Jayni Hein Quotes

We have spent the better part of the last fifty years being inundated by advertising, being told that we will be happier if we get more stuff. But that's been backfiring recently. ~ Jayni Chase

ASTRO-GYMNASTICS
Go on a starlit night,
stand on your head,
leave your feet dangling
outwards into space,
and let the starry
firmament you tread
be, for the moment,
your elected base.
Feel Earth's colossal weight
of ice and granite,
of molten magma,
water, iron, and lead;
and briefly hold
this strangely solid planet
balanced upon
your strangely solid head. ~ Piet Hein

MEETING THE EYE
You'll probably find
that it suits your book
to be a bit cleverer
than you look.
Observe that the easiest
method by far
is to look a bit stupider
than you are. ~ Piet Hein

I believe that it's vital for children and teens to be educated, to be given information to help them understand the impacts humans are having on our water, soil, and air. ~ Jayni Chase

Shun advice at any price - that's what I call good advice. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

German navy had its own tradition of assigning nicknames. One very tall commander was nicknamed Seestiefel, or sea boot. Another had a reputation for smelling bad and thus was nicknamed Hein Schniefelig, or stinky person. A third was said to be "very childish and good-natured" and was commonly called Das Kind, the child. ~ Erik Larson

Nobody can be lucky all the time, / so when your luck deserts you in some fashion / don't think you've been abandoned in your prime, / but rather that you're saving up your ration ~ Piet Hein

CANDLE WISDOM
If you knew
what you will know
when your candle
has burnt low,
it would greatly
ease your plight
while your candle
still burns bright. ~ Piet Hein

People are self-centered to a nauseous degree. They will keep on about themselves while I'm explaining me. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Living is a thing you do now or never which do you? ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind,
and you're hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.
No - not so that chance shall decide the affair
while you're passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
you suddenly know what you're hoping. ~ Piet Hein

Naive you are if you believe life favours those who aren't naive. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Und was ist deine Meinung?' wiederholte der Mann. Dallow kniff die Augen leicht zusammen und sagt rasch ohne weiter zu überlegen: 'Ein Lichtspiel. Die Welt ist ein Lichtspiel.' ('And what is your opinion?' the man repeated. Dallow slightly squinted his eyes and said quickly without contemplating any further: 'A play of lights. The world is a play of lights.') ~ Christoph Hein

Years ago, after I'd answered several questions from a group of teens, one of them asked how I could stay optimistic and keep on going. I answered that instead of getting sad, I get mad. ~ Jayni Chase

Here is a fact
that should help you fight
a bit stronger
Things that don't
actually kill you outright
make you stronger.
Put up in a place
where it is easy to see
the cryptic admonishment
T.T.T
When you feel how depressingly
slowly you climb
it's well to remember that
Things Take Time.
Problems worthy
of attack
prove their worth
by hitting back! ~ Piet Hein

Art is solving problems that cannot be formulated before they have been solved. The shaping of the question is part of the answer. ~ Piet Hein

A WORD TO THE WISE
Let the world pass in its time-ridden race;
never get caught in its snare.
Remember, the only acceptable case
for being in any particular place
is having no business there. ~ Piet Hein

True wisdom knows it must comprise some nonsense as a compromise, lest fools should fail to find it wise. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

I am a humble artist moulding my earthly clod, adding my labour to nature's, simply assisting God. Not that my labour is needed, yet somehow I understand, my Maker has deemed it that I too should have Unmoulded clay in my hand. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Chess is and will always be a game of chance. ~ Jan Hein Donner

This sacrifice of a pawn nowadays is only played for drawing purposes. Especially against the very strongest masters it has proved to be quite useful to this end. ~ Jan Hein Donner

Co-existence or no existence. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

A bit beyond perceptions reach I sometimes believe I see that life is two locked boxes each containing the other's key ~ Piet Hein

To be and not to be, that is the answer. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

THE ROAD TO WISDOM
The road to wisdom?
Well, it's plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less. ~ Piet Hein

MAKING AN EFFORT
Our so-called limitations, I believe,
apply to faculties we don't apply.
We don't discover what we can't achieve
until we make an effort not to try. ~ Piet Hein

The noble art of losing face may one day save the human race and turn into eternal merit what weaker minds would call disgrace. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back. ~ Piet Hein

If no thought your mind does visit, make your speech not too explicit. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

The universe may be as great as they say. But it wouldn't be missed if it didn't exist. ~ Piet Pieterszoon Hein

Education, the free flow of information, is key for our personal and societal growth. It all comes back to education. ~ Jayni Chase

PRAYER to the sun above the clouds.
Sun that givest all things birth,
shine on everything on earth!
If that's too much to demand,
shine at least on this our land.
If even that's too much for thee,
shine at any rate on me. ~ Piet Hein

THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF GASTRONOMY
There's a rule for proper doses
in the dinner-eaters lore:
one should stop the filling process
while one still has room for more.
And if someone at the table
had reminded me before -
Hallelujah! I'd be able
to absorb a little more. ~ Piet Hein

The road to publication can be rough, take snacks and a friend. ~ Elizabeth Hein

Lovers meander in prose and rhyme,
trying to say-
for the thousandth time-
what's easier done than said. ~ Piet Hein