Saturday 30 September 2017

Quote Worthy

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness. - Confucius

The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality. - Conan O’Brien

For problems that arise when one steps into the shadow, the obvious cure is to step back into the sunlight. - Unknown

Everything – a horse, a vine – is created for some duty... For what task, then, were you yourself created? - Marcus Aurelius

Intelligence is more important than strength, that is why earth is ruled by men and not by animals. - Amit Kalantri

What, then, is to be done? To make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it occurs. - Epictetus

Foolishness is rarely a matter of lack of intelligence or even lack of information. - John McCarthy

Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment. - Horace

Until you're ready to look foolish, you'll never have the possibility of being great. - Cher

Scars are proof man isn’t perfect, though constantly getting closer. - Jarod Kintz

Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door. - Emily Dickinson

Temper justice with mercy. - John Milton

More Quotes Here - And the book Quote Worthy

Thursday 28 September 2017

Death

Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken? - Terry Pratchett

There is no more desire to live past one's time than to die before it. - Isaac Asimov

Those who do not know how to live must make a merit of dying. - George Bernard

To death we owe our life; the passing of one generation opens a way for another. - Christian Nestell Bovee

To die for others is the highest purpose a person may achieve. - Christopher Golden & Nancy Holder

To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time. - Elie Wisel

Unjustly men hate death, which is the greatest defence against their many ills. - Aeschylus

We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure of all diseases. - Sir Thomas Browne

We are all born in the same way but we all die in different ways. - James Joyce

We live as we die, and die as we live. - Deward Counsel

We sometimes congratulate ourselves at the moment of waking from a troubled dream: it may be so the moment after death. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

What is death but a traversing of eternities and a crossing of cosmic oceans? - Robert E. Howard

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. - Albert Pike

When among the graves of thy fellows, walk with circumspection; thine own is open at thy feet. - Ambrose Bierce

When death enters window, no time for life to go by door. - Charlie Chan

When Death puts out our Flame, the Snuff will tell, if we were Wax, or Tallow by the smell. - Benjamin Franklin

When do the dead die? When they are forgotten. - Laura Esquivel

While life could be evaded, death could not. - Dean Koontz

Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life. - Charles Frohman

Monday 25 September 2017

Humorous Quotes

Violence stinks no matter which side of it you're on. But now and then there's nothing left to do but hit the other person over the head with a frying pan. - Tom Robbins

Girls do not dress for boys. They dress for themselves and, of course, each other. If girls dressed for boys they’d just walk around naked at all times. - Betsey Johnson

Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not. - Neil deGrasse Tyson

Twenty-one is the age of responsibility. Give it a few months and you will be wondering why you are in such a hurry to get here. - Unknown

Golf ... combines two favourite American pastimes: taking long walks and hitting things with a stick. - P. J. O’Rourke

During a test, people look up for inspiration, down in desperation, and left and right for information. - Unknown

I hate flowers – I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move. - Georgia O’Keeffe

If you surround yourself with clowns don’t be surprised if your life becomes a circus. - Unknown

If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way. - Mark Twain

In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired. - Unknown

Marry someone you want to annoy for the rest of your life. - Unknown

Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Click Here for more humorous quotes, or Here for the book ‘Of Wit ‘n’ Humour’

Sunday 24 September 2017

Love

Love can flourish only as long as it is free and spontaneous; it tends to be killed by the thought of duty. To say that it is your duty to love so-and-so is the surest way to cause you to hate him of her. - Bertrand Russell

Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully. When you dare to be vulnerable. - Joyce Brothers

Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive. - Louisa May Alcott

Such as are excited by the gentler influence of Love assume more of affection in their looks, sink their voice into greater softness, and manifest in their gestures greater nobleness of soul. - Xenophon

We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. - John Lennon

We should remember that saying ‘I love you’ is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to show it. We need to both express and demonstrate love. - David A. Bednar

What do you do when the one person you want comfort from the most is the one who caused your pain? How can I want so desperately for him to wrap me up in his arms but also want so much for him to leave me alone. - Amanda Grace

What will a man not do when frantic with love? To what baseness will he not demean himself? What pangs will he not make others suffer, so that he may ease his selfish heart? - William Makepeace Thackeray

