Conquerors, visionaries, artists, poets, and resolute men of all sorts throughout time have been driven to extraordinary acts by their commitment to triumphs that most of us admire - but would prefer to leave to someone else

Miss Isabella Bird traveled the globe writing story after story of far-away people and places. There would be nothing like her nineteenth-century travel books until James Michener started writing his twentieth-century travel books.

Truth is a big word. Seeking, "The Truth", is an abstract adventure. It's an adventure that usually leads to grandiose theorizing resulting in little usable information.
Seeking, "The Truth", isn't a rewarding use of time. Seeking what's true in a particular case is more practical, though it's no easier.

Playing and daydreaming are seriously underappreciated. When your mind is off-duty you are
free to notice what seemed unimportant when you were working.

I wonder about these re-connections with people from my past. Are they unusual, or are they common? I don't think they only happen to me. Are certain people woven together in an unseen fabric for some purpose unknown? I suspect so.

When played by world-shakers, King of the Hill, is a very serious game. Horseracing is often said to be the sport of Kings. The true sport of Kings is war. Some say that that might doesn't make right, but it can't be proved by the evidence.

The figures on the wall flow with energy and grace. They move like living animals. I can't believe the artists who created these pictures intended them as no more than totem caricatures useful only for making magic.

A lot of people, from far back in time, have believed numbers to be mystically significant. They don't always agree which number signifies what. They do agree that numbers account for more than just counting.

The example of closing time is easy to understand. Whatever barroom need or hope you have has to get done before closing time. Life has its own closing time. Keeping that limitation in mind focuses attention on what really needs doing.

Sorry. There's no anything, anywhere, but strong quantum entanglements of energy that masquerade as hard reality. The hard stuff you see around you is empty space in which the illusion of, stars, planets, and everything else, is created by impenetrable force-fields of energy. The illusion is overwhelming realistic, but it isn't real.