Quote of the Day (Fulton J. Sheen, on Religion Without Demands)

"Most people today want a religion which suits the way they live, rather than one which makes demands upon them. The result is that, in order to make religion popular, too many prophets have watered down religion until it is hardly distinguishable from sentimental secularism. Religion thus becomes a luxury, like an opera, not a responsibility, like life." —Venerable Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), The Seven Virtues (1956)

Photo of the Day: An Unusual Space on West 57th Street, NYC

As I was walking to and from the Landmark Theater on West 57^th Street last week, I came across a welcome opening between a couple of buildings. I liked the unexpected vista and angle it provided, particularly with the Art Deco look of the building on the right.

Quote of the Day (Ross Macdonald, on the Cost of Money)

“ ‘What did the old man want?’

‘Your husband’s money, just like everyone else.’

‘But not you, eh?’ Her voice was sardonic.

‘Not me,’ I said. ‘Money costs too much.’”―American mystery novelist Ross Macdonald (1915-1983), The Goodbye Look (1963)

TV Quote of the Day (‘Downton Abbey,’ With the Dowager Countess on the Fine Art of Avoiding People)

Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham [played by Dame Maggie Smith]: “There's nothing simpler than avoiding people you don't like. Avoiding one's friends—that's the real test!”—Downton Abbey, Season 5, Episode 1, original air date Jan. 4, 2015, teleplay by Julian Fellowes, directed by Catherine Morshead

Quote of the Day (Albert Camus, on Beauty)

“Man cannot do without beauty, and this is what our era pretends to want to disregard.”—French novelist-playwright-essayist and Nobel Literature laureate Albert Camus (1913-1960), The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, translated by Justin O'Brien (1942)

Quote of the Day (Colson Whitehead, on How To ‘Live Every Minute’)

“Live every minute as if you are late for the last train.” —American novelist Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York (2003)

(Photo of Colson Whitehead taken on Oct. 25, 2014, at the 2014 Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, by Larry D. Moore.)