life

"In many of the countries of West and Central Africa, the people love "". In the old days a hunter would shoot or trap animals just to feed his own family, perhaps his village. But now he kills as many as many as he can, cuts them up, dries of smokes the meat, and then sends it on a truck to the towns. It is not legal to hunt chimpanzees; they are endangered. But how does anyone know what the animal was when it has been cut into small pieces? Thousands of animals are killed for the bushmeat trade each year. The only hope for the wild animal populations in these countries is that, because animals are disappearing fast, they are harder to find and kill. The hunters complain that they have to travel farther and farther into the forest to catch anything at all. And so, if programs for breeding s can be introduced, at lest some of the remaining wildlife will have a chance."

"A flock of a dozen s spends the year in my woods. In winter, when we are harvesting diseased or dead trees for our fuel wood, the ring of the axe is dinner gong fro the chickadee tribe. ... But for diseases and insect pests, there would likely be no food in the trees, and hence no chickadees to add cheer to my woods in winter. Many other kinds of wildlife depend on tree diseases. My s chisel living plants, to extract fat grubs from the diseased heartwood. My s find surcease from s and s in the hollow heart of an old ; but for this diseased tree their sundown serenade would probably be silenced. My s nest in hollow trees; every June brings its broad of downy ducklings to my woodland slough. All squirrels depend, for permanent dens, on a delicately balanced equilibrium between a rotting cavity and the scar tissue with which the tree attempts to close the wound. The squirrels referee the contest by gnawing out the scar tissue when it begins unduly to shrink the amplitude of their front door."

"The has outright destroyed s, and where it did not, it altered them drastically to the detriment of wildlife and often people themselves. Over the last century, the more the population grew, the more es flowed into the , and the greater the impact on wildlife were, all of which required specific temperature ranges other limited climatic conditions. And the more people there are, the more cities, roads, farm fields, fences, and other barriers there are preventing wildlife from living in or moving to areas of more favorable temperature or humidity in a rapidly changing climate."

"The had already disappeared from English rivers by the , and the wolf had almost gone; one was killed in in 1212, and there are a few scattered mentions from the remainder of the century; a few may have continued on the until the end of the fourteenth century. The rabbit was first introduced into England at the beginning of the twelfth century, and by the 1160s was probably familiar over much of the country. The raucous cough of that bird beloved of poachers, the , seems to have part of the English woodlands' sound-scene from about the same time: the species was certainly present by 1170."

"The riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voice of friends and to say to one's self: "The work is done." But just as one says that, the answer comes: "The race is over, but the work never is done while the power to work remains." The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest. It cannot be while you still live. For to live is to function. That is all there is in living."

"More will sometimes be demanded of you than is reasonable. Bear it meekly, and exhaust your time and strength in performing your duties, rather than in vindicating your rights. Be silent, even when you are misrepresented. Turn aside when opposed, rather than confront opposition with resistance. Bear and forbear, not defending yourselves, so much as trusting to your works to defend you. Yet, in counselling you thus, I would not be understood to be a total non-resistant;—a perfectly passive, non-elastic sand-bag, in society; but I would not have you resist until the blow be aimed, not so much at you, as, through you, at the sacred cause of human improvement, in which you are engaged,—a point at which forbearance would be allied to crime."

"Man is born to live, not to prepare for life."

"Four things a man must learn to do If he would make his record true: To think without confusion clearly; To love his fellow-men sincerely; To act from honest motives purely; To trust in God and Heaven securely."

"It costs so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment, or the courage, to pay the price…. One has to abandon altogether the search for security, and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover, and yet demand no easy return of love. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to the total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying."

"For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing."

"Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die; and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are parts of the same Great Adventure."

"A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life. 1. Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. 2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money before you have it. 4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. 5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold. 6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened. 9. Take things always by their smooth handle. 10. When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, an hundred."

"I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying."

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things."

"1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. 2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. 3. You cannot help small men up by tearing big men down. 4. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. 5. You cannot lift the wage-earner up by pulling the wage-payer down. 6. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. 7. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. 8. You cannot establish sound social security on borrowed money. 9. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence. 10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."

"It is not well for a man to pray, cream; and live skim milk."

"We do not free ourselves from something by avoiding it, but only by living though it."

"Every one lives by selling something, whatever be his right to it."

"I don't wanna die But I ain't keen on living either"

"Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Jehovah, , )."

"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."

"If you had to define stress, it would not be far off if you said it was the process of living. The process of living is the process of having stress imposed on you and reacting to it."

"My life is like a stroll upon the beach."

"The white flower of a blameless life."

"Our life is scarce the twinkle of a star In God's eternal day."

"I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees."

"Life is like a game of tables, the chances are not in our power, but the playing is."

"No particular motive for living, except the custom and habit of it."

"The tree of deepest root is found Least willing still to quit the ground; 'Twas therefore said by ancient sages, That love of life increased with years So much, that in our latter stages, When pain grows sharp, and sickness rages, The greatest love of life appears."

"… The wise man warns me that life is but a dewdrop on the lotus leaf."

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf."

"So his life has flowed From its mysterious urn a sacred stream, In whose calm depth the beautiful and pure Alone are mirrored; which, though shapes of ill May hover round its surface, glides in light, And takes no shadow from them."

"O vita, misero longa! felici brevis!"

"Man is an organ of life, and God alone is life."

": O life! long to the wretched, short to the happy."

"For life lives only in success."

"We live not in our moments or our years: The present we fling from us like the rind Of some sweet future, which we after find Bitter to taste."

": The hour which gives us life begins to take it away."

": This body is not a home, but an inn; and that only for a short time."

"Non domus hoc corpus sed hospitium et quidem breve."

"Quomodo fabula, sic vita: non quam diu, sed quam bene acta sit, refert."

"Life was driving at brains—at its darling object: an organ by which it can attain not only self-consciousness but self-understanding."

": As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters."

"Prima quæ vitam dedit hora, carpit."

"We have two lives; The soul of man is like the rolling world, One half in day, the other dipt in night; The one has music and the flying cloud, The other, silence and the wakeful stars."

"To be honest, to be kind—to earn a little and to spend a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence, to renounce when that shall be necessary and not be embittered, to keep a few friends but these without capitulation—above all, on the same grim condition to keep friends with himself—here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy."

"Gaudeamus igitur, Juvenes dum sumus Post jucundam juventutem. Post molestam senectutem. Nos habebit humus."

": But life is a warfare."