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WITandWISDOM(tm) - February 19, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Optimists are right. So are pessimists. It's up to you to choose which you will be." - Harvey Mackay Source: Awesome Quotes, www.coolnewsletters.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: The story is told of an artist who was painting the interior of the cupola of a famous cathedral. He was compelled to work while standing on a swinging scaffold far above the pavement. One day when he had finished a detail on which he had spent days of painstaking effort, he stopped and began to estimate his work. So well had he succeeded that he was lost in wonder and admiration. As he stood there gazing at the structure, he began to move backward slowly in order to get a better view, forgetting where he was. A man who was with him became suddenly aware that one more backward step would mean a fatal fall. Quick as a flash he made with his own brush a sweeping stroke across the picture. The artist stopped and rushed forward, crying out in anger and dismay; but when his companion explained his strange action the great artist burst into expressions of gratitude. Someday we shall thank God for every loss sustained in this life, for every shattered idol, for every disrupted plan. Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) October 17, 1944, Pacific Press, www.pacificpress.com/signs Submitted by: Dale Galusha ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: HOW TO WRITE GOOD Part 2 of 4 [Feb 12, 19, 27, Mar 5] Don't be redundant; don't more use words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. Be more or less specific. Understatement is always best. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. One-word sentences? Eliminate. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. The passive voice is to be avoided. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. Who needs rhetorical questions? Comparisons are as bad as cliches. By Frank L. Visco Vice-president and Senior Copywriter at USAdvertising ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on. I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them. If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy? Source: Monday Fodder dgaufaaa@iohk.com?subject=Subscribe_Monday_Fodder ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: How many active languages are there in the world? According to recent estimates, the number of actively spoken languages in the world today is around 6,000. More than 1,400 of those languages belong to the Niger-Congo family from Africa, and about 1,200 are in the Austronesian family from Madagascar, Indonesia, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and New Zealand. Most of today's active languages are spoken by very few people, and many of them are losing speakers rapidly as the world becomes more and more connected. Half of today's languages have fewer than 10,000 speakers, and a quarter have fewer than 1,000. Thousands of years ago, there may have been as many as 10,000 active languages in the world. Within the next century, thousands of languages may be lost. More about the disappearing languages of the world: http://www.sciam.com/1998/0398issue/0398scicit6.html A directory for sites about native languages around the world: http://www.nativeculture.com/lisamitten/natlang.html Source: Cool Fact of the Day features.learningkingdom.com/fact/ |