A Tribute to abra a collection of her comments

[Eureka]

"The Englishman never enjoys himself except for a noble purpose." — A. P. Herbert


abra
October 21, 2021, 2:06 am
This looks like a very old baseball card. Did they have cards for English humorists, or novelists playwrights etc? Did they come in packages of bubblegum?

LLapp
May 4, 2022, 7:39 pm
OMG, I'll trade three Herberts for an Oscar Wilde rookie card.

abra
May 18, 2022, 12:53 am
Nope, I'm not giving up my Oscar Wilde rookie card. I'll trade you a Sir Arthur Helps for just one of those Herberts.

[LLapp]

"The task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility and evil with activity." — Maria Montessori

LLapp
February 17, 2015, 5:27 am
Oh my -- this single quote could be the topic of an entire symposium on modern childhood education. I am the last to deny that ADHD is real, but it is so misunderstood by those who prefer sedate obedience to unbridled curiosity.

NotTooOld
April 12, 2018, 1:44 am
Sometimes I wish for a class full of boys who have been diagnosed with ADHD, so I can enjoy them and teach them appropriately for their personalities. Then I come to my senses.

mohamm1
August 2, 2019, 5:56 pm
<3 this! Good comments on this very true statement. Children are curious by nature and will readily learn almost anything if they like the teacher and feel safe and respected in the classroom. And if they are not put into the defensive by peers.

abra
August 16, 2022, 2:34 am
My darling older grandson, so bright, so hyperactive. He's such a kind sweet person. I pray constantly that he will fit in. His younger brother is a charmer and always has a crowd of friends. We were so thrilled this summer that he's had a few outings with friends.

[LLapp]

Encouragement from abra to all the writers here.

"I can't break the association of electric trash with the computer screen. Words on the screen give the sense of being just another passing electronic wriggle."
— John Updike

LLapp
March 26, 2015, 8:27 am
Composing poetic prose on screen is just not the same as with a pen and paper.

skeeter
April 23, 2015, 7:57 am
I was the first person in my state to purchase a Macintosh, and the PC users in my building scoffed and said it was a "glorified Etch-o-Sketch" that would never last.

maradnu
January 6, 2017, 1:10 pm
I write on the computer.

mmfs83
May 29, 2017, 6:43 am
Writing on the computer is something I resisted until I realized the advantages. Now, it's the only way I can write effectively.

MamaB
September 18, 2017, 5:27 am
When I'm writing for school, if I get a block, I sit down with paper and pen. By the third sentence I'm back to my computer. It is a bit faster! I expect composing poetry wouldn't need to be that fact most of the time!

phthelen
September 28, 2017, 5:42 pm
Writing and editing online is such breeze.

318WOZ
March 6, 2021, 8:34 pm
I absolutely prefer writing on a computer because I'm able to edit immediately and leave no trace of the previous versions, which means I'm not distracted by them. If I was writing on paper, I would want to rewrite the whole page after small changes, and it would slow me down a lot. I don't know; maybe I would adjust if I had to. But I like computers.

abra
October 15, 2021, 2:37 am
There are so many writers here. Is there a forum where you tell about your writing? I'll have to check. If there's not one, you should start one.

[Eureka]

"Be careful about lending a friend money. It may damage her memory. " — Unattributed

abra
August 3, 2017, 11:00 am
No friend has asked for any large sum of money. We have given money to family though. We're glad that we're at a point in our lives when we can help. My son and daughter-in-law are very generous. They often give money to friends who are having a problems. They don't mention it and the only way I know is because sometimes someone will thank them on FB. One time that he did tell me about it, was because someone had returned the money, even though it had been a gift. He was trying to figure out whether to pay tithes on it again.

[Eureka]

After I read abra's first comment, I was relieved to see that she'd reconciled with her sister, and in the most selfless way. If her sister ever sees this, I hope she understands what abra did.

[Synonymous]

THAT is truly beautiful. I didn't always agree with abra but I respected her quite a lot. She had a very good mind and a wonderful spirit. Thanks Eureka for sharing this.

[LLapp]

^^^ I really love that one.

[Eureka]

"When mom and dad don't understand, a sister always will." — Unattributed

abra
February 2, 2020, 2:37 am
One of my sisters is upset with me right now. She's wrong, I'm right. If I explained you would agree. Honestly. We were texting. I explained this to her and she ''whatevered'' me. That REALLY p.o.ed me. I'm waiting to see how long it is before I hear from her again.

abra
May 11, 2022, 1:13 am
I've changed tactics with the sister that I mentioned. I decided we're to old for this. Now I will go without an apology, when I deserve one. I will give one when I don't feel I'm wrong. It's time for peace. The instance I wrote about before, is what made me change my mind.

