Occasional Wisdom

"I dote on his very absence." - William Shakespeare

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"At first a wife is a goddess wreathed in smiles
and her husband never tires of gazing at her face.
She soon becomes a fiend with corpse-like eyes ;
if he casts a reproach at her she gives two in return ;
if he takes her by the hair she has him by the leg ;
if he strikes her with a stick she beats him with a ladle.
In the end she becomes a toothless old hag
and her fiendish look of anger prays upon the mind.
I have renounced such a devilish scold
and I do not want a maiden bride."

--- Songs of Milarepa / Milarepa

("A Buddhist holy man whose songs have been sung and studied since the 12th century, Milarepa exchanged a life of sin and maliciousness for one of contemplation and love, eventually reaching — according to his disciples — the ultimate state of enlightenment. This volume features the religious leader's best and most highly esteemed songs of love and compassion.")