on Maturity

The test of maturity, for nations as well as individuals, is not the increase in power, but the increase of self-understanding, self-control, self direction and self-transcendance.  For in a mature society, man himself, and not his machines or his organizations, is the chief work of art.

- Lewis Mumford

selections from The Me Nobody Knows

Windy windy windy skys
deep blue fallen over my eyes.
The clouds so white
as the sun is bright
The sea is so blue in place
as the wind blows in your face
The birds so loud and clear
as if you feel a soft hand
in the air.

- N.W., Age 15

Snowflakes fall with grace
And cover city's dirt
Why do you leave so soon?

Little Bird alone
In a branch of snowy pine
Please do not be so sad

- N.T., Age 14

When I first get up in the morning I feel fresh and it seems like it would be a good day to me.  But after I get in school, things change and they seem to turn into problems for me.  And by the end of the day I don't even feel like I'm young.  I feel tired.

Victor Y., Age 13

Spring turns into
Summer my hate into like
And Fall comes once again.

- C.S., Age 14

The Hopeless Tree

There was a man waiting under a baby apple tree.  He was waiting for an apple to grow on it.  He would just sit there and wait and wait but it never grew.  He watered it every day but it just didn't grow.  No matter what he did, it did not grow.  So the man got discouraged and gave up hope for the tree.  He wanted to cut it down.  So one day he decided to do it.  He said he would do it on a Sunday afternoon, rain or snow.  So on Sunday there was a fog and he could not see the tree and so he did not cut it down.

The following Sunday a baby apple was hanging on it.

- Curtis M., Age 14

on Money, Integrity and Independence

He that is without money might as well be buried in a rice tub with his mouth sewed up.
- Chinese Proverb

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.
- Calvin Coolidge

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.  You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.  You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.  You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.  You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.  You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.  You cannot help men permanently by doing what they could and should do for themselves.
- Abraham Lincoln

on Discipline

There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.
- The Buddha

Some people regard discipline as a chore.  For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.
- Julie Andrews

quote by Shunryu Suzuki

Just to be there in the corner of the garden is enough.  There is no special path which is true.

excerpt from Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall

and in May they planted potatoes, turnips, and cabbages,
while apple blossoms bloomed and fell,
while bees woke up, starting to make new honey,
and geese squawked in the barnyard,
dropping feathers as soft as clouds.

When the Sun Rose, by Barbara Helen Berger

When the sun rose today, a friend came to visit me.
She came in a carriage bright as the sun.
Even the stones in the road were shining.
Her lion stopped at my gate.
Then she got out of her carriage and came to my door.
I opened it and said, "Come in!"
The lion came in with her.
I was afraid.
Yet his feet were quiet as sunlight on the floor.
And my whole playhouse was warm.
We sat down and had some honeycake and tea.
The lion had blueberries with cream.
Then our dolls traded dresses.
The lion purred.
And we made rainbows all day.
Then my friend had to say goodbye.
Her carriage was gold as sunset.
"Will you come again?" I asked.
"Yes," she said, "I promise."
All the way, I watched her going home.
Even the stones had long shadows.
Now it is dark.
My friend is gone.
But she will keep her promise, I know,
for the rainbow we made still shines on the wall.
And my house is full of roses.