Inspirational Quotes 82

Courtship rituals – bring them back.

Be yourself, don't copy other people, you can do anything at any age, live in the moment, appearance doesn't matter, you'll be stronger on your own, you can be alone but not lonely, you are responsible for everything that happens to you, yes, we know...

They had persuasive manners and great social charm, which enabled them to move at ease in the best society. (The Invention of Tradition)
I’ve always been a people pleaser. I was small for my age so I had to learn not to be too gobby. You learn the art of diplomacy. Sometimes the hard way. (Stephen Mangan)

Then it was rather déclassé to have sex with people immediately, even if you fancied them. There was still a kind of courtship ritual, which has since totally disappeared. Just as in heterosexual relationships of the time, one sent anyone to whom one was attracted a letter, arranged a meeting, went out to dinner, eyes meeting in the candlelight. (Redeeming Features, Nicky Haslam)

With other members of the management he was less charitable. He seemed to know who the safe targets were. (Corporate Bodies, Simon Brett)

What’s it like living with strangers when most people your age are settled in their own homes? (Guardian June 2015)

The end of being “married” signifies far more than the end of being “a couple”. Marriage integrates you into a broad social and familial network. (Suzie Godson, Times June 2015)

This deliberate advice may be given to those who wish to marry. Appear as though you do not; but mind you do it sweetly. Nothing is so fatal as a ticket stuck in a hat, on which is written “I want to marry; mother says I ought and must; and I myself believe I really should do so, for more reasons than one.” (Advice to Single Women by Haydn Brown, 1899)

Not having a partner - that is going to be a lack, that’s going to hurt at times. And so is not having children. (Novice nun on BBC Breakfast)

I didn’t want to be the only one in my friend group that couldn’t have children. (Times June 2015)

In her twenties she had had a series of affairs which never stood a chance of going the distance. (Star Trap, Simon Brett)

Violence towards women isn’t cultural, it’s criminal. (Hillary Clinton)

In many places... legal protections have preceded, not followed, broader recognition of rights. Laws have a teaching effect. (Hillary Clinton)

I had a job I loved with people I considered to be my family too, and when I got laid off, I was totally adrift and bereft. That was nearly 20 years ago... (Commenter on The Age of Uncertainty)

Offices have now been reconfigured to provide a paid mating market for the under 35s. (Another commenter)

People living in tower blocks are more fearful, more depressed, less sociable.

I wasn’t deep friends with any of them because I had to go home to see the kids rather than go out on the booze. (Jim Dale on the Carry On crowd)
This book (Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason) is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work. (A “trigger warning” on Kant’s classic)

Revealing mental health problems does “more harm than good” says academic living with depression (Times Ed. Supp.)

Poisonous relationships can alter our perception. You can spend many years thinking you’re worthless… but you’re not worthless, you’re unappreciated. (Steve Maraboli)

Lonely people think they have nothing to give. (Penelope Mortimer)

We have been treating and grooming [our son] to be “normal” and have a normal life because limitations are not allowed for by those with no difficulties. (Dyspraxia website)

The outward cordiality that politeness dictates. (Agatha Christie)

Uhtceare. Lying awake before dawn and fretting. The word is Old English but the experience is timeless. When afflicted by uhtceare it is best to roll over and remember what your shelf of self-help books says: that the future is full of endless, golden possibilities. (It is only the probabilities that are depressing.)

More here, and links to the rest.