A Time For Everything

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The Flea | John Donne

Mark but this flea, and mark in this,   

How little that which thou deniest me is;   

It sucked me first, and now sucks thee,

And in this flea our two bloods mingled be;   

Thou know’st that this cannot be said

A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead,

    Yet this enjoys before it woo,

    And pampered swells with one blood made of two,

    And this, alas, is more than we would do.

Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,

Where we almost, nay more than married are.   

This flea is you and I, and this

Our mariage bed, and marriage temple is;   

Though parents grudge, and you, w'are met,   

And cloistered in these living walls of jet.

    Though use make you apt to kill me,

    Let not to that, self-murder added be,

    And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since

Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence?   

Wherein could this flea guilty be,

Except in that drop which it sucked from thee?   

Yet thou triumph’st, and say'st that thou   

Find’st not thy self, nor me the weaker now;

    ’Tis true; then learn how false, fears be:

    Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me,

    Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

"Once when I had remarked on the affection quite often found between cat and dog, my friend replied, "Yes. But I bet no dog would ever confess it to the other dogs."

     --C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”  
    
     --  Josh Billings

“If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”

   -- Mark Twain

The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

   -- From "To A Mouse," Robert Burns

“I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts.”

    -- John Steinbeck

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."

   -- Andy Rooney

"No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does."

   -- Christopher Morley

"The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog."

   --Ambrose Bierce

“In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.”

               --W.H. Auden

Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit. 

     -- From "A Dog Has Died," Pablo Neruda

C.S. Lewis

"The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too."

     -- Samuel Butler

“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”

     -- Andy Rooney

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”

--	Roger Caras

"Happiness is a warm puppy."

    -- Charles M. Schulz