More on Love Here, and the book The Light of Love

Saturday 23 September 2017

Quote Worthy

The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. - Charles Dickens

Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible. - Richard Feynman

We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk about ourselves at all. - Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. - Carl Jung

If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. - Pablo Picasso

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. - Amelia Earhart

Sometimes, you need bad things to happen to inspire you to change and grow. - Unknown

It is only through failure and through experiment that we learn and grow. - Isaac Stern

Nothing really known can continue to be acutely fascinating. - H. P. Lovecraft

Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear. - Edgar Allan Poe

Men think they may justly do that for which they have a precedent. - Cicero

More Quotes Here - And the book Quote Worthy

Wednesday 20 September 2017

Conflict

Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. - Martin Luther King Jr.

The need for justice grows out of the conflict of human interests. That is to say, if there were no conflict of interests among mankind we should never have invented the word justice, nor conceived the idea for which it stands. - Thomas Nixon Carver

Questions are far more effective than defensive statements. They do not imply agreement, but they do convey interest and a desire to understand and facilitate an environment for peak performance, a central thread of effective leadership.... The next time someone accuses you of virtually anything, ask some questions. Resolving the situation may take more time, but the outcome will likely be more productive for both of you. - Stephen Young

Monday 18 September 2017

Humorous Quotes

I wonder if Mr. Right really exists? I’ve already met Mr. Player, Mr Psycho, Mr. Lazy, Mr User, Mr. Cheap, Mr. Married, and Mr. Stalker. - Unknown

And she’s got brains enough for two, which is the exact quantity the girl who marries you will need. - P.G. Wodehouse

Valentine's Day is weird. A nude flying baby that shoots arrows isn't a holiday. It's a horror movie. - Jimmy Kimmel

Most people have five senses, but you are blessed with six senses. An extra sense is NON SENSE. - Unknown

Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are stupider than that. - George Carlin

No woman really wants a man to carry her off; she only wants him to want to do it. - Elizabeth Peters

Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother. - Beverly Jones

I never worry about being driven to drink; I just worry about being driven home. - W. C. Fields

Luck sure didn't look like a lady tonight, more like the bitch she always was. - Rob Thurman

You know you’re an alcoholic when you misplace things for like a decade. - Paul Williams

Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. - Vince Lombardi

Women are made to be loved, not understood. - Oscar Wilde

Click Here for more humorous quotes, or Here for the book ‘Of Wit ‘n’ Humour’

Sunday 17 September 2017

Success

You can make a lot of money. You can rule kingdoms or run huge businesses or control vast terrain. But if you're just doing it for yourself, you're not really a success. - Anthony Robbins

You can only be successful if you let your mind go beyond the boundaries that other people have set for themselves. - Brian Herbert

You’re bound to succeed if you have ignorance and confidence. - Ken Alstad

The man who has the largest capacity for work and thought is the man who is bound to succeed. - Henry Ford

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. - John C. Maxwell

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. - Dale Carnegie

Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. - David Frost

Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success. - Bo Bennett

In order to succeed, you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time. - Anthony J. D’Angelo

Success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile, personal goals. - Paul J. Meyer

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. - Albert Einstein

The real secret of success is enthusiasm. - Walter Chrysler

I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom. - George S. Patton

I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down. - Abraham Lincoln

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. - Henry Ford

More on Success Here, and the book The Road to Success

Saturday 16 September 2017

Quote Worthy

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. - Viktor Frankl

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see. - Henry David Thoreau

As soon as you can say what you think and not what some other person has thought for you, you are on the way to being a remarkable man. - James M. Barrie

Let every student of nature take this as his rule that whatever the mind seizes upon with particular satisfaction is to be held in suspicion. - Francis Bacon

Rest not! Life is sweeping by; go and dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime leave behind to conquer time! - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You can’t stop the future. You can’t rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret is to press play. - Jay Asher

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. - Vincent Van Gogh

Make yourself a priority once in a while. It’s not selfish. It’s necessary. - Unknown

