December 1

I depended upon her integrity, that she was dogged, determined, flooded with purpose. Because a moment later her wit was like a sudden ripple, a streak of sunlight, the chitter of some hidden bird. One was so thankful that she was there. Her heart was so much herself, so literal. She was a great and abiding poet, a wonderfully explicit human. One will not forget how much she cared for life, our lives, as people, the world forever the one in which we all must finally learn to live while we can.

— Robert Creeley, writing about Denise Levertov in the introduction to her Selected Poems

December 2

The truth is that we live out our lives putting off all that can be put off; perhaps we all know deep down that we are immortal and that sooner or later all men will do and know all things.

— Jorge Luis Borges, “Funes the Memorious”

December 3

I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.
I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.

— from Robert Frost’s “Birches”

December 4

The Six Grandfathers have placed in this world many things, all of which should be happy. Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.

— Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks

December 5

Asa Gray wrote Increase Lapham:
pay particular attention
to my pets, the grasses.

— Lorine Niedecker

December 6

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

— Ecclesiastes 9: 7-17, from the King James Version of the Bible

December 7

An ethic, ecologically, is a limitation on freedom of action in the struggle for existence. An ethic, philosophically, is a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct … There is as yet no ethic dealing with man’s relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it. Land, like Odysseus’ slave-girls, is still property. The land relation is still strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations.

All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in that community, but his ethics prompt him also to co-operate (perhaps in order that there may be a place to compete for). The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. This sounds simple: do we not already sing our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave? Yes, but just what and whom do we love? Certainly not the soil, which we are sending helter-skelter downriver Certainly not the waters, which we assume have no function except to turn turbines, float barges, and carry off sewage. Certainly not the plants, of which we exterminate whole communities without batting an eye. Certainly not the animals, of which we have already extirpated many of the largest and most beautiful species. A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these ‘resources,’ but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural state.

In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such. … A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land. Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity. …

Quit thinking about decent land-use as solely an economic problem. Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.

— Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

December 8

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.

— Thomas Szasz

December 9

She is sixty. She lives
the greatest love of her life.

She walks arm-in-arm with her dear one,
her hair streams in the wind.
Hear dear one says:
“You have hair like pearls.”

Her children say:
“Old fool.”

— Anna Swir, “The Greatest Love,” translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan

December 10

At least two kinds of courage are required in aging and sickness. The first is the courage to confront the reality of mortality—the courage to seek out the truth of what is to be feared and what is to be hoped. Such courage is difficult enough. We have many reasons to shrink from it. But even more daunting is the second kind of courage—the courage to act on the truth we find. The problem is that the wise course is so frequently unclear. For a long while, I thought that this was simply because of uncertainty. When it is hard to know what will happen, it is hard to know what to do. But the challenge, I’ve come to see, is more fundamental than that. One has to decide whether one’s fears or one’s hopes are what should matter most.

— Atul Gawande, Being Mortal

December 11

A person of humanity, wishing to be established, also establishes others, and wishing to succeed, also helps others to succeed.

— Confucius

December 12

Guru Nanak instructed his Sikhs to get up early, before dawn, to bathe, and then meditate during this amrit vela (ambrosial time). Guru Nanak’s formulaic summary ‘nam dan ishnan’ (meditate, give, bathe) adds the necessity of generosity (AG 942). Another more recent formulation commands Sikhs: ‘nam japo, kirat karo, vand chhako’ (meditate, work, and share the proceeds). This threefold mnemonic is the basis of Sikh ethics. Life should be lived meditatively, industriously, and generously.

— Eleanor Nesbitt’s Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction

December 13

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

— Micah 6: 6-8, from the King James Version of the Bible

December 14

It might be lonelier
Without the Loneliness—
I’m so accustomed to my Fate—
Perhaps the Other—Peace—

Would interrupt the Dark—
And crowd the little Room—
Too scant—by Cubits—to contain
The Sacrament—of Him—

I am not used to Hope—
It might intrude upon—
Its sweet parade—blaspheme the place—
Ordained to Suffering—

It might be easier
To fail—with Land in Sight—
Than gain—My Blue Peninsula—
To perish—of Delight—

— Emily Dickinson, “#405”

December 15

How does one get across the fact that the best way to find out how people feel about their gender or their sexuality—or anything else, really—is to listen to what they tell you, and to try to treat them accordingly, without shellacking over their version of reality with yours?

— Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts

December 16

When life is a weariness and escape impossible, it is wonderful to have a friend who can bring us peace with the touch of a hand.

— Halldor Laxness, Independent People

December 17

There was once a very cruel woman who lived in the village of Tasuta in the province of Yamato. And she refused to feed her stepchild for ten consecutive days. When the child was about to die of hunger, she showed him a bowl of rice and said, “Take this, and offer it to the stone statue beside the road. If he eats it, you can have some too.” There was nothing the poor child could do. He had to obey. But as he sat down to pray before the stone image, a great miracle happened. The stone statue open his gigantic mouth and devoured the rice as greedily as if he himself had been a starving child. After that, they say, the horns of cruelty dropped from the woman’s brow, and she ceased discriminating between the stepchild and her own children. And if, perchance, you should ever pay a visit to this village, you can still see that stone statue, standing where it was, and you will never fail to see offerings laid before it.

— Issa, A Year of My Life, translated by Noboyuki Yuasa

December 18

December 19

Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

— Laertes’ advice to his son Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet

December 20

As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

— Job 27: 2-7, from the King James Version of the Bible

December 21

What we do in life echoes in eternity.

— Maximus in The Gladiator

December 22

Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

— Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins

December 23

It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.

