About love:

“He who fears is not perfected in love”. I Jn.4:18.

“Only the beautiful is loved”. Plato.

“to be beautiful means to be pleasing for sight”.

“Loving someone or something means finding him or it good”. Joseph Peper.

“Whether for good or for evil, each man lives by love”. St. Augustine.

“L’amour est par excellence ce qui fait être”. Maurice Blondel.

“Love is a force excluding death, protesting against it, and actually denies it”. Veladimir Soloviev.

“There is always some madness in love; but there is also always some sense in madness”. Nietzsche.

“The most marvelous of all things a being can do is to be”. French maxim.

“This is the basis for the joy of love... we feel that our existence is justified”.

“I need you in order to be myself... in loving me you give me myself, you let me be”. Robert o. Johann.

“What being-loved makes being do is precisely: be”. Frederick D. Wilhelmsen.

“Insomuch as God loves me because I am I, I am truly irreplaceable in the world”. Ladislaus Grqunhut.

“Being loved, one feels ashamed”. J.Peper.

“Only lovers feel ashamed of doing anything shameful in each other’s presence”. Joseph Peper

“However people praise us, they are telling us nothing new”. La Rochefaucauld.

“The lover is more divine than the beloved”. Plato.

“Where the ‘playboy’ is concerned, the fig leaf has merely been moved to another place; it now
covers the human face”. Rollo May.

“In fact forgiveness is one of the fundamental acts of love”. J. Peper.

“Only forgiveness takes the other’s personal dignity seriously”. Joseph Peper.

“The mystics say: ‘God’s love can be a thousand times streamer and harsher then his justice”. George Bernanos.

“To love means to wish another everything other’s sake not for our own”. Aristotle.

“A heart that loves one person cannot hate anyone”. Goethe.

“Good without evil can exist, evil without good cannot”. Aquinas.

“Great love enables a person to be nobody’s enemy”. J. Peper.

“Whoso remaineth in love... is no longer a man, but a god”. M. Luther.

“Pondus meum amor meum: my love is my weight; where it goes I go”. St. Augustine.

“All love has joy as its natural fruit. All human happiness is fundamentally the happiness of love...” Joseph Peper.

“We love to love, in fact we actually are receiving something beloved by loving”. Joseph Peper.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments”. John 14:15.

“Happy alone is the soul who loves”. Goethe.

“L’amour relation ce qui n’a pas de relations”

“Le cœur a des raisons que la raison n’ont a pas” J. J. Rouseau

“The true antithesis of love is not hate, but despairing, indifference, the feeling that nothing is important”. Rollo May.

“(...) I ponder what hell is? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love. Once in infinite existence, immeasurable in time and space, a spiritual creature was given, on his coming to earth, the power of saying, ‘I am and I love”. Dostoevsky.

“(...) during this time (return home) I experienced two kind of happiness, the one was being able to help, to alleviate suffering. The other and perhaps it was the greatest and most blessed happiness that has ever come my way, was: not to have to hate”. Russian monk.

“Unhappy love not only exists as a fact, but that lovers alone can be unhappy”. J. Peper.

“Never are we less protected against suffering than when we love”. Sigmund Freud.

“The inability to mourn rests upon inability to love”. J. Peper.

“Love and joy belong together, but love and sorrow likewise”. Aquinas.

‘Ex amore procedit et gaudium et tristitia: out of love comes joy as well as sadness”. Ib.

“Even the unhappy lover is happier than the non-lover, with whom the lover would never change place”. J.Peper.

“If you do not know how to love yourself you cannot truthfully love your neighbor”. Augustine.

“What is not loved for its own sake is not loved at all”. Augustine.’

“We know from our own experience that we certainly are not made happy by receiving what at first glance we seem really to have longed for”. Ernist Bloch.

“If you truly love, your reward must be he whom you love”. Augustine.

“All true love is without calculation and nevertheless is instantly given its reward, in fact it can receive its reward only when it is without calculation...”. Bernard of Claivraux.

“Love is a tendency toward union: venotixe kai svnkratixe”. Dionysus Areopagita.

“Pour s’unir il faut rester deux”. Jules Michelet.

“The good of one self is to be the good of another. This impossibility, we call love”. C.S.Lewis.

“The absence of love is precisely what makes up the essence of hell”. Dostoevsky.

“Love for children is perhaps the most intense love; for it knows that it has nothing to hope for”. Werner Bergengruen.

“Everything that makes the sexual encounter easy simultaneously speeds its collapse into insignificance”. Paul Ricoeur.

About Change

The following quotes are excerpted from Bridges W. (1993). Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. I liked the wisdom they share and hope u can glean from it.

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils. (P.ix, quote from Francis Bacon, English philosopher)

Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof. (P. ix, quote from John Kenneth Galbraith, American economist)

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. (P. 3, quote from Chinese proverb.)