Sometimes, you got to remember, everyone wasn’t raised like you. - Unknown

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking. - Unknown

Pleasure and action make the hours seem short. - William Shakespeare

More Quotes Here - And the book Quote Worthy

Monday 11 September 2017

Humorous Quotes

I only know I was born on March 5th because someone told me. I don’t remember myself. So, it’s fact based on second hand information and trust. - Jarod Kintz

My girlfriend bought me a collared shirt for my birthday, mainly so I don’t get too far ahead of her when she takes me for a walk. - Jarod Kintz

Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it. - W. Somerset Maugham

They say love is blind… and marriage is an institution. Well, I’m not ready for an institution for the blind just yet. - Mae West

Pig-headed stubbornness is the perseverance of somebody we don't like. - Robert Elliot Gonzales

You know it’s love when you want to keep holding hands even after you’re sweaty. - Unknown

Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other. - Mark Twain

I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird. - Frank Zappa

Whether they give or refuse, it delights women just the same to have been asked. - Ovid

The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook. - Julia Child

With fools forbear to argue – better strive to wake the dead. - Bhartrhari

Staying on the fence is safe … until someone shoots you off! - Steven Charles

Click Here for more humorous quotes, or Here for the book ‘Of Wit ‘n’ Humour’

Sunday 10 September 2017

Life

Don’t overthink life. Trust that you made the right decision and continue to grow. - Unknown

Sometimes life seems unbearable. Yet, a moment later the very same life feels unbearably beautiful. Life never changes, only your perspective. - Jeff Foster

When thinking about life, remember this: No amount of guilt can change the past. And no amount of anxiety can change the future. - Unknown

Life never seems to be the way we want it, but we live it the best way we can. There is no perfect life, but we can fill it with perfect moments. - Unknown

Life doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger. - Unknown

Life doesn’t need to be perfect to be wonderful. - Unknown

Live with cause and leave results to the Great Law of the Universe. - Zengetsu

Life can still be beautiful, meaningful, fun, and fulfilling even if things don’t turn out the way you planned. - Lori Deschene

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. - Joseph Campbell

In the end, we are just humans searching for things to make our lives worthwhile. - Unknown

If you had never tasted a bad apple, you would not appreciate a good apple. You have to experience life to understand life. - Unknown

The life in front of you is far more important than the life behind you. - Joel Osteen

More on Life Here, and the book The Mystery of Life - a collection of quotes on and pertaining to life.

Saturday 9 September 2017

Quote Worthy

The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent. - Smiley Blanton

It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women. - Louisa May Alcott

Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love – and to put its trust in life. - Joseph Conrad

Need and struggle are what excite and inspire us; our hour of triumph is what brings the void. - William James

One man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than everybody else. - Benjamin Franklin

You cannot mandate productivity, you must provide the tools to let people become their best. - Steve Jobs

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. - Ernest Hemingway

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls. - Carl Jung

If you don't keep an eye towards where you're going, you'll never get there. - Unknown

Sometimes, you need to burn bridges to stop yourself from crossing them again. - Unknown

Ideals are great in theory ... but they don't work too well in real life. - Laurell K. Hamilton

The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you aim at it. - M. Pancoast

More Quotes Here - And the book Quote Worthy

Thursday 7 September 2017

Humans - Quotes

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in her beauty. - Albert Einstein

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves. - Mahatma Gandhi

As individuals, as families, as neighbours, as members of one community, people of all races and political views are usually decent, kind, compassionate. But in large corporations or governments, when great power accumulates in their hands, some become monsters even with good intentions. - Dean Koontz

Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed. - Abraham Lincoln

Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. - Plato

Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container. - Wallace Stevens

I tend to regard the whole human race as just a lot of different subspecies of pest. - K. J. Parker

Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to ultimately be at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be. - Abraham Maslow

On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time. - George Orwell

The human race is divided into two sharply differentiated and mutually antagonistic classes: a small minority that plays with ideas and is capable of taking them in, and a vast majority that finds them painful, and is thus arrayed against them, and against all who have traffic with them. - H. L. Mencken

The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet, orbiting around a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. We are so insignificant that I can't believe the whole universe exists for our benefit. That would be like saying that you would disappear if I closed my eyes. - Stephen Hawking

