Why are we so afraid of quietness today?  Only by absorbing it may we gain the resources to flourish.

The way the media pounced on Pope Benedict’s observations in January 2012 about the role of silence in human life suggests he touched a nerve.  Speaking in advance of a Roman Catholic Day of Communication,

Two political deaths within a day afforded a salutary reminder of the use and abuse of power.

They are an unlikely couple to be joined at death.  Vaclav Havel, the dissident playwright and reluctant president and Kim Jong-il, the overfed and egomaniacal leader of North Korea, a man without a shred of irony in his personality.