When government does its job properly people are free to do theirs.
My wife, the star I steer by.
Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.
We are all what we are, in large degree, because of others who have helped, coached, taught, counseled, who set a standard by example, who've taken an interest in our interests, opened doors, opened our minds, helped us see, who gave encouragement when we needed it, who reprimanded or prodded when we needed it, and at critical moments, inspired.
History is not just about dates and quotations. And it's not just about politics, the military and social issues, though much of it of course is about that. It's about everything. It's about life history. It's human. And we have to see it that way. We have to teach it that way. We have to read it that way. It's about art, music, literature, money, science, love - the human experience.
History is not the story of heroes entirely. It is often the story of cruelty and injustice and shortsightedness. There are monsters, there is evil, there is betrayal. That's why people should read Shakespeare and Dickens as well as history ~~ they will find the best, the worst, the height of noble attainment and the depths of depravity.
Never assume that people in positions of responsibility are behaving responsibly.
Cassini is different -- it's a mission of enormous scope and is being conducted in grand style. It is much more sophisticated than Voyager,. . . I can't say it's got that flavor of romance, though. Voyager was very romantic. Cassini is spectacular.
Literature especially has an interesting relationship to photography - to observation, to description, to fiction: taking something that you see and elaborating, jamming, and I think, staging. . . . taking that moment of observation and letting it go, giving it some wings, following it, rather than nailing it. You're riffing off of reality.
Seek the tarnish and you shall find
Next, feel your heart, literally placing your hand on your chest if you find that helpful. This is a way of accepting yourself just as you are in that moment, a way of saying, "This is my experience right now, and it's okay. " Then go into the next moment without any agenda.