And I quote...Epictetus

"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."

~Epictetus

Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπίκτητος; ca. 55–ca. 135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was probably born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he lived most of his life and died. His teachings were noted down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses.

Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events were determined by fate, and are thus beyond our control, but we can accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. Individuals, however, are responsible for their own actions which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. As part of the universal city that is the universe, human beings have a duty of care to all fellow humans. The idea was that a person who followed these precepts would achieve happiness.

While I don't agree with his philosophical ideas I do love this quote!

MORE INFO HERE.

And I quote...Andy Warhol

"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

~Andy Warhol


Photobooth Self Portrait - Andy Warhol, 1963

More Warhol HERE.

And I quote...Louis Brandeis

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.

~Louis Brandeis


Tabernacle - by Tina, Pfeiffer Photos copyright 2009

Inspiration Sunday

Beginning this week my mission is to find at least one person, place, thing or moment in my week that inspires me and pay my respects each Sunday in the blog. This being the first week of inspiration, I have chosen my husband's grandmother, Eline Goss...we call her "Grammy". Yesterday Grammy celebrated her 90th birthday, and that is an inspiration in and of itself!

Mrs. Eline Goss aka "Grammy", Christmas 2006

A more gracious woman I have yet to meet than Mrs. Eline Goss. A true southern belle, born in 1918 and raised on a dairy farm in South Carolina, she met and married her true love, John, in 1940. They lived and loved for over 50 years, raised their family and made many, many friends. John and Eline were world travelers and visited too many countries to count via plane, train and steam freighter over the years. Every time we visit with her we ask her to tell us the stories of all these places and she just laughs and gives us her best recollections.

John and Eline at the dedication of Goss Stadium, Oregon State University, 1998

Eline is a woman with wisdom and a generosity of spirit. When she asks me how I've been and what I've been doing, I know she really does want to hear my answers. She takes time, she listens, we don't feel rushed through our visits. We eat dessert. We have that second cup of coffee. Nobody checks their watch, we just enjoy each other's company. I can't say how truly refreshing this is in our day and age of this "everyone for him/herself", multitasking, double-booking, high octane, espresso coffee, drive-thru eating, one-stop shopping, ultra-fast data transmitting, Internet, TiVo, "Chatting", Instant Messages, Email, Blogging, MySpace, and Text Messaging world we all know.

Eline has two children, five grandchildren and 3.5 great-grandchildren as of this writing. She introduces me to her friends as her fourth granddaughter. Having only one set of grandparents (of which one has passed, the other is estranged), makes this adopted Grammy all the more dear to my heart.

Tina, Chris & Grammy at our wedding reception, December 2006

Ninety years is an inspiration more than worthy of any blog post, and I am honored to be able to make it the subject of mine.

(Grammy and great-grand kids, Aimee and Haley, 2008)

Happy Birthday, Grammy, we love you lots!

Photos displayed in this post are by Chris and Tina Pfeiffer, The Oregonian, and our wedding photos are by Nicole Wickens Photography, 2006.