It is seldom indeed that one parts on good terms, because if one were on good terms one would not part. – Marcel Proust, The Fugitive, Remembrance of Things Past, 1925

While it may not be appropriate in every venue, and on every occasion, mockery is the guardian of reason, the enemy of pretension, and the mirror to folly. No belief, no passion, no commitment should be considered immune from the acerbic test of ridicule. – Dr. Idel Dreimer, www.lumpenbangenpiano.com

No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye. – Elizabeth Bowen, The House in Paris, 1935