The human race is just getting started.... The cerebral cortex is only a hundred thousand years old. It's still a baby, sucking teat and eating Cheerios. We might get better, maybe even wise, if we can last another thousand years. - Ellen Gilchrist

The human species, according to the best theory I can form of it, is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow, and the men who lend. - Charles Lamb

The important thing is for humans to come up with a binding agreement to live and act responsibly towards their Planetary neighbours. - Thiong’o Ng’ang’a

The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self. - Albert Einstein

The truth is ... that human beings have neither kindness, nor faith, nor charity beyond what serves to increase the pleasure of the moment. They hunt in packs. Their packs scour the desert and vanish screaming into the wilderness. - Virginia Woolf

We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too. - Mairead Maguire

The vast majority of human beings dislike and even dread all notions with which they are not familiar. Hence, it comes about that at their first appearance, innovators have always been derided as fools and madmen. - Aldous Huxley

Man’s nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature. - Mahatma Gandhi

The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The human mind cannot create anything. It produces nothing until having been fertilized by experience and meditation; its acquisitions are the germs of its production. - George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. - Ferdinand Foch

There is no such thing as a weird human being, it’s just that some people require more understanding than others. - Tom Robbins

Wednesday 6 September 2017

Food for Thought

If your heart hurts a little after letting go of someone or something, that’s okay. It just means that your feelings were genuine. No one likes ends. And no one likes pain. But sometimes we have to put things that were once good to an end after they turn toxic to our wellbeing. Not every new beginning is meant to last forever. And not every person who walks into our life is meant to stay. - Unknown

Law is an imperfect profession in which success can rarely be achieved without some sacrifice of principle. Thus, all practicing lawyers – and most others in the profession – will necessarily be imperfect, especially in the eyes of young idealists. There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we see it. - Alan Dershowitz

I believe there is no other difference between those who are called courageous and those who are branded craven than that the second are fearful before the danger and the first after it. No one can be much frightened, certainly, during a period of great and immanent peril – the mind is too much concentrated on the thing itself, and on the actions necessary to meet or avoid it. The coward is a coward, then, because he has brought his fear with him; persons we think cowardly will sometimes amaze us by their bravery, if they have had no forewarning of their danger. - Gene Wolfe

More Food for Thought Here and the book Food for Thought

Tuesday 5 September 2017

Teppanyaki Restaurant

At a Teppanyaki Restaurant. My mother would not approve of the way he is playing with the food.

In and Around Bendalmadena

Traffic lights - the green man urging you to hurry as the traffic lights are about to change.

Various pictures taken in and around Bendalmadena

Mijas

A little village which nestles on the mountain side. On a clear day, one can see as far as North Africa. A tourists’ attraction no less, and as with all tourist’s attractions, plenty of shops and cafes.

Click on the link to learn more about Mijas

A choice of horse or donkey carriages to take you on a tour, if you are too lazy to walk.

Torremolinos

What’s in Torremolinos? You get out of the underground train station and you are in the main square – the heart of the city. Surrounding the square are shops, eateries, hotels, clubs … very touristic … very busy.

The place is touted as a modern city - a place where the young, hip and trendy soak up the sun in the day and/or party all night. It does look clean and modern and has a touch of class about it, compared to Benalmadena. Of course, the prices are classier too. It has a vibrant night life. Clubs open late in the evening and close when the sun comes up. There are many food and beverage outlets.

And then there’s the beach, the eateries, and souvenir shops which cater to the passing tourists. The beach looks neat, polished and upmarket too.

Click on the link for more on Torremolinos

The second flag on the left is a rainbow flag - living up to Torremolinos reputation of a modern city. It was quite breezy that day and the flags are all entangled.

Monday 4 September 2017

Gibraltar

Click on the link for more on Gibraltar

I had been warned that it is just 'a piece of rock', very touristic, over-rated, and expensive. Despite that, the general consensus was that it is one of those ‘must visit’ places if you are in Spain. So, I was forewarned and I was not really disappointed to discover that all the warnings were true.

