Saints alive!

October 2, 1869 -- Mahatma Gandhi was born.

"It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi...now posing as a fakir of the type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the viceregal palace." -- Winston Churchill.

October 3, 1900 -- American writer Thomas Wolfe was born.

"If it must be Thomas let it be Mann, and if it must be Wolfe let it be Nero, but never let it be Thomas Wolfe." -- Peter DeVries.

I've no burning desire to be one

On this day in 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy.

"It is too readily assumed that 'non-attachment' is not only better than a full acceptance of earthly life, but that the ordinary man only rejects it because it is too difficult; in other words, that the average human being is a failed saint. It is doubtful whether this is true.

"Many people genuinely do not wish to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings.

"If one could follow it to its psychological roots, one would, I believe, find that the main motive for 'non-attachment' is a desire to escape from the pain of living." -- George Orwell.



To read about another famous death on this day, visit Farewells

And even pleasant to get stoned

Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on this day in 1431.

"It is often pleasant to stone a martyr, no matter how much we may admire him." -- John Barth.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

"Saint, n.: A dead sinner revised and edited." -- Ambrose Bierce.

Today's Perverse Verse:

It's a sad fact but one that we secretly relish
That those whose wholesomest words and deeds we most embellish
And whom we venerate as a saint,
Ain't.
Everyone, it seems, has one skeleton in his or her closet or another,
Including that most saintly of all figures you can think of--
Your mother.
Even Mother Teresa, we now know, had her moments of doubt and misgiving,
Times when she exclaimed to herself: "This is a hell of a way to make a living!"