7 things you can learn from a thief and more

Illustration from "When Sadness Is At Your Door" by Eva Eland

Every Sunday morning I look forward to receiving a thought-provoking weekly email digest called "The Marginalian", by Maria Popova. Maria's work expands my mind into directions of literature, science, art, poetry, and more. She always makes me hungry to go deeper into subjects that fascinate me. Yesterday, Maria's email contained excerpts from an interview with singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan.

The interviewer was Jonathan Cott, who wrote, Listening: Interviews, 1970–1989 (public library). Their talk moved into profound matters of the soul and Cott read a parable to Dylan by the Hasidic rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch. You can read the full email HERE. If you want to receive her emails, click HERE. It's free!

For today's mindful moment pause to reflect on:

Three things you can learn from a child and seven from a thief!

From a child you can learn

1) to always to be happy;

2) never to sit idle;

3) to cry for everything you want.

From a thief, you can learn

1) to work at night;

2) that if you cannot gain what you want in one night to try again the next night;

3) to love your co-workers just as thieves love each other;

4) to be willing to risk your life even for a little thing;

5) not to attach too much value to things even though you have risked your life for them — just as a thief will resell a stolen article for a fraction of its real value;

6) to withstand all kinds of beatings and tortures but to remain what you are;

7) to believe that your work is worthwhile and not be willing to change it.