Gibraltar is about 2 hours’ drive from Benalmadena. We had a tour along the base of the rock. Lots of shops, souvenir shops, and eateries. Very busy, very touristic and of course, very expensive. We didn't go up to the top of the rock, or the caves, because there was a long queue for the cable cars.

Gibraltar has an interesting history, but as a tourist attraction, there was really not much to see. Maybe I am difficult to please.

Ronda

Ronda is one and a half hours’ drive from Benalmadena. It is supposedly one of the loveliest and most historical town of Malaga.

Click on the link to learn more about Ronda

Plaza de Toros - The Bullring. We didn’t get a chance to look inside as it was closed.


Click on the link for more about Puente Nuevo

Offering unforgettable views over the El Tajo gorge. The Puente Nuevo, which means New Bridge in English, was actually completed in 1793 and took forty-two years to build. The bridge joins the old Moorish town and the newer, El Mercadillo parts of the city. It is, by far, Ronda’s most famous landmark.

One of Spain’s most famous Parador hotels sits adjacent to the bridge and is well worth a visit. The views of the El Tajo gorge are unforgettable.

If you have the time, walk down into the gorge along the Camino de los Molinos. The views are the best to be had. In Spring, the whole valley floor is awash with flowers.

Humorous Quotes

Books can also provoke emotions. And emotions sometimes are even more troublesome than ideas. Emotions have led people to do all sorts of things they later regret – like, oh, throwing a book at someone else. - Pseudonymous Bosch

According to a new survey, people who get divorced die early. People who stay married live longer. The difference is they just wish they were dead. - David Letterman

You don’t need to be on the same wavelength to succeed in marriage. You just need to be able to ride each other’s waves. - Toni Sciarra Poynter

They that are fated to be fools, have one consolation, that they are fated also to be ignorant of it. - Norman MacDonald

If you want to kill an idea without being identified as the assassin, suggest that the legal department take a look at it. - Scott Adams

I’m not clumsy! The floor just hates me, the table and chairs are bullies, and the walls get in my way. - Unknown

I know enough to know that no woman should ever marry a man who hated his mother. - Martha Gellhorn

The secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. - Mark Twain

Ignorance can be educated. Crazy can be medicated. But there is no cure for stupid. - Unknown

Get a good dog. We have not picked up food in the kitchen in 15 years. - Paul Reiser

Clothes may disguise a fool, but his voice will give him away. - Unknown

Everything comes to him who waits – if he waits till it comes. - Evan Esar

Click Here for more humorous quotes, or Here for the book ‘Of Wit ‘n’ Humour’

Sunday 3 September 2017

Costa de Sol or Coast of the Sun

The coastline of Malaga province is popular for its beaches, miles and endless miles of them - which is why it is also known as ‘Costa del Sol’ – Coast of the Sun, in English. This is a very popular destination for tourists in the warmer months. The season starts in May and slows down around September. It is a flourishing period for the hotels, restaurants, eateries, bars and gift shops on the beach front along the coast.

At night, the sidewalks come alive with peddlers peddling their wares - usually shoes, tee-shirts, handbags, wallets, belts and toys.

Malaga

Supposedly the 6th largest city of Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Serville and Zaragoza.

Click on the link to learn more about Malaga

As with any city centre, this is where the big brands make their presence felt. So, if you are into shopping, you would like it here. Otherwise, you can do what I did. Have a tour of the city, and in between the walking, have a spot of lunch, a drink here, and a coffee there. Find a nice restaurant or nice caf̩ Рno lack of these in Malaga - and just relax and people-watch, until you are ready to explore another corner of the city.

I enjoyed the day - nice day, nice company. What more could one ask for?

Our first stop. Had a Sherry straight from the cask at this establishment, which is as old as Malaga.

