If we had no winter…
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. – Anne Bradstreet (1612 – 1672) (Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay) (Text-to-Speech by Sound… More »






![IMAGE: I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street. [I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.]](https://www.ok312.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/london-600921_640-200x133.jpg)




![IMAGE: Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it. [Patriotism: Your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. / Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it.]](https://www.ok312.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ai-generated-9017144_640-100x67.jpg)




![IMAGE: He who touches pitch will be defiled. / The rotten apple injures its neighbors [neighbours].](https://www.ok312.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/cider-apples-2908856_640-100x75.jpg)
![IMAGE: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. [Do in Rome as the Romans do.]](https://www.ok312.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/on-foot-484364_640-100x56.jpg)