A Tribute to abra a collection of her comments

[LLapp]

A few snippets of Abra's wry wit and silliness....


"There is no passion like that of a functionary for his function." — Georges Clemenceau

abra on 2015-05-31 08:28:40
Oh, I do love a functionary, when he's busy functioning.

******************

"Words are always getting conventionalized to some secondary meaning. It is one of the works of poetry to take the truants in custody and bring them back to their right senses." — William Butler Yeats

skoogie2 on 2013-09-22 02:29:14
I love the idea of taking those words and setting them free of conventions! haha Words gone wild!

abra on 2013-12-06 15:26:17
Great idea, until it's YOUR words, up there flashing, on Young Words Gone Wild.

******************

If you burn your neighbor's house down, it doesn't make your house look any better." — Lou Holtz

Kgun5 on 2014-06-11 01:25:32
I wonder if he said this in a post-game press conference after a loss.

abra on 2015-04-28 15:20:23
Nah, it comes from the booklet 10 Easy Steps for Selling Your House. JK

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"It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness." — Charles Haddon Spurgeon



SippyGurl on 2014-06-09 03:34:33
oooooo, i like his portrait, wonder who the artist is? great quote, too : )

locodad on 2014-06-15 01:53:19
it couldn't be his driver's license because they look horrible

tgreen517 on 2015-10-18 09:32:02
Maybe before they had cameras they had to use portraits for drivers licenses.

abra on 2016-07-25 09:37:21
They did and if you think you have to wait a long time at the DMV now, you should have seen it back then.

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Where God builds a church the devil builds a chapel." — Martin Luther

haverwench on 2015-06-21 05:49:11
What does God build where the devil builds a toll plaza?

abra on 2016-09-10 13:32:48
A Cinnabon store.

[montyb]

[Edited down to the essential Abra.]

"A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
— Len Wein

abra
October 20, 2013, 5:29 pm
Last night I stood in a line for 2 12 hours, so my husband could go see Robert Cray, for free. I would rather have been elsewhere.

toddcmz
October 9, 2015, 5:27 am
The world of Puzzle Baron applauds you, Abra.

abra
November 27, 2015, 4:08 pm
And I accept that applause :0)

figment
October 4, 2016, 4:23 pm
years later, i join the applause

abra
January 4, 2017, 6:23 pm
Still here bowing.

marnita
November 12, 2017, 10:16 am
If you had known how many years of praise you would get for it, abra, you would have been happier to be there.

abra
December 7, 2019, 8:45 pm
I definitely would have, marnita.

LLapp
March 12, 2021, 2:27 am
Robert Cray for free?! Am I too late for the concert?

[hrossa]

Oh, that entire thread is a cooperative effort, wonderful surprise!

[LLapp]

In human life there is constant change of fortune; and it is unreasonable to expect an exemption from the common fate. Life itself decays, and all things are daily changing." — Plutarch

skoogie2
January 24, 2014, 1:56 am
to everything, turn, turn, turn

montyb
February 23, 2014, 2:18 pm
...there is a season, turn, turn, turn...

wordfairy
September 28, 2014, 8:41 pm
...and a time for every purpose under heaven...

abra
August 17, 2015, 10:59 am
A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to reap...

opallady
September 26, 2015, 11:33 am
A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to laugh, a time to weep.

wvwoman
October 31, 2015, 1:53 pm
a time to build up, a time to break down a time to dance, a time to mourn...

LizardLeap
January 23, 2016, 9:52 am
a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together...

emtonsti
August 4, 2016, 10:34 am
to everything turn, turn, turn

wvwoman
October 17, 2016, 10:30 am
a time of love, a time of hate a time of war, a time of peace a time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing...

LLapp
September 21, 2017, 1:44 pm
A time to gain, a time to lose, a time to rend, a time to sow, a time for love, a time for hate...

Jalapenoman
September 26, 2017, 1:37 pm
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late!

Jrdad
October 22, 2020, 10:44 am
That was a real Kumbaya moment. See, we can do it!

[Synonymous]

I used to love the way abra corrected herself, sometimes months even years later…here’s one:

"There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a free air, and will not be fenced up in straight and narrow enclosures. "
— William Penn


Comments on this Puzzle:

tgreen517
May 24, 2015, 7:02 am
there is always room for friendshiip.
LLapp
January 24, 2016, 11:15 am
I find Penn's writing very sterile. No wonder he's not known for his quotes.
maradnu
December 4, 2017, 10:23 am
Don't fence me in
MissKitty
February 28, 2018, 9:43 am
Friendship also likes to sit at the bar and have you pay for the drinks Kilroy 38
bees
May 27, 2018, 5:31 am
Another real estate entrepreneur who makes word salad out of a passing thought. Who says history does not repeat itself.
abra
June 9, 2018, 11:08 am
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences To many words, gaze at the moon till I lose my senses And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences Don't fence me in. LOL, MissKitty.
abra
May 15, 2019, 2:52 am
*too
jbb33054
October 6, 2019, 6:05 pm
35
tclcac
March 20, 2021, 11:15 pm
Give me land, lots of land, 'neath the starry skies above .... let me ride through the wide open country that I love ....



