Quote of the Day (Donal Ryan, on How ‘We Never Stop Being Children’)

“We never stop being children. Or at least we never fully leave our childhood behind; we drag it with us and we stretch it out along our years and every now and then when we let our grip fail it snaps and reels us back.”—Irish novelist Donal Ryan, Heart, Be at Peace (2025)

Quote of the Day (Wendell Willkie, on Taking Away ‘The Liberties of Those We Hate’)

“For now more than ever, we must keep in the forefront of our minds the fact that whenever we take away the liberties of those we hate, we are opening the way to loss of liberty for those we love. Our way of living together in America is a strong but delicate fabric. It is made up of many threads. It has been woven over many centuries by the patience and sacrifice of countless liberty-loving men and women. It serves as a cloak for the protection of poor and rich, of black and white, of Jew and gentile, of foreign- and native-born. For God's sake, let us not tear it asunder. For no man knows, once it is destroyed, where or when man will find its protective warmth again.”—American lawyer, industrialist, and 1940 Republican Presidential nominee Wendell Willkie (1892-1944), One World (1943)

For a summary of the life and importance of this figure who would be wildly out of step with the current GOP, see my post from a dozen years ago.

Quote of the Day (Anaïs Nin, on What a Friend Represents)

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”—French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934 (1966)

Movie Quote of the Day (‘Waking Ned Devine,’ on an Irish ‘Twist of Fate’)

Jackie O'Shea [played by Ian Bannen] [to his wife, about longtime friend Ned Devine]: “Is there a greater twist of fate, Annie? To win half a million [in a lottery] and the next minute die from the shock of it!”—Waking Ned Devine (1998), written and directed by Kirk Jones

Quote of the Day (Joni Mitchell, on Her ‘Irish Blood’)

“I couldn’t walk. I had to learn how again. I couldn’t talk. Polio didn’t grab me like that, but the aneurysm took away a lot more, really….I got my speech back quickly, but the walking I’m still struggling with. But I mean, I’m a fighter. I’ve got Irish blood!” — Canadian-born singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell quoted in Cameron Crowe, “Interview: Joni Mitchell: 'I'm a Fool for Love. I Make the Same Mistake Over and Over,'” The Guardian (U.K.), Oct. 27, 2020

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress accompanying this post, showing honoree Joni Mitchell, was taken at the Kennedy Center Honors Medallion Ceremony at the Library of Congress, Dec. 4, 2021.

Quote of the Day (Alicia Keys, on What a Song Can Do)

“With a song, you can’t explain exactly what happens or when it’s going to happen or what it’s going to do to you or somebody else. But somehow, it’s this beautiful conduit that connects everybody in a way nothing else can.”—Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys quoted in “Points to Ponder,” Reader’s Digest, March 2016

The image accompanying this post, of Alicia Keys at the 2011 Walmart Shareholders Meeting, was taken June 3, 2011, by Walmart Stores.

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Annie F. Downs, on ‘What Jesus Models for Us’)

“What Jesus models for us is you can love anybody, you can be friends with anybody, you can serve anybody. Heaven's going to be a confusing place for some people when they see people who didn't agree with them.”—Christian author and podcaster Annie F. Downs quoted by Emily Borrow, “Weekend Confidential: Annie F. Downs,” The Wall Street Journal, Apr. 1-2, 2023