We have bigger houses and smaller families.

We have more degrees, but less sense.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.

We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

Give time to Love, give time to speak, give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

I came across these lines today, which I found on a yellowed sheet of paper, worn away by time, that I had written some years ago. They are attributed (according to some, misattributed) to the comedian George Carlin, known for his sharp wit, social criticism, and inclination toward dark comedy, meaning the blend of humor with painful undertones. I searched on Google and saw that the comedian passed away over a decade and a half ago, yet his words seem as if he spoke them today. Vita brevis, ars longa, said the Latins.

It may have been decades since I first read them and set them aside, hoping they might one day come in handy. And in some way, they did today. You might ask how and why they served me. It happens that wise words often help us not so much to converse with others but with ourselves.