ADD YOUR COMMENTS:

[Eureka]

"Marriage is a meal where the soup is better than the dessert."
— Austin O'Malley

abra
January 25, 2015, 2:01 pm
I'm not really sure what this means, but I guess that it's a good thing?

Jalapenoman
November 12, 2016, 2:07 pm
Abra, I think that the writer is trying to say that the beginning of marriage (the appetizer) is better than the end.

YorkiesRule
February 1, 2017, 2:18 am
I think this quote, like many other quotes about marriage, is missing the word "my" in the beginning. "My marriage is..."

abra
August 30, 2019, 11:12 pm
J-man, that makes sense. I guess everyone else got it. I've enjoyed it all so far. The soup, the salad, the meat and potatoes. I suppose we are at or nearing the dessert course. I agree. Austin should speak for himself.

[Deanna48]

"Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other. "
— Freya Stark

abra
November 10, 2018, 2:13 pm
For 21 years in the military my husband never had an unaccompanied tour. He had lots of TDYs (temporary duty) though. They did make us SO happy to be together.

[Deanna48]

"We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures."
— Susan Jeffers

abra
August 20, 2017, 5:42 pm
My imaginary play mate Penelope Panicattack

[Deanna48]

"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic."
— Robert S. Wieder


abra
May 26, 2015, 10:03 am
It's May 26, and I'm still going to say "Wait till this year".

abra
July 22, 2018, 5:46 pm
Go, Cubbies!!

[chriscrojam]

"The lovely thing about being forty is that you can appreciate twenty-five-year-old men more."

Colleen McCullough

abra
May 15, 2020, 11:01 pm
My husband says that we are the same age. I say that I am a year older. I hate that it bothers me, but it bothers me. My father told my mom that he was 2 years older than he was. Years later he started using his real age and she never believed him. When he died and she had to do the paperwork, she found out that he was telling the truth.

[darkyr]

Abridged:

"From what we get, we can make a living - what we give, however, makes a life."
— Arthur Ashe

susanith
December 8, 2016, 11:17 pm
Arthur Ashe was a good man.

--

abra
November 28, 2017, 6:56 pm
Yes, he was.

--

abra
May 2, 2020, 1:48 am
When really wonderful people die. It hurts for a long time.

[LLapp]

Hey, abra's son, that is so funny! And it's so her. She would love that you shared that anecdote here. Thank you!

[Nitefly5150]

"Really I don't dislike to cook, but what you cook is eaten so quickly. When you sew, you have something that will last to show for your efforts."
— Elizabeth Travis Johnson

abra
March 3, 2017, 1:44 pm
The sewing gene runs strong in my family, but it skipped me entirely. I'm a good cook. I guess my recipes will have to be what lasts. It won't be sewing.

This is abra's son. When I worked at McDonald's my pants were coming apart along the waistline. One of the women about my mom's age said "Doesn't your mother have a sewing machine?" And I said "Yes, but it falls apart in her hands" "That's a terrible thing to say about your mother." "She's the one who said it".

But she was a good cook.

[n-j-b]

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
— Emily Bronte
abra
February 19, 2013, 11:38 pm
I like this one!
abra
March 10, 2013, 3:06 am
Still like it.
wvwoman
February 12, 2014, 8:17 am
so do i--it's nice to read something sweet once in a while!
universalmom
September 4, 2014, 3:50 pm
This is from Wuthering Heights! Said by Catherine about Heathcliff, a wild passionate statement
abra
March 13, 2016, 11:29 am
Well, it's been 3 years, since I was here. I read this and though how sweet it was. I see that I was here before and mentioned that. )
abra
July 18, 2017, 9:50 am
Thanks, universalmom.
kb83
November 28, 2020, 7:17 pm
It really is pretty good!
abra
August 14, 2021, 9:41 pm
*thought.
pickleball
December 29, 2022, 1:11 pm
soul-mates

[LLapp]

"You have a wonderful child. Then, when he's thirteen, gremlins carry him away and leave in his place a stranger who gives you not a moment's peace." -- Jill Eikenberry

figmo on 2013-07-16 16:35:06
You mean teenaged *boys* (note the use of "him" to refer to the child and not "her").

abra on 2014-11-30 09:19:47
The gremlins never really kept my son. Apparently, they tried to coax him over to the dark side. He gave us a few rough days, but mostly he was a loving and amazing teenager.

JD_1947 on 2014-12-07 12:36:17
. . I told my son about the gremlins . . . scared him so bad he didn't move out 'til he was 28 . . . .

montyb on 2015-05-02 10:25:00
Wait.....we're supposed to move out?