we can do to frighten it away:
"Happiness is as a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Here, in fact, within the same book, are two quotes on happiness that seems to be at odds with Hawthorne's:
"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness." - Charles H. Spurgeon
"He that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so." - C. C. Colton
On thinking of recent deaths (There have been four within the past two weeks, on the fringes of my life, mostly loved ones of loved ones, and my heart goes out to their survivors.):
"The best portion of a good man's life
His little nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and love."
- William Wordsworth
"If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
-Emily Dickinson
Also thinking of the grieving families and their current needs:
"Give what you have. To some one, it may be better than you dare to think."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"How far the little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world."
- William Shakespeare
And just a couple more favorites:
"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday." - Jonathan Swift
"Thou has given so much to me,
Give one thing more - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy Blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be
Thy praise."
- George Herbert
July 28, 2022
Gentle Thoughts; a Collection of Tender and Wise Sayings From Sundry Authors of Wisdom and Renown (Hardcover)
by Elisabeth Deane
Historical and thoughtful quotes collection from Marcus Aurelius, and many of the 18th century authors. The cover is fragile and beautiful. Talking about love, romance, and personal direction.
I found so many sweet reminders of things you need to contemplate, and reassurances.
by Elisabeth Deane
Historical and thoughtful quotes collection from Marcus Aurelius, and many of the 18th century authors. The cover is fragile and beautiful. Talking about love, romance, and personal direction.
I found so many sweet reminders of things you need to contemplate, and reassurances.
April 20, 2020
Read Cathy's review -- it says it all and more. I found it OK, but nothing spectacular. Most anyone could compile favorite sayings, BUT Elizabeth Deane did it!!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews