Author Archives: John Swinburn

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a … Continue reading →

My time alone with my thoughts is precious.  My time with my wife is precious.  My time with my family, my brothers and sister and my sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews is precious.  Every moment is precious. Today, I am grateful … Continue reading →

Today is Friday, the end of a work-week for many.  This week is a bit unusual, inasmuch as it is the end of the first work week in February, which happens only once a year. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to … Continue reading →

Today, I’m thinking of the aphorism attributed to Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” While I agree, on principle, there are days I think I would greatly appreciate being absolutely corrupt.

It’s hard to stay hopeful and optimistic, but if the easy alternative is to be a despondent pessimist, I’d better put my shoulder to the wheel.

Forty years ago today, Patty Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, California by the Symbionese Liberation Army and then, not long thereafter, she joined the organization. The world has changed a lot since then. I still wonder whether her conversion was a … Continue reading →

I used to think a “curmudgeonly” demeanor was sort of cool, even in myself.  Now, I wonder why I saw things that way.  And I wonder if, sometimes, I still do. Today, at least, when I encounter a person who … Continue reading →

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  One’s judgment of what constitutes beauty says a great deal about the person who makes the judgment.

I read recently of advice a father gave his son, who was facing prison if he did not change his life.  The advice was, essentially, to calm down and to focus on the moment. And the way to do that: … Continue reading →

The solitude of an early morning appeals to me.  Perhaps solitude, alone, appeals to me. But the mix of solitude and an early morning is food for my soul.  I love the time before the sun shoves the darkness into … Continue reading →

About three years ago, a friend shared with me that, each year on the anniversary of her father’s death, she burns a yahrzeit candle. She said, “It’s a Jewish tradition to mark the day with a candle that burns for 24 hours. … Continue reading →

It is important, I think, to give people the benefit of the doubt; look for the good lurking beneath the sinister cover, as it were.  Too often, the State is complicit in wrecking lives when those lives might have been … Continue reading →

Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es. ~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin~ Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, 1826 This translates, roughly, into “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” … Continue reading →

When I look in the mirror, if I see no reflection, just a smudge where my heart used to be, it’s time to consider just which way I’m heading and it’s time to look closer, to try harder to see. … Continue reading →