Author Archives: Laura Dobson

International Day of Human Space Flight “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it!” Yuri Gagarin, first human in space on this day in 1961

“The secret of a full life is to live and relate to others as if they might not be there tomorrow, as if you might not be there tomorrow. It eliminates the vice of procrastination, the sin of postponement, failed communications, failed communions. This thought has made me more and more attentive to all encounters.Continue reading “Thought for the day, Friday 11th April”

“You know more of a road by having travelled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world.” From On the Conduct of Life by William Hazlitt (1778 – 1830), literary critic and essayist, raised Unitarian, born on this day

“The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative. The history of the capitalist era is characterized by the degradation of my people: despoiled of their lands, their true culture destroyed… denied equal protection of the law, and deprived their rightful place in theContinue reading “Thought for the day, Wednesday 9th April”

“I believe we are all here to help each other and that our individual lives have patterns and purposes. My illness turned out to have a very special purpose — helping save other lives, and I am grateful for what I was able to do.” Betty Ford (1918 – 2011), US first lady 1974 –Continue reading “Thought for the day, Tuesday 8th April”

“My heart leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the sky:So was it when my life began;So is it now I am a man;So be it when I shall grow old,Or let me die!The Child is father of the Man;And I could wish my days to beBound each to each by natural piety.” William WordsworthContinue reading “Thought for the day, Monday 7th April”

“”Self-love is the form and root of all friendship. Well-ordered self-love is right and natural – so much so that the person who hates himself or herself sins against nature. To know and to appreciate your own worth is no sin.” Thomas Aquinas Some religious teachers build their theologies around the central idea “What amContinue reading “Thought for the day, Sunday 6th April”

International Day of Conscience “It’s better to be hated for who you are, than to be loved for someone you’re not. It’s a sign of your worth sometimes, if you’re hated by the right people.” Bette Davis (1908 – 1989), actor, born on this day Bette Davis in Jezebel, 1938

“I would be cautious in embracing or rejecting doctrines. Had they been essential to our salvation, they would have been more explicitly declared in the Gospels, where we are so well taught the practice of every good word and work.” Dorothea Dix (1802 – 1887), mental health nurse, social reformer and Unitarian

“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” Doris Day, actor, born on this day (1922 – 2019)