[LLapp]

"An expert is a man who tells you a simple thing in a confused way in such a fashion as to make you think the confusion is your own fault." — William Castle

elsiegirl
March 3, 2015, 8:55 am
Had to put my grandson back to sleep, ugh, 902 seconds!!

abra
October 23, 2015, 1:18 pm
This is how my mind works. This quote did not look the least bit familiar. BUT, I certainly remember elsiegirl, putting her grandson back to sleep.

[LLapp]

"A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life." — Oscar Wilde

chopstix
April 11, 2013, 7:35 pm
Mr. Wilde seemed to prefer ascots.

abra
February 20, 2015, 2:24 pm
Mr. Wilde was very cool. (link) I loved this.

skeeter
November 6, 2015, 10:31 am
I'm thinking it's a well-tied shoelace you need for that first step so you won't trip.

LLapp
May 5, 2016, 7:33 pm
abra, the video disappeared. I wonder what it was...

abra
May 6, 2016, 2:11 pm
It was about some Target employees, teaching a young man, applying for his first job, how to tie a tie. I don't know why the video disappeared , but while I looked for it, I saw that he got the job.

SippyGurl
January 13, 2017, 12:04 pm
lol, nice abra!

abra
September 4, 2018, 6:53 pm
After my husband retired from the Air Force. He had a job at a state prison. He was expected to wear a tie everyday. Over the years we bought tons of beautiful ties. The inmates called him the tie man. Then the powers that be decided ties weren't necessarry anymore. I tell him we should sell some of the more expensive ones on e-bay.

NotTooOld
November 17, 2018, 8:06 am
I think I get this quote more than any other.

DaddyOmar
December 7, 2020, 7:43 pm
My son ties my ties. I am in trouble

Synonymous
September 19, 2021, 12:54 am
Our 8th grade teacher required all the boys to wear ties. My father taught me how to tie them. Hated that teacher but learned a lot about life from him; we were the only boys in school required to wear ties. You can imagine how popular that made us! NOT.

abra
January 7, 2022, 10:13 pm
NotTooOld, do you get this one more often than the Bob Hope ''a bank is a place'' quote?

JetsMafia14
May 5, 2023, 4:31 pm
Ha, skeeter.

[Eureka]

"Conscience in most men, is but the anticipation of the opinions of others. " — Jeremy Taylor

abra
November 19, 2015, 10:28 am
I thought I had done this, so I got up to check on the grandkids, visited a while and came back to see "there is an error..." I'm very slow.

wvwoman
November 25, 2015, 5:31 pm
oh, abra--been there, done that!

LLapp
December 26, 2016, 8:48 am
Having no grandchildren has been great for my crypto-speed.

abra
August 9, 2022, 3:01 am
Aww, in 2015, I went to check on my boys. They're too big now, they don't come to spend the night anymore. sniff

[Eureka]

"There is no effect more disproportionate to its cause than the happiness bestowed by a small compliment." — Robert Brault

abra
February 13, 2014, 2:52 pm
Robert Brault can be right sometimes. Whod'a thunk? A stopped clock and all that, I suppose.

abra
June 12, 2015, 10:33 am
I keep certain compliments in a vault, somewhere in my mind. Some go back to grade school. There are times when it's nice to know that someone's brother thought I looked like Samantha, or that a guy who was just a friend thought my eyes were beautiful. When life gives you lemons, go sit in a corner with some old compliments. It helps.

LLapp
July 13, 2015, 3:37 am
Wise advice, abra!

wvwoman
July 16, 2015, 8:45 pm
nice, abra--and i know exactly what you mean!

pegxpeg
December 8, 2015, 12:29 am
I concur, abra. Well put.

Roxanne
January 21, 2016, 1:15 pm
I suggest that "When life gives you lemons, go sit in a corner with some old compliments. It helps" (Abra) be made a cryptogram on this site.

mmfs83
August 22, 2016, 9:05 am
When life gives you lemons, buy chocolate.

abra
August 6, 2017, 12:55 pm
^ Or that, lol.

LLapp
July 13, 2018, 5:29 am
I just now got the Samantha reference! Yes, my favorite show when I was 9 years old. I think it ruined me for life -- probably hit me at precisely the age when I should have been developing a work ethic instead of fantasies about how I could simply wiggle my nose and make anything happen.

