Sinclair Lewis captured the narrow-mindedness and conformity of middle-class America in the first half of the 20th century. On the 100th anniversary of his best-selling novel “Babbitt,” Robert Gottlieb revisits Lewis’s life and career.
Guiding Light: Cultivate your mind for real happiness
Supposing you were told, âToday is the last day of your life. Make a list of all the things that you feel you have accomplished, all the things that have made you feel truly happy; what are the things you would put down in that list, knowing that you have only hours left to live?â
Iâm certain that your car, bungalow and bank account will find no place on the list. What you are sure to put on it would be the most fundamental elements of a truly happy life â your love for God, the love and respect you have earned from your near and dear ones, the sunshine you brought into people s lives by your warmth and affection, the compassion you have received from your friends, the love and kindness you have shown to people. Thus, happiness is in the little things that make life significant.
Noble: Sunshine the best disinfectant: why churches must open their books
US Justice Louis Brandeis, in his book Other People’s Money, explained: “Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants.” He leveraged the view that ‘public opinion … is full of sunlight … selfishness, injustice, cruelty, tricks and jobs of all sorts shun the light’. This is appropriate to the national discussion about religious bodies and money.
The Bible is an interesting book. Paul indicates that people preach out of different motivations, including impure ones (Philippians 1: 14-17). The ‘wheat and tares’ parable points to the difficulty of distinguishing between false and true preachers. Jesus whipped scoundrels, because of their mercenary ways, out of the temple on two separate occasions (bad behaviour is stubborn).
Skooz OK, so it s like this. This used to be a really nice profile page; pics galore, nice wallpapers, and if I say so my self, pretty cool. Then, Comcast deactivated the web pages of their subscribers, including me, and all the painstaking HTML was orphaned overnight. One of these days I ll get around to rebuilding this page. One of these days .
ungh!! Will you raise or lower my taxes? Until that question is answered, I do not hear a word they have to say.
All Hail the Mighty Kansas City Chiefs
............................................................................... 80MM+ in China
8MM in Cambodia
so thick that you don t understand the man s own words.