Happiness

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. - Marcel Proust

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. - Helen Keller

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes. - Thich Nhat Hanh

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others. - Robert A. Heinlein

Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy. - Heraclitus

The best advice on the art of being happy is about as easy to follow as advice to be well when one is sick. - Sophie Swetchine

The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past. - Andre Maurois

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. - Martha Washington

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. - Anne Frank

To be kind to all, to like many and love a few, to be needed and wanted by those we love, is certainly the nearest we can come to happiness. - Mary Stuart

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. - Anne Frank

More on Happiness Here
The book The Pursuit of Happiness

Saturday 2 September 2017

Quote Worthy

We may think that we fully control ourselves. However, a friend can easily reveal something about us that we have absolutely no idea about. - Carl Jung

It matters not from what stock we are descended so long as we have virtue; for that alone is true Nobility. - Wellins Calcott

Those who do the least themselves are always the severest critics upon the noble achievements of others. - Elias Lyman Magoon

You don’t get results by focusing on results. You get results by focusing on the actions that produce results. - Mike Hawkins

Sometimes in this life, under the stress of an exceptional emotion, people do say what they think. - Marcel Proust

Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination. - Christian Nevell Bovee

The only thing more frustrating than slanderers is those foolish enough to listen to them. - Criss Jami

Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential. - Liane Cardes

If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past. - Benedict de Spinoza

Bitter people are not interested in what you say, but what you hide. - Shannon L. Alder

When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long. - Unknown

Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it. - Ted Williams

More Quotes Here - And the book Quote Worthy

Spain

I have just returned from a wonderful two-month vacation in Spain – Benalmadena, Malaga, to be exact – and I have some pictures and brief narratives to share. Follow my blog to see them – if you are interested.

I stayed with my friend Roger, who moved to Spain at the beginning of the year, in a quiet residential area, about a ten-minute walk to the city centre on one side, and a twenty-minute walk to the beach cum tourist area on the other. It is an area of serviced apartments and holiday homes. Residents here are a mix of locals and expatriate pensioners, making it quieter and more laid back.

Spain is very hilly – in fact it’s the second-most mountainous country in Europe. All roads go up and down, slopes and hills, hills and slopes – rarely level for long. It is hot and dry during summer months – it hit a high of 38° Celsius when I was there – and it gets much higher as you go inland – Cordoba hit a high of 47° Celsius this summer.

Siesta hours are from two to five pm and most shops are closed during this time. Dinners are usually quite late, since people don’t finish work until 9.00-10.00 pm.

The Spanish are very friendly, easy going, and laid back. “Holas” (Hellos) are a norm. You will get one as long as there is eye contact. And, if they know you well, they will grab you and peck you on both cheeks.

Spain is famous for their Tapas Bars

These can be small cafés or eateries. If you see the word ‘Tapas’ on their sign, it means when you order a drink, they will serve a small snack with the drink. A different snack for every drink you order. So, if you drink enough, you don’t have to have meals.

Other things which Spain is known for are olives, wines and fortified wines, cheese, and leather. Malaga is, of course, famous for its ‘Costa de Sol’ (Coast of the Sun), where there are miles and miles of endless beaches.

Compared to other European countries, Spain is very affordable indeed. The economy is not in the best of shape. There seemed to be more shops and eateries than there were customers. I did my best to boost their economy while I was there, but there is only so much a poor pensioner can do 😊

All in all, I had a wonderful time in Spain. Home-stay holidays suit me best. You get to understand a bit of the people, their culture and their way of life. Going to a country, rushing from one tourist attraction to another, and coming back with souvenirs to prove that you have been there is not my idea of a holiday. I am not keen on shopping, and I am not excited about tourist attractions. Besides, tourist attractions do not necessarily mean that you will be impressed by them.

However, on days when I was not too lazy, and had the adventurous spirit in me, I did venture out, (got taken out), to a few tourist attractions. Places I covered included Gibraltar, Ronda, Malaga, Torremolinos and Mijas. Introductions later.

A couple of complaints – if you will permit me. First was the smell of dog urine, on the streets – all over – and having to watch out for dog poo. Dogs are a common sight in the evenings when they are taken out for walks – when their owners have finished work, and when the weather is cooler. Most dog owners do make the effort to pick up after their dogs, but there’s nothing they can do about the urine and hence, there is a pervasive smell of urine in the air. The hot and dry weather did not help. House flies were another annoyance.

Apartments in the area where I stayed.

On the ground level of the apartment blocks are shops, cafes, and restaurants. So, one does not have to walk far for basic necessities.

More later …. Bookmark this blog if you are interested.

A note to my friends in Spain. Please feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.