Wise Words on Wednesday: Complaining without proposing a solution is called whining

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, Speech delivered April 23rd, 1910 in Paris.

Desert Fathers: The Soft Kitty* Alternative

Being sick

A hermit said, “If you fall ill, do not complain. If the Lord God has willed that your body should be weakened , who are you to complain about it? Does he not care for you in all your needs? Surely you would not be alive without him. Be patient in your illness and ask God to give you what is right, that is, that which will enable you to do his will, and be patient, and eat what you have in charity” – De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V

* If this title makes no sense, please click on the above image