From the third of five books that have had a major effect on me: America Alone by Mark Steyn (from page 207):

“Americans and other Westerners who want their families to enjoy the blessings of life in a free society should understand that the life we’ve led since 1945 in the Western world is very rare in human history. Our children are unlikely to enjoy anything so placid, and may well spend their adult years in an ugly and savage world unless we decide that who and what we are is worth defending. To a five-year-old boy watching Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee procession on the Mall in 1897, it would have been inconceivable that by the time of his eightieth birthday the greatest empire the world had ever known would have sunk to an economically moribund strike-bound slough of despond whose tax rates drove its best talents abroad, and whose most glittering colonial possessions now valued ties to Communist Russia over those to the mother country. It’s difficult to focus on long-term trends because human life is itself short-term. So think short-term: huge changes are under way right now.”

From the second of five books that have had a major effect on me, When Slow is Fast Enough: Educating the Delayed Preschool Child by Dr. Joan Goodman (page 253):

It will be easier for the child to overshadow her retardation if we relax our reformist agenda. Like all children the retarded are naïve, innocent, affectionate; willful, whiny, demanding and disagreeable. Like all children they experience the elemental pleasures of the senses, the good feeling of intimate attachments, and the revelation of discovery. Like all children they bring joy to caretakers through their dependency, “bonding,” and small steps towards independence—made more precious when belated. To appreciate these qualities we must join in their natural pace.”

From the first of five books that have had a major effect on me: Margin by Richard Swenson, M.D. (from page 95):

“Margin was an unrecognized possession of the people of the past. Throughout most of the history of the world, margin existed in the lives of individuals as well as societies. There were no televisions to watch or phones to answer. There were no cars, and travel was seldom undertaken. Daily newspapers were unknown. The media could not broadcast the cluster of events taking place in town. Churches and communities did not offer twenty simultaneous programs. With no electricity to extend daylight, few suffered sleep deprivation. Time urgency, daily planners, and to-do lists had not yet been adopted by the masses.

Instead, by default rather than choice, people lived slower, more deliberate lives. They had time to help a neighbor. Their church and social activities more often drew them together than pulled them apart. The past might have been poor and deprived in many respects, but its people had margin.

Perhaps this is a key to understanding why the past often holds such charm. Surely we overrate its positives and, at the same time, overlook the hardships. Yet, one suspects there must be at least some substance to our widespread nostalgia. Those who dismiss the feelings of fondness we have for the past with a haughty sweep of the hand are not being careful enough.

It is intriguing to postulate that margin might be the unsuspected link. Without even knowing exactly what it is that we miss, we miss margin. As progress arrives, margin dissipates. Progress devours margin, and we yearn to have it back.”