Eureka
March 8, 2021, 1:18 pm
I second that, Roxanne! In fact, Admin could provide us with a way to submit our favorite quotes by players to be added to the cryptogram site. Wouldn't it be fun to solve quotes by other players?

[Synonymous]

A real funny one by abra on this quote: "Reporters thrive on the world's misfortune. For this reason they often take an indecent pleasure in events that dismay the rest of humanity."
— Russell Baker
Comments on this Puzzle:

judy100
January 9, 2016, 2:24 am
Good bu$iness to cover bad news 24/7.
abra
March 11, 2016, 1:26 pm
I think Russell nailed it.
MamaB
October 22, 2016, 1:45 am
Like our current election. Can't wait for Nov 8!
Hash
October 31, 2016, 11:07 am
They only cover what we want to read. Who can blame them for that?
abra
May 18, 2017, 8:52 am
I'm backing away from the keyboard, but I'm rolling my eyes, really hard.
sexytary
September 16, 2017, 2:33 pm
Boop-Oop-a-Doop!
Nikkidemas
November 6, 2017, 9:47 am
This is an insult to most of the hardworking journalists I know.
DonnaIrene
July 11, 2018, 1:55 am
And TV meteorologists always seem thrilled about blizzards and hurricanes. I think it's just that they're fascinated by the events. Nothing indecent about it.
letfreedomring
September 8, 2019, 1:16 pm
Take a look at the world and tell me what the good news is that hasn't been reported on a national level. Many journalists who were embedded with troops to bring us the truth died in their efforts. At least during Vietnam they could move about but now they're stuck in place in some of the most brutal of circumstances.
jbb33054
January 19, 2022, 7:52 am
74
hrossa
March 3, 2023, 7:02 pm
^ Well, my grandson's third birthday never made the front page, and that was tremendously good news.
badbob
January 10, 2025, 5:22 am
fire! murder! sinkhole! film at 11:00
ADD YOUR COMMENTS:

[LLapp]

"The only person you should ever compete with is yourself. You can't hope for a fairer match." — Todd Ruthman

nanrich
June 30, 2013, 11:32 pm
Do you think he's talking about solve times on this site? Really, I'm no match for myself....

bazinga
September 26, 2013, 1:29 pm
You are kicking all our butts that is for sure.

abra
March 7, 2015, 8:48 am
It only took me 6 seconds longer than the great nanrich. I don't know about competing with myself. It seems that I often take longer the second or third time I've done a quote.

irisheyes
November 5, 2015, 2:43 pm
But how will you get better? It seems like it would end in a stalemate, if I can predict my every move.

MamaB
January 17, 2017, 5:25 am
Yea, nanrich, I am no match for yourself either!

pickleball
April 11, 2019, 9:38 pm
i m undefeated!!

Deanna48
March 30, 2020, 9:15 am
I wish nanrich still left comments...

Eureka
May 25, 2020, 11:48 pm
It's always a treat to see a Nanrich comment. I try to beat my previous month's average time, so I guess I am competing with myself.

abra
October 4, 2020, 5:28 pm
She's never left many. It feels like a visit from Santa when she leaves one.

[hrossa]

(I reckon everyone'll enjoy this. I had to google "oaters". This also has a political reference from Wordigo, sorry. Decided to leave the whole sequence as-is. )

"Self-will in the man who does not reckon wisely is by itself the weakest of all things." — Aeschylus

pickleball
June 21, 2019, 11:09 pm
i reckon so

Eureka
July 30, 2019, 12:05 pm
You reminded me of my time in Australia, pickleball, where people often say "Ya reckon?" (meaning "Do you think so?).

mmfs83
December 4, 2019, 11:31 am
I couldn't imagine an old Greek using the word reckon but I got here.

YorkiesRule
June 30, 2020, 6:58 am
Obviously he used an ancient Greek word, but the translator was apparently Australian.

abra
July 19, 2020, 10:15 pm
I reckon that people out west in the U.S. reckon as well. Eureka, you live a most interesting life.

Wordigo
September 3, 2020, 12:32 pm
He means stubbornness without understanding and wisdom is a bad fault. This reminds me of someone at the top of the US government.

Eureka
May 28, 2021, 8:50 pm
Ya reakon, abra? Haha, I rarely hear anyone say it in Canada.

LLapp
November 2, 2021, 7:18 am
Eureka, you need to watch more cowboy movies.

Elephino
June 9, 2022, 1:57 am
Aeschylus was known to be a fan of early 20th century oaters!