— Bram Stoker, Dracula

December 24

There are two things I want to ask you to remember when you’ve gone,” she said, the wrinkled old face trembling much more than usual. “I want to ask you never to be insolent to those who hold a lowly position in the world. And never to ill-treat any animal.” “Say thank-you to your grandmother, Nonni,” said Asta Sollilja. “She’s given you the only thing she has.” And he put his hand in hers and thanked her in silence, for he knew no words that could express his gratitude for such a gift; she was giving him the nation’s poorest Christmas to cheer him on his way when he went out into the world, and he knew that henceforth she would no longer celebrate Christmas.

— Halldor Laxness, Independent People

December 25

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

— Luke 2: 4-16, in the King James Version of the Bible

December 26

The bicycle was chrome and black,
with a long ribbon on the handlebars
encircling Christmas and wheels as generous
as the world seemed to be

The following morning,
unable to keep upright,
my father beside me, holding the saddle,
his hand: bright plumb line,
brightly confident

Then, it was his voice, tired
and breathless from running,
trying to keep pace with the bike

Today, many years after those parallel gestures,
my daughter setting off down different roads,
my hand guiding the direction of more modern hweels,
I finally understand that it was emotion I heard
in my father’s broken breath:

the fear that I might fall,
even knowing I wouldn’t fall far,
but, above all, a feeling of love to see me there,
entering the grown-up world,
precariously balanced,
about to leave the whirligig of childhood

— Ana Luisa Amaral, “Learning Curves,” translated by Margaret Jull Costa

December 27

Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?

— Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”

December 28

Keep yourself simple, then, and good, sincere, dignified, free from affectation, a friend to justice, reverent towards the gods, affectionate, and firm in the performance of your duties. Struggle to remain such a person as philosophy wished to make you. Honour the gods, protect your fellows. Life is short; and our earthly existence yields but a single harvest, a holy disposition, and acts that serve the common good.

Be in everything a true pupil of Antoninus:* imitate his energy in acting as reason demands, his unchanging equanimity, his piety, the serenity of his expression, the sweetness of his character, his freedom from vanity, and his eagerness to get to the heart of matters. And remember how he would never dismiss a matter until he had examined it carefully and clearly understood it; and how he would put up with people who reproached him unjustly, and would never respond in kind; how he never acted in haste, and refused to listen to slander; and how acute he was in appraising people’s characters and actions, and how he was never one to criticize, or to be easily flustered, or over-suspicious, or pretentious; how it took little to satisfy him, in his lodgings for instance, or his bed, his dress, his food, his attendants; how hard-working he was, and how patient; how he would stay at his post from morning until evening, and because of his frugal diet would not even need to relieve himself except at his accustomed hour; his firmness and consistency in friendship; how he would tolerate frank opposition to his views and was pleased if somebody could point to a better course; and what reverence he showed to the gods without a trace of superstition. Follow his example, then, so that you may have as clear a conscience as he when your final hour arrives.

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

December 29

To the wise man nothing is alien or impracticable. The good man is worthy to be loved. One should ally oneself with those who are at once courageous and just. Virtue is a weapon of which one cannot be deprived. It is better to fight with a few good men against all who are bad than to fight with a multitude of bad men against a few who are good. One should pay good heed to one’s enemies since they are the first to recognize one’s errors. One should value an honest man above a relation. Virtue is the same for a woman as for a man. What is good is honourable and what is bad is shameful. Regard all that is wicked as alien. Wisdom is the most secure fortification, since it can neither collapse nor be betrayed. One must construct a fortress for oneself through one’s own impregnable reasonings.

— Antisthenes

December 30

[P]eople in Nordic societies can raise their children primarily with the goal of helping them become independent and capable of handling life on their own. The prevailing expectation is that every person should be able to craft his or her own life, without an excessive financial debt to one’s parents, for example, that might skew one’s decisions. There is a corresponding expectation that no one should be penalized in advance by the unlucky accident of having parents who might, for whatever reason, have less than robust finances. Similarly a wife should not be put in a position of being financially overdependent on her husband. Or vice versa, for that matter …

All the advantages I gave up when I left Finland and moved to America—universal public health care, universal affordable day care, real maternity benefits, high-quality free education, taxpayer-funded residences for the elderly, even the separate taxation of spouses—were not gifts from the government to make me a servile dependent on the state’s largesse. Rather the Nordic system is intentionally designed to take into account the specific challenges of modern life and give citizens as much logistical and financial independence as possible …

A family will not function well as a team unless it is first composed of strong, self-sufficient individuals. So instead Nordic societies work to ensure independence for the individual members involved. For fathers and mothers the result is to make the prospect of remaining engaged in the life of the family less difficult. This approach creates fewer strains between family members, because those individuals don’t have to make the sort of extreme sacrifices that can cause them to lose their independence, which so often forces families in America to fall apart—or stops them from forming in the first place. …

Between spouses, a more equal division of housework on the one hand, and a more equal division of paid work on the other, increases both spouses’ autonomy. Both parents earn their own money, and both parents have their own fully developed relationships with their children. By ensuring independence for each parent this way, the family as a whole grows stronger. Spouses avoid the dependencies and resentments that arise when one person pursues a career and controls the money, and the other person manages all the housework and the children. And in the sad event of a divorce, since both parents already have their own careers and their own intimate knowledge of how to care for their children, they can remain stronger both financially and emotionally even on their own, which is good for the kids.

— Anu Partanen, The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life

December 31

a child carrying flowers walks toward the new year
a conductor tattooing darkness
listens to the shortest pause

hurry a lion into the cage of music
hurry stone to masquerade as a recluse
moving in parallel nights

who’s the visitor? when the days all
tip from nests and fly down roads
the book of failure grows boundless and deep

each and every moment’s a shortcut
I follow it through the meaning of the East
returning home, closing death’s door

— Bei Dao, “New Year,” translated by David Hinton