We think in generalities, but we live in details. (Alfred North Whitehead, American philosopher, P. 7)

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say.” (P. 14)

Every beginning is a consequence. Every beginning ends something. (Paul Valery, French poet. P. 19)

Almost everything is easier to get into than out of. (Agnes Allen, American epigrammatist. P. 19)

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another. (Anatole France, French Writer, P. 20)

He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend. (William Shakespeare, English dramatist, P. 25)

“Unless the reformer can invent something which substitutes attractive virtues for attractive vices, he will fail.” Walter Lippmann, a journalist (P. 27)

Historic continuity with the past is not a duty, it is only a necessity. Oliver Wendell Holmes, American physician, P. 30

When people start talking about ‘the good old days’, it’s easy to imagine that they are describing a peaceful time of stability. But that is selective memory. (p. 31, 32)

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. André Gide, French novelist. P. 34

Illness strikes men when they are exposed to change. Herodotus, Greek historian. P. 35

There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow. Christopher Morley, American writer, P. 36

Chaos often breeds life, while order breeds habit. Henry Adams, American historian. P. 37

Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet understood. Henry Miller, American, novelist. P. 37

It takes nine months to have a baby, no matter how many people you put on the job. P. 37

Moses made the ending when he led his people out of Egypt, but it was the 40 years in the neutral zone wilderness that got Egypt out of his people. W. Bridges, P. 37

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly understood. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly understood. C.K. Cheserton, British writer. P. 38

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. Henri Bergson, French philosopher, P. 44

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. Walter Lipmann, American journalist, P. 45

It is easier to get forgiveness than it is to secure permission. Jesuit saying, P. 47

Beginnings are always messy. John Galsworthy, English novelist. P. 50

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of new idea. Walter Bagehot, Enligh political scientist. P. 51

There go my people. I must find out where they are going so that I can lead them. Alexandre Ledru-Rollin, French politician. P. 52

Do unto others as they would be done unto. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Washington Irving, American essayist, P. 53

Just because everything is different doesn’t mean that anything has changed. Irene Peter, American epigrammatist. P. 55

The picture in people’s heads is the reality they live in. P. 55

Hope is generally a wrong guide, though it is very good company by the way. Charles Montagu, Earl of Halifax, British statesman. P. 57

Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it’s the only thing. Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher

It must be admitted that there is a degree of instability which is inconsistent with civilization. But on the whole the great ages have been unstable ages. Alfred North Whitehead, P. 69

Ironically one of the reasons we’ve paid so little attention to transition is that we’re overwhelmed with it. P. 70

Even if change ceased today, people would have difficulty because the lack of change would itself be a change. P. 72

He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence. W. D. Howells, American writer. P. 73

Shallow men speak of the past; wise men of the present; and fools of the future. Marquise du Deffand, French epigrammatist. P. 73

I have seen the future, and it’s a lot like the present, but much longer. Dan Quisenberry, professional baseball player. P. 73

Stability itself is nothing than a more sluggish motion. Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher. P. 75

When experience is not retained… infancy is perpetual. George Santayana, American philosopher, P. 76

Stability through change demands clarity about what you are trying to do. There is no reason to make an adjustment unless there is something to adjust. P. 76

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, P. 77

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. Mark Twain, American writer. P. 78

Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art of ending. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet. P. 90

I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. Wilson Mizner, American humorist. P. 92

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. Bill Cosby, American comedian. P. 93

Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. Horace, Roman poet. P. 93

Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a little more than a century ago (~1890) Bernice Fitz-Gibbon, American writer. P. 96

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few. Shunryu Suzuki, Zen philosopher. P. 96

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. Seneca the Younger, Roman statesman. P. 98

A great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army with thieves. German proverb. P. 121

How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? William Shakespeare. P. 124

In the begining there was the Word (Verb) (Gospel of St John, 1:1)

نكت: ولد زغير سأل إمّو: "ماما الملاك بيطير؟" "ايه يا ماما بيطير" جاوبت الام. رجع الزغير سأل: "طيب ليه الخادمة عنّا ما بتطير؟" وسألتو امّو: "ليش الخادمة بدّها تتطير يا ماما؟". قالّها الصبي: "ما بعرف، بس سمعت البابا بيقلّها يا ملاكي؟". "ايه الليلة بتطير" اجابت الأم بنفرفزة

آدم رجع من الشغل، وعم يسأل مرتو، شو عاملة للأكل. ضحكت حوّا، مبسوطة بحالها، على أساس اكتشفت اكلة جديدة وقالت بفخر: "محشي ورق عريش". أنغرت مع آدم، وقلّها: "كم مرّة فهمّتك بياضاتي مش للطبخ!"

