Poems by Raymond Carver

 And did you get what

you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

“Late Fragment” by Raymond Carver From A New Path to the Waterfall, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom

 This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. I might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just doen't know it at the time.

Hamlet

 Polonius to his son, Laertes, as he's departing for France:

"You're still here? Shame on you - get on board! The wind is filling your ship's sail, and they're waiting for you. Here, I give you my blessing again. And just try to remember a few rules of life. 

• Don't say what you're thinking, and don't be too quick to act on what you think. 
• Be friendly to people but don't overdo it. Once you've tested out your friends and found them trustworthy, hold onto them. But don't waste your time shaking hands with every new guy you meet. 
• Don't be quick to pick a fight, but once you're in one, hold your own. 
• Listen to many people, but talk to few. Hear everyone's opinion, but reserve your judgement. 
• Spend all you can afford on clothes, but make sure they're quality, not flashy, since clothes make the man, which is doubly true in France. 
• Don't borrow money and don't lend it, since when you lend to a friend you often lose the friendship as well as the money, and borrowing turns a person into a spendthrift. 
• And above all else, be true to yourself. Then you won't be false to anybody else.

Goodbye, son. I hope my blessing will help you absorb what I've said.