Dear Mr. Nadeau:

As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

Sincerely,

E. B. White

"The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven not man’s."  --Mark Twain

"Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one is a life diminished."  --Dean Koontz

"Admire as much as you can, most people don't admire enough."  --Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” [my favorite painting] is widely considered one of the best and most famous paintings in history. But according to letters sent to his brother Theo, Van Gogh was staying in an asylum for depression at the time he began that masterpiece, and he wasn’t permitted to paint in his room. After admiring the sky from his bedroom window in the morning, he relied on the deep impression the sky had left in his memory once he had access to his paints. This story lends a poignant depth to his advice to admire all we can, which itself comes from another letter to Theo. Van Gogh’s appreciation for the beauty around him, even in the most challenging of circumstances, led him to produce perhaps his greatest work. What beauty might we glean from our own lives if we were to also cultivate a deep level of admiration for the world around us?