آدم كان زهقان وحدو بالفردوس، وعم بيشارع الله، إنو ليش أنا مش متل الحمار الي خالق-لو دابة، ومتل العجل الي عامل-لو بقرا، كيف بدّي عيش؟! قال-لو الله لآدم، فيِّ أخلقلك مرا متلك، بس بدّها تكلفك. كلّ شغلة عندك منها اثنين بدّي آخود واحد. يعني عندك اجرتين، بآخود إجر، عند ايدتين، بآخود إيد، عندك عينتين، بروح منهم عين، وأذُن، وشقفة من المنخار، وكِلوة، ورئة.... وكان آدم عمّ بيعبّق ويعرق، وينحرّ، ويفكرّ بكلفة العملية... شوي قال-لو لله: "ليك ألله، شو بيطلعي بها الضلع؟".

The unfinished building of the Maronite parish church of St Michael, Wadi Benehley, Shoof, Mt. Lebanon, diocese of Sidon (Holy Land). I took this picture Jan. 14th 2007.
Recently the Monastery of Our Lady of Louaize, Zouk Mosbeh, had donated its old massive Italian Tivoli altar to St. Michael parish church. The altar still needs to be transported from northeast Beirut to Al'Wadi and fixed in the Chorus. The whole expences is estimated to cost about 850 USD, and yes. We are looking for benefactors :) So, if u'r interested in helping moving and setting up the altar where in St Michael, contact me @ bouna_z@hotmail.com to arrange it.

At the end of the 40 (practically 47) days memorial Holy Mass for the repose of the souf of Anis Boulos Antoun, in the Church of St. Michael in Wadi Benehlay.
Pic. was taken by me, Jan. 14th, 2007. From left to right (faces): Nabiha & Sanioura Anis' sisters, Antoine Jabbour, Bin Sanioura, Naji Saiid Boulos, Michel Khalil Antoun etc.
After memorail mass, we moved to Abou Najib Jabbour house for a mercy meal. It also happened to be the feast of St Anthony in nearby Sir'jibal, wherein Elias, Bishop of Sidon celebrated Liturgy w/ the parish.

The remains of the body of Bishop Abd'Allah Qarali from Aleppo. The founder of the Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1695 in the Holy Valley (Qadisha) in Jibbi, North Lebanon.
Qarali, along with three other Maronite Catholic young men from Aleppo, Bishop Farhat, rev.s Y. El'Bitin and G. Hawwa started the 1st Catholic religious order in the Middle East after the Western model, wherein several religious, priests and friars live under one rule, striving to follow Christ the Lord, through prayer and service of the neighbour. Consarating their life to serve God in his people, professing the vows of 1) obedience to the Church, the rules of the order and their elected superiors, 2) pauverty and 3) chastety that liberates them from being attached to the earthly desires that could prevent them from serving God in his people.
I took this picture on Jan. 17th, 2007, the feast of St Anthony the Great, so called also the father of monastic life. The pic. was taken in the Monastery of Our Lady of Louaize (OLL), Zouk Mosbeh, Kiserwan, Mt. Lebanon. Which celebrates this year its 300 years anniversary for joing OMM. The remains of A. Qarali, later bishop of Beirut, were taken out of the tomb in OLL chapel, cleaned and set back in a new casket before retured in a solemn religious celebration to rest to the left of the altar in the same chapel.

New Year's eve 2007. I took the pic. & it shows my mother and my youngest bro. Fadi.
2006 wintnessed the death of Anis Boulos Antoun & Samira Jabbour. Also the restauration of our family/Bassam appartment in 3in El'Rimmani. As well, Fadi's house in Al'Wadi was 70% done.
After 6 years in MI, 2007 is my first year in Lebanon, close to my parents, OMM & friends.

New Year 2007 eve @ our house in Al'Wadi. The family got together, missing bouna Miled in Argentina.
A traditional dinner was prepared. Boose was available in nice variety. My sis. Claude & her husband Philip came over from Jij for 3 days to celebrate the event. Walid Nabil Lahoud joined us for the eve.
Few pictures were taken, including this, before things warmed up.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year 2007 & Blessed Denho for all. Wishing you all heavenly blessings for a happy, gracefull 2007.

Jan. 1st 2007, the early birds to the 1st Holy Mass in Wadi Benehlay, St Michael, Shoof, Mt. Lebanon.
Taken by Fr. Ziad Antoun (me), in front of St Michael parish Church.
From left to right: Josephine Lahoud Loutfi, Adel Antoun, Jeremi Loutfi, Walid Loutfi, Khalil Lout'Allah Lahoud, Halim Lout'Allah Lahoud, Tamar Lahoud, Jabine Lahoud & Halim Antoun El'Sheikh.
The same day, I took to Holy Sacrament to Karim Boulos Antoun in 3in & Zein hosp.
Next Sunday, Jan. 14th, is the 40 days memorial Mass for Anis Boulos Antoun in St Michael, Al'Wadi.