They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they’ve all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? “I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How’ve you been?” — Grosse Pointe Blank

How do you tell someone who lives within 25 miles of where they were born what it’s like in places where the water doesn’t run and the light ends at sunset?  How do you explain to someone whose idea of the military is a vague memory of something their father did or what they see in movies and games that a life in uniform is more than a paycheck, more than a few moments of adrenaline?  How do you come home when you don’t know what it looks like anymore, and those who you come home to are strangers?

Lies will not sustain a tyrant. — The Vikings

The truth will out.  It’s just that simple.  No government is so air tight that it can keep the citizenry in the dark forever.  Even in the darkest communist tyrannies, the common folk know that there are those who have power and abuse it, and those who do not.  Whether this leads them to active rebellion or just to abject apathy, lies are the poison that will rot them from within.

I believe it. My wife says, “Darling, you won’t believe it, but I found the most adorable baby on our doorstep and I’ve decided to keep it for our very own. Now you won’t believe it, but it’s got exactly my eyes and nose.” Why does she keep saying I won’t believe it? I believe it! I believe it. — Stalag 17

Love can help you overlook a lot of things.  The days when he’s walking around like a bear with a sore head, the nights where she just doesn’t approve of anything, they all require you to look beyond the temporary bad times to the good times, both past and future.  This skill is what has kept Irish Woman from smothering me in my sleep on multiple occasions.

But I’m not pushing my luck.

I haven’t had so much fun since the day we put glue on Fräulein Josephine’s toothbrush. – The Sound of Music

Children need to know where their limits are, but they will never do that if they do not go looking for them.  Keeping your kids from waltzing across the line between rambunctious fun and mayhem, yet still letting them explore, is a parenting skill that requires a gentle hand.  Of course, it’s a lot of fun when you participate, and you get the bonus of being on-site to keep them from actually setting things on fire or experimenting with explosives.

Agnes: Pinkie promise?
Gru: Oh yes, my pinkie promises.

— Despicable Me

A promise to a child is sacrosanct, especially if it comes from a parent.  A promise a parent makes to himself about his child is even more sacred.  If you’re not willing to follow through on such promises, don’t make them.  If you’re not prepared to make such promises, do not make a child.

Let me do the talking, angel. I don’t know yet what I’m going to tell them. It’ll be pretty close to the truth. — The Big Sleep

Truth is always easier, and usually better.  But in the event you have to lie, make it close to the truth, lie quickly, and make sure you’re the only one telling it.

This is the west, Jim, a man is still expected to defend himself. If he allows people to think he won’t, he’s in trouble. Bad trouble. — The Big Country

If you will not stand up for yourself, who will?  If your own life is not worth defending, then what worth does it have?  There is no honor in saying you do not believe in violence and would never kill, but have no qualms about calling for other people to come and kill on your behalf to save your life.

Stand up, grow up, and learn to fend for yourself.

One of the disadvantages of being a Patrician is that occasionally you are obliged to act like one. — Spartacus

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. — Luke 12:48

We are truly fortunate to live as we do.  Kings of old would only dream of the ease and luxury of our day-to-day, middle-class lives.  With that comes the responsibility to make sure that those around us do not suffer due to lack of the necessities of life.

However, that has to be a responsibility that is voluntarily taken on and executed.  Being charitable is something to be admired and encouraged, but not mandated.  If someone declines to care for his fellow man, that is his right.  He may be wrong, but no-one should have the power to compel charity.

Jo McKenna: So, what do you do?
Louis Bernard: I buy and sell.
Jo McKenna: I see. And what do you buy and sell?
Louis Bernard: Whatever gives the most profit.

— The Man Who Knew Too Much

Is acting in your self-interest so bad?  Assuming that everyone participating in a transaction does so voluntarily, and that nobody is harmed by it, what is the big deal?  Capitalism has become a dirty word, and I don’t understand it.  At its most basic level, someone taking something they have of value, be it a skill or a physical thing, and selling it, is a freedom that gives the individual the ability to better their life.  On the other end of the spectrum, when a banker or investor gives money to someone to start a business or bring an idea into the real world, does the fact that they expect a return on that investment make it a bad thing?

Yes, we should all do things for truly selfless reasons. We should take care of those who are less fortunate and expect nothing more than a thank you.  But it’s the acts of self-interest that make selflessness possible.

You want a prediction about the weather, you’re asking the wrong Phil. I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life. — Groundhog Day

Winter is upon us here in Kentucky.  It was cool on Saturday, but pleasant.  Yesterday, the wind started to bite, then a cold rain began falling.  By the time the sun came up at 8 this morning, there was between two and three inches of snow on the ground.  The sky was opaque and gray, and the temperature fluctuated with the wind.

Irish Woman has begun that time of year where she laments the death of the world.  No amount of Vitamin D and sun lamps will help.  Only sunshine and enjoyment will raise her spirits.  Soon, she will be distracted with the holidays.  The long, gray stretch of January and February will be broken up with the arrival of catalogs filled with pictures of flowering bushes and fruit trees.  She will begin to ‘nest’, with plans for wholesale renovations of our home, or even leaving it for something more to her liking filling her mind.  Just as her spirit seems fully broken, the first shoots of spring will find their way through the snow, and the leaden skies will slowly change over to the blue of early spring.  Then, my wife will return from the gray funk of winter, and all will be right with her world.

As for me, I’m going to revel in snow and soft sunlight through the clouds.  I am going to enjoy the months without yard work, mosquitoes, or chiggers.  I will go sledding with my youngest son, enjoy a hot cup of cocoa or cider, and go for brisk walks in the park.  This is my time.