Alexander Solzhenitsyn The Gulag Archepelago

Do not pursue what is illusory - property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life - don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is, after all, the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes see, and if both ears hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart - and prise above all else in the world those who love you and wish you well. Do not hurt them or scold them, and never part from any of them in anger; after all, you simply do not know: it might be your last act before your arrest, and that will be how you will be imprinted in their memory.

One Comment from the days before spam: paul wrote: The last sentence though a great sound bite , is short-sighted and implies that your 'loved ones' dont have the capacity to forgive an angry moment or outburst, and will remember you negatively, discounting whatever love and fondness that would indeed be the basis of the friendship in the first place. The writer may have been ultra jaded when he wrote the above. If it rolls of your tongue and sounds literary....good enough,...ah yes...poor old Al. The balance of the 'lymric' sounds purdee any way I'm done, ok bye, ok bye, ok bye,bye, ok........... Sincerely, without spellcheck er nuthin Paul

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